Visual Studio 2008 Free MS eBooks

A colleague of mine sent out this link to get free MS Press books on LINQ, ASP.net with Ajax Extensions and Silverlight 1.0.

Introducing Microsoft LINQ by Paolo Pialorsi and Marco Russo (ISBN: 9780735623910)
This practical guide covers Language Integrated Query (LINQ) syntax fundamentals, LINQ to ADO.NET, and LINQ to XML. The e-book includes the entire contents of this printed book!

Introducing Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX by Dino Esposito (ISBN: 9780735624139)
Learn about the February 2007 release of ASP.NET AJAX Extensions 1.0, including an overview and the control toolkit.

Introducing Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 by Laurence Moroney (ISBN: 9780735625396)
Learn how to use Silverlight to simplify the way you implement compelling user experiences for the Web. Discover how to support an object-oriented program model with JavaScript.

K2 BlackPearl SP1 Released

Service Pack 1 Release

Service Pack 1 for K2 BlackPearl has been released and I am very excited about getting it. Over the past two months I have been working closely with a client do some pretty basic workflows in WSS 3.0 and client-based InfoPath forms. We knew would be early adopters with using BlackPearl. We knew that building the workflows in K2 2003 and then migrating them to BlackPearl would add additional work plus that migration path still is under development with K2. Knowing this, we jumped in with BlackPearl. We ran into several small problems which required me to open several tickets with K2. The problem was the amount of small problems with their workarounds equated to one large problem. K2's support worked hand-and-hand with us to identify the issues and as of right now almost all of the problems have been resolved!

Congratulations to the K2 team for getting this out the door. I expect great things for SP2 J

Service Pack 1 Issues Resolved for this Project

• K2 Visual Studio memory leak issues were resolved - Basically as the processes got larger and larger with more stuff and the longer you left studio open the slower and slower things got. It is not speedy for SP1, but it is a significant improvement and bearable. In the past it would take minutes to deploy a K2 process, open a process or even a wizard within a disconnected VPC.
  
• SmartObject Invalid Archive Type Error – Well I hope this issue will go away; they mention it in the SP1 release notes. Basically when using SmartObjects with the SmartBox I would get this error out of the blue. No code changes and no reasons; just because. We would find weird ways to resolve the problem like changing the parameter values on insert or changing the order in which properties were set on insert. K2 Labs had seen the problem and believe it has gone away (I suspect the refactored a bunch of code under the hood which just took care of the problem). I cannot verify this has been fixed as I do not have any of the process instances with the error sitting around anymore.
  
• Escalations – There were several issues associated with escalations that were resolved for me. InfoPath forms are now properly cleaned up when Redirecting, using GoTo and Expiring. Problem is that the file name for the InfoPath for is dynamically generated using the event serial number in the name. So, it is impossible to guess what the InfoPath file name is without going in and modifying K2 wizard code directly to use a custom file naming convention. Going down this path was un-realistic with the amount of InfoPath client events that I had. The filename was stored in the activity destination instance and it looks like they now loop over this in the activity succeeding event and delete all of the InfoPath file instances.
  
• Working Hours – Along with escalations, Working Hours were not working and now work in SP1. They have changed since the K2 2003 product. The great thing you can now configure them on the K2 workspace outside of the process definition. Now you do not have to redeploy your K2 process when the process hours change since it is configurable in the K2 Workspace. Plus they are now time zone based. You can share working hour configurations across processes. I still need to do some research this week on the proper configuration of them. Specifically what is the right mix of associating a working hour zone with a process and user group/role.
  
• Dynamic Roles - Roles were not working correctly with Redirect Escalations. The problem was that even if you change the users who are registered in a role, the redirect escalations would still go to the old users who were removed from the role. Then I found out the same behavior was occurring with setting a Role for a destination user. Roles are the replacement for Destination Queues in K2 2003. It is a best practices to ALWAYS use a Role and inside of process. Then you associate users or groups to the Role making make your processes configurable through the K2 workspace so again you do not have to redeploy your K2 process when there is a change. So the issue was that Roles were not being refreshed with the K2 processes, this has been fixed and all is well now.
  
• Environments – Simply stated, they were not working correctly. Basically Environment templates are a class like definition for the StringTable (a key-value pair config). You can create re-useable configurations that can be used across processes. Now I have had to go down a specific path with my current processes but I know they have done a lot of work with this. Hopefully it will be better. Plus I need to do some investigation if you can create project dedicated environments that are not shared. This was a big problem with the release prior to SP1.
  
• Reporting Services – Many of the out of the box reports were not available. All of the reports we had in K2 2003 are not there an all of the issues associated with navigating through the Reporting Services reports have been resolved.
  
• Process, Activity and Event Error Handlers are Back – In K2 2003 there was the ability to put in global exception blocks to log, send an email, etc on error. They were not present. They have been added to BlackPearl allowing us to send emails to an administrator when an error occurs anywhere in the K2 process (I would still like to see this as part of the notifications framework)…
  
• Special Characters in K2 Workspace – It was frustrating but you could not use underscores, dashes, etc. in when setting values in the workspace. So if you have a url you needed to put into a configuration you could not. You would have to go into the configuration database and manually fix the problem. Resolved…
  

Service Pack 1 Issues Still Open for this Project

• Notification Limitations – Notifications is a new piece that allows administrators and users to hook into all events that are being raised throughout the workflows. Problem is that you cannot get access to XML Fields and that they are not re-deployable. The second issue is more problematic because you may set up sophisticated emails in your development environment and you will have to manually recreate all of them in your production environment. Plus the notification registration screen is not business user friendly. It is exactly what a K2 Administrator, Developer or very strong IT Business Analyst can use. Knowing this, we do not plan to take advantage of this functionality until it gets farther along.
  
• Redeployment to Production Environment Limitations – This is still an open issue with redeploying from one environment to another. Specifically notifications, roles, and environments must be manually redeployed into the production environment. I am not sure yet if custom reports will fall into this issue yet as they are Reporting Service definitions, but there is not push button to move them either.
  
• InfoPath Client File Locking – This is not in their release notes but it is an open bug that is still in SP1. Basically if you are using client based InfoPath forms if the user does not press the Ok button quick enough (like 3 seconds) after the submit successful is shown within InfoPath the process will fail with a file locking issue between K2, SharePoint and the client desktop. A temporary solution is to change the Submit Options to not show the prompt in the advanced options. Problem is that if there is an error on submit the user will not be notified there is an error. Second, every time you deploy the K2 process K2 will publish the InfoPath form with the option to show the confirmation prompt. After deploying the process you will have to open the InfoPath form, make the changes, and publish it again.
• Sending Roles an Email (WORKAROUND) – In the release notes, in is mentioned that a known bug is that you cannot send a Role an email and you will get a compile error. My simple workaround is make the Role the destination user for the activity, in the destination rule resolve the users in the Role and then send the email to the destination user. Done.

SharePoint Migration Level Of Effort

I am posting this blog is a little late. A common question is what is the level of effort to migration a out-of-the-box SharePoint 2003 implementation and are there any tools out there that can help me determine this? I have been asked this several times by current and prospective clients. There is a lot of information already out there on the migration from SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2007 but this is what I have seen.

Note I am going to refer to SharePoint 2003 generically instead of specifying WSS 2.0 or SharePoint Portal. Same with SharePoint 2007 instead of calling it WSS 3.0/MOSS.

If I had to give a level of effort the size of the content database for SharePoint can be a factor but it really does not influence the complexity of a particular SharePoint migration. Running the prescan tool on your content databases will provide you the best information to understand what you are up against when migrating to SharePoint 2007.

To run the Prescan Tool you must install SharePoint 2003 SP2. The prescan tool can be downloaded here. The Prescan Tool will find

• Sites that are based on languages or that use controls that are not installed
  
• Custom Web Parts
  
• Orphaned data objects
  
• Customized site templates
  

The first one I have not run into yet and the second one is nothing to be concerned about either because most custom web parts "should" be compatible with SharePoint 2007.

The third one could pose some problems but many of the issues can be resolved with applying SharePoint 2003 post-SP2 hot fix. A good resource to get an understanding of errors that are through during the migration process is Bill Baer's blog on the subject. Many of these issues can and will be resolved pretty quickly using this hot fix. You will run the hot fix's new database repair command and then re-run the Prescan tool to determine if the errors have been resolved. If orphaned data objects still remain, you will have to evaluate each one and determine if there are critical pieces of data that must be migrated.

The fourth one is probably the most difficult issue you will come across when doing your migration. I have seen several clients say "we have not done any customizations and we are using SharePoint 2003 out-of-the-box". In many of those cases we found these statements to be un-true where 30% to 80% of their SharePoint implementation had been un-ghosted (customized). This issue is extremely problematic because if a site/page has been customized the presentation of that page will not take on the new SharePoint 2007 presentation; as many want this. A common way a site becomes un-ghosted (or customized) is when FrontPage is used or when a developer has gone in a directly modified the templates in the hive. Note that changing the templates in the hive is an un-recommended practice for either SharePoint 2003 and 2007.

In the end for un-ghosted (customized) site templates you will have to evaluate each one individually and determine what the migration path is for it. If the specific page has been edited with FrontPage, then you could simply revert the page back to the original template. In many cases this is a sufficient solution as many of the changes with FrontPage are presentational in nature. If a SharePoint 2003 site template was purchased or created you will need to migrate the site definition using a XML mapping file that will migrate the template definition to the SharePoint 2007 definition. Creating this XML mapping file requires more effort depending on the complexity. I would ensure that you allow enough time to do several test tries for this. This can be done by simply backing up the content database and bring it back up on different test server.

Using the Prescan tool will help you determine all of this and assist you with understanding the effort for migrating to SharePoint 2007.

Create Custom BlackPearl SmartObject Service

1) Introduction

The purpose of this article is to present the basic steps that are needed to create a custom service for BlackPearl SmartObjects. This article will give the details of how to quickly create and update a SmartObject Service. Then I will show you how to create a SmartObject that uses the custom service you have authored.

This article will not dive into the details for best practices on to build SOA compliant services. I highly recommend reading going to the Microsoft Patterns & Practices Website and review their patterns for web services. SmartObject Services are not web services however the architecture used to build one is comparable.

I would also like to thank Codi at K2 for providing me an early version of the 201 training materials (currently under construction) that allowed me to spin up on this. Much of the content of this article is information that was derived from that training module.

2) When Do You Need to Write a Custom SmartObject Service

You will want to create a custom SmartObject Service when you want to read in data from any existing custom or vendor database. K2 provides you some SmartObject Services:

• SmartBox (cannot be used for custom SQL Databases)
  
• SharePoint
  
• Active Directory
  
• K2 [blackpearl]
  
• Salesforce.com
  
• K2 201 Training Materials and SDK show how to build a DynamicSQL service that can hook into any SQL Database. It is built to dynamically define its interface by reading the table schema and building an interface around it.
  

K2 plans to build more SmartObject Services to hook into other enterprise products

3) Summary Steps to Create

These are the summary steps to create a SmartObject Service:

• Create a Service Broker class.
  
• Override all of the required methods and define the SmartObject Service interface in this class.
  
• Build the service and deploy the dll.
  
• Register the SmartObject service.
  
• Create a Service Instance of the SmartObject service in the K2 Workspace.
  
• Use a method of the SmartObject Service in a SmartObject.
  

4) Summary Steps to Update

These are the summary steps to update a SmartObject Service:

• Update the service.
  
• Stop the K2 BlackPearl Service on the server.
  
• Replace the dll.
  
• Restart the K2 BlackPearl Service on the server.
  
• Refresh all service instances created within the K2 Workspace.
  

5) Detailed Steps to Create

5.1) Create Class Library

Create a standard class library. You will need to add a reference to SourceCode.SmartObjects.Services.ServiceSDK which is located at \\Program Files\K2 blackpearl\Host Server\Bin\. It is suggested that you change the Copy Local property of the reference to False.

Add the following using statements:

using SourceCode.SmartObjects.Services.ServiceSDK;

using SourceCode.SmartObjects.Services.ServiceSDK.Objects;

using SourceCode.SmartObjects.Services.ServiceSDK.Types;

5.2) Create SmartObject Service

Create class that inherits from ServiceAssemblyBase. Note that I tried creating more than one class that inherits from ServiceAssemblyBase in the same class library and the second one would never be recognized. If you want to create another SmartObject Service class, you will have to create a new class library project. I create class called MyCustServiceBroker.

public class MyCustServiceBroker : ServiceAssemblyBase
{
    public MyCustServiceBroker()
    {

    }
}

You need to override the following methods GetConfigSection(), DescribeSchema(), Execute() and Extend().

5.2.1) () is a method used to define configuration values for the service instance. If you service is going to make a database connection or needs a URL to make a connection to another web service, you will add a configuration here. An administrator will enter the value within the K2 Workspace.

All you need to do is add values in a Key/Value pair fashion; similar to creating a config file.

public override string GetConfigSection()
{
    this.Service.ServiceConfiguration.Add("Connection", true, "Default Value");

    return base.GetConfigSection();
} 

5.2.2) DescribeSchema()

DescribeSchema() is the method that is used to define the interface for the SmartObject service. The values that you set within this interface will dictate how developers will hook their SmartObjects into your SmartObject Service.

First you will define the service. This information will be presented to the developer when they are selecting a service to use with a SmartObject. Second, you will create a ServiceObject. This broker class can have one to many ServiceObjects. I tend to think of ServiceObjects as class definition. Third, each ServiceObject will have properties which are used to pass values in and out of methods. Fourth, you will need to add methods to your service and in this example I created a Load method. There is a finite set of methods you can create: Create, Delete, Execute, List, Read and Update. Take special note in how I add the properties to the Validation, Input and Output collections. A developer will map the fields of their SmartObject to the method properties of a ServiceObject.

Side note you can possibly use the Execute for custom method(s) you want to write for the service. You can create an enumeration property where each enumeration value will map to each custom method that you have. Then you could have an XML property to pass custom parameter(s) for the specific enumeration. I would need to spend a little time testing this out but it should work.

public override string DescribeSchema()
{
    //set base info 
    this.Service.Name = "MyCustomService";
    this.Service.MetaData.DisplayName = "My Custom Service";
    this.Service.MetaData.Description = "The simple little service.";

    //Create the service object, one to many 
    ServiceObject so = new ServiceObject();
    so.Name = " MyCustomServiceObject ";
    so.MetaData.DisplayName = "My Test Service";
    so.MetaData.DisplayName = "Use for my test service.";
    so.Active = true;

    //Create field definition
    Property property1 = new Property();
    property1.Name = "MyField1";
    property1.MetaData.DisplayName = "My Field 1";
    property1.MetaData.Description = "My Field 1";
    property1.Type = "System.String";
    property1.SoType = SoType.Text;
    so.Properties.Add(property1);

    //Create field definition 
    Property property2 = new Property();
    property2.Name = "MyField2";
    property2.MetaData.DisplayName = "My Field 2";
    property2.MetaData.Description = "My Field 2";
    property2.Type = "Integer";
    property2.SoType = SoType.Number;
    so.Properties.Add(property2);

    //Create method
    Method method = new Method();
    method.Name = "Load";
    method.MetaData.DisplayName = "Load";
    method.MetaData.Description = "Load custom service data";
    method.Type = MethodType.Read;
    method.Validation.RequiredProperties.Add(property1);
    method.InputProperties.Add(property1);
    method.ReturnProperties.Add(property1);
    method.ReturnProperties.Add(property2);
    so.Methods.Add(method);

    this.Service.ServiceObjects.Add(so);

    return base.DescribeSchema();
}

5.2.3) Execute()

Execute() is the method that is used persist data.

Note that you should add errors to the ServicePackage object. This will surface up error messages in a stand way to all callers who are executing the custom ServiceObject method through a SmartObject.

public override void Execute()
{
    EventLog log = new EventLog("Application", "localhost", "K2 BlackPearl Server");

    try
    {
        foreach (ServiceObject so in Service.ServiceObjects)
        {
            switch (so.Name)
            {
                case "MyCustomServiceObject ":
                    ExecuteCustomService(so);
                    break;

                default:
                    throw new Exception("Service Object Not Found");
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        string errorMsg = Service.MetaData.DisplayName + " Error >> " + ex.Message;
        log.WriteEntry(errorMsg);
        ServicePackage.ServiceMessages.Add(errorMsg, MessageSeverity.Error);
        ServicePackage.IsSuccessful = false;
    }
}

private void ExecuteCustomService(ServiceObject so)
{
    foreach (Method method in so.Methods)
    {
        switch (method.Type)
        {
            case MethodType.Read:
                ReadCustomService(so, method);
                break;

            default:
                throw new Exception("Service method undefined");
        }
    }
}

//This method shows how return a single row of data, this would 
//be used for Read and Create methods (when calling Create you will 
//want to return primary key of new record) 
private void ReadCustomService(ServiceObject so, Method method)
{
    //Add in code here to retrieve data from any external data source and 
    //load it into the result set for this method. 
    so.Properties.InitResultTable();
    so.Properties["MyField1 "].Value = "Value 1";
    so.Properties["MyField2"].Value = "Value 2";
    so.Properties.BindPropertiesToResultTable();
}


//This method shows how return a collection of data using a DataTable. 
//This would be used for a List method 
private void ReadCollectionCustomService(ServiceObject so, Method method)
{
    //Add in code here to retrieve data from any external data source and 
    //load it into the result set for this method. 
    so.Properties.InitResultTable();
    DataTable resultTable = this.ServicePackage.ResultTable;
} 

5.2.4) Extend()

Unfortunately I do not have much information Extend() but it is not needed for this service.

public override void Extend()
{
    //throw new Exception("The method or operation is not implemented."); 
} 

Note that are several other methods that you may need to override later. For instance there is a Rollback method that should be used when the SmartObject method transaction has been configured to rollback changes if the transaction should fail.

5.3) Build and Deploy It

Build the library. Then get the dll and place it in \\Program Files\K2 blackpearl\ServiceBroker.

5.4) Register the SmartObject Service

There is an executable in \\Program Files\K2 blackpearl\ServiceBroker called BrokerManagement.exe. Double click on it and then click on Configure Services, then right click the services node and select Register New Service Type. Fill in all of the required information and find the class library dll that was placed in \\Program Files\K2 blackpearl\ServiceBroker. Press ok and your SmartObject Service is now available for use.

5.5) Create a Service Instance

Now you need to create an instance of the SmartObject Service you have defined. Instances of your SmartObject are instantiated through the K2 BlackPearl Workspace. If you wrote a very generic service you can create multiple service instances and use your configurations to make connections to different data sources.

Open the K2 BlackPearl Workspace >> go the Management Console >> select the BlackPearl Server >> SmartObjects >> Services >> My Custom Service

On this screen, press the add button and fill in all configuration information that is required as part of the GetConfigSection() method.

5.6) Use the Service Method in a SmartObject

The next step is to start using the SmartObject Service in the methods of your service just like you would with a service that comes with BlackPearl (ex. SmartBox, Active Directory).

6) Detailed Steps to Update

6.1) Update the Service

Make any modifications you need to your service.
6.2) Stop the K2 BlackPearl Service

Go to Start >> Administrative Tools >> Services >>K2 [BlackPeal] Server. Stop the service.
6.3) Replace the SmartObject Servuce dll

Drop in the new dll overriding the old dll in \\Program Files\K2 blackpearl\ServiceBroker.

6.4) Restart the K2 BlackPearl Service

If you have not closed the Service Console, simply restart the service.

6.5) Refresh Service Instances

Start the BrokerManagement.exe executable in \\Program Files\K2 blackpearl\ServiceBroker. Right click the service node and select Refresh All Service Instances.

7) Create a SmartObject using the Custom SmartObject Service

Create a SmartObject Project or add a new SmartObject to an existing project. Click on the Advanced Mode button at the top of the screen. This is important because this SmartObject will have fields that are not in the SmartBox database. When adding new fields; make sure to uncheck the SmartBox column. Simply add two new fields called MyField1 (string) and MyField2 (integer) and uncheck the SmartBox. Now remove all methods from the bottom except for the Load. Select it and press the Edit button. Run this wizard in advanced mode and select Next.

On the Method Details page make sure the type is Read and the Transaction is Continue.

Click Next Twice and on the Service Objects Methods screen remove the SmartBox Service, we will not use it. Press the Add button. Press the ellipse button and in the tree select ServiceObject Server(s) >> Service Object Server >> My Custom Service >> My Test Service >> Load. That will load in all of the Input and Return properties that were defined earlier. Now assign those properties to Fields on the SmartObject and you are done!

Now you can start using your SmartObject that is Loading from a custom data source.

November K2 User Group Presentation

Update 4/16/2009 - Here is the recorded presentation

I will be presenting virtually to the K2.Net User Group Meeting Tuesday, November 13, 11am-1pm central time. The actually presentation will between 11:45-12:45 Central Time.

I plan to demonstrate how to build a simple custom SmartObject Service.

For information on how to attend, please go to the following - http://k2underground.com/forums/thread/19517.aspx

K2 BlackPearl Initial Impression and 101 Training

Background

A few weeks ago K2 sent out an early version of their training VPC for BlackPeal. The training VPCs for K2.net 2003 were invaluable for building early iterations of K2.net processes, building up demos and proof of concepts, etc.

These notes are not comprehensive and will require some more research on my part as I get more acclimated with all the new features and functionality.

Notes and Improvements

The following are notes that I gathered while go through the initial set of the materials.

• SmartObjects is the new big thing they have released and it pretty impressive. SmartObjects provide a way to access business data from your line of business databases. With K2.net 2003 you had to build up your own service layers and then integrate them into the processes. Now BlackPearl provides the services layer to integrate business data across the enterprise. There are two types of SmartObject. From my initial research the first are SmartObjects which the developer defines where the data is stored in the SmartBox sever. You can now very rapidly create data structures to persist your workflow data to. The second are SmartObjects which you can code up using their SDK which can load up from any disparate datasource available given you have a service of some type to work with. The data is not cached within SmartBox server, you are just building a proxy based on a start interface to retrieve data and surface it up through K2. This deserves a deeper dive and some best practices will develop with time.
  
• BlackPearl has tried to make the creation of line rules easier with the addition of Actions. When building events you define actions that an end-user can select from. When the wizard is done BlackPearl will generate all of the lines which can be used to connect to other activities. This assumes is that conditional logic is somewhat simple; which is not always the case. In many cases K2 will create a dropdown for users to select these actions making your development of processes very quick. So if I had a process where a manager should be able to select approve, deny, or resubmit I would create those three actions and within InfoPath a dropdown will be added by K2 where those three values would appear (do not worry, it is not hard coded into the InfoPath form). These actions are also available everywhere throughout K2.net workspace, SharePoint web parts, etc. as context menu items allowing the user to take quick action on an event instance without having to open a form.
  
• There was a neat new event called Forms Generation Event which is a client event handler to create very basic forms within the new K2.net workspace. Although, given how simple it was, I still need to test the boundaries of it to see how feasible it is to use with real heavy duty business requirements are thrown at it. Nothing replaces writing a start custom ASP.net page.
  
• BlackPearl now provides a reporting solution which was not available in K2.net 2003. This was a major problem with K2 2003 and the solution was to persist all of your data externally to support reporting. Still K2.net is not the best place to store your business data and I still say it is best to keep that data externally (the new SmartObjects help with this best practice). Regardless all of the reporting within BlackPearl is now based completely on Reporting Services. They now provide several wizards to generate your own reports with the K2 Workspace. What was really exciting is that you can write your own custom reports in Reporting Services and then host them within the K2.net workspace. Reports associated to workflow may not always be K2.net centric and there may be multiple datasrouces where you need to retrieve data. Plus they have written their own data provider to access their data so you have immediate access to all data within K2 to create sophisticated reporting using Reporting Services. This is a huge improvement.
  
• Users can now sign up for Notifications for processes, events, activities, destination rules, line rules, start rules, succeeding rules and escalations. This is great because with K2.net 2003 I continually had to design around not make K2 a spam machine. Now end-users are empowered with the ability to subscribe to events.
  
• BlackPearl provides a web enabled process design tool that is embedded within SharePoint. The tool is better than the SharePoint Designer for creating standard business workflows as you can build workflows with InfoPath forms, they are re-usable, and easier to create custom activities. Still this tool is scoped toward created workflows within SharePoint only as it only is meant for designing workflows for a list or a library. I still need to test the boundaries for this tool. Given how easy it is to create workflows in Visual Studio using K2, I am more inclined to work with it at the moment.
  
• BlackPearl now provides a way to create processes with Visio. To be honest when I heard about this at first was excited but skeptical it would be provide a way to create good workflows. During my initial testing of it turned out to work well and I was pleased with it. I will still need to again test the boundaries of this. The great thing about using Visio is that when defining the business process with business users during the elaboration phase I always use Visio to define the process. Although there is not always a one-to-one with the activities and events that I want to expose the business user to. So now if I create the workflows using Visio I can mark them up and them move them over to Visual Studio.
  
• The integration with InfoPath 2007 has improved. Things to be excited about is the ability to support web enabled InfoPath forms, have multiple InfoPath forms in a single process, the InfoPath forms are integrated with Visual Studio along with your K2 process and the deployment of the InfoPath form with the K2 process (you no longer have to publish your InfoPath form, K2 will publish it for you). Although when adding .Net managed code to your InfoPath form has some problems due to the new MOSS requirement that any form with .Net manage code must be deployed through central administration. I will be doing a deeper dive into this soon.
  
• K2.net provided a ton of integration with WSS 3.0 and MOSS. There are administrative event handlers for provisioning new sites, managing user permissions and groups and lists. These are very important as too often I go to companies where their SharePoint implementations have grown out of control because of no governance. Sometimes if the governance is too tight this can become a barrier for usage as business users cannot get what they need in a timely basis. These event handlers can be used to define light-weight business processes to automate the management of an enterprise MOSS implementation.
  
• For lists and document libraries in SharePoint MOSS provides event handlers to do almost all of the operations you could need. Create, update, delete, check in/out, manage permission, move, copy, update metadata, download/upload documents, etc.
  
• K2.net provides search event handlers that allow the developer to build up criteria to find items in SharePoint and then take action on them. I did not use reflector to go underneath the hood to see what it is being done but looks like these events are basically creating CAML queries that can go out and find items.
  
• K2.net provides some new Records Management event handlers (create and delete records as well as put a hold on a record). My initial research into MOSS Records Management a few months ago I found that there is no workflow around the actual movement of documents into the records center. We have to rely on business users to go out, find a document and then move it to the records center. In many situations it is not that simple as there will be some sort of approval process before the document should be moved over. BlackPearl can be leveraged to build that business process.
  
• BlackPearl provides several event handlers around managing web content. As you may know CMS has been rolled into MOSS. In MOSS this means new content management templates, publishing pages, etc. BlackPearl provides event handlers that can create, copy, move, delete, check in/out for publishing pages. As well you can get and update publishing page content, create pages using Conveters and create and Update reusable Content. I can see how this can be used extensively to create workflow around the management content.
  
• BlackPearl provides integration with the BDC to expose SmartObject data. As you may know it can become difficult to create the XML configuration for the BDC to read data. If you are already loading in line of business data into your SmartObjects it is really almost no effort to expose any SmartObject through the BDC into SharePoint. It was really simple to hook up a SmartObject into the BDC as K2 has created some custom screens within SharePoint Central Administration to facilitate this. So if you have some SmartObjects with some Oracle, SAP and SQL data all you need to use the K2's BDC integration and you are done.
  

Miscellaneous Notes

• Within Visual Studio they have introduced what they call environment configurations. They are similar to K2 2003 StringTable but are reusable between processes.
  
• Improved presentation and integration with Visual Studio. Their implementation of WPF for their wizards is really clean and is exciting to see a real implementation of. They also implemented this neat little thing where the developer can draw letters on the Visual Studio canvas which will create a new activity. Is it necessary; not really; but it is neat.
  
• The BizTalk events were not present on the VPC. I found out they have not be released yet. This is not terrible as it is still possible to invoke BizTalk through other means but I have used the K2 BizTalk adapters on two projects.
  
• Getting into the properties of an event or activity is much easier now.
  
• Workflows can be initiated directly from the workspace. In the past, we would have to write little stubs to kick off workflow.
  
• The K2 Service Manager is now part of the K2 workspace. The K2 workspace is still geared towards the power user as it can still expose too much information to the common everyday business user.
  
• They have created a new concept called "Roles" which seem to be similar to the Destination Queues which were available in K2.net 2003.
  
• K2 deprecated a couple event handlers, the SQL and Web Service event handlers were gone. Good riddance J
  

MOSS Power User References and Training

Many clients have asked for references for not just a technical training but power user training and references for MOSS. This should compliment an earlier recommendation for technical references and training. I recommend picking up a copy of SharePoint 2007 User's Guide: Learning Microsoft's Collaboration and Productivity Platform by Seth Bates and Tony Smith.

This series so far has been really good for SharePoint 2007. The book lays out step by step instructions on how to do things. If you would like to read an introductory chapter please go here.

I would also highly recommend using the Office SharePoint 2007 Help and How to Site as there is a top of information here with steps on how to do every day sorts of things.

As for training I am going to again refer to MindSharp as they offer a SharePoint 2007 Power Users Course.