K2与Sharepoint工作流

nihaogirl

　　要了解K2同Sharepoint工作流的不同点；首先要了解一下他们之间的共同点：K2和Sharepoint工作流都是构建在微软统一的流程框架:WF(Workflow Foundation)上的产品。
　　那么对于WF(Workflow Foundation)这个框架需要上升到一个工作流产品，还有很长的路需要走，具体要走多少路，请看下文的介绍：
　　是K2，還是WF(Workflow Foundation)？
　　从上文中可以了解到：K2首先是一个独立的BPM套件，他的作用是帮助企业用快速的方式构建灵活的业务流程系统．而K2产品在发展过程中，发现众多的企业客户希望使用Sharepoint进行其知识管理；K2为了更好的保证客户的投资，推出了许多和Sharepoint进行集成的功能模块。包括集成到Sharepoint中的个人门户（其中包含流程待办）；流程统计；以及流程流转过程中操作各种Sharepoint中的元素（如文档库；列表库；MetaData）等功能。后来发现如此的集成力度还是不够，于是K2推出了一个专门在Sharepoint中制作工作流的插件: K2 Web Designer；这个插件完全基于Ajax，能够在Sharepoint页面中无刷新的设计业务流程。
　　如果想要进一步了解Sharepoint 和K2如果整合构建企业的协作和流程管理平台，请参考如下材料：MOSS+K2构建企业级协作和流程管理平台
　　上述材料中提到：K2可以使用Visual Studio ; Visio ; Web Designer三种工具来进行流程建模的工作；而后面两者相对于Visual Studio来说功能会弱一些，而这两种工具比较适合业务人员来使用，重要的是：当业务人员使用这两种工具所建模出来的流程不够满足业务需求的时候，IT人员可以通过Visual Studio来打开并优化业务人员已经完成的“流程模型的初稿”。这样在业务人员和IT人员之间，就不会因为沟通的问题而导致业务信息的丢失。让业务人员和IT人员能够在一个平台，使用不同的工具来协同工作．

　　下表给出了一系列K2 工作流扩充Sharepoint工作流的方面．

	SharePoint Workflow	K2 blackpearl
Process Design	Available via SharePoint Designer, a rules-based design tool, or in Visual Studio using custom development	Available via drag-and-drop, wizard-based designers:
		• K2 Web Designer within SharePoint
		• K2 Designer for Visio 2007
		• K2 Studio Designer within Visual Studio
Custom actions and conditions	Via Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) custom development.	Via out-of-the-box event templates as well as custom event templates written using the K2 Wizard SDK
Human-to-System workflow support	Via Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) custom development.	Via out-of-the-box event templates, custom event templates or web services support
Data auditing	Available via SharePoint metadata and document library/list versioning	Workflow designers have the ability to specify data auditing options at design time.  All audit information is available in the K2 Reporting environment
Process auditing	Available via the “Activity Duration” or “Cancellation & Error” reports found on the list or library where the workflow is deployed	Available within the K2 Reporting environment in the out-of-the-box reports provided with K2 blackpearl as well as available as data in ad-hoc, user designed reports
Versioning	Versions of the workflow can be stored per document library or list.  Options can be configured to set the workflow version used for new instances as well as active instances.	A new version of the process is automatically stored each time it is deployed.  Versions can be managed via the K2 Management Console which allows rollback to any previous version of the workflow.
State management	State information will be maintained in the document library or list that the workflow is associated with.	State is managed within the K2 blackpearl server and data is available within the K2 Reporting environment.
Chaining workflows	Via Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) custom development.	K2 blackpearl provides the functionality natively within the Inter-Process Communication event wizard.  The IPC wizard provides the ability to call a sub-process synchronously or asynchronously
Custom forms	Support for ASP.NET and InfoPath Forms Services.  InfoPath support available only in MOSS	Support for WinForms, ASP.NET, InfoPath 2003 and InfoPath 2007, including Forms Services
Actions spanning across multiple sites	Limited to the current site	Support for actions across SharePoint sites, site collections, servers and farms
Content type association	Not supported	Fully supported
Access to originator information	Access to author of the library or list item, but not the user who started the workflow if different	Out-of-the-box access to workflow originator information, including the originator’s manager
Escalations	Via Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) custom development.	Provided via out-of-the-box escalation wizards, including:
		•  Email
		•  Redirection
		•  Go to another step
		•  Custom code
Task list	Includes an “Assign a Task” activity that can be used to assign a task to a user within a MOSS task list.  MOSS task lists are shared among all users so users with the correct permissions can act on anyone’s task	Tasks are available via the K2 Task List or K2 Task List web part.  Task lists are specific to an individual user so users will only see tasks that they are allowed to action.
Host server	Provided via Windows SharePoint Services.  The workflow engine runs in process with SharePoint and cannot be separated out onto a dedicated workflow server	Provided via the K2 blackpearl Host server.  Servers can be dedicated to workflow transactions only and can be set up as a farm of server dedicated specifically to workflow processing
Process Capacity	Suggested limit of 15 running workflow processes per SharePoint server	No set limitations per K2 server.