Designing and Implementing Custom Activities

This topic applies to Windows Workflow Foundation 4 (WF4).

Custom activities in .NET Framework version 4 are created by either assembling system-provided activities into composite activities or by creating new types that derive from CodeActivity, AsyncCodeActivity, or NativeActivity. This section describes how to create custom activities with either method.

Note:
Custom activities by default display within the workflow designer as a simple rectangle with the activity’s name. To provide a custom visual representation of your activity in the workflow designer you must also create a custom designer. For more information, see Using Custom Activity Designers and Templates.

In This Section

• Activity Authoring Options in WF
  Discusses the authoring styles available in .NET Framework version 4.

• Workflow Base Activity Classes
  Discusses the base activity classes used for authoring custom activities.

• Using a custom activity
  Describes how to use a custom activity in a workflow.

• Creating Asynchronous Activities in WF
  Describes how to create asynchronous activities.

• Configuring Activity Validation
  Describes how activity validation can be used to identify and report errors in an activity’s configuration prior to its execution.

• Creating an Activity at Runtime with DynamicActivity
  Discusses how to create activities at runtime using DynamicActivity.

• Workflow Execution Properties
  Describes how to use workflow execution properties to add context specific properties to an activity’s environment

• Using Activity Delegates
  Discusses how to author and use activities that contain activity delegates.

• Activity Localization
  Describes how to use localization of string resources in activities.

• Using Activity Extensions
  Describes how to author and use activity extensions.

• Consuming OData Feeds from a Workflow
  Describes several methods for calling a WCF Data Service from a workflow.

• Activity Definition Scoping and Visibility
  Describes the options and rules for defining data scoping and member visibility for activities.