+1
On Thursday, 24 May 2012 14:57:55 UTC-5, Richard wrote: > > Keep going Ross, I like what I read! > > :) > > Richard > > On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 3:29 PM, Ross Peoples <ross.peop...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> Just wanted to give an update on this. I'm working on the workflow engine >> nearly every day. Workflow engines are complicated things with lots of >> pitfalls that need to be taken into account. Having said that, I am getting >> closer to completing it. >> >> What works: >> >> - Templates >> - Creating workflows on-the-fly >> - Serial and parallel steps (wait on more than one user/group at a >> time) >> - Due date calculation taking schedules, holidays, etc into account >> - Simple flow of a workflow (i.e. every step is completed >> successfully, without issue) >> - Full delta auditing with support for writing audit logs to another >> DAL instance >> - Triggers (when someone does something to a workflow, some code can >> be executed) >> >> What needs to be finished: >> >> - Step rejections (someone noticed a problem created in a previous >> step and wants to send it back to be corrected) >> - Workflow monitors (users that aren't currently involved with the >> workflow, but want to monitor the workflow's progress) >> - Workflow comments (have rejections and other comments on the >> workflow been addressed) >> - Workflow check-list (high-level workflow objectives, created and >> managed by users, basically just meta-data) >> - Documentation (API and User Guide) >> >> Most of the functionality in the "needs to be finished" list has been >> written, but not tested. The engine is about 1500 lines of code right now, >> which includes about 350 lines of tests. One of my main goals has been to >> write a test suite that tests as many scenarios as possible. Writing a user >> guide with example usage will come after the engine has been accepted in >> web2py. I want to make sure the API doesn't need changing before I start >> writing actual documentation. >> >> I started writing this engine because I needed to replace a proprietary >> engine I created in C# several years ago that has seen years of production >> use. Unfortunately, the old engine lacks a lot of features (parallel steps, >> monitors, comments, check-lists, auditing, etc) and is tied to a single >> specific object. I wanted a workflow engine that could attach a workflow to >> just about anything. I also wanted it to have better features, cleaner >> code, and be easier to use. >> >> Hopefully, I will continue to make excellent progress on it and have >> something to submit for approval soon. I'll keep you posted! >> > >
