Workflow vs Microflow

Workflows and microflows are both used to express business logic, but they serve different purposes and have different execution models.

Comparison

When to Use a Microflow

Use a microflow when:

• The operation completes immediately (create, update, delete, calculate)
• No human decision points are needed
• The logic runs within a single database transaction
• You need fine-grained error handling with rollback

CREATE MICROFLOW Shop.ACT_ProcessPayment
BEGIN
  DECLARE $Order Shop.Order;
  RETRIEVE $Order FROM Shop.Order WHERE [OrderId = $OrderId] LIMIT 1;
  CHANGE $Order (Status = 'Paid', PaidDate = [%CurrentDateTime%]);
  COMMIT $Order;
  RETURN true;
END;

When to Use a Workflow

Use a workflow when:

• The process involves human approval or review steps
• The process spans multiple days or longer
• You need a visual overview of where each case stands
• Multiple steps should happen in parallel
• The process may wait for external events

CREATE WORKFLOW Shop.OrderApproval
  PARAMETER $Context: Shop.Order
  OVERVIEW PAGE Shop.OrderWorkflowOverview
BEGIN
  USER TASK ReviewOrder 'Review the order'
    PAGE Shop.OrderReviewPage
    OUTCOMES 'Approve' {
      CALL MICROFLOW Shop.ACT_ApproveOrder;
    } 'Reject' {
      CALL MICROFLOW Shop.ACT_RejectOrder;
      END;
    };
  CALL MICROFLOW Shop.ACT_FulfillOrder;
END WORKFLOW;

Combining Both

Workflows and microflows work together. A workflow orchestrates the process while microflows handle the actual logic at each step:

1. Workflow defines the process: who needs to act, in what order, with what outcomes
2. Microflows execute within workflow steps: create objects, send emails, update status
3. Pages provide the UI for user tasks

A common pattern is:

-- Microflow does the work
CREATE MICROFLOW Approval.ACT_Approve
BEGIN
  DECLARE $Request Approval.Request;
  RETRIEVE $Request FROM Approval.Request WHERE [id = $RequestId] LIMIT 1;
  CHANGE $Request (Status = 'Approved', ApprovedBy = '[%CurrentUser%]');
  COMMIT $Request;
END;

-- Workflow orchestrates the process
CREATE WORKFLOW Approval.ApprovalProcess
  PARAMETER $Context: Approval.Request
BEGIN
  USER TASK Review 'Review request'
    PAGE Approval.ReviewPage
    OUTCOMES 'Approve' {
      CALL MICROFLOW Approval.ACT_Approve;
    } 'Reject' {
      CALL MICROFLOW Approval.ACT_Reject;
      END;
    };
END WORKFLOW;

See Also

• Workflows – workflow overview
• Workflow Structure – CREATE WORKFLOW syntax
• Activity Types – workflow activity reference
• Microflows and Nanoflows – microflow overview