Workflow in WSS: A Scenario

Translated to understanding WF in WSS and Office 2007 v1.doc
Author: David Chappell, Chappell & Associates)

See: http://www.davidchappell.com/blog/index.html for full text

In most organizations, the ion that uses the most human workflow is submitted for approval. Some documents must be approved or rejected by a certain part of the document, or add remarks to the document to explain the intent. From the user's perspective, the example here shows how to implement the approval submission workflow in WSS. Before learning this example, we must first define the following personnel roles ::
> Workflow Author: developer or information worker who creates a workflow Template
> WSS administrator: the person who installs the workflow template and associates it with the document library and list.
> Workflow initiator: starts running the workflow and triggers the person who created the workflow instance.
> Workflow participants: persons who participate in workflow instance execution to provide business support.
The following describes how to create, install, instantiate, and use a role in a workflow.

Create a Workflow

Microsoft provides two options for creating workflows in WSS. Developers can use Visual Studio 2005 and WF workflow designer to create them. Information workers can use Office Sharepoint designer Rules (rule-based) to create them. The workflow templates created in these two methods must be deployed on the WSS server. The preparation of workflow will be detailed in the future. Now, assume that the workflow template has been created.

Associate workflow with a document or list

If the template can be used, you must first install the template in the WSS system. Then it is associated with a document library, list, or document type. In this way, the process can be executed from this library or list. The workflow operates in the same processCompositionFile or list record, so a workflow template can be attached to a document or list record. (Of course, you can also create workflow templates that only associate documents or only associate records ). When a workflow cannot be explicitly started from a document type, the workflow can be started from a defined document type document or record.
Workflow installation and association operations created with Office Sharepoint designer are automatically completed. If you use WF workflow designer and Visual Studio, The WSS administrator must install the workflow template by himself. Once the template is installed, it must be associated with a document library, list, or document type. Some users may also have less permissions than the administrator. No matter who creates an association, you must give it a unique name, so that it can be referenced by users. This is optional if the workflow creator asks the Creator to set the process parameters. For example, you must always participate in a default list of process users. A template can be associated with multiple document libraries, lists, or document types. Of course, each association must be created one by one. After the association is created and the options are set, a workflow trigger can create a workflow instance from the association. This will be introduced in the following content.

Start Workflow

WSS provides three options to start a workflow instance. Instances created in the three methods are run at the beginning of the workflow each time. (In fact, if the instance created by an association is running, you cannot create another instance from that association ). There are three methods:
> The workflow can be manually started by the WSS user.
> A workflow can be configured to run automatically when a document or record is modified.
> A workflow can be configured to run automatically when a document or record is created. For example, Microsoft Word allows you to save a new document to the document library, which triggers an instance to run. Workflow triggers can be started in Microsoft Word 2007 or earlier versions of word. No need to rely on any Microsoft Application Program Workflow startup is entirely possible.
This scenario uses the first method to start a workflow. The figure shows a document in a document library of a wss user. To start a workflow instance from this document, click the document and select "workflows" from the context menu ".

It will trigger to the following page:

Under the title "start a new workflow", it is the name of All workflows that are triggered and started from this document. In this example, two options are "approval" and "collect feedback". However, if an administrator associates other workflow templates with this document, their names will also be displayed here. In this example, select "approval" as the trigger. The page is displayed as follows:

Unlike the previous pages, the content of this page is completely defined by the workflow. When a workflow is started (for example, when a workflow instance is created), it can selectively display the information specified by its users. Shows the submitted workflow as shown in. The information includes the name of each approver, the approval time, and the list of persons to be notified .. Once the information is provided, click the "Start" button in the lower right corner. The process starts to be executed. Each person who participates in the review of this document is requested. When these persons enter this page, they will see this document.
When a process starts, it can also send an email to the initiator. Similarly, when a workflow is completed, the workflow notifies the creator of the document. In this example, the approval workflow is sent when the approval process ends. Of course, it can also be sent to the involved process workers. In this example, when you need to participate in the review of this document, the relevant persons will also receive an email to inform them.