Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
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Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#2How is this a workflow engine rather than an interpretation of a *nix daemon?
I think this is a good implementation of a Python program, but there's - from what I've personally seen - a tremendous opportunity for an affordable, flexible workflow engine (that's not based on Microsoft SharePoint).
Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#3Isn't this what inotify and related programs (incron, etc) are for? I expected it to at least be based on python-pyinotify or python-inotifyx.
Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#4So someone remade cron+incrond, in python, using more memory, with a more complicated syntax. Okay. I'll pass.
Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#5Isn't this what inotify and related programs (incron, etc) are for? I expected it to at least be based on python-pyinotify or python-inotifyx.
Eventually it should be rewritten to use pyinotify. For now it was good enough for my needs.
Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#6This is not a workflow engine but rather a rules engine. A workflow engine is like a navigating a directed graph or a flowchart. Executing one node would take you to the same or different node based on some rules. So a rules engine is typically a part of a workflow engine or invoked by it.
Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#7Speaking as a dev who uses Python on Windows primarily, I like this a lot. Much more lightweight than Windows Workflow Foundation and doesn't feel like sysadmin work compared to doing stuff with Powershell + Scheduled Services + other parts of Windows automation. In other words, this feels like "developer work" rather than "Windows IT Pro" work :p
Kudos!
Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#8This is not a workflow engine but rather a rules engine. A workflow engine is like a navigating a directed graph or a flowchart. Executing one node would take you to the same or different node based on some rules. So a rules engine is typically a part of a workflow engine or invoked by it.
There are two types of workflow engines: sequential and finite state machines. The latter is more general and includes the former. In a finite state machine external event let you move through the nodes of a graph. The present node is the state. In workflow.py the creation/update of a file is the external event. The state is also characterized by the files present in the file system. The change of state is associated to the execution of a program. I agree it is a little different than what people are used to and I am not arguing semantics. It was useful to me. Hope it is useful to others. That is all. I will be happy to take patches to improve functionality.
Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#9Does Python have a BPEL/BPM-style workflow engine like Ruby's ruote?
This doesn't seem to be it, but I would love to have a workflow engine which is designed for long running tasks, with periodic human interruption, conditional flows, and so on.
Re: Workflow.py: A Minimalist Workflow Engine
#10This is not a workflow engine but rather a rules engine. A workflow engine is like a navigating a directed graph or a flowchart. Executing one node would take you to the same or different node based on some rules. So a rules engine is typically a part of a workflow engine or invoked by it.
There are two types of workflow engines: sequential and finite state machines. The latter is more general and includes the former. In a finite state machine external event let you move through the nodes of a graph. The present node is the state. In workflow.py the creation/update of a file is the external event. The state is also characterized by the files present in the file system. The change of state is associated…
Sorry, if I sounded argumentative. I just shared what somebody's perception could be when they read the title 'Workflow Engine'. It took me a while to understand that probably 'Rules Engine' would have been a better nomenclature.