FT, then FP and SP now PU! Power Tools, Feature Packs, Service Packs, now Platform Updates - .Net 4 Platform Update 1 Released (Think WF stuff, like State Machine, persist to SQL Azure, etc)

Robert MacLean (SA Dev) - What's new in Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1?

“…

It is NOT the new name for bug fixes, the PU is in fact the best news for Workflow Foundation people as it includes some seriously powerful new features.

We finally get a complete state machine in WF (dance):

• Entry and exit actions for a state
• Conditional and default transitions that have transition actions
• Scoped variables for a state machine
• Improved tracking support

know this was available on Codeplex for a while (and there is still other good stuff on there for WF not included in this), but this is just awesome to get it officially as this implies to customers a seriousness & support that having on Codeplex does not.

I would be happy if it was just that but they have ALSO given us the ability to use SQL Azure as a store for WF instances!!

This is HUGE!!

Just imagine storing a workflow in the cloud until you need it later? Ideas for roaming devices, workflows that span across devices and, naturally, better usage of worker instances in the cloud themselves all are opened up by this.

Lastly (and least-ly for me) they add the CompensationExtension class, which is used if you are creating your own host and wish to enable support for compensations in workflows. Not a big deal for me, but this could bring new features into my favourite host AppFabric, but we will need to see if that happens in the future.

The update comes in three parts:

…”

The .NET Endpoint - Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1

“The Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1 released today, 4/18/2011.

The Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1 is a platform update that is a set of new features that provides additional functionality for top customer requests and important scenarios.

…

The Microsoft .NET Platform Update 1 consists of three packages:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1 (KB2478063)

  • This package contains the runtime files for the platform update. This package must be deployed on systems where applications that target the platform update are deployed.

• Multi-Targeting Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1 (KB2495638)

  • This package contains reference assemblies and intellisense files for the platform update. This package is installed as part of the next package.

• Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1 – Design-time Package for Visual Studio 2010 SP1 (KB2495593)

  • This package installs the previous two packages and configures Visual Studio 2010 SP1 with new .NET Framework targeting profiles, intellisense, and adds the state machine activities to the toolbox.

To develop workflow applications in Visual Studio 2010 SP1 that target the new Platform Update 1 functionality, the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1 – Design-time Package for Visual Studio 2010 SP1 (KB2495593) must be installed. Once it is installed, the .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1 (KB2478063) profile can be chosen when creating a new .NET application.

…”

Did we really need a new release type? sigh… [Insert other’s rants as they’ve already said it all here]

Still, I’d rather updates out of band than big bang releases… I guess. Also it’s VERY nice to see WF get some love…

 

Related Past Post XRef:
"Multi-Targeting Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Platform Update 1" (with an official State Machine support for WF4)