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Modeling processes

A process is the major unit of logic in IBM WebSphere Lombardi Edition. It is the container for all components of a process definition, including services, activities and gateways; timer, message, and exception events; sequence lines, rules, and variables. When you model a process, you are creating a reusable Business Process Definition (BPD).

Process components enable you to define the process workflow for end users, creating logic inside a process and integrating with other applications and data sources. To understand what occurs inside a process at run time, it is important to understand the components that make up a process at design time.


Build processes in Lombardi

Many different individuals from various organizations are usually involved in developing processes using Lombardi. The overriding concern is to ensure that you are building the best possible solution for meeting the stated goals of your project. To ensure successful results, team members should work together to capture process requirements and iteratively develop the model and its implementations as discussed in Plan Lombardi projects.


Use the Designer in Lombardi Authoring Environment

To access and begin using Lombardi Authoring Environment, follow the instructions provided in Start Lombardi Authoring Environment. The Designer interface provides the tools that you need to model your processes in Lombardi. The following image and corresponding table describe the parts of the Designer that you interact with when modeling processes and implementing the steps in those processes:

1 Library Provides access to the library items for the current process application. In this example, the process application is named Bill Disputes. You can create new library items and edit existing ones.

Access to process applications is controlled by users who have administrative access to the application. See Manage access to the Process Center repository for more information.

2 Main canvas Provides the area in which you can model your process using the components from the palette. See the following section to learn more about available process components. If you click a tab other than the Diagram tab, provides an interface for managing various aspects of your process such as variables, tracking, and so on.
3 Tabs to control display in main canvas area The tab that you select determines the tool displayed in the main canvas area. For example, if you select the Variables tab, the Designer provides a dialog for creating and managing variables for the current process.
4 Properties tab Shows the properties for the component currently selected in the diagram. In the example, the only activity in the diagram is selected and so its properties are displayed. (The other available tabs provide information about the library item that is currently open. So in this example, if you click the Validation Errors tab, you would see errors for the BPD that is currently open and if you click the Where Used tab, you would see where the currently open BPD is used within the current process application.)
5 Options to control display in properties area The option that you select determines the properties shown for the currently selected component in the diagram. In the example, the Step option is selected, which enables you to name the activity and set its behavior.
6 Palette Provides components that you can use to model your process. Drag a component from the palette to the diagram and then use the properties to control the implementation of the component.

You can hide the entire palette by clicking the colored border to the left of the available components. Click the same border to restore the palette and view the available components.


Understand process components

When developing the process diagram in the Designer in Lombardi Authoring Environment, the following tools and components are available from the palette:

Component icon Description
Enables you to select and move components on the diagram.
Enables you to connect process components to establish the order in which the steps in the process occur.
Add lanes to your process diagram to hold the activities and events that take place during process execution. Lanes typically represent departments within a business organization. For example, you can add a Human Resources lane to hold all activities to be handled by members of the HR department during process execution.

When you create a process, Lombardi automatically creates a pool to hold all added lanes. The default name of the pool is Lombardi, which you can change by clicking the pool in the diagram and then editing its properties.

Add milestones to your process diagram to illustrate the phases of process execution. For example, you can add a Planning milestone to capture the activities across lanes that occur in an initial phase of a process.
Use to model the start of a process if you want to manually start the process. Use the Start Message Event if you want an incoming message or event to kick off the process.

A start event is automatically included each time you create a BPD.

Use to model the steps in your process, choosing the implementation best suited for each particular step. To learn about the options for implementing activities,
Use to specify a time interval after or before which some activity is performed. Timer events can be attached to activities or included in the process flow with sequence lines.
Use to indicate a point in a process at which you want Lombardi to capture the run-time data for reporting purposes.

See:

Use to model a point in the process execution where only one of several paths can be followed, depending on a condition.
Use a simple split when you need to split, or diverge, the process along more than one path. Use simple splits when you want the process to follow all available paths.
Use a simple join to converge, or join, multiple paths into a single path after each path has completed its run-time execution. Use simple joins when you want to converge all available paths.
Use to add information about the overall process or each step in the process to the diagram. Adding notes helps other developers understand your design.
Use to end process execution.

An end event is automatically included each time you create a BPD.

Use to model the start of a process if you want an incoming message or event to kick off the process.
Use when include ad-hoc actions that can be executed at any time during process execution. For example, you can include an ad-hoc event to enable end users to cancel a customer order at any time during the ordering process.
Use to model a message event received while a process is running.
Use to close all running tasks associated with the process and to cancel all outstanding timers. The process shows a status of Terminated in the Inspector.
Use to catch process execution exceptions and handle exceptions with an error handler activity or further process flow.
Use to throw an exception to parent processes.
Use a conditional split when you need to split, or diverge, the process along more than one path and you want to follow one or more available paths based on a condition. A conditional split allows a process to follow more than one path, but not all at once.
Use a conditional join to converge, or join, multiple paths into a single path after one or more paths has completed its run-time execution.

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