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I searched through a couple of questions on the topic "What to use .NET's Windows Workflow for?", (like this and this) and they got me started in grasping the big picture.

But one of the posts mentioned this article, which mentions the term "Process server". More specifically, here's its quote:

It seems like the most obvious use of WF in projects so far is when you’re building a process server product.

I have been trying to find a clear definition of what a process server is, but did not succeed yet.

One will end up in browsing IBM's WebSphere Process Server, which offers a very short overview of it's purpose, among other links - but I could find no clear and precise definition for Process Server (wikipedia has none).

Could anyone help fill the gap?

Community
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Veverke
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  • a most interesting finding is... the domain `windowsworkflow.net`, and its completely disconnected contents (wine e-commerce...) – Veverke Jul 28 '16 at 12:22
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    Your question might not be that broad or open to discussion. The problem is that it's not really clear what you do know and what you don't. Moreover, you never say what's the problem you're trying to resolve after having your questions answered. Because as it is presented, _Process Server_ it's just a name really, like John or Anna :) It can be two different things for two different people. It's not that it's a concept or that there's a clear definition of it. You have clear in your mind what a workflow is? – Joao Jul 28 '16 at 19:28

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The word Process might be closely mapped to something like a Workflow. If you reckon that a workflow needs to be executed, separately, by some entity, you will usually have a Server doing it. So there you go, a process server is something that executes workflows.

Btw, as you can read in one of your links, IBM's WebSphere Process Server at some point changed it's name (and backend apparently) to Business Process Manager. So, continuing with the same line of thinking, and this is me speculating on why they've chosen that name, maybe they thought they were not only executing but also enabling customers to manage workflows. Manage ends up being a more broad and inclusive word (and prettier for the sales guys to use as well :).

WF4 knows how to execute workflows so, yes, it can be used to implement a Process Server.

See, this is my very loose definition of it, it might be greatly improved and completely open to discussion. It really depends on which path you want to take on that discussion.

Joao
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