Introduction to BPMN
Stephen A. White, IBM Corporation
Abstract
This paper is intended to provide a high-level overview and introduction to the Business Process
Modeling Notation (BPMN). The context and general us for BPMN will be provided as a supplement to the technical details defined the BPMN 1.0 Specification, which has been recently
completed and relead to the public. The basics of the BPMN notation will be discribed—that is, the types of graphical objects that compri the notation and how they work together as part of a
Business Process Diagram. Also discusd will be the different us of BPMN, including how levels
of precision affect what a modeler will include in a diagram. Finally, the value in using BPMN as a standard notation will be defined and the future of BPMN outlined.
What Is BPMN?
The Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI) has developed a standard Business Process
Modeling Notation (BPMN). The BPMN 1.0 specification was relead to the public in May, 2004. This specification reprents more than two years of effort by the BPMI Notation Working Group. The primary goal of the BPMN effort was to provide a notation that is readily understandable by all business urs, from the business analysts that create the initial drafts of the process, to the technical developers responsible for implementing the technology that will perform tho process, and finally, to the business people who will manage and monitor tho process. BPMN will also be supported with an internal model that will enable the generation of executable
BPEL4WS. Thus, BPMN creates a standardized bridge for the gap between the business process design and process implementation.
BPMN defines a Business Process Diagram (BPD), which is bad on a flowcharting technique
tailored for creating graphical models of business process operations. A Business Process Model, then, is a network of graphical objects, which are activities (i.e., work) and the flow controls that define their order of performance.
红头文件格式BPMN Basics
A BPD is made up of a t of graphical elements. The elements enable the easy development of
simple diagrams that will look familiar to most business analysts (e.g., a flowchart diagram). The elements were chon to be distinguishable from each other and to utilize shapes that are familiar to most modelers. For example, activities are rectangles and decisions are diamonds. It should be emphasized that one of the drivers for the development of BPMN is to create a simple mechanism for creating business process models, while at the same time being able to handle the complexity inherent to business process. The approach taken to handle the two conflicting requirements was to organize the graphical aspects of the notation into specific categories. This provides a small t of notation categories so that the reader of a BPD can easily recognize the basic types of
elements and understand the diagram. Within the basic categories of elements, additional variation and information can be added to support the requirements for complexity without dramatically changing the basic look-and-feel of the diagram. The four basic categories of elements are: •Flow Objects
•Connecting Objects
•Swimlanes
•Artifacts
Flow Objects茄子泥
A BPD has a small t of (three) core elements, which are the Flow Objects, so that modelers do not have to learn and recognize a large number of different shapes. The three Flow Objects are:
Event An Event is reprented by a circle and is something that “happens” during the cour of a business process. The Events affect the flow of the process and usually have a cau (trigger) or an impact (result). Events are circles with open centers to allow internal markers to differentiate different triggers or results. There are three types of Events, bad on when they affect the flow: Start, Intermediate, and End (e the figures to the right, respectively).
Activity An Activity is reprented by a rounded-corner rectangle (e the figure to the right) and is a
generic term for work that company performs. An Activity can be atomic or non-atomic (compound). The types of Activities are: Task and Sub-Process. The Sub-Process is distinguished by a small plus sign in the bottom center of the shape.
Gateway A Gateway is reprented by the familiar diamond shape
(e the figure to the right) and is ud to control the divergence and convergence of Sequence Flow. Thus, it
will determine traditional decisions, as well as the forking, merging, and joining of paths. Internal Markers will indicate the type of behavior control.
Table 1: Core BPD Flow Objects
Connecting Objects
The Flow Objects are connected together in a diagram to create the basic skeletal structure of a business process. There are three Connecting Objects that provide this function. The connectors are:
一个告一个鸟Sequence Flow
A Sequence Flow is reprented by a solid line with a solid arrowhead (e the figure to the right) and is ud to show the order (the quence) that activities will be performed in a Process. Note that the term “control flow” is generally not ud in BPMN.
Message Flow
A Message Flow is reprented by a dashed line with an open arrowhead (e the figure to the right) and is ud to show the flow of messages between two parate
Process Participants (business entities or business roles) that nd and receive them. In BPMN, two parate Pools in the Diagram will reprent the two Participants.
Association
An Association is reprented by a dotted line with a line arrowhead (e the figure to the right) and is ud to
associate data, text, and other Artifacts with flow objects. Associations are ud to show the inputs and outputs of activities.
Table 2: BPD Connecting Elements
For modelers who require or desire a low level of precision to create process models for
documentation and communication purpos, the core elements plus the connectors will provide
益母胶囊the ability to easily create understandable diagrams (e Figure 1).
Figure 1: An Example of a Simple Business Process
方瓜For modelers who require a higher level of precision to create process models, which will be subject to detailed analysis or will be managed by Business Process Management System (BPMS), additional details can be added to the core elements and shown through internal markers (e Figure 2).
乐高教育Figure 2: A Segment of a Process with more Details
Swimlanes
Many process modeling methodologies utilizes the concept of swimlanes as a mechanism to organize activities into parate visual categories in order to illustrate different functional capabilities or responsibilities. BPMN supports swimlanes with two main constructs. The two types of BPD swimlane objects are:
Pool A Pool reprents a Participant in a
Process. It is also acts as a graphical container for partitioning
a t of activities from other Pools (e the figure to the right), usually in the context of B2B situations.
ps软件怎么用
Lane A Lane is a sub-partition within a
Pool and will extend the entire
length of the Pool, either vertically
or horizontally (e the figure to
带明的成语the right). Lanes are ud to
organize and categorize activities.
Table 3: BPD Swimlane Objects
Pools are ud when the diagram involves two parate business entities or participants (e Figure
3) and are physically parated in the diagram. The activities within parate Pools are considered lf-contained Process. Thus, the Sequence Flow may not cross the boundary of a Pool. Message
Flow is defined as being the mechanism to show the communication between two participants, and, thus, must connect between two Pools (or the objects within the Pools).
Figure 3: An Example of a BPD with Pools
Lanes are more cloly related to the traditional swimlane process modeling methodologies. Lanes are often ud to parate the activities associated with a specific company function or role (e Figure 4). Sequence Flow may cross the boundaries of Lanes within a Pool, but Message Flow may not be ud between Flow Objects in Lanes of the same Pool.
Figure 4: A Segment of a Process with Lanes
