Developing Workflow Applications for Exchange Server

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Generally, the term "workflow" is used to describe applications that are modeled as business processes. Typical workflow applications include forms routing/approval, document review/publishing, and issue tracking. While you can implement such applications in nearly any programming language or development environment, you can simplify the task with the use of a workflow engine and specialized workflow modeling tools.

  • Modeling tools make it possible for the overall design, or "flow," of a business process to be specified in a simple, high-level representation called a process definition. You can modify or extend the process definition easily without rewriting all of the low-level application code.
  • The workflow engine executes and manages individual instances of a process definition, also known as process instances.

To develop a workflow application

  1. Plan your application before starting. Numerous considerations make application development much easier if they are addressed from the start — for example, security and schema. For more information, see Workflow Applications Architecture for Exchange Server and Planning a Workflow Process for Exchange Server.
  2. Create the workflow process for your application. For more information, see Building a Workflow Process for Exchange Server.
  3. Add script to your application if desired to provide customized functionality. For more information, see Scripting in the Workflow Designer for Exchange Server.
  4. Create the user interface with a separate program that has read/write capabilities with Exchange 2000 Server or SharePoint Portal Server. For more information, see Developing the User Interface for Exchange Workflow.
  5. Activate your workflow. For more information, see Enabling a Workflow Process for Exchange Server.
  6. Test your workflow application. For more information, see Testing Your Workflow for Exchange Server.
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