Building a document e-signing workflow with Durable Functions

on YouTube ↗01h 01m

" summary

Builds a working document e-signing workflow using Azure Functions with the Durable Task-backed Durable Functions model, splitting logic into orchestrators, activities and sub-orchestrator instances. Workflow sends emails, starts one sub-orchestrator per signer, uses wait for external event with a five‑day timeout (storage queue max six days), then generates a signed PDF in blob storage; demo runs locally and completes successfully. Notes practical limits: deterministic orchestrator code, monitoring gaps, and painful upgrade strategies for running orchestrations. Sample app on GitHub.

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" chapters (46)

1. 0:00Introduction to Durable Functions
2. 1:27Speaker introduction and agenda
3. 3:54Electronic signing workflow explained
4. 5:21What is a workflow and orchestration
5. 6:03What are Durable Functions
6. 8:53Types of Durable Functions
7. 9:54Use cases for Durable Functions
8. 12:02Orchestrators vs Activities
9. 15:15Sample Orchestrator function
10. 16:41Orchestrator replay behavior
11. 19:55Determinism in Orchestrators
12. 22:02Handling time and randomness
13. 22:44Loops and parallel tasks
14. 23:51HTTP calls in Orchestrators
15. 24:12Activity functions explained
16. 25:16Demo workflow overview
17. 28:30Starting the demo
18. 29:39Orchestrator client function
19. 31:04Database updates in workflow
20. 32:32Sending emails to signers
21. 33:55Parallel email sending
22. 35:01Sub Orchestrator setup
23. 35:46Sub Orchestrator details
24. 36:30Waiting for external events
25. 37:10Handling timeouts and decisions
26. 38:37Event triggering mechanism
27. 41:35Main Orchestrator completion
28. 42:18Creating signed documents
29. 43:23Sending completion emails
30. 44:08Running the demo
31. 44:28Testing the workflow
32. 46:26Signing process demonstration
33. 47:39Workflow completion
34. 48:02Error handling in Durable Functions
35. 48:45Retry policies
36. 49:06Monitoring Durable Functions
37. 49:26Logging best practices
38. 49:49Code analyzers for C#
39. 50:11Complex workflows and sub-orchestrators
40. 50:51Updating Durable Functions
41. 51:14Challenges with updates
42. 52:38Activity function updates
43. 52:59Summary and takeaways
44. 53:45Best practices recap
45. 54:29Q&A session begins
46. 57:50Resources and links

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