Chapter 5. Advanced SharePoint Designer workflows
This chapter covers
- Saving a workflow as a template
- Managing security within workflows
- Declaring records within workflows
- Leveraging Business Connectivity Services within workflows
- Customizing the out-of-the-box workflows
- Working with document sets within workflows
In chapter 4, we looked at the basics of creating workflows, including how to use the fundamental components of a workflow and how to use the workflow editing interface. Although that was a good start, there’s much more to it.
In SPD 2010, you can save a workflow as a template. This template can be deployed across the entire farm, rather than the site or site collection. Even more valuable is the ability to deploy this workflow template to an entirely separate farm. This gives you the ability to test your SPD workflows in a nonproduction environment without the risk of causing unforeseeable production issues.
Another important technique that didn’t fit into the previous SPD chapter involves customizing the out-of-the-box workflows. SharePoint 2010 offers several powerful out-of-the-box workflows, but they often are too generic to meet specific business needs. Rather than starting from scratch, you can extend the out-of-the-box workflows with custom functionality.