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Workflow description and implementation in .Net


Here is the situation: We have to build a system made of web services as main components. Some web services will write data in databases, other receive a file as input and produce a transformed file as output, make validation on the file format...

Our idea is first to develop the basic components and then put them in a cloud (using Windows Azure).

The current problem is how will the web services communicate? Since our customers use a client application which communicates with a front end web service, what is the best solution to model and implement the business process or workflow in our future cloud?

I read some articles about BPMN, BPEL and YAWL but I don't know if these are good ways to start. And are they compatible with the service bus of Windows cloud?


Solution

  • I guess you have solved the problem by now, but Windows Workflow would have been a fair choice for this application.

    See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd489441.aspx

    This is the workflow language integrated into .NET, being its counterpart to BPEL, YAWL and all the others. As you can see here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/appfabriccat/archive/2011/01/12/running-net4-windows-workflows-in-azure-today.aspx runs in Azure.

    This integration might get even stronger in .NET 4.5, see: https://wf.codeplex.com/releases/view/72594