Have you ever wanted to test out your new SharePoint workflow before sending it out into the world? Maybe the workflow is designed to e-mail or assign tasks to a lot of people and you want to make sure everything is going to work as expected. Maybe there’s one VIP involved in your workflow who you don’t want to bother with “test” e-mails. Maybe the workflow has some built-in delays that you don’t have the time or patience to wait for while you’re testing things out. Whatever your reason for wanting to simulate workflow functionality before running it for real, Workflow Conductor 1.5 now offers…drum roll, please…Simulation Mode.

Workflow Simulation Mode

When you start a workflow from a list item, users with Design permissions on the list have the option to run the workflow in Simulation Mode. Simulation Mode allows Designers to test workflow functionality without affecting other users:

• All Widgets that add a delay to the workflow are skipped.
• Tasks created Widgets are all assigned to the workflow initiator.
• E-mail sent the workflow is sent only to the workflow initiator.

To start a workflow in Simulation Mode, check the Run in Simulation Mode checkbox in the workflow start page before clicking the Start Workflow button:

Custom Workflow Logging Levels

Workflow Designers also have the option to override the logging level configured for Widgets, just for that workflow instance. To override the Widget logging level, select the desired Logging Level in the workflow start page.

Go ahead, go crazy and log everything: choose Errors, Warnings and Info. You can view the results in the Workflow Conductor Log Viewer Web Part. The Log Viewer run time log shows messages for running workflows. Read more about the Log Viewer Web Part in the Workflow Conductor online documentation.

Workflow Start Options

The title of this post promised “other Workflow Start Options”, and I don’t want to disappoint. With Workflow Conductor 1.5, you can now set the Start Options for your workflow right in the Conductor Studio design screen. Any option you can set in the SharePoint workflow settings can be set here (and can still be changed later in the SharePoint Workflow settings page):

Whether you are trying out Workflow Conductor for the first time or are a returning customer, you can download a free 30-day trial copy of Workflow Conductor here. To see a list of all the new features added for Workflow Conductor 1.5, click here.

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