BPMN Activity Icon

[jcharters]

I am currently evaluating EA 7.0.  We are interrested in using the BPMN functionality to capture business processes.  I am noticing that when you add an activity the icon is a chevron rathen than a rounded rectangle.  Is this configurable, I would rather have the standard notation?

[«Midnight»]

Make sure you have the Tagged Values window open (use the View menu). Now select the Activity element, and look at the tagged values. Play around with the settings; some turn to drop-downs when you click their values. Check the diagram after changing the values.

EA uses this paradigm throughout BPMN.

Note that you can dock the Tagged Values window to make your life easier. I usually keep it below the Project Browser, with various other 'utility' panels.

HTH, David

[jcharters]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I tried this (changed all the values) and it had no impact.

[«Midnight»]

Hmmm...

It might be that your problem isn't exactly what I was thinking of.

But, just in case...

Make sure you've actually got a BPMN diagram, and aren't just dropping BPMN elements onto a class diagram or something.

Create a new diagram, and on the New Diagram dialog, make sure you select BPMN in the left-side list as well as the right-side list (you'll see what I mean). You can also set this on an existing diagram from the EA main menu via Diagram | Change Diagram Type, which brings up the same dialog (with a different name).

Now try the tweak with the tagged values.

Any luck?

David

[jcharters]

I tried all that as well.

Perhaps it is a defect that was fixed in a subsequent build but still exists in the trial version.

[«Midnight»]

Aha!

Were you using the Business Modeling function of EA? This dates back some time - before BPMN 0.9 I think - and is based on an entirely different paradigm. Still, though it is a legacy function, some users still work with this model type, and EA retains this function. Unfortunately, the documentation dates back to this time of yore, and points to the old feature set.

Go with what I mentioned above, and you should be fine.

David

[«Midnight»]

I tried all that as well.

Perhaps it is a defect that was fixed in a subsequent build but still exists in the trial version.

Which build are you using?

BPMN was an optional add-in (at no extra cost) through EA 6.5. Since EA 7.0 it has been part of the core product. If you are using a build number of 806 or less - that is, before the EA 7.0 beta - you will need to download the BPMN add-in from the Sparx site. I don't know if this requires a registered product, but I don't think so.

David

[jcharters]

The buildnumber is 818.

I had created this diagram within the sample project that came with the trial.  I created a new project and now things seem to be working as expected.  Weird.

Anyway, I guess problem solved for now.

Thanks for your help.

[«Midnight»]

I hear ya!

The sample project, while updated from time to time by Sparx (generally with new EA version numbers), has a lot of legacy stuff. In particular, the examples of "business models" date back to the aforementioned legacy period.

I suspect, without proof, that the toolbar still has (the current version of) the Business Modeling tools. These were all designed for the older paradigm.

Once you start with a new model, EA likely 'expects' BPMN, and thus reacts better.

David