Workflow Foundation -- why?
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I don't mean this in a cynical way; if it's a good choice for my scenario, I'll use it. It seems like I could make use of it if I'm writing, say, a checkout app: customer comes in, does some shopping, comes to the counter, the clerk scans all the barcodes, asks if the customer has a point card, prints a receipt, saves the transaction and marketing info to the database. But I still can't quite put my finger on why it would be better to use Workflow Foundation than to just do all this by wiring a database to a client UI using LINQ to SQL. Any ideas? Thanks in advance, Rei
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I don't mean this in a cynical way; if it's a good choice for my scenario, I'll use it. It seems like I could make use of it if I'm writing, say, a checkout app: customer comes in, does some shopping, comes to the counter, the clerk scans all the barcodes, asks if the customer has a point card, prints a receipt, saves the transaction and marketing info to the database. But I still can't quite put my finger on why it would be better to use Workflow Foundation than to just do all this by wiring a database to a client UI using LINQ to SQL. Any ideas? Thanks in advance, Rei
Not all applications are "Collect data in a webform, shove in database". When you are trying to manage collection and approval of say purchase orders, assignment of stock allocations, matching of berthing locations to ships and then booking of product transfer equipment, all with different stages of approval in some management chain with loads of business rules, then it gets a bit more complex. You want all this fairly easy to change later (When someone says any loading over 5mt needs to be approved by someone with certain qualifications, etc). Also who wants to spend time writing their own workflow solution? :P
Mark Churchill Director Dunn & Churchill Free Download:
Diamond Binding: The simple, powerful, reliable, and effective data layer toolkit for Visual Studio. -
Not all applications are "Collect data in a webform, shove in database". When you are trying to manage collection and approval of say purchase orders, assignment of stock allocations, matching of berthing locations to ships and then booking of product transfer equipment, all with different stages of approval in some management chain with loads of business rules, then it gets a bit more complex. You want all this fairly easy to change later (When someone says any loading over 5mt needs to be approved by someone with certain qualifications, etc). Also who wants to spend time writing their own workflow solution? :P
Mark Churchill Director Dunn & Churchill Free Download:
Diamond Binding: The simple, powerful, reliable, and effective data layer toolkit for Visual Studio.So let me get this straight: it's good when there's a really complex/volatile business process that happens to involve a lot of computer check-ins/check-outs, and you want to model your entire application in the context of the business process whilst making it maintainable in case the business process changes later on. Right? In other words, if there isn't much logistics, skip WF. Okay, thanks :)
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So let me get this straight: it's good when there's a really complex/volatile business process that happens to involve a lot of computer check-ins/check-outs, and you want to model your entire application in the context of the business process whilst making it maintainable in case the business process changes later on. Right? In other words, if there isn't much logistics, skip WF. Okay, thanks :)
Yep. If there isn't much workflow, then skip WF ;)
Mark Churchill Director Dunn & Churchill Free Download:
Diamond Binding: The simple, powerful, reliable, and effective data layer toolkit for Visual Studio.