How to use a SmartObject as a Lookup Object with Data Level Security

To setup the example provided in this article a minimum of two SmartObjects are required:

• A one-to-many (1:M) association is configured between the two SmartObjects
• The Lookup feature is only configured on one of the SmartObjects

The SmartObjects are then deployed.

The steps required to create a SmartObject have been documented adequately in the K2 Help file. For detail on creating SmartObjects, refer to that resource.

It is not essential that the reader follow the naming in this example explicitly but it will assist with correlating the example with your real life project.

Step 1 - Create SmartObjects

When creating the SmartObjects, keep in mind the following tips:

• To avoid the need for a process in your project, use a SmartObject project.
• If you have opened a K2 Workflow Project, simply add a Server Event to your canvas and link the Start Activity to the Server Activity with a Line rule. No further changes are required, or simply delete the .kprx file from the Solution Explorer.

Step 3 - Create Associations

An association is required between the Customer SmartObject and the Region SmartObject. To configure the association, the SmartObject selected is the SmartObject not configured as the lookup. For this example, select the Customer SmartObject to create the association with the Region SmartObject.

1. On the Welcome Screen click Next

2. On the Association Details Screen,
   a. SmartObject – Browse to the Region SmartObject using the Context Browser
   b. The Association Alias Name will auto populate

3. Additional options will display (see the figure below)
   a. Select Each Customer SO has a single Region SO
   b. Select Region SO can have many Customer SO SmartObjects

4. Click Next until the Finish screen is reached, then click Finish
   
   
   [Figure 2. Association Details screen in the Association Wizard]

Step 4 - Deploy SmartObjects

Before deploying the SmartObjects do the following:

• Check that the Region SmartObject has been configured as the lookup

• Check that there is a one-to-many (1:M) association between the Customer SmartObject and the Region SmartObject

After the above have been checked, right click the project in the Solution Explorer and select deploy. This will run the deployment wizard. If you are unsure how to use this wizard, refer to the K2 blackpearl Help file for details on this wizard.

Step 5 - Data Level Mappings

Once the K2 SmartObjects are deployed to the K2 Server, open K2 Workspace.

1. Open up the K2 blackpearl Workspace

2. Click the Management Console

3. Expand the nodes for > SmartBox > Security
   
   Note: The above instructions should have brought you to the location within K2 Workspace as shown below:
   
   
   [Figure 3. The SmartBox Security node in the K2 Workspace]

4. Select the Customer SmartObject

5. Click on the Data-level Mapping tab

6. Under Associated SmartObjects select Region SO
   
   Note: The Security/Data-level Mapping page looks like the following figure:
   
   
   [Figure 4. The Security page for the Customer SmartObject in K2 Workspace]
   
   Note: The Security button should now be active.  

Accompanying this article are project files that will enable the user to perform the steps in this article. The attached project files require K2 blackpearl Hotfix1 or later. The attachment includes the following:

K2 Designer for Visual Studio Project

• This project contains the project files for the K2 Designer for Visual Studio. The project is a K2 SmartObject project and contains the two SmartObjects used in this article

• The SmartObjects contain no data and these will need to be populated manually or via the ADODataProvider

• Open the project in the K2 Designer for Visual Studio and deploy the project to your K2 Server
  NOTE: The lookup feature is NOT enabled in the K2 SmartObject Project. See the text of this article for details on how to set this feature, either in the K2 Designer for Visual Studio or in the K2 Workspace.

Web site Projects

• The web site project contains pages that enable the developer to view the data via an APSX page for different users. This will demonstrate how data can be displayed for different users and how the lookup feature enables the user to view data and / or excludes certain users from viewing data.

• A web site must first be created in IIS to host the web pages. See Appendix A for information on how to create a web site.

Appendix A - Create a Web Site

The Lookup security capabilities are best demonstrated using a site with user controls that return data from the deployed SmartObject based on the Lookup security settings. The project examples included with this article contain the project page; a site is required to host the page. Follow the instructions below to create the site.

1. Start > All Programs > Administrative Tools and Select Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager

2. Expand the {Local Computer} node, right-click on Web Sites folder and select New > Web Site

3. Click Next button, enter a name for the web site (e.g., LookupWebSiteVS) and click Next button

4. Change the TCP port to 8082 (or any other port not already in use) and click Next

5. Click the Browse button, go to C:\Inetpub and click on Make New Folder button. Give it the same name as the web site (e.g., LookupWebSiteVS). Uncheck Allow Anonymous access checkbox and click Next twice and then Finish button

6. Right-click on newly created web site and select Properties

7. Go to Home Directory tab and select 'Scripts and Executables' in 'Execute permissions' dropdown and click OK

8. Close IIS

Once the site exists, open the ASP.NET page example within Visual Studio and publish the page to the following site 8082 (or the port you created the website on). Once the page is published, browse to the site http://localhost:8082 to view the page. If set up correctly, the data within the lookup SmartObject will be displayed on the page based on the permissions of the user logged in.

Appendix B - Create a User Page

A user site can be created to demonstrate the Lookup security features. The Lookup security is best demonstrated when you compare the security settings for two different users with different security settings. This requires that at least two users are added in K2 Workspace and they are provided with different security settings.

Create the project

1. Double click on the K2 Designer for Visual Studio icon on the Desktop and click on File > New > Web Site

2. Select the ASP.NET Web Site template

3. Select the location to save your project to (e.g., C:\Tutorials\Data Level Security\Website)

4. Click OK

Add the controls and configure the data source

In the Toolbox click on the Data Tab:

1. Double-click on SQLDataSource

2. Click on the drop down arrow displayed in the top-right corner, click on Configure Data Source

3. Click on New Connection
   

4. Select K2 SmartObjects
   
   

5. Uncheck Always Use this selection

6. Click on Continue

7. From the Add Connection Screen, do the following:
   
   
   a. Change the Server Name to Localhost
   b. Change the port number to 5555

8. In the SmartObjects area, uncheck the All SmartObjects checkbox
   a. Click the ellipse button to load the available SmartObjects
   b. Click the OK button and then click on the Select… button in SmartObjects frame

9. Expand until you find the Customer SmartObject, select it and click OK
   

10. Click OK to close the Select SmartObjects dialog

11. Click OK on the Add Connection dialog
    

12. Check the Yes, save this connection as checkbox and give it an appropriate name (e.g., CustomerConnectVS), then click Next
    

13. Select the Specify a custom SQL Statement or Stored Procedure option
    

14. Click Next

15. Select the Stored procedure Radio Button

16. Select the Get List Method from the drop down menu
    

17. Click Next twice

18. Click on the Test Query button and then OK
    

19. Click Finish

Final Data source configuration

1. Select the newly added SQLDataSource and change the CancelSelectOnNullParameter property to False

2. Double click on the GridView control in the toolbox to add it to the canvas

3. Next to Choose Data Source, select the SQLDatasource you've just added

Web.Config configuration

1. In the Web Site project, double-click on the web.config file in the Solution Explorer

2. Add in the node and save

3. Click on the play button to build the solution

4. Close the web page

Publish the Web site

1. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and select Publish Web Site

2. Enter the Web site that you created (e.g., http://localhost:8082) in the Target Location textbox and click OK