To provide custom processing in a workflow, a software developer can create applications that are used to complete specific steps.
These applications can be step processors used directly by workflow participants or automated processes that complete steps without participant intervention. If a function within an application requires input from or provides output to the workflow, values corresponding to the input and output parameters must be defined in any workflow steps that use the function.
For each function, the system administrator defines a corresponding operation. The definition of the operation identifies the parameter values that are needed to use the function in a step. Operations are defined on the work queue or user queue that the application that contains the function accesses when the workflow is running. The definition of the operation includes the operation name, and, for each parameter, the parameter name, data type, and data flow direction (Read, Write, or Read/Write). The details of an operation definition must match those same details in the function definition.
To use a function at a step in a workflow, in the step definition the workflow author selects the appropriate work queue or participant and the corresponding operation, then assigns values to each required parameter.