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Posted to dev@struts.apache.org by Sean Schofield <se...@gmail.com> on 2004/12/30 18:47:04 UTC
Basic workflow engine
I have developed a basic workflow engine that I have found to be
extremely useful in my current Struts applications. I developed it
after finding shortcomings in the open source workflow stuff that was
available at the time.
I know Craig mentioned a possible need for workflow stuff for Shale.
I'm not sure if its along the lines of what he is interested in as I
have not had the time to delve into Shale yet.
In a nutshell, it provides a simple and flexible framework for
implementing workflows. It has states, operations, conditions and
transitions. It provides a default implementation that writes to a
database (but that is not required.)
I am currently refactoring it to make it a little easier to be used by
others (borrowing from some of the structural ideas I've seen used in
commons-chain). I'd be happy to share it for anyone who might want to
examine/borrow the code.
Also, I'm interested in possibly taking it open source (perhaps as
commons-sandbox first.) Let me know if anyone is interested in
working with me on this.
sean
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Dakota Jack <da...@gmail.com>.
I would be interested, always, in looking at code, Sean.
Jack
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:47:04 -0500, Sean Schofield
<se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have developed a basic workflow engine that I have found to be
> extremely useful in my current Struts applications. I developed it
> after finding shortcomings in the open source workflow stuff that was
> available at the time.
>
> I know Craig mentioned a possible need for workflow stuff for Shale.
> I'm not sure if its along the lines of what he is interested in as I
> have not had the time to delve into Shale yet.
>
> In a nutshell, it provides a simple and flexible framework for
> implementing workflows. It has states, operations, conditions and
> transitions. It provides a default implementation that writes to a
> database (but that is not required.)
>
> I am currently refactoring it to make it a little easier to be used by
> others (borrowing from some of the structural ideas I've seen used in
> commons-chain). I'd be happy to share it for anyone who might want to
> examine/borrow the code.
>
> Also, I'm interested in possibly taking it open source (perhaps as
> commons-sandbox first.) Let me know if anyone is interested in
> working with me on this.
>
> sean
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
>
>
--
------------------------------
"You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it float on its back."
~Dakota Jack~
"You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep."
~Native Proverb~
"Each man is good in His sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows."
~Hunkesni (Sitting Bull), Hunkpapa Sioux~
-----------------------------------------------
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Sean Schofield <se...@gmail.com>.
> I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with.
Most likely you will not be able to use much of it (for your specific
itch) but you never know. I might have come up with some general
concepts that you could find useful. I will send it to you once I'm
done refactoring (I'm rewriting my factory and config stuff to mirror
how its done in commons-chain.)
> Craig
sean
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Craig McClanahan <cr...@gmail.com>.
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 14:49:40 -0500, Sean Schofield
<se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > and I also saw one workflow engine
> > at Jakarta:
> >
> > http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/sandbox/workflow/
>
> I had seen this one, but my impression was that it was not under
> active development. Nobody seems to respond on the commons-dev
> emailing list at any rate...
That was me ... and it's not under active development.
It's got continuations (which is nice) but also tries to reinvent
expression evaluation using XML syntax (which is horrible ... some
sort of expression langauge should be used instead).
Craig
>
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Sean Schofield <se...@gmail.com>.
> and I also saw one workflow engine
> at Jakarta:
>
> http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/sandbox/workflow/
I had seen this one, but my impression was that it was not under
active development. Nobody seems to respond on the commons-dev
emailing list at any rate...
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RE: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Matthias Wessendorf <ma...@matthias-wessendorf.de>.
and I also saw one workflow engine
at Jakarta:
http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/sandbox/workflow/
:)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dakota Jack [mailto:dakota.jack@gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 8:21 AM
> To: Struts Developers List; Michael Rasmussen
> Subject: Re: Basic workflow engine
>
>
> This one is super, Michael. Thanks!
>
> Jack
>
>
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:54:16 -0600, Michael Rasmussen
> <ra...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Just to add to the list of general tools out there for workflow I
> > think this one is fairly nice, though I haven't really used it
> > extensively...works with JSF too Craig
> >
> > http://wfnm.sourceforge.net
> >
> > Michael
> >
> > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:25:52 -0800, Martin Cooper
> > <mf...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:18:54 -0800, Craig McClanahan
> > > <cr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:47:04 -0500, Sean Schofield
> > > > <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > I have developed a basic workflow engine that I have
> found to be
> > > > > extremely useful in my current Struts applications.
> I developed
> > > > > it after finding shortcomings in the open source
> workflow stuff
> > > > > that was available at the time.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > As you think about workflow, don't forget to keep an
> eye on a new
> > > > Apache Incubator project called Agila, which bills itself as a
> > > > "lightweight BPM engine and auxiliary services."
> There's no code
> > > > yet, so it's not possible to tell if it will meet your
> needs, but
> > > > worth a bookmark for future reference:
> > > >
> > > > http://incubator.apache.org/projects/agila/index.html
> > > >
> > > > I'm also curious if you looked at Don's continuations support
> > > > (based on the same idea in Cocoon) in Struts Flow.
> > > >
> > > > http://struts.sourceforge.net/struts-flow/index.html
> > >
> > > Also, if you're using JDK 5, Apache Beehive's Page Flow:
> > >
> > >
> http://incubator.apache.org/beehive/pageflow/pageflow_overview.html
> > >
> > > --
> > > Martin Cooper
> > >
> > >
> > > > > I know Craig mentioned a possible need for workflow stuff for
> > > > > Shale. I'm not sure if its along the lines of what he is
> > > > > interested in as I have not had the time to delve into Shale
> > > > > yet.
> > > >
> > > > So far, I'm developing some ideas and design patterns
> around state
> > > > information that is saved longer than a request, but
> shorter than
> > > > a session -- and gracefully managing the associated pages and
> > > > corresponding view controllers. It's not quite ready
> for the rest
> > > > of the world to look at yet, but will be soon.
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > In a nutshell, it provides a simple and flexible
> framework for
> > > > > implementing workflows. It has states, operations,
> conditions
> > > > > and transitions. It provides a default implementation that
> > > > > writes to a database (but that is not required.)
> > > > >
> > > > > I am currently refactoring it to make it a little
> easier to be
> > > > > used by others (borrowing from some of the structural
> ideas I've
> > > > > seen used in commons-chain). I'd be happy to share it for
> > > > > anyone who might want to examine/borrow the code.
> > > > >
> > > > > Also, I'm interested in possibly taking it open
> source (perhaps
> > > > > as commons-sandbox first.) Let me know if anyone is
> interested
> > > > > in working with me on this.
> > > >
> > > > I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with.
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > sean
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > Craig
> > > >
> > > >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > ---
> > > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> > > > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > -
> > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> > > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> ------------------------------
>
> "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it float
> on its back."
>
> ~Dakota Jack~
>
> "You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep."
>
> ~Native Proverb~
>
> "Each man is good in His sight. It is not necessary for
> eagles to be crows."
>
> ~Hunkesni (Sitting Bull), Hunkpapa Sioux~
>
> -----------------------------------------------
>
> "This message may contain confidential and/or privileged
> information. If you are not the addressee or authorized to
> receive this for the addressee, you must not use, copy,
> disclose, or take any action based on this message or any
> information herein. If you have received this message in
> error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail
> and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation."
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Dakota Jack <da...@gmail.com>.
This one is super, Michael. Thanks!
Jack
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:54:16 -0600, Michael Rasmussen
<ra...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just to add to the list of general tools out there for workflow I
> think this one is fairly nice, though I haven't really used it
> extensively...works with JSF too Craig
>
> http://wfnm.sourceforge.net
>
> Michael
>
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:25:52 -0800, Martin Cooper <mf...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:18:54 -0800, Craig McClanahan <cr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:47:04 -0500, Sean Schofield
> > > <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > I have developed a basic workflow engine that I have found to be
> > > > extremely useful in my current Struts applications. I developed it
> > > > after finding shortcomings in the open source workflow stuff that was
> > > > available at the time.
> > > >
> > >
> > > As you think about workflow, don't forget to keep an eye on a new
> > > Apache Incubator project called Agila, which bills itself as a
> > > "lightweight BPM engine and auxiliary services." There's no code yet,
> > > so it's not possible to tell if it will meet your needs, but worth a
> > > bookmark for future reference:
> > >
> > > http://incubator.apache.org/projects/agila/index.html
> > >
> > > I'm also curious if you looked at Don's continuations support (based
> > > on the same idea in Cocoon) in Struts Flow.
> > >
> > > http://struts.sourceforge.net/struts-flow/index.html
> >
> > Also, if you're using JDK 5, Apache Beehive's Page Flow:
> >
> > http://incubator.apache.org/beehive/pageflow/pageflow_overview.html
> >
> > --
> > Martin Cooper
> >
> >
> > > > I know Craig mentioned a possible need for workflow stuff for Shale.
> > > > I'm not sure if its along the lines of what he is interested in as I
> > > > have not had the time to delve into Shale yet.
> > >
> > > So far, I'm developing some ideas and design patterns around state
> > > information that is saved longer than a request, but shorter than a
> > > session -- and gracefully managing the associated pages and
> > > corresponding view controllers. It's not quite ready for the rest of
> > > the world to look at yet, but will be soon.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > In a nutshell, it provides a simple and flexible framework for
> > > > implementing workflows. It has states, operations, conditions and
> > > > transitions. It provides a default implementation that writes to a
> > > > database (but that is not required.)
> > > >
> > > > I am currently refactoring it to make it a little easier to be used by
> > > > others (borrowing from some of the structural ideas I've seen used in
> > > > commons-chain). I'd be happy to share it for anyone who might want to
> > > > examine/borrow the code.
> > > >
> > > > Also, I'm interested in possibly taking it open source (perhaps as
> > > > commons-sandbox first.) Let me know if anyone is interested in
> > > > working with me on this.
> > >
> > > I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > sean
> > > >
> > >
> > > Craig
> > >
> > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> > > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
> > >
> > >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
> >
> >
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
>
>
--
------------------------------
"You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it float on its back."
~Dakota Jack~
"You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep."
~Native Proverb~
"Each man is good in His sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows."
~Hunkesni (Sitting Bull), Hunkpapa Sioux~
-----------------------------------------------
"This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
If you are not the addressee or authorized to receive this for the
addressee, you must not use, copy, disclose, or take any action based
on this message or any information herein. If you have received this
message in error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail
and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation."
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Michael Rasmussen <ra...@gmail.com>.
Just to add to the list of general tools out there for workflow I
think this one is fairly nice, though I haven't really used it
extensively...works with JSF too Craig
http://wfnm.sourceforge.net
Michael
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:25:52 -0800, Martin Cooper <mf...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:18:54 -0800, Craig McClanahan <cr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:47:04 -0500, Sean Schofield
> > <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > I have developed a basic workflow engine that I have found to be
> > > extremely useful in my current Struts applications. I developed it
> > > after finding shortcomings in the open source workflow stuff that was
> > > available at the time.
> > >
> >
> > As you think about workflow, don't forget to keep an eye on a new
> > Apache Incubator project called Agila, which bills itself as a
> > "lightweight BPM engine and auxiliary services." There's no code yet,
> > so it's not possible to tell if it will meet your needs, but worth a
> > bookmark for future reference:
> >
> > http://incubator.apache.org/projects/agila/index.html
> >
> > I'm also curious if you looked at Don's continuations support (based
> > on the same idea in Cocoon) in Struts Flow.
> >
> > http://struts.sourceforge.net/struts-flow/index.html
>
> Also, if you're using JDK 5, Apache Beehive's Page Flow:
>
> http://incubator.apache.org/beehive/pageflow/pageflow_overview.html
>
> --
> Martin Cooper
>
>
> > > I know Craig mentioned a possible need for workflow stuff for Shale.
> > > I'm not sure if its along the lines of what he is interested in as I
> > > have not had the time to delve into Shale yet.
> >
> > So far, I'm developing some ideas and design patterns around state
> > information that is saved longer than a request, but shorter than a
> > session -- and gracefully managing the associated pages and
> > corresponding view controllers. It's not quite ready for the rest of
> > the world to look at yet, but will be soon.
> >
> > >
> > > In a nutshell, it provides a simple and flexible framework for
> > > implementing workflows. It has states, operations, conditions and
> > > transitions. It provides a default implementation that writes to a
> > > database (but that is not required.)
> > >
> > > I am currently refactoring it to make it a little easier to be used by
> > > others (borrowing from some of the structural ideas I've seen used in
> > > commons-chain). I'd be happy to share it for anyone who might want to
> > > examine/borrow the code.
> > >
> > > Also, I'm interested in possibly taking it open source (perhaps as
> > > commons-sandbox first.) Let me know if anyone is interested in
> > > working with me on this.
> >
> > I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with.
> >
> > >
> > > sean
> > >
> >
> > Craig
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
> >
> >
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Martin Cooper <mf...@gmail.com>.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:18:54 -0800, Craig McClanahan <cr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:47:04 -0500, Sean Schofield
> <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I have developed a basic workflow engine that I have found to be
> > extremely useful in my current Struts applications. I developed it
> > after finding shortcomings in the open source workflow stuff that was
> > available at the time.
> >
>
> As you think about workflow, don't forget to keep an eye on a new
> Apache Incubator project called Agila, which bills itself as a
> "lightweight BPM engine and auxiliary services." There's no code yet,
> so it's not possible to tell if it will meet your needs, but worth a
> bookmark for future reference:
>
> http://incubator.apache.org/projects/agila/index.html
>
> I'm also curious if you looked at Don's continuations support (based
> on the same idea in Cocoon) in Struts Flow.
>
> http://struts.sourceforge.net/struts-flow/index.html
Also, if you're using JDK 5, Apache Beehive's Page Flow:
http://incubator.apache.org/beehive/pageflow/pageflow_overview.html
--
Martin Cooper
> > I know Craig mentioned a possible need for workflow stuff for Shale.
> > I'm not sure if its along the lines of what he is interested in as I
> > have not had the time to delve into Shale yet.
>
> So far, I'm developing some ideas and design patterns around state
> information that is saved longer than a request, but shorter than a
> session -- and gracefully managing the associated pages and
> corresponding view controllers. It's not quite ready for the rest of
> the world to look at yet, but will be soon.
>
> >
> > In a nutshell, it provides a simple and flexible framework for
> > implementing workflows. It has states, operations, conditions and
> > transitions. It provides a default implementation that writes to a
> > database (but that is not required.)
> >
> > I am currently refactoring it to make it a little easier to be used by
> > others (borrowing from some of the structural ideas I've seen used in
> > commons-chain). I'd be happy to share it for anyone who might want to
> > examine/borrow the code.
> >
> > Also, I'm interested in possibly taking it open source (perhaps as
> > commons-sandbox first.) Let me know if anyone is interested in
> > working with me on this.
>
> I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with.
>
> >
> > sean
> >
>
> Craig
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
>
>
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Craig McClanahan <cr...@gmail.com>.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:47:04 -0500, Sean Schofield
<se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have developed a basic workflow engine that I have found to be
> extremely useful in my current Struts applications. I developed it
> after finding shortcomings in the open source workflow stuff that was
> available at the time.
>
As you think about workflow, don't forget to keep an eye on a new
Apache Incubator project called Agila, which bills itself as a
"lightweight BPM engine and auxiliary services." There's no code yet,
so it's not possible to tell if it will meet your needs, but worth a
bookmark for future reference:
http://incubator.apache.org/projects/agila/index.html
I'm also curious if you looked at Don's continuations support (based
on the same idea in Cocoon) in Struts Flow.
http://struts.sourceforge.net/struts-flow/index.html
> I know Craig mentioned a possible need for workflow stuff for Shale.
> I'm not sure if its along the lines of what he is interested in as I
> have not had the time to delve into Shale yet.
So far, I'm developing some ideas and design patterns around state
information that is saved longer than a request, but shorter than a
session -- and gracefully managing the associated pages and
corresponding view controllers. It's not quite ready for the rest of
the world to look at yet, but will be soon.
>
> In a nutshell, it provides a simple and flexible framework for
> implementing workflows. It has states, operations, conditions and
> transitions. It provides a default implementation that writes to a
> database (but that is not required.)
>
> I am currently refactoring it to make it a little easier to be used by
> others (borrowing from some of the structural ideas I've seen used in
> commons-chain). I'd be happy to share it for anyone who might want to
> examine/borrow the code.
>
> Also, I'm interested in possibly taking it open source (perhaps as
> commons-sandbox first.) Let me know if anyone is interested in
> working with me on this.
I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with.
>
> sean
>
Craig
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Re: Basic workflow engine
Posted by Ted Husted <hu...@apache.org>.
A good way to get started is to put the code under the Apache License
* http://apache.org/licenses/
But with your own copyright, and then post it somewhere so that people can download it.
This is how Validator and Tiles, among others, got their start.
-Ted.
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:47:04 -0500, Sean Schofield wrote:
>�I have developed a basic workflow engine that I have found to be
>�extremely useful in my current Struts applications. �I developed it
>�after finding shortcomings in the open source workflow stuff that
>�was available at the time.
>
>�I know Craig mentioned a possible need for workflow stuff for
>�Shale. I'm not sure if its along the lines of what he is interested
>�in as I have not had the time to delve into Shale yet.
>
>�In a nutshell, it provides a simple and flexible framework for
>�implementing workflows. �It has states, operations, conditions and
>�transitions. �It provides a default implementation that writes to a
>�database (but that is not required.)
>
>�I am currently refactoring it to make it a little easier to be used
>�by others (borrowing from some of the structural ideas I've seen
>�used in commons-chain). �I'd be happy to share it for anyone who
>�might want to examine/borrow the code.
>
>�Also, I'm interested in possibly taking it open source (perhaps as
>�commons-sandbox first.) �Let me know if anyone is interested in
>�working with me on this.
>
>�sean
>
>�--------------------------------------------------------------------
>�- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org For
>�additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@struts.apache.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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