Workflow Integration Forms Technology - Introduction
K2 blackpearl is designed to be a solution which focuses 100% on enhancing the workflow and workflow-based solution capabilities of SharePoint. When designing a SharePoint Integrated Workflow certain forms technologies are supported in K2 blackpearl which allows for the customization and extension of the Forms used to interact with the workflow. This section will provide an overview on the available forms technologies and how to make use of them.
Prerequisites required to use Forms Technology:
It is important to take note of the following prerequisites before using the Forms Technology functionality. The following software needs to be installed:
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
- Visual Studio 2010 Web Deployment Projects
Host Headers cannot be used with Forms Generation.
It is important to note that Microsoft Visual Studio needs to be installed with the corresponding Visual Studio Web Deployment Package. i.e the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 package must be installed with the Visual Studio 2010 Web Deployment Projects.
Using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 with Visual Studio 2008 Web Deployment Projects will not work correctly.
Forms Technology Introduction
There are primarily two types of Form Technologies that are supported in K2 blackpearl:
- InfoPath
- ASP.NET also known as ASPX pages
The Forms Technologies listed are configured in the SharePoint Workflow Integration Process Wizard and in the SharePoint Workflow Integration Client Wizard.
The Connection Settings screen in the SharePoint Workflow Integration Process Wizard is used to specify the Form Technology and Form Location that should be used when starting the workflow.
Fig. 1. SharePoint Workflow Integration Process Wizard - Connection Settings
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After specifying the Form Technology in the SharePoint Workflow Integration Process Wizard , it will not be able to be changed later. It is therefore extremely important to ensure that the correct Form Technology has been selected |
The Event Name and Configuration screen in the SharePoint Workflow Integration Client Wizard is used to specify the Form Technology and Form Location that should be used by the workflow.
Fig. 2. SharePoint Workflow Integration Client Wizard - Event Name and Configuration
Form Technology
The Form Technology settings specifies what forms will be used when authoring or actioning a task.
Form Location
The Form Location drop-down list stipulates the location of the Forms that should be used when authoring or actioning a task. The options available in the SharePoint Workflow Integration Process Wizard are:
- Use Default Pages
- Network Share (File System)
- Generate new ASP.net (pages)
Forms Technology Considerations:
The following needs to be noted when using the Forms Technology functionality:
- The Files specified when selecting the Use Default Pages and Network Share (File System) must be in an .aspx format
- Task Content Types need to be activated on the SharePoint Site to ensure that the workflow will function properly
- When selecting the Generate new ASP.net (pages) option, the wizard will create .ascx pages that can be edited in Microsoft Visual Studio
- There can only be one task page type assigned to a process at a time. The process will always use the first custom task page type in a designed workflow.
- When code generation is required for ASPX pages to be generated, the deploy package has to be deployed from one of the SharePoint WFE client machines. The deployment can however be done from a developer seat with the same version of SharePoint installed as the client machines.
