Workbox Blog

Hotfix 1.7.3 is released

noreply@blogger.com (Tomasz Głogosz) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:05:00 +0000

New hotfix for version 1.7 was released. This hotfix repairs below problems:

View and edit form ignored the filed security settings for state - error applied only if SCP Pro was not installed and turned on for given list.
Launch form "Date" and "Users" field types allow empty values despite having the "Required" parameter set to "True".
Launch form "User" field type accepts people despite "Groups only" setting.
When the "Edit item" activity is copied it shares it's "field values" setting with all the copies. Update on one instance of the copied activity changes all other "Edit item" activities copied from the same source.
Reusing the "Find user" lookup inside one activity returns empty string.
Name, description and value of variable appeared in the used lookups.
The designer stayed grayed out after submitting an error.
SCP Pro feature was not activated during the setup.

To download the fixed version please follow this link www.datapolis.com/EN/wb_freetrial.html.

Hot fix for 1.7

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:15:00 +0000

We have just released hot fix for version 1.7.
New release has number 1.7.2 and fixes the following problems:

Setup problems when upgrading from previous versions of SCP and Workbox
Anonymous user gets "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error when trying to display item view form, add new form or edit form
Error "access denied" when trying to enter list view by authorized user who is not site administrator
Problems with "file" field type on action launch form
Returning null in "IF" activity under specific conditions

You can download it from here.

Hotfix 1.7.1 is released

noreply@blogger.com (Tomasz Głogosz) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:42:00 +0000

New hotfix for version 1.7 was released. This release repairs below problems:

Wrong functionality of lookups to actions
Not properly working IF activity
Wrong functionality of lists web service in SCP PRO

To download the fixed version please follow this link www.datapolis.com/EN/wb_freetrial.html.

Workbox 1.7 is ready!

noreply@blogger.com (Tomasz Głogosz) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:17:00 +0000

Today we have published a new version of Workbox. Most emphasis was put on improving performance, but a number of new features were added as well.

Below is the list of changes made in the new version of Workbox.

"Loop" - new activity
"Loop" activity allows running other activities multiple times, assuming that:
- Set conditions are met
- Maximum iterations number is not exceeded.
All Workbox activities can be executed within loop, including other (nested) loops
"Send E-mail" activity – two new output parameters
Two new output parameters have been added to "Send E-mail" activity:
- "Sent to" - returns e-mail addresses to which message had been sent
- "Invalid accounts" – returns names of users who could not be found or whose e-mail addresses had not been set
"Edit items" – modifying multiple fields in one activity
"Edit items" activity now supports modifying multiple fields in one go. This helps to prevent workflow’s size bloating, which resulted in impaired performance.
The functionality bases on a new field type – Hashtable – which can be used in custom activities. For more information, please see SDK.
Set of new functions
The following functions have been added:
- Text before
- Text after
- Right
- Date format
Procedures
Procedures is a new functionality allowing creating groups of activities which then can be reused in various places within the workflow. It simplifies both the workflow’s definition and managing sequences of activities.
Performance
In the current release, performance has been considerably improved:
- Workflows – faster workflow starting and action execution:
- Workbox Designer:
Changes in activities' category structure
New activity category has been introduced: Control. Additionally, categories are now collapsed by default.
Advanced Workflow Editing
This option is available for Administrators on "Workbox Settings" page. It allows free, unconstrained editing of activity fields in workflow definition (for instance, in place of selecting SharePoint list from lookup tree, user can enter its URL). The feature is for advanced users. Note: the feature does not include security constraints, therefore caution in using it is advised.
Licensing improvements
A number of issues concerning Datapolis’ products reinstallation have been fixed.
New SharePoint Column Protector Pro
This release contains SharePoint Column Protector Pro ORM, instead of SharePoint Column Protector OEM. In case you are using other Datapolis solutions besides Workbox, please see the compatibility table, which can be found at http://www.datapolis.com

You can download new release here:
http://www.datapolis.com/EN/wb_freetrial.html.

Hotfix 1.6.4 is released

noreply@blogger.com (Tomasz Głogosz) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 08:27:00 +0000

New hotfix for version 1.6 was released. This release repairs below problems:

Licensing occasionally blocking part of Workbox functionalities

Send E-mail activity - problem with recognizing users in certain security configurations

To download the fixed version please follow this link www.datapolis.com/EN/wb_freetrial.html.

Functions Pack for Workbox has been released

noreply@blogger.com (Tomasz Głogosz) — Mon, 31 May 2010 09:14:00 +0000

We have just published Functions Pack which extends Workbox with four new functions. The functions included in the Pack are the following:

Substring After
Substring Before
Right
DateTime

You can download the Pack from:
http://www.datapolis.com/datapolis/EN/wb_functionpack.html

Polish version:
http://www.datapolis.com/datapolis/pl/wb_functionpack.html

User guide is included. The package is free of charge.

Hotfix 1.6.3 is released

noreply@blogger.com (Tomasz Głogosz) — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:00:00 +0000

New hotfix for version 1.6 was released. This release repairs a problem with workflow history on Italian language site.

To download the fixed version please follow this link www.datapolis.com/EN/wb_freetrial.html.

Workbox 1.6 is ready!

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:16:00 +0000

We have just released a new release of Workbox.
Below you will find a list of changes included in the release 1.6. Changes that affect the existing workflow and designer functionalities are marked with red exclamation marks and should receive your attention.

“Current Item" parameter for item-operating activities
When you want an activity to perform operations on the current item only, you can simply check the “Current Item” checkbox – there will be no need to provide a site, list and set item filters.
The parameter is available for the following activities:
- Edit Items
- Copy Items
- Delete Items
- Check In/Out Item
- Approve/reject Item
- Send an E-mail (current item attachments)
- Launch Workflow Action
- Start Workflow
- Terminate Workflow
There is also a new parameter for “File” field type in Action Launch Form: “Attach to current item”. When selected, all files uploaded by Action Launch Form will be attached to the current item.
“Run as” parameter for activities
The “Run as” parameter provides a way to set the account on which an activity should operate. You can select from the following:
- Current user with system rights
- System account
- Current user
The parameter is now available in the following activities
- Add Item
- Edit Items
- Copy Items
- Delete Items
- Check In/Out Item
- Launch Workflow Action
- Start Workflow
- Terminate Workflow
Note: The option “Current user with system rights” is not available for workflow-managing activities (last three from the list above).
The “Run as” parameter is also available in Action Launch Form for the “File” field type. You can choose by which user account the files should be uploaded
System Update in Edit Items activity
In Edit Items activity there is now a new parameter: “System Update”. It allows modifying an item without changing its “Last modified” and “Last modified by” fields.
Activity containers
We have added a new quasi-activity: a Container. It can group a number of activities, allowing you to move them all at once, thus helping you manage your activities diagrams. It can also be collapsed, making the diagram more readable by hiding its content.
Name of the If activity.
You can change the name of the If activity. This will make your complex activity diagrams more readable and easier to understand.
Send E-mail activity – now sends e-mails to group members
Now you can provide SharePoint users and groups as mail recipients without the need of knowing their e-mail addresses.
New function: Replace Multiple Words
A new function has been added: Replace Multiple Words. It eliminates the need to use the Replace function for each word. The Replace Multiple Words function replaces all occurrences of specified words with other words.
!Null (empty) workflow variables!
Workbox now accepts variables to be null (empty). For example, in previous releases of Workbox if you didn’t provide a value for an Integer field on Action Launch Form, the corresponding workflow variable was automatically set to 0 (zero). Now the variable will have a null (empty) value.
Action Launch Form templates
When you create a new an Action Launch Form, set its header and footer, assign workflow variables and set all the field parameters, you can save such a form as a template, which could then be used in other actions.
Action fields validation in WBInfo web service
If you are using Workbox SDK, this information might be important: starting from this release there is server-side action fields validation when running an action through web service, implementing the same logic as the standard Action Launch Forms. The web service returns any errors found and halts the action execution process.
Read-only fields on Action Launch Forms
You can now set a field to be read only. It will work as a normal field, but the user will not be allowed to change its value. The field will be rendered as disabled.
Permission level matching while importing workflow from file
Workflow matching functionality has been enhanced with permission levels.

Note: Remember that this functionality works only for workflows exported by Workbox Designer 1.6.
Changes in deploying workflows on email-receiving document libraries
Now, if you work on a site administrator and site owner account, you don’t have to set in web.config a different account for deploying workflows on email-receiving document libraries. The workflows are deployed using your account and will start automatically after an e-mail is received

Note: Remember that you need additional configuration for SharePoint – see Known Errors on Workbox Blog for more information.
Custom name for End state
The End state can now have a custom name. The name can vary, depending on which action ended the workflow.

Two new tutorials

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:44:00 +0000

We have published two new tutorials on our site.

First tutorial introduces you to the new action launch form designer functionality - http://www.datapolis.com.pl/EN/forms.html
Second tutorial explains how to use SDK to increase Workbox functionality and connect to workflows from external applications - http://www.datapolis.com.pl/EN/workbox-sdk.htm

Enjoy!

Hotfix 1.5.3 is released

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:14:00 +0000

New hotfix for version 1.5 was released. This release repairs a problem with the "Copy items" activity.

To download the fixed version please follow this link www.datapolis.com/EN/wb_freetrial.html.

Workbox and SCP

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:10:00 +0000

You may have noticed during Workbox installation or when viewing the features, that apart from Workbox, you have one more product from Datapolis installed - SharePoint Column Protector (SCP).

SharePoint Column Protector is a Datapolis product which is embeded into the Workbox. SCP is used to manage permissions to view columns (fields) of an item. It is used in Workbox to manage permissions to an item in a state.

SCP is a commercial product (you can check the price on our web site) that can work completely independent from Workbox. You can try it out (it has 30 day trial period) and see if it is usefull for you.

When you install Workbox, SCP is installed in runtime mode, in which you are not able to manage the permissions to the item columns without the workflow. In other words, SCP in embeded in Workbox and can be used only through Workbox. There is a small hack that you can do and use the SCP fully for 30 days, but after that it will stop working and will be accessible only through Workbox

If you purchase SCP then you are able to use its full functionality and Workbox will still use it. One important thing - Workbox overrides SCP settings - so if you configure something in SCP and then run a Workbox workflow on this list, then SCP setting will be ignored.

Merry Christmas!

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Scope of the release 1.5.5

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Sorry for not publishing this earlier - most of the Workbox team is currently off for holidays after the exhausting release 1.5. We will start working on the new release in January.
As always - after releasing the big release we are going to do the sub-release, that will be shorter and will only improve the existing features, without introducing any big changes.
In the next release of Workbox (expected by the end of January) we will introduce the following functionalities:

"Current item" check-box - you will be able to quickly point to the current item on item activities instead of defining the list and item filter "ID=[Current item ID]".
"As current user" check-box - you will be able to define on item activities, that in item modification history the "modified by" will be set to the user launching the action instead of the "system" account
"Do not change version" check-box - you will be able to set on the "edit item" activity that the changes should be done without adding new version to the item. Very useful when editing multiple fields.
Launch form templates - you will be able to save your launch form as a template and use it on another action in the same workflow
Read only fields on launch form
Permission level matching - currently permission levels are not matched during workflow migration. This will change in the new release
Activity grouping - you will be able to group selected activities on the activity diagram, fold such group, copy it, move, etc.
"If" activity name will be displayed on the diagram

We will also optimize the workflow deployment mechanism to speed up the workflow deployment process and fix any bugs from the previous releases.

Mathematical operations in Workbox

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:17:00 +0000

As you may have noticed, inputting "3+5" in the activity parameter will return "3+5". What to do, to receive (in this case) "8"?

To perform the calculation you need to pass the equation to a variable using "set variable" activity or use the "calculate" math function.
NOTE: The variable which will receive the equation must be of "double" or "integer" type. Only then the calculations will be performed.

Later, you can use this variable in other lookup fields.

So, for example - you want to take data from one SharePoint item field, subtract it from another field and put the equation result into another SharePoint item field. To do this:

In the activities window add "edit item" activity and double click it to enter the details
Pick the list, filters and field you want to add the new value.
Open the new value field
Click on the "Lookup" button
Go to functions -> math ->calculate
Click on the value textbox, new window will appear
Pick (using lookups) value of the selected SharePoint item field
enter minus sign
The equation should look like this (without quotation marks) "[list_name - field_name] - [list_name2 - field_name2]"
Click ok,

Now Workbox will do the calculation instead of treating the values as text.

You can use the following functions:

^
+
-
/
*
cos
sin
exp
ln
tan
acos
asin
atan
cosh
sinh
tanh
sqrt
cotan
fpart
acotan
round
ceil
floor
fac
sfac
abs
log
%
>
<
&&
==
!=
||
!
>=
<=

and constants:

euler
pi
nan
infinity
true
false

Item field permissions on for multiple workflows

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:55:00 +0000

If you have more than one Workbox workflow on a SharePoint list item or document in library, all of these workflows affect permissions for item's fields.
The general rule is that Workbox is taking the sum of all permissions for given user. So if in workflow A in state A1 you have permissions to view fields X,Y and in workflow B in state B1 you have permissions to view fields W,Y,Z then you will see fields W,X,Y,Z. If in state A2 you do not have permissions for any column, and in workflow B you are still in state B1, then you will have the W,Y,Z columns visible.
The same rule applies for the "edit" permissions.
Since there are no "deny" permissions, if you are included in a role that has permissions to see a column - you will see it, regardless of settings from other workflows.
If you are also using another Datapolis product - SCP, then SCP settings are ignored when the workflow kicks in. This mean that Workflow settings override SCP settings and you will get what you have defined for workflows in given states.

Hotfix for 1.5

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:08:00 +0000

We have released a hotfix for version 1.5.
The most important fix is the wrkstat.aspx error - please see details here.

As always you can download the newset version here www.datapolis.com/docs/WorkBox.zip

Workbox 1.5 upgrade - best practice

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:35:00 +0000

Workbox 1.5 is here. But since we have change a couple of things (the most invasive one is the change of feature scope - from site collection feature to site feature) upgrade should be taken with a bit of care.

Before you start we recommend reading the "Upgrading..." chapter from installation instruction.We also recommend reading this page about new features.

This is the recommended upgrade scenario:

Download Workbox 1.5 from here.
If you do not want to turn on the Workbox feature on all sites of chosen web application please note the sites where you want to turn the Workbox feature.
NOTE: Uninstalling and installing Workbox will cause the workflow actions to be unavailable. Make sure to perform the upgrade when users are not using Workbox workflows.Expected downtime is around 15 minutes.
Go to the location where you have your Workbox setup files (c:\program files\datapolis\workbox setup by default).
Run setup.exe and choose the "remove" option.
Do the IIS reset.
Run the new installer
Extract the files to Workbox setup 1.5 folder (or someplace different than the old setup files).
Run the setup.
Select the web applications. If you do not want to turn on the feature automaticaly, uncheck the checkbox.
Run IIS reset after the setup (machine restart recommended).

If you do not follow the above steps and just select the "upgrade" option in the installer you can expect 2 things:

your machine might (but does not have to) cache the DLL's which may lead to some strange behavior (deployment problems, workflow stopping after start and lack of workflow actions)
Workbox site feature will not be activated anywhere, so you will have to activate it manually on every site.

UPGRADE FAQ:

Q: How will new version change my workflows?
A: We tried to make the new version as much backwards compatible as possible. There were some areas where it was impossible (for example the "BR" tags in mail messages). Generally your workflows should work without any problems with the new version, users will have a little different (better) experience with action launch form. The only thing that might work differently are the e-mails - you might lose some line spacing there. Please see the "What's new" article in Workbox help or on this page and help for the "Import/Export" and the "Launch form"

Q: Won't the uninstall destroy my workflows?
A: No. The workflows that are already running will not be affected by the uninstall. The only problem that might occur is with new workflow starting during the uninstallation or the users launching some actions. Also users will not be able to use the workflows until the new version is installed. We recommend doing the upgrade when no one is using Workbox workflows
Q: I don't like the new functionality/something went wrong. Can I roll back?
A: Yes, you can. Simply use the new installer to deinstall version 1.5 and resintall the version you had previously.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the upgrade please leave your comments underneath this post.

Workbox 1.5 is ready!

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:19:00 +0000

After 4 months of development we have released version 1.5 of Workbox for SharePoint (build 1.5.0.161).

In this version:

action launch form
Saving workflows in STP
Action URL
Folder in item activities
Logical funtions

and much more - see this page for full info.

You can download the new release from here.

UPGRADERS - PLEASE NOTE
If you are upgrading from version 1.4.3 or earlier please make sure you read the installation instruction. Release 1.5 brings in some changes that might stop your workflows. In general - please de-install old version using old installer and install the new version using the new installer. After setup turn on the Workbox feature on every site you would like Workbox workflows to work. Please see this post for details.

Saving workflow solution in site template.

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Starting with release 1.5 Workbox allows you to save workflow definitions in site templates. This means that you can prepare a SharePoint site with multiple lists and workflows and deploy it to different locations. All you need to do is to save site as a template and use it to create other sites. Workflows will be deployed automatically on newly created site.

In order to get your workflows to work properly after you create new sites from STP, you need to prepare the STP correctly.

Follow these steps to create a properly working workflow solution:

Configure a site that you want to save as template. Create all lists and workflows you need. Test if everything is working as it should.
Delete all content you do not want to save inside the template.
TURN OFF the Workbox feature.
Save site as STP. REMEMBER TO CHECK THE “Save content” CHECKBOX.

When you want to deploy a solution:

Create a new site using your STP as a site template.
After the site is created, turn on the Workbox feature.
Wait for the feature to activate.
After all the workflows are matched, you will receive an e-mail with log of the match process. If there were any errors during lookup matching, you will get notification. This log is also accessible from the Workbox workflow administration page. Workflows that did not match correctly will be listed in the log and marked with red exclamation marks on the workflow list.
If there were workflows which haven’t been matched properly, open each of them in Workbox Designer. You will be taken automatically to the matching form, where you would be able to manually match all the lookups that could not be matched automatically. When finished, deploy the workflow.

NOTE: Instances of running workflows are not saved. This means that if you have any working or completed workflows on items, these workflow instances will be lost. This includes workflow history for all items.

Here are few facts that will help you to understand the workflow deploying process:

Workbox workflows are dependent on object GUIDs. These are unique IDs that allow Workbox to identify SharePoint elements (sites, lists, items). When you create new site, these GUIDs are generated anew. This causes workflow definition to point to locations it cannot recognize. To fix this problem, workflow lookups must be matched again after the site is created.
Workbox tries to match workflow definitions when you turn on the Workbox feature. This is the same matching functionality you know from when you import workflow definition from file. When you turn the Workbox feature on, Workbox will automatically try to match all the workflows and deploy the workflows that were deployed when the template was created.
Workbox may be unable to match lookups automatically if your template is referring to some objects outside the site – other sites, permission levels, SharePoint groups – that do not exist in the new environment. In such case you need to match those lookups manually. Workbox will detect such situation and tag unmatched workflows. If you open them with Workbox Designer, the matching window will come up, allowing you to manually point the desired objects. When corrected, workflow must then be deployed.
Workflow definition is stored as a file on SharePoint library. To include the workflow into the site template, you must include the content in the site definition by checking the “Include content” checkbox.
Workflow instance data is stored outside the site. That’s why information about any running or completed workflows will be lost. We advise you to save to definition only the data that is necessary for the solution to work (e.g. workflow libraries, mail data, etc).
Aside from lookup matching, Workbox also performs authorization provider match. It determines whether you use Active Directory or Forms Authentication and tries to match domains or membership providers with those which can be found in a new environment. If it cannot find a domain or membership provider with the name provided in a workflow definition, it assumes the first found domain or membership provider, ignoring the internal NT AUTHORITY and SHAREPOINT domains.

Deleting list permissions vs. item permissions

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:02:00 +0000

We have received an issue report from one of our partners. They have encountered a situation where the Workbox 'List permissions’ activity changed an item security. After looking into this problem we have learned that this is a standard SharePoint behavior, but it needs a bit of explanation.

Workbox allows you to create a workflow that will set SharePoint list permissions. This is achieved through an activity called "List permissions". One of the activity parameters is the "Delete existing permissions" check-box. If you select it Workbox will remove all existing list permissions. This allows you to quickly clear the list permissions and set them exactly the way you want them.

There is one thing that you need to remember about if you break permission inheritance for an element. In general - if you remove a user from the list, then SharePoint will automatically remove this user's permissions from all items in this list. This is because user needs to have access to the list to have any permissions to the item. You can see this behavior if you add someone permissions to some item when they had no permissions assigned directly to the list. The user will get the "Limited access" permission to the list.

Having that in mind, when you select the "Delete existing permissions" check-box ALL permissions to the list will be deleted. This will result in deleting ALL permissions to the items with broken inheritance. So please be very careful in using this settings as it can mess your item permissions.

Workbox and SharePoint 2010

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:04:00 +0000

You are probably wondering what are our plans regarding Workbox compatibility with SharePoint 14.

The general answer is that we are definitely going to support SP2010 and we want to have it ready for the official release of SP14. Probably we will start some R&D next week, but we cannot promise the SP 14 compatible version this year.

Availability of Workbox for SP2010 depends on how much changes Microsofthas made in the API. We will need to change the references from the SP12 to the SP 14 DLLs, but we are not sure if Microsoft pledge, that old application will work canbe taken literally. The amount of work depends how many things we will need to adjust to the new API. We will post new information as soon as we know more on this issue.

Workbox on Twitter

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Now you can quickly see what is going on with workbox - simply follow us on Twitter - www.twitter.com/workboxworkflow

News about Workbox

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Recently we have been very quiet about Workbox. This is because there have been a lot things going on that kept us from posting. In the previous weeks we were focused on making bigger impact with Workbox in the nearest future.

I can now reveal few things what you can expect soon.

The most important one is of course the new release. I know that you are waiting impatiently for the new features and I can assure you that we are just as impatient to give them to you. The changes we are introducing are very wide and require throughout testing on our side, so you have to wait a bit longer. We are now in the beta phase - polishing all details, checking different scenarios, focusing strongly on backward compatibility to make sure you workflows will work properly. One thing we haven't told you is that we are going to introduce Spanish version of Workbox.

The next thing is that we are preparing new web site, that will be strongly focused on Workbox. We are also going to be more active on the social sites to spread the word on Workbox and keep you informed. Below you can see how our main page will look like.

Third great area where we have invested is getting ready for the SharePoint 2010 and Project Server 2010. We have attended Project Ignite in Prague to get more details on workflows in PS 2010.

Blog commitment

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:53:00 +0000

In the recent weeks we all have been very busy getting the release finished.

Unfortunately there is also a lot to be done in related areas - partners, marketing, new opportunities - so this blog has suffered and no new updates appeared here.

That's why I have deceived to make a commitment to post at least 1 post weekly to keep you up to date on what's going on and also give you more insight on Workbox. You can expect new post by Friday each week.

Sneak peek - Viewing the values provided by user on action launch form (variables)

pawel.wrobel@datapolis.com (Paweł Wróbel) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:04:00 +0000

As you probably might know, you can ask your user to provide some information when launching the action.
This data is then stored inside the workflow. You can surface it by using the "edit item" activity and putting this value unto some SharePoint field, or for example send it in the e-mail and so on.

In the new release we will also display that data in the workflow history. Thanks to this new functionality you will be able to easily check what data the users have provided in the launch form.
You can see how it looks on the screen-shots from the beta version: