Task 2: Create the Custom Activity Host Application

Article
01/09/2007

In this task, you create the host application that is used in this tutorial.

The application that you build for the tutorial is a simple text-based Web browser that is built using a Windows Form. The form contains a text box, which is used to enter a Web page address, and a button, which is labeled Go. When the button is clicked, the application loads and starts the sequential workflow. This workflow contains a single custom activity that performs the task of downloading the text of the Web page.

Note
Although you are encouraged to follow the exercises in a linear manner, it is not required. You can start this exercise by opening the sample project and proceeding to the steps in the following section.

Creating the CustomActivityHost Source File

First, you must create the source code file that you will use for the rest of the tutorial.

To create the Windows Form source code file

In your main project file (CustomActivity), insert a new ItemGroup element before the Import element at the end of the file.
In the ItemGroup element, add a new Compile element.
Add a new attribute to the Compile element named Include using the file name CustomActivityHost.cs for C# projects or CustomActivityHost.vb for Visual Basic.NET projects.

Add a new child element to the Compile element named SubType.

Give this element the value Form. Your ItemGroup node will appear as follows:

<ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="CustomActivityHost.vb">
        <SubType>Form</SubType>
    </Compile>
</ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="CustomActivityHost.cs">
        <SubType>Form</SubType>
    </Compile>
</ItemGroup>

Adding Code to the Host Application

Next, you add the code for the Windows Form application.

To add the Windows Form code to the host application

In your project directory, create a new file named CustomActivityHost.

Give the file a .cs extension if you are creating a C# application, or a .vb extension for a Visual Basic application.

In the CustomActivityHost source code file, add the following code for the Windows Form application.

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports System.Workflow.Runtime

Namespace Microsoft.Samples.Workflow.Tutorials.CustomActivity
    Public Class MainForm : Inherits Form
        Private addressCaption As System.Windows.Forms.Label
        Private address As System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
        Private data As System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
        Private WithEvents goButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
        Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer = Nothing

        Public Sub New()
            InitializeComponent()
        End Sub

        Private Sub goButton_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
            ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles goButton.Click
        End Sub

        Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
            If disposing AndAlso (Not components Is Nothing) Then
                components.Dispose()
            End If
            MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
        End Sub

        Private Sub InitializeComponent()
            Me.addressCaption = New System.Windows.Forms.Label()
            Me.address = New System.Windows.Forms.TextBox()
            Me.data = New System.Windows.Forms.TextBox()
            Me.goButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button()
            Me.SuspendLayout()
            ' 
            ' addressCaption
            ' 
            Me.addressCaption.AutoSize = True
            Me.addressCaption.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(15, 13)
            Me.addressCaption.Name = "addressCaption"
            Me.addressCaption.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(41, 13)
            Me.addressCaption.TabIndex = 0
            Me.addressCaption.Text = "Address"
            ' 
            ' address
            ' 
            Me.address.Anchor = (CType(((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top Or _
                         System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Left) Or _
                         System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right), _
                         System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles))
            Me.address.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(16, 28)
            Me.address.Name = "address"
            Me.address.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(430, 20)
            Me.address.TabIndex = 0
            Me.address.Text = "http://"
            ' 
            ' data
            ' 
            Me.data.Anchor = (CType((((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top Or _
                         System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Bottom) Or _
                         System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Left) Or _
                         System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right), _
                         System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles))
            Me.data.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(15, 55)
            Me.data.Multiline = True
            Me.data.Name = "data"
            Me.data.ReadOnly = True
            Me.data.ScrollBars = System.Windows.Forms.ScrollBars.Vertical
            Me.data.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(496, 320)
            Me.data.TabIndex = 2
            ' 
            ' goButton
            ' 
            Me.goButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(462, 25)
            Me.goButton.Name = "goButton"
            Me.goButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(49, 23)
            Me.goButton.TabIndex = 1
            Me.goButton.Text = "Go"
            Me.goButton.Anchor = CType( _
                (System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top Or _
                System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right), _
                System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles)
            ' 
            ' MainForm
            ' 
            Me.AcceptButton = Me.goButton
            Me.AutoScaleDimensions = New System.Drawing.SizeF(6.0F, 13.0F)
            Me.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font
            Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(523, 407)
            Me.Controls.Add(Me.goButton)
            Me.Controls.Add(Me.data)
            Me.Controls.Add(Me.address)
            Me.Controls.Add(Me.addressCaption)
            Me.Name = "MainForm"
            Me.Text = "Web Tear"
            Me.ResumeLayout(False)
            Me.PerformLayout()
        End Sub
    End Class

    Friend Class Program
        Private Sub New()
        End Sub
        <STAThread()> _
        Shared Sub Main()
            Application.EnableVisualStyles()
            Application.Run(New MainForm())
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Workflow.Runtime;

namespace Microsoft.Samples.Workflow.Tutorials.CustomActivity
{
    public class MainForm : Form
    {
        private System.Windows.Forms.Label addressCaption;
        private System.Windows.Forms.TextBox address;
        private System.Windows.Forms.TextBox data;
        private System.Windows.Forms.Button goButton;
        private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;

        public MainForm()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void goButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
        }

        protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
        {
            if (disposing && (components != null))
            {
                components.Dispose();
            }
            base.Dispose(disposing);
        }

        private void InitializeComponent()
        {
            this.addressCaption = new System.Windows.Forms.Label();
            this.address = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
            this.data = new System.Windows.Forms.TextBox();
            this.goButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
            this.SuspendLayout();
            // 
            // addressCaption
            // 
            this.addressCaption.AutoSize = true;
            this.addressCaption.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(15, 13);
            this.addressCaption.Name = "addressCaption";
            this.addressCaption.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(41, 13);
            this.addressCaption.TabIndex = 0;
            this.addressCaption.Text = "Address";
            // 
            // address
            // 
            this.address.Anchor = ((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles)
                (((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top | 
                System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Left) | 
                System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right)));
            this.address.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(16, 28);
            this.address.Name = "address";
            this.address.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(430, 20);
            this.address.TabIndex = 0;
            this.address.Text = "http://";
            // 
            // data
            // 
            this.data.Anchor = ((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles)
                ((((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top | 
                System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Bottom) | 
                System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Left) | 
                System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right)));
            this.data.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(15, 55);
            this.data.Multiline = true;
            this.data.Name = "data";
            this.data.ReadOnly = true;
            this.data.ScrollBars = System.Windows.Forms.ScrollBars.Vertical;
            this.data.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(496, 320);
            this.data.TabIndex = 2;
            // 
            // goButton
            // 
            this.goButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(462, 25);
            this.goButton.Name = "goButton";
            this.goButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(49, 23);
            this.goButton.TabIndex = 1;
            this.goButton.Text = "Go";
            this.goButton.Anchor = ((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles)
                ((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top | 
                System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right)));
            this.goButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.goButton_Click);
            // 
            // MainForm
            // 
            this.AcceptButton = this.goButton;
            this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
            this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
            this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(523, 407);
            this.Controls.Add(this.goButton);
            this.Controls.Add(this.data);
            this.Controls.Add(this.address);
            this.Controls.Add(this.addressCaption);
            this.Name = "MainForm";
            this.Text = "Web Tear";
            this.ResumeLayout(false);
            this.PerformLayout();
        }
    }

    static class Program
    {
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.Run(new MainForm());
        }
    }
}

Compiling the Code

Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft .NET Framework SDK v2.0, and then click SDK Command Prompt.
Go to the source directory of the tutorial.
At the command prompt, type MSBUILD to build the project.
Run the application in the \bin\debug folder (or the \bin folder if you are using Visual Basic .NET). Your application will appear similar to the following figure:

In Task 3: Create the Custom Activity Sequential Workflow, you will create a basic sequential workflow that you will build on later.

Task 2: Create the Custom Activity Host Application

Creating the CustomActivityHost Source File

To create the Windows Form source code file

Adding Code to the Host Application

To add the Windows Form code to the host application

Compiling the Code

See Also

Concepts

Other Resources

Additional resources