IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Create processes in IBM Process Designer > Modeling processes

Business objects and variables

In Process Designer, variables capture the business data that is used by activities in a business process definition or by steps in services such as integration services or human services.

Each variable has its own type and scope. All variables you create must be declared before you can start using them.

• Variable types in Process Designer
  

  You can use the variable types provided by the system toolkits, such as the System Data toolkit, or you can create custom business objects, depending on the requirements of the business data included in your process.

• Variable scope in Process Designer
  In IBM BPM, all variables declared for a business process definition (BPD) or service are local variables.
• Create business objects
  When no system data toolkit variable types or business objects match your specifications, you can create custom variable types called custom business objects.
• Declaring and passing variables
  Variables capture the business data that is passed from step to step in a process.
• XSD generation pattern for business objects
  When you create a business object, which is also referred to as a custom variable type, an XML Schema Definition (XSD) is generated. Understanding the generation rules and some suggestions for business object creation can be helpful when your business objects will be used with IBM Integration Designer.
• Use JavaScript variables and objects
  

  You can use JavaScript in many components in Process Designer in order to improve the behavior of your model.

  For example, you can write JavaScript to implement a step in your process and embed that script in an activity.

• Initializing complex variables and lists
  In Process Designer, you must initialize all complex variables and all lists (arrays) before you can use them in a BPD or service.
• Create exposed process values (EPVs)
  In Process Designer, you can create exposed process values (EPVs) to define a set of variables you want to expose to specific users. These variables can be modified by the users while instances of a process are running.
• Setting variables in pre and post assignments
  

  You can set pre and post assignments for variables when you want to assign a value to a variable immediately before or after an activity or event runs.

• Making business data available in searches and views
  Before business users in IBM Process Portal can search for business data across process instances, you need to configure each variable in the Process Designer to be available to search. In addition, the business data about a task that business users see in their task list needs to made available to search in order to be viewable in the task list.

Modeling processes