Sams Teach Yourself Windows® Workflow Foundation (WF) in 24 Hours

In just 24 sessions of about an hour, you'll learn how to build robust, efficient business workflows with Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, each lesson builds the real-world foundation you need to succeed with WF from the ground up.Filled with hands-on code examples, this book walks you through creating every type of workflow supported by .NET 3.5's powerful new version of WF. One step at a time, you'll discover how to host workflows, manage workflow lifecycles, integrate with Web services and WCF applications, create custom activities, and moreeverything you'll need to solve real-world problems with WF!Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common WF questions, issues, and tasks.Q&As help you build and test your knowledge.Notes point out shortcuts, solutions, and potential problems to avoid.New terms are clearly defined and explained.Learn how to...Understand the value of workflows and their role in general .NET and advanced business process management systemsRun workflows from and exchange data with .NET applicationsCreate sequential, state-machine, and data-driven workflowsDefine multi-level approval workflows that execute in parallel and escalateDevelop rulesets and manage them from SQL databasesTrack your workflows to make them more agile and governableUse Dynamic Update to change running workflowsWork with exceptions, compensation, and transactionsExpose workflows as Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services and call Web services from workflows via WCFExpose workflows as Web services and call Web services from workflowsCreate basic, queued, event-driven, and composite custom activities