MIISWorkflow

The MIISWorkflow application is a sample solution that provides a way to request and approve accounts by using a Web-based interface. It is presented not as a complete solution, but as a starting point for building a custom application.

The MIISWorkflow application is designed to help simplify typical workflow requirements by serving as a framework for an approval-based provisioning tool to create contractor accounts, delete or disable accounts, and manage account lifecycle information such as name, status, and group membership. It can be extended and customized by using C# and ASP.Net.

The MIISWorkflow application includes the following components:

• MIISWorkflow SQL database—Includes three tables, Contractors, Contractors_Delta, and Contractors_History, that store account data, changes, and history. Triggers are added to specific fields to enable the workflow process.
• MIISWorkflow management agent—A SQL-based management agent that will synchronize the data in the MIISWorkflow SQL database.
• An authorization policy store to manage the rights of users as Contractor Requesters and/or Contractor Approvers.
• A collection of ASP.Net Web pages for user input and status display. The four pages provided are:
  New Contractor Request
  
  Contractor Approval
  
  Requested Contractor Status
  
  Contractor History
  

The following flowchart displays the dataflow of the sample MIISWorkflow application:

1. A request for a new contractor account is entered and added to the Contractors table in the MIISWorkflow SQL database.
2. The status of the requests can be viewed on the Requested Status page at any time.
3. The approver views the waiting requests on the Contractor Approval page.
4. Upon approval, the new account is flagged as "In progress" in the Contractors table and a new entry gets created in the Contractors_Delta table. The MIISWorkflow management agent is called by using WMI.
5. The MIISWorkflow management agent imports the new change from the Contractors_Delta table.
6. The MIISWorkflow management agent increments the UPDATE_COUNT attribute of the imported account and exports the change to the Contractors table.
7. Seeing the change in the UPDATE_COUNT column, the trigger on the Contractors table marks the account as "Approved" and cleans up the processed entry in the Contractors_Delta table. It also creates a new "history" for this contractor in the Contractors_History table.
8. The history generated can be viewed through the Requested Status page.

For setup and configuration information about the MIISWorkflow application, see MIISWorkflowInstall.htm in the MIISWorkflow folder in the MIIS 2003 Resource Tool Kit installation directory.