SharePoint 2010: Create a Custom Worflow Activity with Visual Studio Part 1

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Topic	Create a SharePoint workflow activity with Visual Studio 2010
Output	a Custom Activity

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Step	Description
1	In visual studio 2010, create a new Project, based on Workflow Activity Library
2	This will create a skeleton project
3	First we need to add the SharePoint references
3a	Right click reference -> Add reference
3b	Browse to : c:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\Isapi
3c	Add Microsoft.SharePoint.dll microsoft.sharepoint.WorkflowActions.dll
4	Rename Activity1 in something more significant (tzRegEx in this example)
5	Right click the activity and select View Code
5a	Add the reference to SharePoint in the using section using Microsoft.SharePoint; using Microsoft.SharePoint.Workflow; using Microsoft.SharePoint.WorkflowActions;
5b	Add the field and properties for communication with he workflow #region Fields public static DependencyProperty __ContextProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("__Context", typeof(WorkflowContext), typeof(tzRegEx)); public static DependencyProperty __ListItemProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("__ListItem", typeof(Int32), typeof(tzRegEx)); public static DependencyProperty __ListIdProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("__ListId", typeof(string), typeof(tzRegEx)); #endregion #region Properties [ValidationOption(ValidationOption.Required)] public WorkflowContext __Context { get { return ((WorkflowContext)(base.GetValue(tzRegEx.__ContextProperty))); } set { base.SetValue(tzRegEx.__ContextProperty, value); } } [ValidationOption(ValidationOption.Required)] public int __ListItem { get { return (int)base.GetValue(__ListItemProperty); } set { base.SetValue(__ListItemProperty, value); } } [ValidationOption(ValidationOption.Required)] public string __ListId { get { return (string)base.GetValue(__ListIdProperty); } set { base.SetValue(__ListIdProperty, value); } } #endregion
5c	Override the execution method protected override ActivityExecutionStatus Execute(ActivityExecutionContext executionContext) { ISharePointService service = (ISharePointService)executionContext.GetService(typeof(ISharePointService)); try { using (SPWeb web = (SPWeb)(__Context.Web)) { // get all of the information we currently have about the item // that this workflow is running on Guid listGuid = new Guid(__ListId); SPList myList = web.Lists[listGuid]; SPListItem myItem = myList.GetItemById(__ListItem); ProcessActivity(service, myList, myItem); } } catch (Exception e) { service.LogToHistoryList(this.WorkflowInstanceId, SPWorkflowHistoryEventType.WorkflowError, 0, TimeSpan.Zero, "Error in Activity : VacationDurationCalculation", e.Message, string.Empty); return ActivityExecutionStatus.Faulting; } return ActivityExecutionStatus.Closed; }
5d	Add your business logic in a separate function private void ProcessActivity(ISharePointService service, SPList _list, SPListItem _item) { //Code logic here }
Next	Create a Custom Worflow Activity with Visual Studio Part 2