The Palette Toolbars

Using the BPMN Modeler > Using the ILOG JViews BPMN Modeler > ILOG JViews BPMN Modeler GUI Description > The Palette Toolbars

The Palette Toolbars

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ILOG JViews BPMN Modeler provides several palettes of objects as toolbars.

The Activity Toolbar

Figure 18 The Activity Toolbar

The Activity Toolbar includes the various types of task offered in BPMN:

Task
Sub-process
Loop
Loop sub-process
Parallel
Parallel sub-process
Compensation
Compensation sub-process
Ad-hoc sub-process

To add a new activity, select the type of activity in the palette, and position the activity within the diagram.

Sub-Processes

The main characteristics of sub-processes are as follows:

They are diagrams encapsulated in a sub-process element.
They can be inserted into sub-processes.
Diagram elements can be added into a sub-process by simply dropping them inside the sub-process.
The extent (the size) of a sub-process is determined by the position of its elements.
They can be expanded or collapsed by clicking on the button.

The Events Toolbar

The Events Toolbar gives access to the several types of event that can occur within a BPMN process:

Event
Message
Timer
Rule
Link
Multiple

These events can start or terminate a process, or they can occur during the process. There are three distinct representations for each case.

Start Events

These events trigger the start of a process. They should be placed directly onto the diagram, and linked to the activities representing the tasks to be performed when the event occurs.

Figure 19 The Start Events Toolbar

End Events

Figure 20 The End Events Toolbar

These events terminate a process. They should be placed directly onto the diagram.

Intermediate Events

Figure 21 The Intermediate Events Toolbar

Intermediate events can be either placed onto the diagram or directly onto an activity. For example:

When placed within the diagram, a message event specifies that the process is waiting for a message in order to resume its activity. There are usually flow links before and/or after this event.

Figure 22 A Message Event

When placed onto an activity, the event represents something that can occur during the execution of an activity. There is usually a link (flow, message) going out of the event to specify the action to perform if such an event occurs. To create these types of event, click the event command you require on the toolbar. In the diagram, select the task onto which you want to place the event. When you do this, the event sticks to the activity.

Figure 23 Timer Event During Activity Execution

The Gateway Toolbar

This toolbar lets you add gateways inside the diagram.

Figure 24 The Gateway Toolbar

BPMN gateways are:

Data-XOR
Event-XOR
OR
Complex
AND

The Links Toolbar

Figure 25 The Links Toolbar

The Links toolbar gives access to several types of BPMN link:

Flow
Conditional Flow
Message
Compensation Association

To create a link, click one of the link creation commands. In the Diagram View, select the source element and then select the destination element.

Note

There are restrictions on objects that can be linked together and on the type of the link. For instance, a Sequence Flow can only connect two objects within the same process and the same pool boundary. See the Flow Object Connection Rules of the BPMN Specification for more information.

The Artifacts and Association Toolbar

Figure 26 The Artifacts and Association Toolbar

These commands let you add Annotation, Data Object, Group, and Association elements to the diagram.

Annotation

To add a textual annotation, click the Create a Text Annotation command and place the annotation box in your diagram. Then select the annotation box either in the working area (or in the Tree View) and enter your text in the Name field in the Properties View (see Properties View).

Data Object

To create a Data Object, click the Create a Data Object command and place the object in your diagram. This object can be named in the Properties View (see Properties View).

Group

To create a Group, click the Create a Group command and place the group in your diagram.

Association

To create an Association, click the Create an Association command and then click the objects you want to associate in your diagram.

Swimlanes Toolbar

Figure 27 The Lanes Toolbar

BPMN supports the notion of Pools for representing organizations, and Lanes for representing departments within an organization. ILOG JViews BPMN Modeler supports both concepts.

Lanes

To create Lanes in a diagram, click the Create Lane command, and place the lane onto the diagram. Then, drop your diagram objects into the lane. The property of the object, see Properties View, is then updated to indicate that it belongs to the lane.

Figure 28 Lanes

To remove an object from a Lane, select the object and remove its Lane property, see Properties View.

The size of the lane is determined by the position of the objects within the lane. In some cases, an object may appear to be inside a lane to which it does not belong. This can happen if a lane is enlarged when one of its elements is moved.

Pools

Pools are similar to lanes but they can include lanes within them.

To add a Lane into a Pool, just drop a Lane into the pool

Figure 29 Pools

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