SharePoint 2013Workflows Architecture

Presented by

Srini Sistla@srinisistla

Thank you

• MICROSOFT MANIACS USER GROUP

• SPONSOR(S)

• AUDIENCE

About me

• AUTHOR• Pro SharePoint 2013 Business Intelligence (Apress)• Pro SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence (Apress)• Pro SharePoint Migration (Apress)• SharePoint 2013 Development Machine ** (Self Published)

• SPEAKER• INETA, SharePoint Saturday, CAPAREA.NET, SUGDC

• BLOGGER

• SHAREPOINT 2010 ARCHITECT / CONSULTANT / SME

agenda

• ARCHITECTURE

• DETAILS

• YOUR DEVELOPMENT MACHINE FOR WORKFLOWS

• DEMO

comparison

2010 vs. 2013• SharePoint 2010 hosted the Workflow

Foundation (WF) workflow runtime• Tightly coupled workflow to SharePoint

2010

• Workflow data kept in SharePoint content databases

• Challenges:• Designed for on-premise deployments

(scale)

• In SharePoint, extending WF meant you had to be a box admin

• Analytics on current/previous workflow instances hard to acquire

• Executed in the context of SharePoint as super user

• Workflow now treated as a service in SharePoint 2013

• Moved to Windows Azure Workflow• No longer runs in the content farm

• No longer runs on SharePoint WFE / App servers

• Harnesses the latest workflow technology from Microsoft

• Windows Azure Workflow available for on-prem deployments

• Improves stability, scalability & transparency

architecture

Sharing

ContentEvents People

Vis

ual

Stu

dio

Sh

are

Poin

t D

esi

gn

er

SharePoint2010 WF

_API (REST OM)

Workflow Services Manager

Service Bus

Instances Interop

Deployment

Messaging

WF Service Application Proxy

Workflow Manager

OAuth

Access Control

Work

flow

Cli

en

t

SharePoint 2013 and Workflow Service

Sharing

ContentEvents People

Vis

ual

Stu

dio

Sh

are

Poin

t D

esi

gn

er

SharePoint2010 WF

_API (REST OM)

Workflow Services Manager

Service Bus

Instances Interop

Deployment

Messaging

WF Service Application Proxy

Workflow Manager

OAuth

Access Control

Work

flow

Cli

en

t

architecture

Enhanced parallel blocks

Do “App-Level” operations with App Step

Rapid design with the Visual and Text-Based Designers

Stages! Looping! Enhanced portability & packaging through WSP and VSDX files

Support classic 2010 workflow type and interoperability

Leverage web services(HTTP/REST)

Complex data types with ‘Dictionary’ variables

Full integration with Project Server workflows

Copy & Paste in the Text-Based Designer

New “Assign A Task” & “Start a Task Process” actions

IMPROVEMENTS

Enhanced parallel blocks

Do “App-Level” operations with App Step

Leverage web services(HTTP/REST)

Copy & Paste in the Text-Based Designer

Stages!

Rapid design with the Visual and Text-Based Designers

Complex data types with ‘Dictionary’ variables

Looping!

New “Assign A Task” & “Start a Task Process” actions

Enhanced portability & packaging through WSP and VSDX files

Support classic 2010 workflow type and interoperability

Full integration with Project Server workflows

IMPROVEMENTS

IMPROVEMENTS

New “Assign A Task” & “Start a Task Process” actions

Enhanced portability & packaging through WSP and VSDX files

Support classic 2010 workflow type and interoperability

Do “App-Level” operations with App Step

Enhanced parallel blocks

Full integration with Project Server workflows

NEARLY 50 NEW/IMPROVED FEATURES AND ACTIONS THIS RELEASE!!!!

IMPROVEMENTS

• Introducing “Stages”• Provides support for repeating & skipping workflow steps

• Declarative workflows have loops• Loop # times / with condition / with expression

• Declarative workflows can call REST/SOAP services

• SharePoint 2010 required developers when:• Call SharePoint API

• Connect & query databases

• Consume feeds (ATOM / REST)

• Call Web Services / REST

• SharePoint 2013 enables workflow authors to do all this declaratively

Workflows in designer

• Improved visual designer• Integrated the Visio designer into SharePoint

• Can switch between visual designer & sentence-style

• Editable properties helper

• Stages & Loops

• Calling REST Web Services

• Designer supports cut / copy / paste / undo / redo / select-all

• Improved email editor (rich formatting)

• Each stage has an entry point & gate• Gate: conditional transition point where workflow exits

• Underlying core in WF4 flow step in a flowchart

• Can contain multiple steps

• Mitigates SharePoint Designer loop limitations

Workflows in visual studio

• Can create WF 3.5 or WF 4 workflows• For WF 4, Azure Workflow required

• For WF 3.5, see Workflow Interop Bridge…

• Focus is around declarative workflows• Push custom code logic to Web services

• Programmatic workflows still possible, but only in Windows Azure Workflow

• Workflow tools: SharePoint Designer & Visual Studio

Designer vs visual studio

SharePoint Designer Visual Studio

Reusability Create reusable WF Create WF templates

Include in SP App

Custom Code

Custom Actions Consume, not create Yes; underlying activities

Visio Integration

Debugging

Interop bridge

• Enables SharePoint 2010 workflows to work in 2013

• Execution engine hosted in SharePoint 2013

• Interop bridge:• Negotiates between two execution engines (SP2010 & SP2013)

• Delegates SP2010 workflows to SharePoint from WAWS

• Invoke SP2010 workflow action from WAWS with InvokeSharePointWorkflow action

INTEROP BRIDGE

Assign Task

Workflow BackendSharePoint

Tasks

Instances

Persist

_API GET1

POST2

POST3

Reserve Task Id

Create Task

Lookup User

GET /…/web/siteuserinfolist/items?$filter=id eq {0}

SiteUser

s

POST /…/web/lists(guid'{0}')/reservelistitemidPOST /…/web/lists(guid'{0}')/items

• REST/OData message format• Retry on failure• Repeatable (idempotent) Create, Read, Update and

Delete• Merge update with conflict resolution (HTTP ETag)

Service Bus

Processing

Assign Task (cont)

Workflow BackendSharePoint

Tasks

Instances

Receive & Persist

_APIRegister Interest

SiteUser

s

Workflow Frontend

Wait For Notification

Service Bus

Messages

…

Processing

Collocated Topology

Database

Farm Node

WF ManagerSharePoint

Farm Node

WF ManagerSharePoint

Farm Node

WF ManagerSharePoint

load balancer

SP Farm 1

Workflow Cluster

SP Farm 2 load balancer

Workflow Client

Workflow Client

• Each SP farm targets a different Workflow Manager scope

• Independent security realms

Federated Topology

Configure

Configure

Configure

Configure

Configure

Register-SPWorkflowService –SPSite “http://sp/sites/awfs”

–WorkflowHostUri “http://sp:12291” –AllowOAuthHttp

demohow-to?

business requirementA very famous actor, and producer wants to direct movie. He wants to engage, collaborate and send information to his cast and crew in timely fashion. His tech Manager delivers views in Visio diagram. Requirements at high level are –

1. Need a very quick solution

2. Find the actor information from local first and additional information from IMDB

3. Send financial information to the producer

4. Monitor if the finance statement is approved

5. Send daily schedule and notes to the actors

6. Learn if the actors have any schedule conflicts or questions on the notes and are reviewed and approved

7. Maintain all the notes and finance statements in one website and invite the producer, actors and crew to collaborate on the overall progress .

8. Use the provided Visio if possible to build the workflow

actors

LeoActor, Producer

SP Role: Designer, Visio

Expert

AnnActress, Producer

SP Role: Content Owner, Reviewer

JennyActress

SP Role: Content Owner, Approver

WillActor, Director

SP Role: Site Owner, Approver

Solution

• Leverage SharePoint 2013 out of the box features as much as possible for • Quick and Rapid App Development and delivery

• Use SharePoint Designer 2013 workflows and in specific• HTTP/REST Web Services

• Use Dictionary Variables

• Assign A Task

• Stages• Demonstrate on the list what stage of the workflow currently the status is in

• Use new Email features

• Use the provided Visio diagram

Migrating from 2010 to 2013

• 2013 is based on new architecture – Workflow Manager

• Runs on Workflow Foundation 4

• Declarative and is in XAML Format

• 2010 workflows run as-is on 2013 platform

• Recreate them if you need to use them

• Use workflow interop – allows 2010 workflows to run within 2013.

questions, thank you and my contact

@srinisistla

http://blog.srinisistla.com

USEFUL DOWNLOADS / links

SharePoint Designer 2013 – http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35491

What's new in WF in 2013 – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj219638.aspx

Getting Started - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj227177.aspx

Develop using VS 2012 - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj163199.aspx

Setup configure WF Manger - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj163276.aspx

Workflow Manager 1.0 - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj193528.aspx