A correlation set associates actions with each other in a business process.
To define a correlation set:
In your business process, select the Business Process tab.
Either expand the Properties section in the Business Process Logic Page or open the Properties Panel view.
Click on the business process canvas to display Correlation Sets in Properties.
To define a new correlation set, click New.
A new correction set appears in both the Correction sets list box and in the Correlation set properties field with the name Correlation set1.
To name the correlation set, select the name in the Correlation set properties Name field and type over the generated name with your name.
The name change is reflected in both the Correction sets list box and in the Name field.
To create a variable, click Create under the Variables table.
A new variable appears in the table named CorrelationSetVariablewith a type of string.
To name the variable, select the name and type over the generated name with your name.
To change the variable type, click in the Type field, click the arrow to open the drop-down list, and select the type you want to use.
Correlation properties are limited to simple types. You can have a correlation property nested within an XML document, but correlation cannot be performed on subtrees in an XML document.
To associate a message with the correlation set:
Receive, reply, and service invocations can be associated with a correlation set.
Select the receive, reply, or service invocation on the canvas.
In the Properties Panel view or Properties section, select the Correlations tab.
Click New and select the correlation set that you want to add to the activity.
The correlation set displays in the Variables table. Each of the correlation properties must be associated with the information in the input or output message.
To associate the information in the input or output message, click in the Variable Reference field and click
.The Variable Reference Dialog appears.
Select a variable and click OK.
The selected variable appears in the Variable Reference field.
Do one of the following:
The first time you use the correlation set, choose Initiate correlation set.
Note
If you are defining a correlation set for an invoked service, it must be initiating.
The second and subsequent times you use the correlation set, choose Do not initiate correlation set.
A correlation set can be initialized only once for the lifetime of the complex activity that contains the correlation set. If the receive, reply, or invocation activity should initialize the correction set, change the initiate setting to initiate the correlation set.