Sergio Del Piccolo

K2 released K2 blackpoint today. K2 blackpoint is feature-rich software eliminating complexity and allowing business users and non-developers to quickly build workflow solutions and process-driven applications within Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. K2 blackpoint offers drag-and-drop tools, a Microsoft Office-style designer (K2 Studio) and a Silverlight-based K2 Web Designer.

It can be used to create new SharePoint workflows that span libraries, sites, InfoPath forms, server farms and organizations; manage approvals; and route documents and list items. With K2 blackpoint everything can be built without code, and users can assemble new applications from information that already exists and workflows that have already been built.

K2 blackpoint is a subset of K2 blackpearl features and tools. It offers an upgrade path so organizations can grow their investment and add capabilities over time. K2 blackpearl is the centrepiece of the K2 platform for building enterprise-ready, process-driven applications.

Pricing for K2 blackpoint is extremely competitive starting at $5,000 for up to 200 users. Automated workflow is now more achievable than ever!

Make sure you evaluate K2 blackpoint today!

K2 Underground – K2 blackpoint forums

SourceCode, K2, K2 blackpearl, K2 blackpoint, K2 Underground, MOSS, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

  I was recently asked about how MetaStorm compares to K2 blackpearl. Having spent a great deal of time with K2 technology and none with MetaStorm, I decided some research was required. Luckily for me one of my fellow K2 Insiders, Jason Apergis, has pondered the same question. He wrote a great article on what each does and what their differentiators are. His article can be viewed here: http://www.k2distillery.com/2009/02/k2-blackpearl-and-metastorm-comparison.html

SourceCode, K2, K2 blackpearl, K2 Insiders, Jason Apergis, MetaStorm

K2 announced the release of the K2 blackpearl Migration Utility. This tool is used to transfer and manipulate data from existing K2.net 2003 databases to K2 blackpearl databases. It enables you to seamlessly start new and continue the execution of all currently running K2.net 2003 process instances on K2 blackpearl.

It requires the K2 blackpearl 0807 release with the KB000370 update, both of which are available on the K2 Customer Portal.

Prior to installing and migrating your data read the accompanying documentation as it is imperative that you evaluate your K2.net 2003 processes and test the migration in a non-production environment before attempting to migrate production servers.

• If you require K2.net 2003 archiving functionality, it is recommended that you do not migrate at this time
• If you make use of a user manager other than Active Director (ADUM), please contact support prior to starting the migration process, even in a test environment

K2, SourceCode, K2 blackpearl, K2.Net 2003

Great news around the upcoming release of the Professional K2 blackpearl book (ISBN: 978-0-470-29305-8), printing started on December 22nd and shipping will start on January 15th.

The book was a collaboration effort between K2 employees and K2 Insiders, including myself. It was a great effort by all and superbly lead by Chris Geier from K2. Wrox have done a fantastic effort leading mostly first time authors through the process of writing, editing and formatting the book.

I had the honour of contributing a couple of chapters, Chapter 9: Creating your first Workflow and Chapter 20: Using the K2 Workspace and Reporting. As you read through the book feel free to comment on how you think I’ve done.

Authors included:
- Chris Geier (K2)
- Mike Talley (K2)
- Codi Kaji (K2)
- Shaun Leisegang (K2)
- Holly Anderson (K2)
- Eric Schaffer (K2)
- Anthony Petro (K2)
- Jason Apergis – K2 and MOSS Collaboration Distillery
- Chris O’Connor – devk2.net
- Colin Murphy – K2[thought]
- Jason Montgomery
- Gabriel Malherbe – naked programmer
- Igor Macori – Share Your Knowledge (Italiano)
- Sergio Del Piccolo (of course)

You can get a copy the new K2 book at the following fine retailers:
- Chapters
- Amazon Canada
- Amazon USA
- Amazon UK

K2, K2 blackpearl, K2 Insiders, Professional K2 [blackpearl], Wrox

K2 will announce the release of K2[blackpearl] 0807 later today. The 0807 release focuses on greater stability and better performance including various enhancements and performance increases for the K2 Workspace, the K2 Designer for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, and the K2 blackpearl Workflow Server. Also included are post-0803 patches and bug fixes. There are a couple of exciting new features included; Out of Office functionality and K2 Interop.

For a complete list of improvements see my earlier post regarding the release of the the 0807 beta. The 0807 release can be downloaded from the K2 Partner and Customer Portal.

K2, SourceCode, K2[blackpearl]

K2 announced the release of the K2 blackpearl 0807 beta. This will provide an opportunity to test out some of the new features and fixes prior to it being released as RTM. The beta period will be 2-3 weeks and give you the ability to provide some meaningful feedback.

The new release contains the following features and fixes:

1. Enhanced Active Directory Service Object
2. K2 Visual Studio stability
   • References
   • Source Control (support for TFS/VSS)
   • Memory management enhancements
3. Workspace
   • Enhanced paging and filtering
   • Multi-domain support
   • SmartObjects
   • Out-of-memory issue fixes
   • Deployment fixes on associations
   • Run-time performance fixes
   • More granular selection of workflow reporting SmartObjects on process deployment
4. Out of Office functionality
5. Workflow server – worklist “no data” issue fixes
6. K2 blackpearl Designer for Visual Studio 2005
   • Minor Wizards Sweep
   • Memory management enhancements
7. Migration
   1. Server Side Migration Tool – a separate utility that will be released based on the K2 blackpearl 0807 code base targeted for the week following K2 blackpearl 0807 RTM. This tool is used to migrate an existing K2.net 2003 databases/server to a new K2 blackpearl databases/server.
   2. Client Side Migration Tool – this is the ability to open a k2.net 2003 project (kpr) in K2 blackpearl Designer for Visual Studio and deploy that project to K2 blackpearl server. The “interop” code only happens on the client side. Once Finish is clicked on the old K2.net 2003 template, K2 takes all the code that would have been generated in 2003 and uses that in a native K2 blackpearl activity. Server side it is just executing .net code – same as if you used the migration tools above. Interop also provides the ability to build “hybrid” processes which include a mixture of K2 blackpearl wizards and K2.net 2003 templates in the same process. The 2003 Interop functionality is available in this release of K2 blackpearl 0807.

For more information on the enhancements, fixes and to download the beta visit the K2 Partner and Customer Portal.

K2, SourceCode, K2[blackpearl], beta

With the announcement of the imminent release of K2 blackpoint, K2 are offering you the chance to win one of three prizes in their Get to the Point(s) game. The game is simple; follow some clues, get some points. The top three point earners will win three great prizes. From more see the K2 blackpoint: Get to the Point(s) site.

K2, SourceCode, blackpoint

K2 blackpearl has been selected as the winner of the Best of Tech Ed 2008 Developers Awards for SharePoint Development.

“…K2 blackpearl is a prime example of a new breed of applications that helps developers get the most out of their SharePoint investment. Using a collection of easy to use tools and features, K2 blackpearl allows developers to quickly create applications that pull together disparate systems, information, and business processes. K2 blackpearl can leverage your existing infrastructure investment—including SharePoint, but also BizTalk and Forms Server—to surface the application mashups you create…”

For more see the article on Windows IT Pro.

K2, SourceCode, blackpearl, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, MOSS, Tech Ed 2008

K2 announced the release of K2 blackpoint in beta. K2 blackpoint is a subset of K2 blackpearl features and tools. It works on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) and allows users to build workflows and process-driven applications quickly — without code. Since K2 blackpoint is a subset of K2 bleackpearl, it is more affordable. However, it does offer an upgrade path so that customers can upgrade to blackpearl as their processes mature and become more complex.

The following provides a graphical indication of K2 blackpoint’s capapbilities:

To learn more and to sign up for a free trial, visit the K2 blackpoint site.

K2, SourceCode, blackpearl, blackpoint, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, MOSS

The 0803 release for K2[blackpearl] has been announced. This release provides support for 64-bit hardware platforms, support for Worldwide English (non-English Windows, SQL Server, SharePoint, Office and Visual Studio), improved license management, performance enhancements and post-SP1 patches and bug fixes.

64-BIT SUPPORT
64-bit support allows K2[blackpearl] components to be installed on 64-bit hardware platforms. Support for the 64-bit platform includes the following components.
    > 64-bit SQL Server 2005
    > 64-bit SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
    > 64-bit SharePoint 2007 (WSS/MOSS/Forms Server)
    > 64-bit K2 [blackpearl] Server
    > 64-bit K2 Workspace

WORLDWIDE ENGLISH (INTERNATIONALIZATION)
Worldwide English support allows K2 [blackpearl] to run in English on non-English platforms. Support for non-English platforms includes the following components.
    >  Windows 2003 Server (Standard or better)
    >  SQL Server 2005
    >  SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
    >  SharePoint 2007 (WSS/MOSS/Forms Server)
    >  Visual Studio 2005 (Professional or better)
    >  Visio 2007

LICENSE MANAGEMENT
The K2 license management feature adds the following capabilities.
    >  Add / Delete license
    >  Edit existing licenses
    >  Manage Logged in Users
    >  Manage License over usage

DISTRIBUTED INSTALLATION ENHANCEMENTS
The K2 Installation Manager and K2 Configuration Manager tools have been greatly enhanced to allow for greater flexibility and robustness when installing K2 [blackpearl] in distributed environments, including the following.
    >  Improved support for network load balanced web front ends in SharePoint farms
    >  Improved support for network load balanced K2 Workspace scenarios

PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS
Numerous performance enhancements have been implemented. Some of the highlights are as follows.
    >  Workflow Server Performance
    >  Improved processes execution
    >  Worklist & Worklist Item performance
    >  Improved memory usage when starting processes and finishing work list items
    >  Improved batch execution of K2 processes
    >  SmartObject Performance
    >  SmartObject Server data handling enhancements
    >  Client Data Marshalling enhancement
    >  SmartObject Synchronization – see KB000250 – SmartObject GUID Synchronization

IPC EVENT
The following issues have been fixed relating to the IPC Event.
    >  Process Synchronization using Batch Actioning, IPC Sync Events, and Worklist Navigation
    >  Worklist Issues with Multiple Destinations, IPC Events and Dynamic Roles
    >  Not all processes in a solution are displayed when browsing for child processes in an IPC Event
        wizard
    >  When an activity contains an IPC event where the destination user is mapped to the child process and
        is used in a client event, both users are able to view the other user’s work items.

DOCUMENTATION
Several additions and enhancements have been made to the K2 blackpearl Documentation. The key areas of improvement are as follows:

1. OVERALL DOCUMENTATION
    >  Combined all documents to be linked from CHM file for easier discovery
    >  Added a “Send Feedback” link to all topics
    >  Added/Improved content for Troubleshooting, License Management, K2 Wizards, SmartObject
        (Delete), 2003 Interoperability and InfoPath Templates

2. GETTING STARTED GUIDE
The K2 [blackpearl] Getting Started Guide has been completely rewritten to provide clear concise information for planning and installation including the following.
    >  A Getting Started Checklist spreadsheet is embedded in the guide to help you plan, document and
        verify your K2 environment
    >  Software prerequisites list is provided by component and by role
    >  A new “Before you begin” section has been added that details steps for configuring DNS, Service
        Accounts, Permissions, NLB, SPNs, MSMQ and DTC
    >  Detailed information for installing in a distributed environment has been greatly enhanced
    >  New topics have been added to the Troubleshooting the Installation section

3. DEVELOPER REFERENCE (FORMERLY SDK)
The K2 [blackpearl] Developer Reference was introduced mid Q1 and has been updated with the following new content for 0803.
    >  Database Overview & Schemas
Architecture topics
    >  Architectural Overview of K2 [blackpearl]
    >  Architecture of Authoring, Management and Runtime aspects of the K2 platform
    >  Architecture of the Workflow Server
    >  Architecture of the SmartObject Server
    >  Architecture of the Event Bus
    >  Architecture of the Environment Library
    >  Architecture of the Workspace Management Console
New “How To” topics
    >  How to access and return information from the Global Worklist
    >  How to upload a file to a SmartObject
    >  How to add a 3rd-party event recorder to the K2 [blackpearl] Server
    >  How to create a custom MSBuild task to set rights on a process
    >  How to Generate a Report in PDF format

COMPATABILITY MATRIX
The K2 [blackpearl] Compatibility Matrix has been added to the customer portal at http://portal.k2workflow. com/help/k2blackpearl/k2bpmatrix.aspx.
Please take the time to review the latest K2 [blackpearl] 0803 (4.8075.1.0) Release Notes and product documentation before installing 0803 to ensure you understand the enhancements, fixed issues, and outstanding known issues.
DOWNLOAD K2 [BLACKPEARL] 0803 (4.8075.1.0)
K2 [blackpearl] 0803 (4.8075.1.0) is available at https://portal.k2workflow.com/do wnloads/bp/Default.aspx. 
License keys can be obtained at https://portal.k2workflow.com/lice nsekey/Default.aspx.  The page can also be found via the Support > License Key Request > License Key menu on portal.
The 0803 installer is slipstreamed, so if K2 blackpearl is not already present, the installer will install K2 blackpearl with the 0803 updates.

SUPPORT
Please use the customer portal to open support tickets and/or contact your local support offices to report any issues. Additionally, the K2 blackpearl public forum on K2 Underground is available for community-based discussions: http://k2underground.com/forums/default.aspx?GroupID=21.  Note: K2 Underground is a community Web site and should not be used for production support issues or for logging bugs.

SourceCode, K2, K2[blackpearl], K2 Underground