Sequence vs Workflow

Hello,

I am in training for UiPath and am unsure what the difference between a sequence and a workflow is. Per the documentation, a workflow can provide a better overview of the business process and has additional logical operators whereas a sequence is linear and can be repeated easily. What is the difference from creating a smaller, linear workflow instead of a sequence? Is there any more efficiency when using a sequence? Thanks in advance to any responses.

Hi, @jipsen

There is no real difference between a linear workflow and a sequence. But Workflows(Flowcharts) are reserved for complex processes and sequences for simple piece of process. I think your are just startin with Uipath, right? Well, every developer/programmer has his/her own style, I recommend you to use the one you find best to understand and work better for your process.

Hope I helped,
Chris

1 Like

Please refer to these documents:
Sequence
Flowchart
State Machine
Thanks!

1 Like

Hi @jipsen,

If you are using sequence for small flows it will be good,For large flows & all we need to use flowchart because for looking understand it is easy to check.

Always use sequences when the logic in a workflow constitutes 15 activities or less (this is my opinion :slight_smile: ).
As a thumb rule, use a Flowchart because it helps you understand the code flow better and in a way you are also using sequences in it. Name each sequence and activity correctly and you’ll understand that Flowchart is best suited for implementations when it comes to below points:

  1. Code Readability
  2. Maintenance
  3. Representation
  4. Decision based switching

P.S : This is just my opinion though :stuck_out_tongue:

Sorry for reviving this old thread but I’m confused, too.

And sorry to say, but you guys are mixing things. The original OP aks about:

what the difference between a sequence and a workflow is

Then @Christopher_Gomez replies

There is no real difference between a linear workflow and a sequence. But Workflows(Flowcharts) are

So he’s like considering “flowchart” as a synonym of “workflow”. But in Studio this is considered a different thing, as there are two different entries in the “New…” menu for creating them:

Then, to add further confusion, @Jan_Brian_Despi is providing a link for sequences, flowcharts and state machines, but not to workflows.

Then @varunk talks about flowchart, but that was not in the original question.

And then @Jagdish2593 recommends different scenarios for workflow and flowchart, but, again, that was not the original question, as flowchart was not mentioned by @jipsen .

The confusion comes because there’s two different entries when creating both sequences and workflows in UiPath Studio, yet, in my testing, both options produced something like looks the same to me: a sequence, with the two pointing down arrows icon, and of type System.Activities.Statements.Sequence, as shown in the properties. They both look exactly the same to me. Excepting that, for a Workflow, it says is using a template.

I googled specifically for this, as it’s very confusing, and it took me to this thread, which added further confusion.

Can please anyone clarify and why these two separate entries in the menu?

1 Like

I’d say sequences, flowcharts and state machines are types of workflows.

No idea why this was introduced since it’s essentially the same as choosing to create a Sequence, Flowchart or State Machine. Currently it just results in more clicks to create the workflow type you want.

1 Like

Could maybe someone from the staff clarify?

It still surprises me that noone is saying anything.
Well, I found myself again in this situation. Created the same, both in the Workflow and in Sequence versions, compared the .xaml with WinMerge and both are the same, excepting that the Workflow versions has this two assembly references that are not present in the Sequence one:

System.Collections UiPath.Workflow

Why this? Any other explanation that simply for the sake of causing confusion?

That’s the entry point to workflow templates (that was supposed to be hidden if no custom templates have been defined). It will be redesigned.