Technologies for adding workflow

[edove]

Hi, I'm a Lotus Notes Developer and my partner and I have decided to start looking at developing MS solutions using Sharepoint.

We will need to develop specific applications with workflow built in and what we are still unsure about is what technologies we need to use (i.e. what technologies I need to learn) in order to add specific workflow functionality outside of the available templates.

 

[bdog2020]

Hi there,
There are several 3rd party workflow applications for SharePoint, and Portal/Office 2007 will have a lot of workflow improvements it seems.

But, assuming you're talking about rolling your own, I'd start by focusing on C# and VB.NET programming, web part programming and deployment, the SharePoint Services object model, .NET web services, and InfoPath.

Then I'd work out a few simple examples of workflow using Document Library Event Handlers. Get both of Scot Hillier's SharePoint books, they are both excellent. "Microsoft SharePoint, Building Office 2003 Solutions", 2nd Edition from Apress, Chapter 9 has a really neat example of a simple workflow application. The application moves a document between three document libraries as its status is updated.

It's a good example of what can be done when you combine document library event handlers with the powerful object model.

Once I did a few examples there, I'd recommend taking a look at BizTalk for more extensive workflow reqs. "Advanced SharePoint Services Solutions" from Apress, Chapter 7 is all about BizTalk, and includes a good discussion of the WSS adapter.

Even with Office 2007 only a few months away (from EA customers anyway), that will be great stuff to learn.

Hope that's helpful.
Ben