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SmartForms provides a platform for all your forms-based needs. Quickly build intuitive forms, using a browser-based, drag-and drop design interface. An extensive rules framework gives you the flexibility to add business logic and data validation to your forms, without writing code. SmartForms aren’t tied to a specific technology, so you can build your forms once and re-use them across all your applications. Below are some points to get you going with your K2 application.

See the K2 smartforms Configuration and Installation Guide for detail on how to install and configure K2 smartforms on your environment.

The K2 Designer provides a user with the ability to build SmartObjects, Views and Forms. It allows users to integrate Forms with Workflows and interact with SmartObjects. The K2 Designer user interface is contained within a web browser which enables the application to be accessible from anywhere.

SmartObjects are a middle layer between data providers and consuming applications such as user interfaces and workflows. The purpose of the SmartObject component is to allow organizations to create re-usable objects, which can then be consumed by various technologies. Because SmartObjects are consistent and hide all the integration logic behind the scenes, it is very easy for designers and developers to interact with back-end systems without needing to know anything about those systems.

The SmartObject component acts like a translator, so that the consuming applications do not need to understand how to query a web service and a database to aggregate information about an employee, for example. Instead, these applications just ask the SmartObject to list information, and K2 will retrieve that information from the underlying systems using some technical integration points to access the external system. The communication is two-way: this means that SmartObjects can be used to read and write information to the underlying systems. Authentication and authorization mechanisms are in place to ensure that only authorized users are allowed to read or update data. SmartObjects surface in K2 for Visual Studio, K2 Studio, K2 Workspace and K2 smartforms. SmartObjects are created in K2 Designer for Visual Studio, K2 Studio and SmartForms. Existing SmartObjects are surfaced in the SmartForms Category Tree menu which is located on the left of the SmartForms canvas.

Customizable smartforms can be used to create new items, or display and edit existing items. K2 smartforms can easily be extended and customized to suit the application's requirements. SmartForms can be used to capture information, to initiate workflows, to action workflow items, to interact with other LOB systems through SmartObjects. SmartForms also offer more advanced user interaction features such as subforms, dialog boxes, tabs, multiple Views and much more.

Controls can be used to customize Views and Forms. They can utilize data from various systems; can be tied to rules and are reusable. Examples are Button, Check Box, Text Box and much more.

Rules may be associated with controls, Views and Forms. Rules can be used to create basic and complex business logic in SmartForms.

A View graphically represents the internal structure and or the data bound to the SmartObject. A View is bound to a primary SmartObject, but can interact with multiple SmartObjects by use of Rules and Conditions. A View can be unbound in the case of an Item View but is usually bound to a primary SmartObject. The following types of Views are available:

Forms are web pages that allow users to interact with applications, such as capturing and displaying the data associated with the application, starting Workflows and completing Workflow Tasks. Examples of Forms include leave forms , expense claim forms or forms that capture data. A Form is a container of one or more Views and the Views can be configured to inter-communicate, capture, amend and display the data bound to one or more SmartObject.

Workflows are made up of a sequence of tasks for users and tasks for the K2 server. The K2 Workflow Designer is surfaced in SmartForms and provides the tools to build, modify and share workflows in SmartForms. User tasks are generated by the workflow and can be actioned by the user through K2 Worklist. The K2 Worklist represents a predefined list containing all the work items for the current user that has been generated and assigned by the workflow. You can use the Worklist to action the items assigned to you.

The K2 Workflow Designer can be used by business users who have access to a web browser. The major advantage to hosting the workflow designer within the browser is a broad reach to users in an organization.

K2 Workflows designed in the K2 Workflow Designer can be exported, this compiles the workflow and saves the K2 Workflow Designer project files to a self extracting file that the user can download from the Workflow Designer site. The workflow can then be opened in K2 Studio for further development. In order to make K2 Studio and K2 Designer for Visual Studio SmartObjects available for use in the K2 Workflow Designer, the option Allow the SmartObject to be used in Workflows need to be selected in the SmartObject Designer. The SmartObject can be edited from the Category Tree in the K2 Designer. The SmartForms Integration Process- and SmartForms Client Event wizards are available in K2 Studio and K2 Designer for Visual Studio for integration with SmartForms.

SmartForms are exposed using security mechanisms such as Windows Authentication and Forms Authentication. See the SmartForms Authentication topic in the SmartForms Installation and Configuration Guide for more detail. In addition, you can mark specific Views/Forms to be available anonymously. For example, you may wish to expose a View/Form to public users who do not have user accounts in your organization's Active Directory. Enabling Anonymous Access on a View/Form would allow these external users to access that specific View/Form without having to provide credentials.

SmartForms can be used on mobile devices such as Smart phones and Tablets. It is also possible to use rules and conditionally format or show and hide Views on a Form, so that mobile users get a Form that is formatted for mobile, while users using computers or iMacs are presented with full-screen, high-resolution pages. Application and Offline Forms can be surfaced in the K2 Mobile for iOS app.

K2 Package and Deployment provides the ability to package K2 artifacts, such as SmartObjects, Forms, Views and Workflows, from one environment (the source) into a package file stored locally or on a network drive. This package is then opened in another K2 environment (the target) where some or all of the artifacts in the package are deployed. One example is to package artifacts from a user acceptance testing environment and deploy it on a production environment.

Using SmartForms, you’ll get business applications that:

  • Provide an intuitive interface that makes it easy to get work done efficiently.
  • Integrate data from any line-of-business system to help make better decisions.
  • Can run anywhere – both on premises and in the cloud
  • Can be accessed from any device

Using SmartForms, you’ll get forms that:

  • Are auto-generated for any SharePoint list or library in your environment, both on premises and in the cloud.
  • Include advanced form logic including cascading drop down lists and cross-field validation
  • Incorporate and interact with data from external line-of business systems.
  • Provide style options like themes and CSS support
  • Combine data from any line-of-business system, both on premises and in the cloud, into a single view.
  • Include advanced logic to add and update data across multiple systems based on criteria specified by the user.
  • Are available anywhere – in a browser, from within an existing application, or on a mobile device.