The Release of K2 5.9
Maybe it is time to upgrade?
Christmas came just a bit early with the release of Nintex Automation K2 (K2) version 5.9! This is more than just a maintenance release; it includes some exciting new features.
Let’s start with the platform enhancements. K2 continues to build on the features introduced in 5.8.1.
JavaScript Service Provider (JSSP) – This new service broker lets you move beyond writing new integrations for the K2 data layer in .NET code and into JavaScript. Debuted in K2 Cloud, introduced to on-prem customers with 5.8.1, it now comes to 5.9 as a long-term support release, with added support for Smart Object file properties.
Rest Broker, open API v3 support. Another 5.8.1 feature that has been enhanced with the support for HTTP response codes, enabling better management scenarios for when a web service call doesn’t go the way you planned.
OData v4 Service Broker gets a feature bump with support for nested entities. This was introduced to facilitate better integration with Dynamics 365 Business Center.
SharePoint Broker has a new method that is automatically added to your discovered SharePoint artifacts, enabling you to “Remove All Permissions.” This feature essentially allows you to reset the permission on a List, for example, and then set more fine-grained control as your requirements need. It is excellent for compliance scenarios when the permissions need to change over the life of a workflow.
On the topic of SharePoint, with this release, Nintex has made additional investments in the “Nintex for SharePoint Workflow” importer API. If you attended our K2 Master’s workshop, K2 Product Manager, Codi Kaji, shared a demo of the import API, but the UI wasn’t quite ready. It is now here with 5.9.
Also, if you think we should do another workshop, drop a comment below. 👇
Other platform improvements include:
Optimized SQL Queries for Identity Provider Framework, making it more performant for large organizations.
Add Hyperlinks to Categories in Designer. Allowing you to make a ready reference for something like a related Jira board or Nintex Process Manager solution.
Environment Report. The report that used to be run via a SQL script to understand how your K2 environment is being used can now be launched from K2 Management. This provides insights into the number of users, volume of workflows run, etc.
Updated JavaScript and CSS Support.
Speaking of JavaScript and CSS Support, the most exciting feature in 5.9 is the introduction of the new SmartForms Web Component controls! I have always loved the idea of extending SmartForms with custom controls. I’ll admit it wasn’t always the easiest to do, but it is a powerful, underused capability of K2.
“You don’t have the form control you need for a particular use case?” Make your own!
Web Components Controls continue in the tradition of extensibility and reusability that has been central to the K2 ethos.
K2 is releasing a series of new controls on the Nintex Gallery website. I recommend checking them out. The three controls mentioned during today’s webinar were the CAPTCHA, the Arabic Calendar, and the long-awaited Drag-and-Drop file control.
I plan to write a whole series on creating custom controls in both the traditional .NET user control-based approach and the new web components model. I also have some thoughts on how those could be leveraged together. Subscribe to get notified when that series drops.
The one thing that wasn’t mentioned in the webinar that I have had the chance to preview is the new Control Dojo. You will be able to get your control-creation mojo going with this new control-development tool from the K2 product team.
Available at k2workflow/Control-Dojo, the project is described as “A modern web-based development environment for Nintex K2 custom controls with both debugging and control generation capabilities.” The dojo addresses some of the challenges with developing custom controls for SmartForms by providing a standalone prototyping and test environment independent of a K2 environment.
It is as easy as cloning the GitHub repo, typing npm install then npm run dev:full.
Some honorable mentions discussed in the release webinar were:
The introduction of the SCIM API, which lays the foundation for Okta, Ping, and Keycloak identity support in K2. I remember discussing SCIM and K2 with the Microsoft Identity team back in 2018, so I’m glad to see it finally making its way into the product.
SmartForms Runtime Accessibility. The runtime side of K2 SmartForms is now Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Level AA complaint. There was a good demo of the feature during the webinar.
Check out the full Release Notes at Nintex.com