1. In K2 Designer, edit the Leave Request Workflow. (Right-click the workflow name in the category tree, then select Edit.)
2. Click the Workflow Steps tab to expose the wizards if it is not already open. Drag a Send E-mail event into the Approved outcome Placeholder event. Click Yes, for the Confirmation dialog that asks if you want to change this step.



3. The E-mail event wizard opens. Expand the Context Browser, then Workflow Context. Drag the Originator Email into the To field.



4. For the Subject line, enter the following text, replacing the bracketed text [Title] with the Item Reference > Leave Request SmartObject > Leave Request Title found in the Context Browser.
   Your Leave Request is Approved: [Title]



5. Using the same approach as above, enter the following content into the message body, again replacing the bracketed text with the appropriate Item References properties from the Context Browser.
   
   Your Leave Request has been approved by your manager. Your request details are as follows:
   
   Leave Start Date: [Leave Start Date]
   Leave End Date: [Leave End Date]
   Leave Type: [Leave Type]
   
   Approver Comments: [Approver Comments]

Your email should look like the image below. Click OK when ready.



6. Double-click the Placeholder title of the Step and change it to
   Email Originator Approved
7. In the Basic application, we copied and pasted events to speed up the build process. We will do the same here. Begin by deleting the Rejected side Placeholder so that we can paste the E-mail event we just created in its place. Right-click the Placeholder1 event and select Delete. Click Yes for the confirmation dialog that appears.



8. Next, we need to add back in the Continue outcome line, which will add a corresponding event holder. Hover over the Set Status Rejected event until you see the Workflow Step Outcomes icon (it looks like a blue mini-flowchart). (If you don't see the icon when hovering, click anywhere on the design canvas to refocus your mouse, then try hovering again.) Click the icon when you can see it.



9. On the Workflow Step Outcomes configuration screen, click Add. Replace New Outcome with
   Continue
   then click OK. You should now see the Continue line with an empty event box.
10. Copy the E-mail event we just configured. To copy an event in K2 Designer, click outside of the event box, then drag over the event to highlight it. Click Copy when the option menu opens. (If you get a dialog about allowing access to the clipboard, click Yes to continue.)



11. Right-click the empty event box and click Paste. You should now see the Email Originator event has been replicated. We need to make a few adjustments to reflect the Rejected outcome.
12. Double-click the event to open its wizard. Change the Name to
    Email Originator Rejected
    then click Next.
13. There are no outcomes to configure, so click Next. Change the Subject line and the message body to reflect the manager's Rejected decision. Use the image below as a guide, the changed values are underlined in red. Click Finish when ready.

STEP 5 REVIEW

In this step, we added an email event and customized the email using properties found in the Context Browser. The placeholder values from the Context Browser (indicated by green blocks in the wizard screens) will be replaced at runtime by K2 with the actual values for that instance of the workflow. The Workflow Context offers properties that contains details about the workflow itself, such as the workflow Originator, Originator's email, Manager, Folio and so on. Item References contain SmartObject field references. For example, the [Leave Request Title] Item Reference is replaced at runtime with whatever value was entered into the form's Leave Request Title field. This allows you to customize and personalize your workflow. We also demonstrated the ease of reusing content by copying and pasting events.

1. Double-click the Manager Approval User Task to open its wizard. Enter a third action and name it
   Rework.
   then confirm the option to Allow user to action the task without opening the Form is CHECKED. Click Next to continue.



2. There are no changes to the Linked To values, so click Next. The Leave Request Form is correct, so click Next. There are no changes to the work item rules, so click Next. There are no changes to the Participants, so click Next.
3. On the Event Notification Settings screen (email message/body content) CHECK the box to Customize the Notification Message. Notice that after you check the box, K2 adds the default task notification content in the message body. We are going to add additional text to the email so that the Manager can approve or reject the request by replying to the email, instead of opening the form.
K2 allows you to action tasks directly from an email using a technology called SmartActions. Notice the paragraph in the email that contains the Work Item Context called Configured Actions. (Refer to the image below, blue dashed line.) At runtime, Configured Actions will be replaced with the actual actions we have configured (Approved, Rejected, Rework). The user can simply reply to the email with one of the actions as the message body and K2 will read it, then continue the workflow following the action outcome indicated.

For this step, we will add text to the notification email and customize the Subject line. For the Subject line, enter
Leave Request Submitted: [Leave Request Title]
then drag the Item References > Leave Request SmartObject > Leave Request Title to the end of the subject line. (See the image below as a reference if necessary.)

In the message body, just below the Dear Participant line, enter the following, dragging values from the Context Browser as needed for the field marked in brackets.

A Leave Request has been submitted and now requires a decision by you. Please review the following details, then reply to this email with one of the decision actions as the email body.

Employee Name: [Employee Name]

Leave Start Date: [Leave Start Date]

Leave End Date: [Leave End Date]

Leave Type: [Leave Type]

(Click Finish when ready.)



Notice that K2 has added the third action outcome with an event box.



4. Drag a User Task (SmartForms) event into the new Rework event box.



5. The User Task wizard opens. Name the new event
   Rework Request
   and enter the following for the Instruction
   
   Your manager has requested that you rework your Leave Request. You may resubmit or cancel the request.
   
   For the actions, enter
   Resubmitted
   Canceled
   then click Next.
   



6. The Leave Request Form is correct, so click Next. There are no changes to the work item rules, so click Next.
7. On the Participants screen, drag the Originator into the Task Group box. CHECK the box to Notify participants when they receive a work item. To save time we will not customize the email content, so click Finish .



Now we want to configure the events for the two Rework outcomes (Resubmitted and Canceled). First, we will route the Resubmitted outcome back to the Set Status Submitted event so that the workflow returns to a previous step in the workflow. For the Canceled outcome, we will copy and paste a Set Status event, then update the Request Status value so that it indicates Canceled.

8. Double-click the Rework Request User Task to open its wizard. Click Next from the home screen. Change the Linked To value for the Resubmitted outcome to Set Status Submitted. Click Next until you can click Finish to complete this step (three times).



Notice now that K2 routes the Resubmitted outcome back to the Set Status Submitted event. This will create a loop effect in the workflow between the Rework and Resubmitted outcomes until a different action is selected.



9. Copy and paste the Set Status Submitted event into the Canceled event. (See Step 5 (i) if you need a reminder on how to copy and paste events in K2 Designer.)
10. Double-click the new Set Status Submitted1 event to open its wizard. Change the name to
    Set Status Canceled
    then click Next.
11. On the Workflow Step Outcomes screen, CHECK the box next to the Continue2 outcome and click Remove. (Depending on how you've worked through the steps, your outcome may have a slightly different name from Continue2.) Click Next.

We are removing this outcome because we don't need to continue the workflow after this step. If the decision is to cancel the request, then after the Request Status property has been updated, the workflow will be complete.



12. On the input properties screen, scroll down and change the Request Status value to
    Canceled
    then click Next. We do not need to change the ID value as it is telling K2 which record we want to update (the current record). Click Finish when ready.
    
13. Your completed workflow should look like the image below.



14. Save your work. (File > Save)

STEP 6 REVIEW

In this step we added a third action for the Manager Approval task. We customized the task notification email so that the manager can use SmartActions to action the task directly from the email. We added a User Task for the form originator in the event the manager decides the request needs to be reworked. We routed the Resubmitted outcome so that the workflow essentially starts over again if the originator resubmits the request, or the status of the request is set to Canceled if the originator decides to cancel the request.

1. Click the Manager Approval event to highlight it. Right-click and select Escalations.
   
   
2. When the Add Escalation screen opens, click Add.
3. On the Escalation Settings screen, name the escalation
   Manager Approval Reminder
   then select the option Escalate On.
4. We want the escalation to fire 2 days before the leave start date, and you will use an Inline Function to achieve this. In the Context Browser, expand the Inline Functions > Date and Time tree and drag the AddDays function into the date field as shown below.

There are three options for escalations. The most common perhaps, is Email, where an email reminder is sent to the destination user (and optionally, the form originator) letting them know they have an outstanding task. You can choose to Redirect the task to another user or Expire the task, which essentially marks the task 'complete' and moves the workflow on to the next step.



5. On the AddDays screen, expand Item References in the Context Browser and drag the Leave Start Date property into the Date and Time field. For the Days value, enter (minus 2)
   -2
   then click OK, then click Next.

Here, we are simply telling K2 that we want to kick off this escalation two days prior to the Leave Start Date.



6. On the Escalation E-mail screen, CHECK the boxes to send the notification to the participant and the originator. This will send the email to the manager and the form originator. See the screen shot below for guidance, if needed.
   For the Subject, enter
   REMINDER: Leave Request for [Originator Name]
   then expand the Workflow Context tree in the Context Browser and drag the Originator Full Name into the subject line (replacing the bracketed text).
   For the message body, enter the following (again replacing the bracketed text with Item References properties).
   
   This is a reminder that the Leave Request [Leave Request Title] starting on [Leave Start Date] has not yet been approved. Please check your worklist items and process this request with your decision.


Click Finish when you are done to complete the Escalation wizard screen.



7. Click Finish. Your screen should look like the image below. Click OK to close the Escalation configuration screen.



8. Save your work.

STEP 7 REVIEW

In this step, we added an escalation to send an email reminder two days prior to the Leave Start Date in the event the manager has not actioned the request yet. We customized our email to include details about the specific request, and we configured the email to route to the manager and the form originator.

1. Deploy the workflow (File > Deploy)

1. In K2 Designer, right-click the Leave Request Form and check it out (if it is not already), then Edit it.
2. Click the Rules tab in the Breadcrumb Bar. (A below) Highlight the Workflow Task state, then highlight the When the Form is Initializing rule. Click Edit Rule.



3. In the Rule Definition pane, locate the condition that says if current Workflow Activity is Manager Approval. Notice that this condition already has an action to open the Manager Approval worklist item. K2 added this condition and action when we configured the Manager Approval User Task.

   

4. Confirm the Actions tab is highlighted. (A below) Click on the current action (then open the Manager Approval worklist item) to highlight it. In the Actions pane, scroll down until you see the Control Interaction heading. Click on the Set a View control's properties action to add it to the Workflow Activity condition, just below the open worklist item action as shown below.



5. Click the select View link and select Leave Request Item View. Click the select control link and select Approver Comments Text Area.



6. Click the (configure) link. On the Mapping Destinations screen, scroll down until you can see the General heading. Change the Read-Only setting from Yes to No. By turning off the read-only setting, the manager will be able to add comments when they open the form. Click OK. Click OK to return to the Rules home screen.

STEP 9 REVIEW

In Step 9, we edited the Workflow Task state, Form Initializing rule and enabled the Approver Comments field for the Manager Approval task. This will allow the approving manager to add comments to the request if they choose. This step demonstrated the power of states and how you can edit individual states to customize the user interface for a specific task or event.

1. On the Rules home screen, confirm the Workflow Task state is highlighted, then click Add Rule.



2. Click the Events tab. (A below) Scroll to the bottom of the Events list and click the After the Workflow action was submitted event to add it to the Rule Definition pane.



3. Now click the Actions tab and click to add the Execute a View method action to the Rule Definition pane. Click the select View link and select Leave Request Item View. Click the select method link and select Save.



4. Click the (configure) link. We will auto-map the Input Mappings to save on time, however, we will have to edit the ID mapping as that value will be incorrect using the auto-map. Click Auto-Map.



5. Now we will replace the auto-mapped ID with the correct value. Click to the right of the ID value and backspace until you have removed it. When the field is empty, expand the Leave Request Item View in the Context Browser, then expand the Leave Request SmartObject. Drag the SmartObject ID into the Input Properties >  ID field.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to complete this step. We want to use the SmartObject ID so that K2 knows we are updating the current record. If we use the auto-mapped ID, K2 would not recognize the value as the current record.

Click Finish. Click OK to close the Rule Designer.

STEP 10 REVIEW

In this step, we added a rule that will fire off the Save method (which is the equivalent of update) for the Leave Request SmartObject with any changes the user might have made.

1. First we will configure an action to clear the form entries upon submit. On the Rules home screen, highlight the Leave Request Workflow (Default) state, then the Create Button is Clicked rule. Click Edit Rule.



2. Confirm the Actions tab is highlighted, then click the Execute a View method action to add it to the Rule Definition pane. Click the select View link and select Leave Request Item View. Click the select method link and select Clear.



Now we will update the Leave Request List View so that the new entry is shown.

3. Click Execute a View method once again to add another instance to the Rule Definition pane. Click the select View link and select Leave Request List View. Click the select method link and select Get List. Click the (configure) link.
   
   
4. In this step, we will map the user's email as the input property so that K2 knows to search the SmartBox records for those that have the same email value as the current user. In the Context Browser, expand System Values, then Current User and drag the Email property into the Employee Email Input Property. Click Finish.



We have one additional step we need before we close out of our form. In the previous step, we cleared the form entries when the user clicked the Create button. Now we need to add back in the Employee Name and Employee Email values so the refreshed form appears exactly the same as a brand new form.

5. Still on the Actions tab, search for
   transfer
   then click Transfer data to add it to the Rule Definition pane. Click the (configure) link.



6. Expand the System Values tree, then Current User. Drag the Display Name into the Employee Name Text Box field and the Email into the Employee Email Text Box field. Click OK twice, then click Finish.



7. Right-click the Leave Request Form and select Check In. If you get a message about associated Views, click OK to continue.

STEP 11 REVIEW

In this final step of configuring actions, we added a clear method so that the user will have a visual confirmation that their form was submitted. There are a number of mechanisms for letting your users know they have successfully submitted a form, including adding a confirmation pop-up message or redirecting them to a web page, for example. As you build more applications within your own environment, you will gain knowledge of what works best for your target users.

Now that our application changes are done, we will move on to Part 4 and test the new version of the Leave Request Approval application