PowerWF Layout and Terminology
Here is a preview of the introductory portion of the PowerWF Studio - Getting Started Guide (the part that most people skip over right after they skip over the installation instructions). This section describes the product layout and defines some of the terms used in PowerWF Studio.
If there are more terms that need to be clarified, please post them in the comments
Product Overview
PowerWF Studio leverages Windows Workflow Foundation to create a rich, easy to use workflow creation tool. When the application is initially launched, the number of available options may seem overwhelming but most are self-explanatory. This guide will walk through numerous examples that will explore the most common features but first it is necessary to become familiar with the layout and terminology.
Studio Layout
PowerWF Studio is laid out similar to many other modern Windows products, and like most other products, poking around at tabs and buttons will likely be all the effort that is required to start using the product. The layout information below is provided as a reference for the tutorials.
Ribbon Bar - The ribbon bar controls all common activities, such as creating or saving workflows, playing workflows, or publishing workflows to the agent.
Toolbox - All prebuilt activities reside in the Toolbox in the left-hand pane. Activities are units of work, such as getting drive information or displaying data in an HTML table. Drag activities to the canvas to create workflows.
Output - The bottom center pane displays output information from workflows as they run.
Canvas - Workflows are displayed on the Canvas window in the center pane of the PowerWF Studio. Until a new workflow is created, the canvas shows the start page with a link to a YouTube video showing the basic layout of the PowerWF Studio environment and the steps necessary to create a simple “Hello World” workflow.
Properties - The properties for any activity in a workflow can be edited using the property viewer in the right hand pane.
Terminology
Although PowerWF Studio was designed to be very easy to use with minimal jargon, there are a few terms that require defining.
Activity – An “Activity” is the smallest unit of work in a workflow. The terms “Step” and “Task” are used interchangeably with “Activity” in various other workflow discussions, but in PowerWF the term “Activity” will always be used. An activity could be anything from a connection to a server, a loop that iterates through a list virtual machines, or a conditional branch or rule based on the output from a previous activity. Activities can be very simple or very complex, but they cannot be subdivided into smaller units of work within PowerWF. This nuance will be discussed in more detail later.
Activity Pack – An “Activity Pack” is a group of related activities. Windows Workflow provides a handful of basic “Activity Packs” to handle conditional and flow control activities. PowerWF adds “Activity Packs” for Hardware and Network activities as well as industry specific packs such as PowerShell, VMWare VIX, and VMWare PowerCLI.
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