Creating a Join

A join enables two types of flow merges:

• The merging of alternate paths. This type of merge uses the Join type Or/Any and is associated with a decision activity or a split type CHOICE/OR.

• The merging of all parallel paths. This type of merge uses the Join type And/All and is associated with the Split type AND.

Note: A Custom Join enables merging of parallel paths based on a decision.

OR joins are typically intended to be used only with OR type splits and AND joins are typically intended to be used only with AND type splits.  Mismatching the type of join and split may cause unintended behavior, such as processing failing to proceed from an AND join mismatched with an OR split or processing failing to wait at an OR join mismatched with an AND split.

Creating an Or/Any Join

This join returns the conditional paths from an exclusive OR-Split back into the normal flow. Although the processing of the OR-Split only takes one of the possible paths, the join reunites the paths back to a single thread of processing when any input is satisfied.

The Join type Or/Any is used to merge alternate flows resulting from a single rule, multi-rule, rule set, or CHOICE/OR split.

To create the join:

1. Place the join from the Logic tool palette on the business process canvas.

2. Select the Join Type value Or/Any in the join properties.

3. Connect the end of the alternate paths to the join.

Note: If you do not join all alternate paths together at one time, use another join later in the flow to merge all flows back into one.

Creating an And/All Join

This join combines the parallel paths from an AND-Split back into the normal flow. The join reunites the paths back to a single thread of processing when all inputs are satisfied. The joining of the parallel paths can be performed at different times in the business process and, therefore, from different activities on the canvas.

The join type And/All is used to unite parallel flows resulting from the split type AND.

To create the join:

1. Place the join from the Logic tool palette on the business process canvas.

2. Select the Join Type value And/All in the split properties.

3. Connect the end of the parallel paths to the join.