Developing the User Interface for Exchange Workflow

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Workflows are triggered by any save or post in the workflow folder, and the Exchange Web Storage System provides heterogeneous document storage. Whatever you use as your user interface is up to you and has no relation to the functionality addressed by CDO Workflow objects. Typically, the user interface is independent of CDO Workflow objects and runs on a client computer.

Designing a user interface is best approached as an iterative process — you rarely will come up with a perfect design on the first pass. The following topics introduce you to the process of designing an interface using Microsoft® Outlook® and introduce the tools you must have to create a great application for your users.

The workflow will work with any form, and any front end, even a standard Outlook message form. In most applications, you will have a custom front end, with custom fields for your application. You can access these fields through script in your workflow.

Because the workflow is triggered only by saves, you might want a button in your form to trigger a workflow transition and then save the workflow item. In addition, you might want to create custom views of your form for different states in your workflow.

In This Section

• User Interface Considerations
  The user interface is perhaps the most important part of an application; it is certainly the most visible.
• Outlook Forms
  A form is an easy way to distribute and collect information electronically.

Related Sections

• Developing Workflow Applications for Exchange Server
  Generally, the term "workflow" is used to describe applications that are modeled as business processes. Typical workflow applications include forms routing/approval, document review/publishing, and issue tracking.
• Workflow Applications Architecture for Exchange Server
  A workflow application consists of forms and documents that a user manipulates and tools on the server that manage those documents according to a set of rules.
• Planning a Workflow Process for Exchange Server
  As with all development, planning is the key to creating successful applications. The Workflow Designer for Exchange 2000 Server automates many of the activities required to create a workflow process for Microsoft® Exchange 2000 Server.
• Building a Workflow Process for Exchange Server
  The Workflow Designer makes it possible for you to build, modify, and add script to workflow processes for Microsoft® Exchange 2000 folders.
• Scripting in the Workflow Designer for Exchange Server
  Add functionality to your workflow process by using Microsoft® Visual Basic® Scripting Edition (VBScript).
• Advanced Workflow Process Management
  When you have created your workflow processes using the Workflow Designer, you can use the advanced management features.
• Troubleshooting Workflow Applications for Exchange Server
  This topic provides information to help you avoid or resolve the most common errors and issues you might encounter when using Workflow Designer.