12.3. Overview of SharePoint's Workflow Proposition
With a high-level review of the core WF concepts covered, it is time to shift attention to the SharePoint aspects of workflow. One of the biggest requests from customers using WSS 2.0 or SPS 2003 was for a much more robust and extensible workflow capability in the SharePoint platform. During the planning of WSS 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007, Microsoft was developing the WF, which was a logical platform on which the SharePoint team could base the next version. Microsoft's adoption of WF in SharePoint was driven by two design goals.
First, users needed the capability to easily tie workflows to documents and items in SharePoint document libraries and lists. This is accomplished by associating workflows within the context of a specific list, something covered later in the chapter.
Second, users needed the capability to interact and monitor the status of running workflows. Due to SharePoint's collaborative nature, most if not virtually all workflows have some sort of human element to them. At the very least, workflows can only exist within the context of items or documents in SharePoint lists or libraries. List items and documents are usually added to lists and libraries by a person, not a process. Users need to be able to not only complete a form when the workflow starts, but also to view the status of the workflow instance during its execution. They also need the capability to modify a workflow instance ...
