Add Activities to the Workflow Designer Toolbox

• Jun 19, 2024
• 2 minutes to read

By default, the Workflow Module allows you to create workflow activities at runtime using the re-hosted Workflow Designer. However, you can also use custom activities created in Visual Studio using the standard approach. This topic describes how to add these activities into the Workflow Designer toolbox.

Note

You can use the same approach to register standard ot third-party activities. The complete example is available in the WorkflowDemo.NETFramework.XPO demo application, installed in the %PUBLIC%\Documents\DevExpress Demos 24.1\Components\XAF\WorkflowDemo.NETFramework.XPO, by default.

To add an extra workflow activity, handle the WorkflowWindowsFormsModule.QueryAvailableActivities event in your WinForms application’s Program.cs file. The following code snippet adds the CreateTask activity to the Code Activities toolbox group and associates the “CreateTask” icon with this activity.

C#

static class Program {        
    static void Main(string[] arguments) {
        //...
        MySolutionWindowsFormsApplication winApplication = new MySolutionWindowsFormsApplication();
        //...
        winApplication.Modules.FindModule<WorkflowWindowsFormsModule>().QueryAvailableActivities += 
            delegate(object sender, ActivitiesInformationEventArgs e) {
            e.ActivitiesInformation.Add(new ActivityInformation(typeof(CreateTask), 
            "Code Activities", "Create Task", 
            ImageLoader.Instance.GetImageInfo("CreateTask").Image));
        };
    }
}

VB.NET

Friend NotInheritable Class Program
    Private Sub New()
    End Sub
    Shared Sub Main(ByVal arguments() As String)
        '...
        Dim winApplication As New MySolutionWindowsFormsApplication()
        '...
        AddHandler winApplication.Modules.FindModule( _
        Of WorkflowWindowsFormsModule)().QueryAvailableActivities, _
        Function(sender, e) AnonymousMethod1(sender, e)
    End Sub
    Private Shared Function AnonymousMethod1( _
    ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ActivitiesInformationEventArgs) As Boolean
        e.ActivitiesInformation.Add(New ActivityInformation(GetType(CreateTask), _
        "Code Activities", "Create Task", _
        ImageLoader.Instance.GetImageInfo("CreateTask").Image))
        Return True
    End Function
End Class