Creating Powerful and Flexible Workflows

Workflows are even more powerful in SharePoint 2010 than in SharePoint 2007 products, and the integration with SharePoint Designer 2010 gives almost complete control over these workflows to power users and developers. Workflows are no longer as constrained as they were in SharePoint 2007 where custom workflows were essentially locked to a specific list or library, unless they were packaged as solutions. Chapter 28, “Out-of-the-Box Workflows and Designer 2010 Workflows,” provides a detailed walk-through of the process of designing and using workflows in SharePoint 2010, whereas Chapter 29, “Application Development with SharePoint Designer 2010 and Visual Studio 2010,” delves into some of the possibilities of application development with SharePoint Designer 2010.

Some of the highlights of SharePoint Designer 2010 include impersonation steps, where workflows can run under the context of another user other than that of the executing user. In addition, a workflow created at the top level of a site collection can be used by any subsite, whereas a workflow created in a specific subsite can be reused within that subsite. Workflows can also be exported from one site collection and then uploaded and activated in another site collection. Association Columns enable required columns to be automatically added to a list or library when a reusable workflow is associated to that list or library. Site workflows are associated to a site, rather than to a list, library, or content type. Standard workflows included with SharePoint Server (Approval, Collect Feedback, and Collect Signatures workflows) are now “declarative workflows,” which means they are customizable in SharePoint Designer 2010.