This blog entry is more of an "in the realm of the possible" kuingia vs. saruji info.

We have a technical design that calls for us to create a site in a site collection via a manually launched workflow process. Kimsingi, users enter data into a "new customer" custom list and then when they have finished and validated the data entry process, we need to create a site for that customer.

I’m both a big fan of declarative workflow as well as a weak visual studio workflow programmer, so I wanted to meet the requirement using SharePoint Designer.

I plan to write about this in greater detail (and hopefully present to a user group or two in the coming year), but here’s the overall solution:

• Create a custom action that integrates with SPD.
• hatua desturi inaruhusu SPD waomba huduma ya mtandao na kupita kamba ya XML.
• Mtandao wa huduma locates mfululizo katika orodha ya desturi na inajenga tovuti mpya kama kwa data kwa mteja kuwa mpya kwa kutumia desturi tovuti ufafanuzi.
• Mtandao wa huduma kisha updates orodha desturi pamoja na baadhi ya habari kama vile kiungo na tovuti mpya.

Sisi kuchukuliwa njia nyingine, such as event handlers and visual studio based workflow. The SPD approach gives our end users a little more control over the process. Granted, kuna mengi ya C kanuni # katika ufumbuzi huu, lakini ni amefungwa ndani ya workflow declarative, ili tuweze kupata baadhi ya faida ya workflow declarative wakati hooking katika huduma tovuti kuundwa.

All we need now is an easy tool to automatically migrate SPD workflows around as easily as we can for visual studio workflows and we’ll really be cooking with gas 🙂 I understand that some folk are out there working on this problem and I hope they have some good success with it soon.

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Kujiunga na blog yangu.

Nimekuwa kucheza karibu na vitendo desturi kwa Designer SharePoint kwa baadhi ya wakati (angalia hapa kwa baadhi ya mambo ya kina, kama kuwa na maslahi yenu).

Katika mradi wangu wa sasa, we need to do some fairly heavy lifting and we want to use declarative SPD workflow to manage the associated business process.

Muda mrefu hadithi fupi, this is entirely possible. I extended my Codeplex project to invoke a "helper service" and now we can invoke a web service directly from an SPD workflow.

Hapa ni sahihi:

 umma string Dispatcher(
        Guid WebID, // Kupita kwa mazingira Runtime
        Guid SiteID, // Kupita kwa mazingira Runtime
        string ListID, // Wanapita RTE (sijui kwa nini hii ni kamba, siyo GUID)
        int ListItemID, // Wanapita RTE.
        string XmlMessage) // Kupita kwa mtumiaji kama alitangaza katika SPD.

Hii leverages ukweli kwamba tunaweza kupata taarifa muhimu katika workflow, kama tovuti, orodha ID, nk. This is well documented in several places for those of you interested in creating your own custom actions. The idea is to extract the XML string as provided by the user to dispatch an appropriate procedure. Fun stuff!

Cha kusikitisha, hii ni wazi tiketi moja ya njia ya chini kwa "Loosey Goosey" kupambana na muundo ardhi, but it’s better than hitting a brick wall 🙂

Je, ni kupambana na muundo kama wewe kufanya hivyo hata kama unajua ni kupambana na muundo?

I hope to wrap this inside Codeplex in the near future. If you’re interested in me doing so, nipe poke (email au kuacha maoni) and I’ll be that more enthusiastic about doing it 🙂

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Kujiunga na blog yangu.

I’m working on a project that uses five different SharePoint Designer work flows to handle some document approvals. SPD provides the "collect data from a user" hatua ili tuweze kuchochea mtumiaji kwa bits tofauti ya habari, kama vile kama wao kupitisha, some comments and maybe ask what they had for dinner the other night.

The forms are perfectly functional. They are tied to a task list as a content type. Wao ni 100% system-generated. This is their strength and weakness. If we can live with the default form, then we’re good to go. Hata hivyo, we don’t have too much control over how SPD creates the form. If we don’t like that default behavior, we need to resort to various tricks to get around it (kwa mfano, setting priority on a task).

I needed to provide a link on these task forms that opened up the view properties (dispform.asxp) of the "related item" in a new window. This provides one-click access to the meta data of the related item. This is what I mean:

Nashiriki, we can do that and it’s not very hard. Broadly speaking, fire up SPD, navigate to the directory that houses the workflow files and open the ASPX file you want to modify. These are just classic XSL transform instructions and if you’ve mucked about with itemstyle.xsl, search or other XSL scenarios, this will be easy for you. Kwa kweli, Nimeona ni kuwa kwa ujumla rahisi tangu fomu yanayotokana fulani ni rahisi kufuata ikilinganishwa na sehemu tafuta matokeo mtandao msingi (au nightmarish CWQP).

Bila shaka, there is one major pitfall. SPD’s workflow editor expects full control over that file. If you modify it, SPD will happily overwrite your changes give the right set of circumstances. I did two quick tests to see how bad this could get. They both presuppose that you’ve crafted a valid SPD workflow that uses the "collect data from a user" hatua.

Mtihani 1:

• Kurekebisha faili ASPX kwa mkono.
• Mtihani ni (kuhakikisha kwamba mabadiliko yako walikuwa vizuri kuokolewa na hakuwa na kuvunja kitu).
• Kufungua workflow na kuongeza hatua lisilohusiana (such as "log to history").
• Ila workflow.

Kusababisha: Katika kesi hiyo, SPD did not re-create the form.

Mtihani 2:

• Do the same as #1 except directly modify the "collect data from a user" hatua.

Kusababisha: This re-creates the form from scratch, over-writing your changes.

Final Notes:

• At least two SPD actions create forms like this: "Collect Data From a User" and "Assign To Do Item". Both of these actions’ forms can be manually modified.
• I was able to generate my link to dispform.aspx because, katika kesi hii, the relate item always has its ID embedded in the related item’s URL. I was able to extract it and then build an <href> based on it to provide the one-click meta data access feature. It’s unlikely that your URL follows this rule. There may be other ways to get the ID of the related item but I have not had to cross that bridge, so I don’t know if gets to the other side of the chasm.
• I didn’t investigate, but I would not be surprised if there is some kind of template file in the 12 hive that I could modify to affect how SPD generates the default forms (much like we can modify alert templates).

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Kujiunga na blog yangu!

I have a business scenario like this:

• A user uploads a document to a document library.
• She selects a content type and enters meta data as needed. One of the meta data fields is a flag, "Urgent".
• This triggers a SharePoint Designer workflow that, miongoni mwa mambo mengine, uses the "Collect Data from a User" hatua.

"Collect Data from a User" creates an item in a task list requesting approval for that document.

I needed to create a view of the task list that showed urgent requests for approval.

Ufumbuzi: Put the word "URGENT:" into the title of these tasks.

I would have preferred to specify the priority field directly. Hata hivyo, I was unable to do that for several reasons:

1. The collect data action does not provide a mechanism to update any field other than title (na wale mashamba ya ziada kwa ajili ya ambayo unataka kukusanya data).
2. The "assign a to do item" hatua ina tatizo moja.
3. Inawezekana kuingiza bidhaa katika orodha (i.e. kuingiza bidhaa katika orodha ya kazi moja kwa moja) but this not a blocking action. That means that the workflow will not wait for the user to complete that task.

Nikaziangalia mbinu chache kabla ya (nashiriki) realizing we could just put "urgent" katika cheo.

1. Kuanza workflow kwenye orodha ya kazi yenyewe ili wakati kazi mpya ni kuundwa, marejeo ni kwa namna fulani kuvuka nyuma ya hati ambayo ilianza workflow kwanza, pull out the urgent flag value and update priority as needed.
2. Do something similar with an event receiver. On create of the task, Machapisho ya hati ya kuhusishwa na update kipaumbele kama inahitajika.
3. Use the "create list item" action in conjunction with the "wait for field change" action and an event receiver. If we create a list item, we can specify all the fields we want. Use an event receiver to update the original item when the user completes the task and the "wait for field change" action’s condition would be met and the workflow would proceed. (Kwa sababu baadhi ya, Mimi nilikuwa zaidi au chini ya makazi ya mbinu hii kabla ya busara ya kuamua kutembea mbali kwa muda).

Kuna Drawback kwa ufumbuzi yangu (mbali ya ukweli dhahiri kwamba tu Nakala ya cheo inaonyesha uharaka). Since "collect feedback" tu anapokea ngumu coded cheo majina, I need to use two different collect feedback actions whose only difference is that hard coded title.

Lakini, angalau kuna ufumbuzi kwamba hauhitaji kupokea tukio au desturi vitendo SPD.

Kama mtu ana kutatuliwa hili kwa njia ya wajanja zaidi, tafadhali napenda kujua.

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UPDATE: Madjur Ahuja points out this link from a newsgroup discussion: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms772417.aspx. It’s pretty definitive.

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We often want to embed hyperlinks to InfoPath forms in emails sent from SharePoint Designer workflows. When users receive these emails, wanaweza bonyeza kiungo kutoka email na kwenda moja kwa ajili ya InfoPath.

This monster URL construction works for me:

http://server/sites/departments/Technical Services/InformationTechnology/HelpDesk/_layouts/FormServer.aspx?XmlLocation=/sites/departments/Technical Services/InformationTechnology/HelpDesk/REC REM RED Forms/REC2007-12-18T11_33_48.xml&Source=http://server.corp.domain.com/sites/departments/Technical%20Services/InformationTechnology/HelpDesk/REC%20REM%20RED%20Forms/Forms/AllItems.aspx&DefaultItemOpen=1

Replace the bolded red text with the name of the form, as shown in the following screenshot:

Note that there is a lot of hard-coded path in that URL, as well as a URL-encoded component. If this is too hard to translate to your specific situation, try turning on alerts for the form library. Post a form and when you get the email, view the source of the email and you’ll see everything you need to include.

Astute readers may notice that the above email body also shows a link that directly accesses the task via a filtered view. I plan to explain that in greater detail in a future post.

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I’ve implemented a workflow using SharePoint Designer in a site which is mainly read-only to "NT_AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users" (i.e. kila mtu). There is a forms library for an InfoPath form. There is an associated workflow tasks list as well so that when the workflow operates, inaweza hawawajui kazi kwa watu.

I break permission for the forms library and task list so that any authenticated user can create forms and update their assigned tasks.

I test with my low-privileges test account.

Can I fill out and save a form to the library? –> YES

Can I access the task from an email link? –> YES

Can I see an Edit workflow task link –> YES

Can I click on that link? –> NO … Permission Denied.

Why can I see an edit link that denies me permission when I click on it? That’s not how it’s supposed to work…

I go through the security configuration again, very closely. I do it again. I consider deleting this post because I obviously don’t know anything about security.

Hatimaye, I search the Internets. I find this highly unlikely MSDN forum thread: http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1838253&SiteID=17

The posters appear to be suggesting that the simple act of exporting the workflow to a drive platter will fix a MOSS security issue? I can hardly believe I just typed that. I’m reminded of the South Park episode about the 9/11 conspiracy where Stan is asking our Preznit, "Really?" over and over again.

Hivyo, nothing to lose, I fire up SPD, right-click on the workflow and save it to my c:\ drive. That would be the c:\ drive on my laptop. I’m looking over my shoulder the whole time so that no one will ask me, "why are you saving that workflow to your laptop?"

Incredibly, that solves my problem. I can edit the task.

Mimi hili kuteua hii kuwa wengi Bizarre Workflow workaround ya 2007.

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We often want to send an email that includes a hyperlink to the item or document that triggered the workflow. We can use current item’s "Encoded Absolute URL" for this purpose. Hata hivyo, it always seems to use "http" for the URL protocol. If your site runs on HTTPS then it will not work for you.

Mbali kama mimi najua, there is no out of the box solution to this problem. If you need to use HTTPS, wewe huna nje ya chaguo sanduku.

Kulitatua, create a custom action that provides a string replace function to use in your workflow. Alternatively, kutumia chama 3 chombo kama vile mfuko bora hapa: http://www.codeplex.com/spdwfextensions 🙂

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Forum watumiaji mara kwa mara kuuliza: Kwa nini SharePoint Designer kuweka ???? katika barua pepe yangu badala ya thamani shamba?

Moja ya sababu hii hutokea ni kwa sababu ya kutofautiana na ambayo rejea ni null.

This can happen because you are trying to reference a field from the "current item" lakini mtumiaji kamwe aliingia thamani ndani ya uwanja kwamba fomu.

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Mazingira: Katika workflow SharePoint Designer, you need to determine if a date field is blank.

Tatizo: SPD does not provide a direct method for comparing dates to anything other than a date. You cannot create a condition like this: "If [Tarehe Shamba] equals blank".

Ufumbuzi: Convert the date to a string. Use string comparison to determine if the date is blank.

Screen shots:

The following screen shots show how to do this. In this scenario, shamba juu ya bidhaa, "Environmental Permits:First Permit Reminder Date", ni kuwasilishwa na moto workflow katika kukabiliana.

Maelezo:

Wakati mimi walijaribu hii, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it works. I was worried that SharePoint Designer might disallow the string assignment (Kutofautiana:StringReminderDateDate) lakini haikuwa kuruhusu.

Mimi pia alikuwa na wasiwasi kwamba kuruhusu ni, thamani inaweza kuwa batili na ama kulipua WF katika Runtime au labda kuongeza joto duniani 1/2 shahada, lakini wale wasiwasi walikuwa unfounded.

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Tu uchunguzi wa haraka kwamba kuna tofauti muhimu sana kati ya ufafanuzi hizi mbili:

<FieldBind Field="InParam1" DesignerType="StringBuilder" Id="2" Text="Input parameter #1"/>

dhidi ya:

<FieldBind Field="InParam1" Id="2" Text="Input parameter #1"/>

inaonyesha ya kwanza kama hii katika SPD:

wakati mwisho inaonyesha kama hii:

I’m not sure how helpful these screen shots are but I put in the effort to make them so you have to view them 🙂

The observation is this: StringBuilder allows you to build a string (wazi) by mixing together string literals and workflow data (via the "Add Lookup" button in the lower left-hand corner). When you use the Add Lookup button, it inserts a token in the form "[%token%]". When SharePoint invokes your custom action, (C# code in my case), SharePoint passes the token itself, not the value of the token. If you use the default designer type (the second type), SharePoint expands the token and passes actual value of the token to your action.

StringBuilder = BAD, default designer type = GOOD.

Bila shaka, that’s not what I really mean. Just don’t try and pass a parameter to your custom action when the designer type = StringBuilder. Use the default designer type and chain a StringBuilder to it up front if you need to build complex strings in your workflow (which incidentally is exactly what one does to create a dynamic subject for the email action, but that’s a subject for another blog entry, har har).

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