Workflow Simulator

The Workflow Simulator was developed to be a Windows Presentation Foundation application that serves as the runtime environment for visualizing the execution of workflows as they react to input from the scenario specific user interface.

To run any of the workflows provided with the tutorial, follow these steps: - Launch WorkflowSimulator.exe - From the File menu, choose Open Workflow... - Navigate to the assembly containing the workflow you wish to run and click Open. - Follow the instructions in the left pane to see the execution in the right.

The Workflow Simulator has quite a few features that augment its utility in exploring the dynamics of the root workflows. To begin with, the Workflow Simulator can open and execute any workflow defined in any assembly (by default these should be .DLL’s, but it can also open workflows compiled into EXEs).   It is capable of displaying and running workflows not provided by this guidance (though some workflow may require hosting configuration not supported by the Workflow Simulator). By default, unless the workflow has a special attribute described later, the Workflow Simulator will display the workflow definition on the right and provide a button on the left which will execute the workflow.

Clicking Run Simulation button to execute the workflow, shows the currently executing activities highlighted in yellow (much like within the Visual Studio Workflow Debugger), with the single activity currently executing selected as well as named in the status bar at the bottom. Activities that have completed execution will have a blue check mark glyph over their top right corner. For future scenarios, additional glyphs may be added that provide additional insight into the state of the executing activity. Implementing Dynamic User Interfaces in the Simulator Because each business scenario will differ in the type of information requested from the user, or in how the user interacts with the workflow, the Workflow Simulator provides a pluggable user interface.

The choice of which interface to display is driven by the workflow definition that is opened. The user interface hosts any UIFrameworkElement that implements the IWorkflowUI  which ensures the control can receive a reference to the WorkflowDiagram (the control responsible for rendering the workflow) when it is added to the main user interface.