Professional Microsoft® SharePoint® Designer 2007

9.1. Introducing the Workflow Designer

SharePoint provides many automated processes out-of-the-box, such as email alerts and a basic tri-state workflow. A tri-state workflow enables you to track the state of a process as it moves from an initiated condition to an in-process state to its concluded state (New order entered, Order Shipped, Payment Received, for instance). This is very useful, but, as its name implies, it can only handle three states and notifications about changes in those states.

Often, you might want to perform a task based on a value entered by your user, such as creating a new item in a different list, or escalating an issue after a certain amount of time has passed and an action has not been taken. While SharePoint's workflow engine is capable of such things, there is no web interface for creating these more sophisticated functions.

That's where the SharePoint Designer Workflow Designer comes in. The Workflow Designer is a tool that enables you to create a sequence of steps that need to be taken when certain conditions are met for a document or list item. The tool resembles an email inbox rules wizard, making it easy for people without a procedural programming background to produce sophisticated workflow applications.

9.1.1. Creating a New Workflow

There are several components in a SharePoint Designer workflow:

• Start options: Define the situations in which the workflow can be initiated.

• Initiation parameters: Information required to start the workflow.

• Variables: ...