Forms and User Displays Authoring Guide

Forms and user displays are features that are used throughout Workflow. Forms and user display resources are created in the Global Displays model.

Forms and user displays can be created using the Designer, or they can be uploaded from an existing .NET assembly.

Note:
  • Forms and displays that were created in Visual Studio cannot be edited in the Designer.
  • Because forms and user displays are distinct entities, you can create resources of these separate types with the same name.

Regardless of how a display is developed, you must first add a global displays resource using the navigator. For more information, see Add a Global Displays resource. After you add the display resource, you can then either select the .NET assembly and class name on the Overview tab of the Display Editor to work with an existing display, or select the Designer tab and develop a new display.

You can also duplicate displays and groups. For more information, see Display and Group Duplication.

Note: Both WPF and Silverlight forms can be displayed in the Global Viewer.

Forms

Forms are displays that are used as activities in workflows, providing a user interface for task steps. A form can display data or allow you to interact with a running process, or both.

Workflow provides the ability to use basic forms included with the application, create and develop forms from scratch using the Designer, or open and use forms that were initially created in Visual Studio.

For information on using the form files included with Workflow, or for creating your own forms in Visual Studio, see Form Templates and Form Development in Visual Studio, respectively.

User Displays

Workflow allows you to add displays for your own use and to group those displays. For example, if a you want to view a web page from your company Intranet within the workspace, you can create a display using the URL of the web page. This allows you to open the web page without opening a browser session outside of the application.

Form and Display Groups

You can create form and display groups to arrange your resources into meaningful categories. Groups can also contain other groups.

Note:
  • You cannot add an existing form or display to a group. You can only create a form or display from within a group.
  • If you delete a group, all of its nested groups and their forms and/or displays are also deleted.
  • If you transfer the configuration for a form or display that is part of a group, you must also transfer the configuration for the entire group to maintain the required linking.