Question

Where are the SDK docs and training videos?

SDK Workflow

Updated May 27, 2022

asked on May 25, 2022 • Show version history

I have about 2 months of LF experience and haven’t been able to find much for SDK in the way of docs of training videos. All I can find is one-off posts here and there and the “knowledge base” is nothing more than release notes, and the few videos I could find are not useful either.

For what is probably the most complicated part of LF, there certainly must be something out there.

Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

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Answer

SELECTED ANSWER

replied on May 25, 2022

If you have the SDK installed on your pc, the documentation should be stored in C:\Program Files\Laserfiche\SDK 10\Docs\

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replied on May 26, 2022

Thanks, Mike. I went to that path and see that I don't have it installed. Alluding to what I put in my reply to Cliff Primmer below, if I don't have the SDK installed, I can still do "SDK stuff" within LF workflows, under the item of "SDK Script", is that right? When you work with scripts, do you do it within the built-in editor, or do you do it external? If the former, I am trying to understand the value of the SDK kit.

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replied on May 26, 2022

Correct. The SDK contains the documentation and libraries you would use if you wanted to develop and deploy your own application.

Workflow offers some the functionality of the SDK through its "SDK script" activity. It does not install the SDK documentation as part of that.

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replied on May 25, 2022

Paul,

Unfortunately the SDK documentation is sparse at best. Much of it is just documenting the properties and methods associated with the various classes without a lot of code examples. (You can pretty much get the same info from the ObjectBrowser in Visual Studio).

Your best bet when you run into issues is to do a search on the Answers site and then post a question if you can't find a good answer. There are several SDK developers that are regular users of the site that have 'been there, done that' and can lend a hand.

My experience with the SDK (since 2008) has been generally positive. I have found the architecture of the system, the naming syntax for the assemblies, methods, and properties all seem to be well laid out. You just might have to poke around a bit to find what you are looking for.

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replied on May 26, 2022

Cliff, thanks. Ok, so I was right--there isn't much out there for SDK. I'll probably be posting a question about this later today then.

In my circumstance, seems I'll be using the "SDK Script" in LF Workflow and just use the editor that is built in to LF. Do you do the same, and what can you say about using VB vs C# to write scripts?

Also, I went to the file path that Mike Rizzo mentioned above, and I don't see SDK. Is SDK something different than what is built into LF Workflows?

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replied on May 26, 2022

Paul,

Yes, the SDK is a separate installable package that is available from Laserfiche. The SDK would be used for building standalone .NET integrations.

As far as scripting in Workflow the two options are the SDK Script activity and the Script activity. The difference between the two is that the SDK Script activity exposes the appropriate Laserfiche assemblies to allow interactaction with repository objects whereas the Script activity would not. By far I use the SDK Script activity more often than the Script activity.

Language choice in the script activities is up to the developer, there is no functional difference between them other than the obvious syntax differences. I have been coding since the '80's and am most comfortable with VB but you will find more C# examples than VB examples when you search for coding help online. Regardless of language the code in the activity is JIT compiled at runtime.

The editor that is built into the activites is not a full featured IDE like Visual Studio but it is sufficient.

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replied on May 26, 2022

Would highly recommend C# over VB if you don't have a strong reason to use VB (like Cliff's decades of familiarity). Seconding that you'll find C# to have more resources both for the Laserfiche SDK and in general.

The Laserfiche software itself is overwhelmingly written in C# (I think only WebLink has some VB code) so the developers that peruse Answers will likely find C# code easier to help with as well.

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replied on May 25, 2022 • Show version history

There's at least one SDK presentation from previous Empower sessions on the support site that you can download the PowerPoints for.

PD302: Advanced Topics in SDK Programming

Even though that's from 2017 it should still be applicable. SDK code for Laserfiche 8 (when there was a major architectural change) and later should be broadly conceptually equivalent, though perhaps with minor syntax differences.

I think there are other presentation uploaded but don't have the time to look myself right now.

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replied on May 27, 2022 • Show version history

Thanks, I looked at it, but not the entry level stuff I was hoping for was unfortunately not in it.

I am getting the hang of how to solve things with LF WFs.....this answers site is my "docs".

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replied on May 27, 2022 • Show version history

For basics, the Getting Started with the SDK and SDK Tutorials sections of the SDK104.chm documentation file are solid and my go-to source for the fundamentals. Note that the LfSDKNet104.chm file does not have this getting started/tutorial section.

Then to relate that to using SDK Scripts in Workflow, Workflow gives you a pre-made Session object based on the repo connection profile, as well as an Entry object based on the bound (usually starting) entry, and some additional classes and methods to get and set Workflow tokens.

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