PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 3

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Summary : Microsoft Scripting Guy Ed Wilson continues his five-part series about Windows PowerShell Workflow.
Hey, Scripting Guy! So what’s up with Windows PowerShell workflows and activities? I do not know what an activity is. Can you help me?
—CJ
Hello CJ,
Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. Ah…this afternoon, I am sipping a cup of Darjeeling Earl Grey tea with a bit of cinnamon stick, and I added just a bit of lavender honey from a nearby lavender farm. I am accompanying my tea with a 90% cocoa bar with black currants and hazelnuts. The combination is absolutely stunning.
Note This is the third in a five-part series of blog posts about Windows PowerShell Workflow for “mere mortals.” Before you read this post, please read:

PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 1
PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 2

For more information about workflow, see these Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog posts: Windows PowerShell Workflow .
Workflow activities
A Windows PowerShell Workflow is made up of a series of activities. In fact, the basic unit of work in a Windows PowerShell Workflow is called an activity. There are five types of Windows PowerShell Workflow activities that are available for use. The following table describes the types of activities.

Activity

Description

CheckPoint-Workflow (alias = PSPersist)

Takes a checkpoint. Saves the state and data of a workflow in progress. If the workflow is interrupted or rerun, it can restart from any checkpoint.
Use the Checkpoint-Workflow activity along with the PSPersist workflow common parameter and the PSPersistPreference variable to make your workflow robust and recoverable.

ForEach -Parallel

Runs the statements in the script block once for each item in a collection. The items are processed in parallel. The statements in the script block run sequentially.

Parallel

Allows all statements in the script block to run at the same time. The order of execution is undefined.

Sequence

Creates a block of sequential statements within a parallel script block. The Sequence script block runs in parallel with other activities in the Parallel script block. However, the statements in the Sequence script block run in the order in which they appear. Sequence is valid only within a Parallel script block.

Suspend-Workflow

...(read more)