Explain workflows in SharePoint

A workflow allows you to attach a business process to items in Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010. This process can control almost any aspect of an item in SharePoint Foundation 2010, including the life cycle of that item. For example, you could create a simple workflow that routes a document to a series of users for approval. Workflows can be as simple or complex as your business processes require. You can create workflows that the user initiates, or workflows that SharePoint Foundation 2010 automatically initiate based on some event, such as when an item is created or changed.

SharePoint Foundation 2010 workflows are made available to end-users at the list or document-library level. Workflows can be added to documents or list items. Workflow can also be added to content types. Multiple workflows may be available for a given item. Multiple workflows can run simultaneously on the same item, but only one instance of a specific workflow can run on a specific item at any given time.

Each server farm contains a workflow associations table. Each entry in this table contains association data for a workflow as it applies to a specific content type, list, or document library. This association data typically includes whether the workflow is started automatically or by users and the task and history lists for the workflow. If a workflow has been added to multiple content types, lists, or document libraries, it will have one entry for each such association. Likewise, if you add multiple workflows to a specific content type, list, or document library, then the table contains one entry for each workflow added to the content type, list, or document library.

Workflows can be of two types, which are as follows:

• SharePoint Designer Reusable Workflows
  A reusable workflow also known declarative workflow is a workflow that is built from conditions and actions that are assembled into rules and steps and that sets the parameters for the workflow without writing code. Unlike code-centric workflows such as those that are created by using Visual Studio, declarative workflows are not deployed to SharePoint Server 2010 as compiled code instead they are compiled at runtime.
• Visual Studio Workflows
  A visual studio workflows also known as compiled workflow, like declarative workflows, can also be built from conditions and actions without the workflow author actually writing code but also enable the workflow author to add custom code to the workflow.

Distinction between declarative and compiled workflow

Regardless of whether a workflow author adds custom code to a code-centric workflow, the most important distinction to understand is the difference in the way that declarative and compiled workflows are run on the server. A compiled workflow is stored on a server running SharePoint Server 2010 as a precompiled dll file whereas a declarative workflow is deployed on a server running SharePoint Server 2010 as an Extensible Object Markup Language (XOML) file and compiled in the content database each time an instance of the workflow is started.

The workflows that are created using the SharePoint Designer cannot be created for a site, instead we need to use Visual Studio. Also using Visual Studio we can create Global workflows which means that when activated for a site it will be activated for all the child sites under it, using SharePoint Designer this is not possible.

The different types of workflow forms that can be there are as follows:

1. Association and Initiation Form
   Association and initialization forms are displayed for users to fill out before any workflow is actually started. You can use these forms to enable users to set parameters and other information for the workflow before it starts. This initiation form can either be a custom web part form or an infopath form.
2. Modification Form
    Modifications are options you present to users to change the workflow as it's running on an item. You can then create modification forms that enable users to specify the parameters of the modification.
3. Task Form
   You can also specify custom forms for the tasks in your workflow. Because tasks are SharePoint items that are assigned a content type, however, the content type actually determines the custom forms used with the task type.

The workflows provided by SharePoint Foundation are as follows:

• Sequential Workflow
  A sequential workflow represents a workflow as a procession of steps that execute in order until the last activity completes. However, sequential workflows are not purely sequential in their execution. Because they can receive external events, and include parallel logic flows, the exact order of activity execution can vary somewhat.
• State Machine Workflow
  A state machine workflow represents a set of states, transitions, and actions. One state is denoted as the start state, and then, based on an event, a transition can be made to another state. The state machine can have a final state that determines the end of the workflow.

The workflows provided by SharePoint Server are as follows:

• Collect Feedback Workflow
  Routes a document or item to a group of people for feedback. Reviewers can provide feedback, which is then compiled and sent to the person who initiated the workflow. By default, the Collect Feedback workflow is associated with the Document content type, and therefore it is automatically available in document libraries.
• Approval Workflow
  Routes a document or item to a group of people for approval. By default, the Approval workflow is associated with the Document content type, and therefore it is automatically available in document libraries. A version of the Approval workflow is also associated by default with the Pages library on a publishing site, and can be used to manage the approval process for the publication of Web pages.
  The Approval workflow is a staged approval model (that is, the first set of approvers can undergo the review and approval process, then the next set of approvers, and so on). Each stage or approval set can also have its own behavior. For example, members of the first group of approvers can do their review in serial approval order (one after the other), members of the second group can do their review in parallel (reviewers can provide feedback in any order), and so on.
• Disposition Workflow
  Manages document expiration and retention by letting participants to decide whether to keep or delete expired documents. The Disposition Approval workflow supports record management processes and is intended for use primarily in a Records Center site.
• Collect Signatures Workflow
  Routes a document that was created in a Microsoft application to a group of people to collect their digital signatures. This workflow must be started in applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system and the Microsoft Office 2010 suites such as Microsoft Word. Participants must complete their signature tasks by adding their digital signatures to the documents in the relevant client program. By default, the Collect Signatures workflow is associated with the Document content type, and therefore is automatically available in document libraries. However, the Collect Signatures workflow appears for a document in the document library only if that document contains one or more Microsoft Office Signature Lines.
• Translation Management Workflow
  Manages manual document translation by creating copies of the document to be translated and by assigning translation tasks to translators. This workflow is available only for Translation Management libraries.
• Issue Tracking Workflow
  Routes an issue to team members for resolution. It presents a Web page to the user who makes possible the entry of new issues; for example, customer complaints. As an issue progresses through different workflow states, the Web page of the user changes to reflect appropriate events; for example, a Web page that was closed when an issue is resolved.
• Three State Workflow
  Designed to track the status of a list item through three states (phases). It can be used to manage business processes that require organizations to track a high volume of issues or items, such as customer support issues, sales leads, or project tasks.
  The Three-state workflow is so named because it tracks the status of an issue or item through three different states and through two transitions between the states. For example, when a workflow is initiated on an issue in an Issues list, SharePoint Server 2010 creates a task for the assigned user. When the user completes the task, the workflow changes from its initial state (Active) to its middle state (Resolved) and creates a task for the assigned user. When the user completes the task, the workflow changes from its middle state (Resolved) to its final state (Closed), and creates another task for the user to whom the workflow is assigned at that time. Note that this workflow is only supported on lists, not libraries.

 

Reference:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff819861.aspx
Workflow Tools - http://technet.microsoft.com/library/cc263308%28office.14%29.aspx