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Subject: Re: Workflow persistence: your thoughts please..
From: Terry Steichen <terry@net-frame.com>
To: jspwiki-dev@incubator.apache.org
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Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:49:57 -0400
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I think it would help a LOT if we could provide practical examples of
how workflows create unique benefits.  (And maybe pull the explanations
out of the javadocs and put it into a regular documentation form.)  Just
to show my ignorance in its full glory, in general, if I need a stateful
process, I will try to capture the steps in a JSP which handles all the
decision and processing logic within itself.  Presumably the workflow
capability provides a way to do this without the need for a dedicated
JSP (using my example).  But, like Harry, I've never used this
capability so don't know if it would be of any benefit or not.  (Like
Florian, however, I presumed that the workflows were persistent - not
sure what value they'd have if they had to be created from scratch all
the time.)

I also think this might provide an example for us to rethink what we're
doing with JSPWiki.  I see from the subsequent posting that JSPWiki uses
workflows in two places (and I had thought it was also involved in
login?).  That limited role suggests that workflow functionality may be
quite far removed from core JSPWiki functionality.  And there's
something to be said for keeping such capabilities out of the core.

Knowing Andrew's capabilities, I feel certain that the workflow
implementation is probably quite elegant.  However, at this point I
don't feel strongly about the usefulness of the workflow capability
(largely because I don't know much about it).  And, I think it does
provide an example for considering just how far to expand JSPWiki, in
what directions.

Terry

PS: It would be helpful if any list members who actually use the
workflow functionality (particularly in a production environment) could
comment about their use of it.  Also, maybe Andrew could comment on any
larger plans he has for moving it into a more central role in JSPWiki?


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