Book Image

Programming Windows Workflow Foundation: Practical WF Techniques and Examples using XAML and C#

By : Kenneth Scott Allen
Book Image

Programming Windows Workflow Foundation: Practical WF Techniques and Examples using XAML and C#

By: Kenneth Scott Allen

Overview of this book

Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) is a technology for defining, executing, and managing workflows. It is part of the .NET Framework 3.0 and will be available natively in the Windows Vista operating system. Windows Workflow Foundation might be the most significant piece of middleware to arrive on the Windows platform since COM+ and the Distributed Transaction Coordinator. The difference is, not every application needs a distributed transaction, but nearly every application does have a workflow encoded inside it. In this book, K Scott Allen, author of renowned .NET articles at www.odetocode.com, provides you with all the information needed to develop successful products with Windows Workflow. From the basics of how Windows Workflow can solve the difficult problems inherent in workflow solutions, through authoring workflows in code, learning about the base activity library in Windows Workflow and the different types of workflow provided, and on to building event-driven workflows using state machines, workflow communications, and finally rules and conditions in Windows Workflow, this book will give you the in-depth information you need. Throughout the book, an example "bug reporting" workflow system is developed, showcasing the technology and techniques used.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)
Programming Windows Workflow Foundation: Practical WF Techniques and Examples using XAML and C#
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
Preface

Transactions and Compensation


Traditional ACID (atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable) transactions are available in Windows Workflow. Under the covers, the runtime makes use of the Transaction class in the System.Transactions namespace. The Transaction class can manage transactions across different types of durable stores, including Microsoft SQL Server and other relational databases, and products like Microsoft Message Queuing. When needed, the Transaction class can use the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MSDTC) for heavy-weight two-phase commit transactions.

The TransactionScopeActivity

Like the TransactionScope class of System.Transactions, the TransactionScope activity will start a transaction and implicitly enlist any activities it contains into the transaction. The TransactionOptions property controls the timeout and the isolation level of the transaction.

If the TransactionScope activity finishes with no errors it will automatically commit the transaction. If...