In step 8 of creating a subprocess in the Model Activity help page, the following instructions are provided:
To the right of the SubProcess field, click on the [ ... ] button and select a Sub-Process from the list of all Sub-Processes in the BPEL process.
However, it is not clear how to create any subprocesses that can be displayed in the 'list of subprocesses'.
If I create a new BPEL Diagram and drag a BPEL process element onto it, I am UNABLE to set its type to 'subprocess'.
If I create a new BPEL process diagram and drag an existing subprocess element from the project explorer that belongs the original BPEL process, I am able to add tasks to it, but I am UNABLE to reference it from... well, itself.
If I create a new BPEL process (container and diagram) within the original (containing) BPEL process [Activity] designated as the 'BPEL Process', I am able to add a BPEL process to the contained diagram.
Then I can change the contained process to an Activity and then select its type to be a SubProcess. However, at that point I am Unable to see the new subprocess on the list of subprocesses shown in the dialog where I am to select the 'refers to' subprocess in the original embedded subprocess on the original (containing) process.
However, if I move the subprocess within the contained BPEL Process container out to become a node in the containing BPEL process's tree in the project explorer, then I am able to see it in the list of subprocesses in the embedded subprocess I wanted to transition into a 'references' subprocess.
So ok, it can be done. But all the activities and other BPEL/BPMN elements in the secondary BPEL process container are separated from their containing SubProcess element.
So all this means that a complex BPEL model has to be a complete hodge-podge of elements from different scopes. And there is no way to isolate the elements in subprocesses from the outermost scope.
I presume this would not be true with BPMN elements in a non-BPEL BPMN diagram. But using a BPMN diagram prevents the annotation of the diagram with essential items such as conditions, etc.
I'm guessing this situation resolves to aspects of the Jet 4.0 queries in the underlying data tables.
Nonetheless, it makes things rather difficult, don't you think?
Thanks,
Kimball
