Creating a Sequential Workflow Outside of a Flowchart
In the .NET Framework 4, developers typically choose between two different styles of workflow by choosing different outermost activities. Those activities are:
- Sequence: Executes activities in sequence, one after another. The sequence can contain If activities, While activities, and other kinds of control flow. It’s not possible to go backwards, however—execution must always move forward.
- Flowchart: Executes activities one after another, like a Sequence, but also allows control to return to an earlier step. This more flexible approach, new in the .NET Framework 4 release of WF, is closer both to how real processes work and to the way most of us think.
When creating a JAMS Workflow job a sequence of activities can be created using either the Flowchart or Sequence activity. The Sequence activity belongs to the "Control Flow" activity group and enables you to drop other activities onto it as seen in the example below:
A sequence can host any activity including Flowcharts and decision structures. The sequence activity is beneficial because it provides a more condensed view of a series of activities than a Flowchart.