Chapter 8 Building an Executable BPM: Managing Data and Choreography

Flows (Executable BPM)

A flow describes an interaction between two objects. It is represented as a line going from one object to another.

The global definition of the flow in an executable BPM is mainly the same as in other BPM views (Analysis and Collaborative). However some properties or behaviors are added or modified, in order to fully support the executable BPM.

For more information about the global definition of the flow, see section Defining flows in chapter Building an Analysis Business Process Model.

Message format property

You can no longer associate a message format with a flow in an executable BPM, as the exchange of information is no longer managed by flows.

Event property

You can double-click any flow symbol in an executable BPM to display the following added property in the Condition tab of the flow. It allows you to create an event handler:

Property	Description
Event	Located in the Condition tab of the flow property sheet. It allows you to select an event among all the events defined in the model using the list or to create other events using the Create tool. You can also click the Properties tool to display the event properties

For more information about event handlers, see section Defining event handlers in chapter Building an Executable BPM: Managing Data and Choreography.

Stereotype property

An Exception stereotype is provided to specify that the destination process of the flow handles the reception of an exceptional message that can occur at any time during execution. If you select this stereotype, the Event list and the Editor are grayed out.

For more information about events, see section Defining events in chapter Building an Executable BPM: Managing Data and Choreography.

Mapping property

If you have specified an event with a Fault stereotype in the Condition tab of the flow, the following added property is displayed:

Property	Description
Mapping	Located in the Condition tab of the flow property sheet. It allows you to select a local variable that will retrieve the information that is associated to the fault event. You can create other variables using the Create tool. You can also click the Properties tool to display the variable properties

For more information about variables, see section Defining variables in chapter Building an Executable BPM: Managing Data and Choreography.