This article describes what happens when you save, copy (save as introduced in K2 Cloud Update 7), and rename workflows, and provides answers to frequently asked questions.
When you are designing workflows and want to save, save as, or rename a workflow, you should be familiar with some fundamental principles:
In this article, the Workflow types & states section includes information on the terms and definitions used in this article. The Behavior section details the different behaviors when you save, save as, and rename designed and deployed workflows. In the FAQ section, you'll find answers to frequently asked questions.
Use this section to become familiar with the terms used in this article.
Terms |
Description |
K2 Designer | The K2 Designer is where you create workflows, forms, views, and SmartObjects. For more information see Get to Know the K2 Designer. |
K2 Workflow designer | The K2 Workflow Designer is the design tool that you use to build, edit, and deploy a workflow. For more information see About the K2 Workflow Designer. |
Workflow design file | When you create a new workflow, a workflow design file gets created. While you edit your workflow, the changes are saved to the design file. This file is saved to the K2 server but is not accessible outside of the K2 Workflow Designer. Sometimes referred to as a saved file. |
Saved | Your workflow is automatically saved while you build and edit it, or when you click the save icon. When you close the workflow designer, the workflow is saved and the minor version number increments by one (for example, 0.0.0.1 to 0.0.0.2). Note that the saved version number is not the same as the version number displayed in the K2 management site for deployed workflows. |
Save As | Use Save As when you want to create a new workflow that has similar requirements to an existing workflow. When you select Save As, you create a copy of the workflow designed file. Some reconfiguration of the new workflow is necessary. |
Deployed | Deployed means that the workflow is published to the K2 server, either by deploying with the K2 workflow designer or using the Package and Deployment tool to deploy a workflow. You can keep track of the number of times a workflow was deployed by looking at the versions tab for the workflow in the K2 management site. |
Packaged workflow | You use the K2 Package and Deployment tool to create a package of your K2 solution. A solution might include SmartObjects, views, forms, and workflows that are linked with each other. This means you can package a solution in one environment and deploy it to a different environment. |
Workflow status icon | Icons are used to indicate the state of your workflows, such as designed or deployed:![]() ![]() |
This section contains descriptions of what happens when you save, save as, and rename designed and deployed workflows.
Use this to discover how designed (not yet deployed) workflows behave when performing the following operations:
You can also deploy workflows using the K2 Package and Deployment tool instead of deploying directly from the K2 workflow Designer. The following behaviors occur when you deploy a workflow with the K2 Package and Deployment tool (and assuming you did not design this workflow in the same environment it was deployed to).
This section contains answers to frequently-asked questions about saving, saving-as, and renaming workflows.
When you set a previous version of a workflow as the default, keep in mind the following: