System.WorkflowModel and System.WorkflowServiceModel
[This is prerelease documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]
This topic describes the data types, relationships, and constraints that together represent the functionality of the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) as implemented in the .NET Framework. For more information about all available models, see System-Provided Models.
System.WorkflowModel and System.WorkflowServiceModel Overview
The System.WorkflowModel, System.WorkflowModel.Activities, System.WorkflowServiceModel, and System.WorkflowServiceModel.Activities modules contain the data types, relationships, and constraints that together represent the functionality of the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) as implemented in the .NET Framework. The Windows Workflow Foundation is a set of managed types that mirror quite closely the structure and flow of business processes, and are designed to ease the implementation of business process applications and components.
Those familiar with Windows Workflow Foundation will recognize the models available in these modules. For example, the SequenceActivity class in the .NET Framework has a corresponding type in the System.WorkflowModel.Activities module, the SequenceActivity. Likewise, the WhileActivity activity in the System.WorkflowModel.Activities module has its .NET Framework equivalent, the While class, and so on. The same is true of the System.WorkflowServiceModel.Activities module, which contains the types that represent activities that can send or receive messages from Windows Workflow Foundation activities: the ClientOperation, the ServiceOperation, the SendMessage, and the ReceiveMessage activities.
Note that not all names are exactly the same; in this case, the model names correspond closely to the XAML form of the .NET Framework types, not the class names. For more information about Windows Workflow Foundation, see System.Workflow.Activities.
The types in these modules are typically experienced as visual shapes and data fields in a visual tool like “Quadrant” when assembling applications using these system-provided models. The composite activities such as Flowchart and Sequence are configured using a Diagram viewer in “Quadrant”, whereas leaf activities become individual nodes in the composite diagram. Development can continue by exporting the applications or components to Visual Studio. For more information about Visual Studio Workflow Designer, see Using Visual Studio for Windows Workflow Foundation
Developers creating their own custom models can use the Windows Workflow Foundation data types to create custom activities or rules and add them to the repository so that they can be used from quadrant. To provide a full-fidelity, easily-used visual experience for a custom Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) model in quadrant, you need to configure a viewer to provide such a view. For more information about configuring viewers in “Quadrant”, see Configuring a Viewer.
When you extended a Windows Workflow Foundation model in the “Oslo” repository and configure a quadrant viewer for that model, you are performing the modeling platform equivalent of doing the same thing in Visual Studio. For more information about creating custom Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) activities using the .NET Framework, see Creating Custom Activities.