KB001555

Introduction
K2 smartforms is an add-on product to K2 blackpearl, our software platform for enterprise workflow and BPM.

K2 smartforms is a flexible way to create user interfaces based on your business entities described in SmartObjects. K2 smartforms offers a browser-based environment for building forms that can be used and reused in multiple applications – including SharePoint, solutions that integrate with your line-of-business systems, and workflow and other process-based applications.

With the introduction of K2 smartforms, highly manageable solutions can be built faster than ever before.

Components

There are two components to K2 smartforms:

1. The K2 Designer is a browser based design canvas that allows you to create SmartObjects, Views Forms, and Workflows.
2. K2 smartforms Runtime is the end user browser based experience of working with Views and Forms.

1. SmartObjects can be created using the browser with the same experience as creating them in K2 Studio or K2 Designer for Visual Studio.
2. Views visually represent the internal structure and data bound to a SmartObject. Views can include fields from the SmartObject, buttons for the SmartObject methods, and common controls like labels, drop down lists, textboxes, file and image attachments.
   Controls and Fields can be dropped onto the View Canvas, and tables can be used to align items. This allows for a very simple yet powerful design experience. Control properties can be easily set allowing for easy manipulation of styles and calculated fields.
   Rules can be configured on a View to allow for complex form behaviors using a simple language-based rules engine. Rule templates are included to easily define rules for basic behaviors.
3. Forms are used as a container for one or more Views. By setting up rules and parameters, data from different views can interact and events raised in one View can affect a different View. A few controls can be added to a Form outside of a View. These include labels, pictures, buttons and a table for layout. Forms can include tabs for navigation and Rule templates to easily define rules for basic behaviors. Each Form requires at least one View.
4. Workflows can be created in the browser using Forms to start workflows or as user interfaces for user tasks. Similar to the workflow designer available in SharePoint, workflows designed in the K2 Designer have context of the Forms and are deployed to the K2 server, allowing for rich reporting and monitoring.

K2 smartforms' default features can also be extended giving you the ability to create your own custom controls, themes and patterns. Forms can also be designed to run on certain mobile devices. 

Download

The K2 smartforms Setup Manager is available as an independent installation package that can be found at the following location: 

K2 smartforms 1.0 (4.12165.1.0) - https://portal.k2.com/downloads/k2smartforms

Installation Information
For information on hardware and software prerequisites, installation steps on a standalone environment and post installation steps see:

KB001553 - Installing K2 smartforms 1.0 (4.12165.1.0) Quick Guide or view the product documentation on help.k2.com.

If you have been part of the K2 smartforms Beta program and would like to upgrade your beta 2 environment to this released version follow the upgrade steps in the following document:

Known Issues
A list of some of the current known issues that you may encounter when using K2 smartforms 1.0 (4.12165.1.0) is available in KB001554 - K2 smartforms 1.0 (4.12165.1.0) Known Issues List.