How to: Configure a Workflow with Office Live Small Business

A workflow is the automated movement of documents or items through a sequence of actions or tasks related to a business process. A workflow attaches business logic to documents or items in a Microsoft Office Live Small Business list or library. Business logic is a set of instructions that specifies and controls actions that can be automated in a process for a document or item. Office Live Small Business enables you to attach and configure a workflow to an Office Live Small Business list or library by using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007.

By using a workflow, you can track the status of an issue or item through different phases, where each phase is called a step. For example, you can use a workflow to track a list item through three different states (going from one state to the next also goes from one step to the next). When you reach each state, the system checks the conditions and decides which transition task is the best. You go from one state to the next by executing transition tasks.

With each transition between states, a task is assigned to a person who receives an e-mail alert about the task. When each task is completed, the status of the item is updated accordingly and the workflow progresses to the next state.

When you create a workflow for use in a specific list or library by using Office SharePoint Designer 2007, the workflow is created from a list of available workflow activities, and the Web designer who creates the workflow can deploy it directly to the list or document library where it will be used.

How does a workflow evaluate steps?

A step in a workflow is a set of related conditions and actions. So when a workflow is started, it evaluates the conditions for the first step, and for the first condition that is true, the workflow performs the associated actions. One step in a workflow can perform any number of actions, from sending an e-mail message to creating, copying, moving, or deleting a list item.

When you design a workflow, conditions that are part of a state are evaluated, and transition tasks are executed, as follows:

• If a step contains only actions and no conditions, the workflow always performs those actions.
• If a step has conditional branches, and each branch has a condition, the workflow performs an action only when the condition in one of the branches is satisfied. If no condition in any branch is satisfied, by default the workflow moves to the next step.
• If a step has conditional branches, and each branch has a condition except for the last branch, the workflow performs an action only when the condition in one of the branches is satisfied. If no condition is satisfied, the workflow performs the action in the last branch, which has no condition.

To configure a workflow for Microsoft Office Live

1. In Office SharePoint Designer 2007, open the Web page that contains the list or library where you want to attach the workflow. For example, if you want to send an e-mail alert to your sales representatives when a new contact is assigned to them, open the Contacts list.
2. On the File menu, click New, and then click Workflow.
3. In the Workflow Designer dialog box, type a name for your workflow, select the list or item where you want the workflow attached, and select an option from Workflow Start Options.
4. In the SharePoint Designer dialog box, in the Conditions list, select and set up the condition(s) on which you want to base the transition tasks.
5. In the Actions list, select the actions that you want the workflow to perform when that condition is satisfied, and then click Add the Else If condition branch.
6. If you have more conditions to set up, repeat the steps above for each condition. When you have finished, click Next.
7. Click Check Workflow to validate your steps and see if the workflow is set up correctly. If necessary, return to the Conditions and Actions lists to modify the workflow until it successfully performs the actions you specified, based on the conditions you specified.
8. Click Finish.

For more information about creating workflows, see Office SharePoint Designer 2007 Help.