K2 Workflow Designer - Workflow Sharing and Naming

This content applies to legacy design tools (such as K2 Studio, K2 for Visual Studio, or the Silverlight-based K2 workflow design tool). If you have upgraded from K2 blackpearl 4.7 to K2 Five, these tools may still be available in your environment. These legacy tools may not be available in new installations of K2 Five. These legacy tools may also not be available, supported, or behave as described, in future updates or versions of K2. Please see the legacy component support policy for more information about support for these components.

K2 Workflow Designer workflows are designed to be shared and re-used, saving development and implementation time. The ability to manage who accesses certain workflows can be controlled by creating a level of security for K2 Workflow Designer workflows.

The K2 Workflow Designer workflow first needs to be saved, before the Share option can be selected.

Important Considerations:

When using the share functionality the following needs to be noted:

  • If a workflow is locked it can only be unlocked by the original designer of the workflow who shares the workflow
  • It is not possible to edit the same workflow at the same time, only one user can work on a workflow at a time

Workflow Naming/Sharing

K2 Workflow Designer workflows can be shared with specific users thereby limiting access to the workflow for security reasons. The Workflow Sharing functionality is accessed by selecting the Share option from the File Menu. 

A user is able to share a workflow in one of the following ways:

  1. Share the original copy of a workflow - Shared Workflows
  2. Create and share a template of a workflow - Reusable Workflows

Both of these shared workflow types are available from the File > Open > From a Workflow Library menu:

Fig. 1. Workflows

Open an Existing Workflow > Personal Workflows

Fig. 2. Personal Workflow functionality

Feature What it is
Name The Name of the workflow
Status The Status of the workflow 
Shared
  • Workflows shared under option 1 mentioned in the above section will have a Yes link in the Shared column
  • Workflows shared under both options will have a Yes link in the Shared and Reuse columns
Reuse
  • Workflows shared under option 2 mentioned in the above section will have a Yes link in the Reuse column
  • Workflows shared under both options will have a Yes link in the Shared and Reuse columns
History

A workflow that has more than 1 version, will have a History link in the History column. Click on the link to view the version history

Clicking the Yes link in either the Shared or Reuse column will open the Sharing and Reuse Settings screen, allowing a user to change the share/reuse options, see below:

Fig. 3. Sharing and Reuse Settings

Clicking the History link in the History column will open the Version History screen, allowing the user to revert to any other version of the workflow, see below:

Fig. 4. Version History

Sharing the Original Workflow

Sharing a workflow in this manner will enable the shared user to edit the original version of the workflow. Any changes made to the workflow will reflect in the current workflow definition, and as such all shared users will be able to see the changes. Deploying the workflow will create a new Version, and NOT a new workflow. 

When any of the shared users opens the workflow, it’s State will change to Locked. All other users, including the workflow Author will see the workflow status as locked when trying to open it.

Fig. 5. Locked status

When a workflow is locked, other shared users will be unable to open it. A workflow can be unlocked by navigating away from the current design canvas. This includes:

  • Opening another workflow
  • Creating a new workflow
  • Closing the browser
  • Closing the browser tab
  • Navigating away from the browser tab

The Author of the workflow is also able to right click on the workflow and select Unlock Workflow, which will unlock the workflow:

Fig. 6. Unlock Workflow

Creating and Sharing a Workflow Template

Sharing a workflow in this manner enables the shared user to create a copy of the original version of the workflow. The workflow will contain all the events of the original workflow. Deploying the workflow will create a new Workflow, and NOT a new workflow version. Each of the shared users have their own copy, and deploying this workflow will not influence the workflow of the other shared users. 

When one of these workflows are opened, the user is diverted to the Start event of the workflow where a new name is required.

Fig. 7. New Workflow Name

Related Topics