Adding New Workflow Types: Background Information

You begin creating a new workflow type by orphaning the WFCustomScriptPkg object, to act as a superclass object in your custom module's OSpace. You can find the WFCustomScriptPkg object in WFMain:WFRoot.

Because the WFCustomScriptPkg object is a superclass object that can be used for many different workflow customizations, you create a child of the WFCustomScriptPkg object and use it to create each new workflow type.

For each workflow type that you create, you can modify the following scripts:

• GetWFTypeName() retrieves the name of the custom workflow type defined by the integer values of the wfType and wfSubType variables. If the values of the wfType and wfSubType variables correspond to the values of the wfType and wfSubType variables in the GetWFTypes() script, the corresponding workflow name is assigned to the workflow type and a variable named handled is set to TRUE. If the values of the wfType and wfSubType variables do not correspond to the values of the wfType and wfSubType variables in the GetWFTypes() script, a name is not assigned to the workflow type and the handled variable is set to FALSE.
• GetWFTypes() defines the type, subtype, and name of the custom workflow types that you create. This script returns a list of Assocs. Each Assoc contains an integer that specifies the type (wfType), an integer that specifies the subtype (wfSubType), and a string that specifies the name of the workflow type.

• StartWF() defines the changes that you want to make to a particular workflow's map definition. This script runs each time a workflow is initiated in Content Server. It does not apply to Sub-workflows.

• ModifyOptions() returns options that can be defined for specific workflow packages. The script runs each time you start to modify a workflow during execution or when you save your modifications. This allows you to configure different package behaviors during workflow modification depending on the workflow type.

After you orphan the WFCustomScriptPkg object and modify the GetWFTypeName(), GetWFTypes(), and StartWF() scripts, the Workflow Type list is exposed in the Content Server interface. This list is displayed on a workflow map's General Properties page and contains the names of the different types of workflows that you have created. The Workflow Type list lets the creators of workflow maps choose which type of workflow they want to create (that is, which custom operations they want to apply to their workflow map definition just before their workflow is initiated).