Visual studio 2010 create sharepoint 2010 workflow project without local sharepoint server installed

Question

just wondering if it is possible to create a sharepoint workflow project in visual studio 2010 and doing development without a local sharepoint server installed?

working with sharepoint 2010

Answer 1

This is indeed possible, here is a quick reference guide based on this thread (posting as an answer since I cannot add comments yet).

Build & create .wsp-solution for non-SharePoint environments:

1. Go to a SharePoint 2010 server.

2. Open Regedit and locate the node "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\14.0"

3. Right-click and export the node to a file.

4. Copy that file into your dev. environment, right-click and choose "Merge" (select "yes" in the security warning dialog).

5. Install the "Visual Studio 2010 SharePoint Power Tools" onto your development environment. http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/8e602a8c-6714-4549-9e95-f3700344b0d9

6. Start Visual Studio in your development environment and open/create a project based on a SharePoint template (if new project, enter a dummy url when asked for the Sharepoint site location).

7. In order for the solution to build/compile, you will have to copy the Microsoft.SharePoint.dll (& possible the Microsoft.SharePoint.Security.dll) from the [hive-path]\ISAPI folder on a Sharepoint server, and add them as references in your Visual Studio projects.

8. You should now be able to select "Package" (right-click the project in Solution Explorer), this will create the .wsp-file for you in the [solution path]\bin[debug/release] folder.

Answer 2

Yes that's possible:

http://techblog.hk.agenda-asia.com/2010/10/29/create-sharepoint-project-without-install-sharepoint-server/

Answer 3

You can create 'advanced' workflows with SharePoint Designer... Have you tried that yet?

Answer 4

No, to utilize features of Visual Studio SharePoint Extensions, you must have SharePoint 2010 installed locally.