Visual Studio WF Project Templates
Visual Studio provides a number of WF templates, most of which are available within the Workflow node of
the New Project dialog. Strictly speaking, you are not required to use them. It is possible but not
recommended to use the WF API without using any visual design tools. However, in the majority of cases,
you will want to make use of the WF project template designers.
As explained in more detail later, the WF API supports two broad categories of workflows: sequential and
state machine. From the Workflow node, you will find sequential and state machine templates for WF console
applications, custom activity libraries, and WF class libraries. You will also find an empty workflow project,
which adds references to the WF assemblies but does not add initial code. This project type will yield a *.dll
assembly.
In addition, you will find WF / SharePoint 2007 integration projects. This course will not examine SharePoint
2007 integration projects. Consult the .NET Framework SDK documentation for details.
Visual Studio also provides a few WF-centric project templates from the WCF node of the New Project
dialog. As you may know, the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) API is the preferred way to
build distributed systems as of .NET 3.0 and higher. Under the WCF node, you will find WCF library
projects that have integrated support for designing workflows. These project templates can help simplify
building WCF services that make internal use of workflows. You will not use these project templates in this
class.
It is also worth pointing out that Microsoft provides WF template support for Visual Studio 2005. This
plug-in can be downloaded for free from www.microsoft.com/downloads.
Visual Studio provides a number of WF templates, most of which are available within the Workflow node of
the New Project dialog. Strictly speaking, you are not required to use them. It is possible but not
recommended to use the WF API without using any visual design tools. However, in the majority of cases,
you will want to make use of the WF project template designers.
As explained in more detail later, the WF API supports two broad categories of workflows: sequential and
state machine. From the Workflow node, you will find sequential and state machine templates for WF console
applications, custom activity libraries, and WF class libraries. You will also find an empty workflow project,
which adds references to the WF assemblies but does not add initial code. This project type will yield a *.dll
assembly.
In addition, you will find WF / SharePoint 2007 integration projects. This course will not examine SharePoint
2007 integration projects. Consult the .NET Framework SDK documentation for details.
Visual Studio also provides a few WF-centric project templates from the WCF node of the New Project
dialog. As you may know, the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) API is the preferred way to
build distributed systems as of .NET 3.0 and higher. Under the WCF node, you will find WCF library
projects that have integrated support for designing workflows. These project templates can help simplify
building WCF services that make internal use of workflows. You will not use these project templates in this
class.
It is also worth pointing out that Microsoft provides WF template support for Visual Studio 2005. This
plug-in can be downloaded for free from www.microsoft.com/downloads.
Visual Studio WF Project Templates
Table of Contents
Copyright (c) 2008. Intertech, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This information is to be used exclusively as an
online learning aid. Any attempts to copy, reproduce, or use for training is strictly prohibited.
online learning aid. Any attempts to copy, reproduce, or use for training is strictly prohibited.
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