Remote workflow schedule authoring

Abstract

Methods, systems, apparatus, and computer-readable media are provided herein for remotely authoring a workflow schedule. According to one method, a workflow schedule authoring tool is provided that may utilize workflow action proxies in place of actual workflow actions during authoring. Safeguards are also provided at various stages in the authoring process to ensure that each workflow action utilized in a workflow schedule has been authorized for use in and execution by a workflow schedule. Workflow schedules may also be provided with version numbers to ensure that the same version of a workflow schedule is utilized throughout the entire lifespan of a workflow instance.

1 . A method for remote workflow schedule authoring, the method comprising:
 receiving a request for data from which a workflow action proxy may be created for one or more workflow actions;   in response to the request, determining whether the workflow actions are authorized for use in a workflow schedule; and   in response to determining that the workflow actions are authorized for use in a workflow schedule, transmitting the data for creating the workflow action proxies in response to the request.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising not transmitting the data for creating the workflow action proxies in response to determining that the workflow actions are not authorized for use in a workflow schedule. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving a workflow schedule comprising one or more workflow actions;   receiving a request to validate the workflow schedule;   determining in response to the validation request whether each of the workflow actions of the workflow schedule are authorized for use; and   in response to determining that each of the workflow actions of the workflow schedule are authorized for use, providing an indication in response to the validation request that the workflow schedule is authorized for use.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising in response to determining that each of the workflow actions of the workflow schedule are not authorized for use, providing an indication in response to the validation request that workflow actions in the workflow schedule are not authorized for use. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 receiving a request to instantiate the workflow schedule;   in response to the instantiation request, determining whether each of the workflow actions of the workflow schedule are authorized for use; and   instantiating the workflow schedule in response to determining that all of the workflow actions of the workflow schedule are authorized for use.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising not instantiating the workflow schedule in response to determining that all of the workflow actions of the workflow schedule are not authorized for use. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the workflow schedule is stored in a versioned document library, and wherein instantiating the workflow schedule comprises instantiating a most recent version of the workflow schedule. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising executing an instance of a previous version of the workflow schedule using a corresponding previous version of the workflow schedule until the instance of the previous version of the workflow schedule has completed execution. 
   
   
       9 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, are operative to cause the computer to perform the method of  claim 1 . 
   
   
       10 . A method for remote workflow schedule authoring, the method comprising:
 determining at a client computer whether one or more workflow actions are needed for authoring a workflow schedule; and   in response to determining that one or more workflow actions are needed for authoring a workflow schedule at the client computer, transmitting a request to a server computer for data from which workflow action proxies may be created for the needed workflow actions.   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving the data from the server computer in response to transmitting the request; and   constructing the workflow action proxies using the received data.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising authoring the workflow schedule using the workflow action proxies. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein each workflow action proxy comprises a proxy assembly corresponding to a workflow action that resides on the server computer. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein each proxy assembly comprises an assembly including the properties of an assembly for the corresponding workflow action without any implementation for functions performed by the assembly for the corresponding workflow action. 
   
   
       15 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, are operative to cause the computer to perform the method of  claim 10 . 
   
   
       16 . A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, are operative to cause the computer to:
 perform an authorization check for one or more workflow actions in a workflow schedule in response to receiving a request for the workflow actions from a client computer;   perform an authorization check for the workflow actions in the workflow schedule in response to receiving a request to validate the workflow schedule; and to   perform an authorization check for the workflow actions in the workflow schedule when workflow schedule is instantiated.   
   
   
       17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein performing an authorization check comprises determining whether the workflow actions in the workflow schedule have been designated as authorized for use in a workflow schedule. 
   
   
       18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , comprising further computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the computer, are operative to cause the computer to:
 receive a request for data from which workflow action proxies may be created for one or more workflow actions; and   in response to the request, to transmit the data for creating the workflow action proxies.   
   
   
       19 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , comprising further computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the computer, are operative to cause the computer to:
 store the workflow schedule in a versioned document library;   receive a request to execute the workflow schedule; and   in response to the execution request, to instantiate a most recent version of the workflow schedule from the versioned document library.   
   
   
       20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , comprising further computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the computer, are operative to cause the computer to execute an instance of a previous version of the workflow schedule using a corresponding previous version of the workflow schedule until the instance of the previous version of the workflow schedule has completed execution.