Pro WF 4.5

Pro WF 4.5

Released December 2012
Publisher(s): Apress
ISBN: 9781430243830

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Book description

In Pro WF 4.5, you'll find the insight and direction for understanding how to build workflows using WF 4.5 and host them as long-running services using Microsoft's Windows Server, for on-premises work, and Azure AppFabric, for hosting workflows in the cloud.

With the concept of cloud computing using Windows Azure and the maturity of Windows Server technology, workflow services can be hosted with first-class service monitoring with less overhead from a developer's perspective. Building workflows in a declarative fashion, and hosting them as services, is a natural way for building business logic that is tiered away from running applications that subscribe to them, therefore providing flexibility for when business processes change.

In Pro WF 4.5, author Bayer White walks you, as the developer, through the steps and explains the concepts of declaratively modeling domain specific business processes that can be hosted and exposed as services, either on premise or as cloud services within Windows Azure.

  • Gives you a practical knowledge of WF 4.5, Windows Server and Azure AppFabric.

  • Builds a foundation for building workflows that can be exposed on-premise or in the cloud.

  • Shows how to use the tools available for managing workflow services.

    • What you'll learn

  • Understand the changes introduced in Windows Workflow Foundation after WF 4.0

  • Build workflows by understanding what tools are available so they can be hosted as services

  • Discover what hosting options are available with AppFabric and how to determine which one to use.

  • Understand how to install and configure Windows Server and Windows Azure AppFabric.

  • Deploy workflows as services using Windows Server and Windows Azure AppFabric.

  • Determine current health of running services by understanding what tools are available for monitoring.

    • Who this book is for

    Pro WF 4.5 is for developers and architects interested in building healthy long-running services either on-premise or in the cloud.

    Table of contents

    1. Title Page
    2. Dedication
    3. Contents at a Glance
    4. Contents
    5. About the Author
    6. About the Technical Reviewer
    7. Acknowledgments
    8. Introduction
    9. Chapter 1: Why Workflows
      1. Business Processes
      2. Workflow Activities
      3. Defining Requirements
      4. Model Driven Development
      5. Component Diagrams
      6. Use Case Diagrams
      7. Class Diagrams
      8. Sequence Diagrams
      9. Activity Diagrams
      10. Building an Activity Diagram
      11. Workflow Technology
      12. Summary
    10. Chapter 2: Introducing Windows Workflow Foundation
      1. WF History
      2. WF Components
      3. Persistence
      4. Tracking Workflows
      5. A Lap Around WF4.5
      6. Summary
    11. Chapter 3: Windows Workflow Activities
      1. Activity Basics
      2. Implementing Activities
      3. Summary
    12. Chapter 4: State Machine Workflows
      1. State Machine Components
      2. State Machine Behavior
      3. Summary
    13. Chapter 5: Flowchart Workflows
      1. Flow Activities
      2. Using Entity Framework with WF
      3. ForEach <T> Implementation
      4. Bookmarks for Flowchart Workflows
      5. Summary
    14. Chapter 6: Versioning and Updating Workflows
      1. Persistence Maturity
      2. Side-by-Side Workflow Execution
      3. Updating Running Workflow Instances
      4. Summary
    15. Chapter 7: Building Custom Workflow Activities
      1. Activity Base Classes
      2. Asynchronous Activities
      3. Native Activities
      4. Distributing Custom Activities
      5. Summary
    16. Chapter 8: Persisting Workflows
      1. Persistence Behavior
      2. SQL Server Persistence
      3. SQL Server Profiler
      4. SqlWorkflowInstanceStore
      5. Persistence Participant
      6. Summary
    17. Chapter 9: Tracking Workflows
      1. Tracking Overview
      2. Summary
    18. Chapter 10: Rehosting the Workflow Designer
      1. Rehosting Components
      2. Rehosting WF Controls in XAML
      3. Managing Workflows
      4. Workflows for Client Applications
      5. Summary
    19. Chapter 11: Stateful WCF Services Using Workflow
      1. Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
      2. Summary
    20. Chapter 12: Workflows in Windows Azure
      1. Windows Azure
      2. Azure Development Tools
      3. Azure Workflows
      4. Cloud Workflows
      5. Workflow Manager (Workflow 1.0 Beta)
      6. Summary
    21. Chapter 13: Hosting Workflows in Windows Server
      1. Architectural Components
      2. Deployment Types
      3. Installing AppFabric
      4. Deploying to AppFabric
      5. AppFabric Dashboard
      6. Summary
    22. Index

    Product information

    • Title: Pro WF 4.5
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: December 2012
    • Publisher(s): Apress
    • ISBN: 9781430243830