BPMN: Sequence Flow cannot cross a pool boundary

[Stoppy]

Hi All,

Wondering if someone can confirm this is a bug or a issue with my modelling implementation.

What am I doing:

Created a BPMN 2.0 diagram (Business Process Diagram)
The diagram has 1 pool
The diagram has 3 lanes
Two of lanes have sub lanes

What is my issue:

When I select a parallel gateway in a lane and try to join to another activity element by sequence flow I am presented with the following:

BPMN: Sequence Flow cannot cross a pool boundary

Workaround:

Add new activity element to diagram lane and join elements with sequence flow

Envirionment:
Windows 7 SP1
EA Version 11.0.1105 (Corporate Edition)
SQL 2012

Thanks in advance,

Stoppy  

[VKN]

What is my issue:
When I select a parallel gateway in a lane and try to join to another activity element by sequence flow I am presented with the following:

BPMN: Sequence Flow cannot cross a pool boundary

What are the parent elements of the gateway and Activity (Lane/Sub-Lane/Pool)?
However, if you're sure that you're not crossing the Pool then it's a bug.

[Stoppy]

Hi VKN,

I am definitely not crossing the pool, as i only have one in the diagram. If you were to view my diagram from the project browser, the elements appear in this hierarchy:

Pool = Our Organization
Lane = Division
Gateway (Parallel)

When I attempt to click on the gateway and create activity this is when the message is provided.

The only way I can join the gateway to the activity is via my workaround.

I am not fully aware of BPMN 2.0 spec but this behavior does seem odd.

Could this be do with the diagram layering behavior or is it a bug?

Stoppy  8-)

[VKN]

Pool = Our Organization
-Lane = Division
--Gateway (Parallel)

When I attempt to click on the gateway and create activity this is when the message is provided.
workaround.

After grabbing the quick linker of the Gateway and dropping it in either the Lane or the Pool and selecting Activity->Sequence Flow To  option doesn't give any error to me.

[Stoppy]

Hi VKN,

I think I have been able to replicate problem with some playing, I will explain my model in more detail which contains:

Pool - Our Organization
   Lane 1 - Finance
       Sub Lane 1 - Finance Officer
       Sub Lane 2 - Systems Administration
   Lane 2 - HR
   Lane 3 - IT
       Sub Lane 1 - Service Officer
       Sub Lane 2 - IT Helpdesk

When I move the any one of the lanes out of the Pool in the Project Browser and try my steps I receive the message. Do you get this too?

So I guess the questions is this a bug or normal application behaviour.

I thought the diagramming controlled the structural hierarchy layout of the Project Browser or do we need to keep and eye and manage our diagrams in the project browser

Once I correct the hierarchy in the project browser, I am back to the this message - http://www.sparxsystems.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1405380670

Regards,

Stoppy  

[VKN]

When I move the any one of the lanes out of the Pool in the Project Browser and try my steps I receive the message.

Why do you want to do this?

I thought the diagramming controlled the structural hierarchy layout of the Project Browser or do we need to keep and eye and manage our diagrams in the project browser

When the elements are created through the diagram, the child/parent relationship of the elements will match in the Project Browser. But, if the elements are moved around in the Project Browser then the diagram will not have any control over it.

While creating a child element through the diagram, don't drop it on the edges of the parent element. Expand the parent element wide enough and drop the child element inwards as possible.

[Stoppy]

Hi VKN,

When I move any one of the lanes out of the Pool in the Project Browser and try my steps I receive the message.
Why do you want to do this?

Mate, I don't want to do this, but I notice this happens from time to time when diagramming, the lane will skip outside of the pool, which maybe happens on your second point.

I thought the diagramming controlled the structural hierarchy layout of the Project Browser or do we need to keep and eye and manage our diagrams in the project browser

When the elements are created through the diagram, the child/parent relationship of the elements will match in the Project Browser. But, if the elements are moved around in the Project Browser then the diagram will not have any control over it.

Sounds logical to me

While creating a child element through the diagram, don't drop it on the edges of the parent element. Expand the parent element wide enough and drop the child element inwards as possible.  

Easy with simple process models and this is my current procedure. Have you noticed the lanes are sometimes hard to lay/insert in complex models, specially when you have multiple lanes???

If you got any tips would love to hear them, I find I can be wresting with lane for long periods of time, which is frustrating at times.....

Based on my original post above, clearly this not a bug then, and more application behavior and modeling rules!

Regards,

Stoppy

[AndyJ]

Hi people,

Just for info, one of my users reported this same problem today, but...

...when I examined his diagram, I found that the pool only extended DOWN to approximately half of the diagram.

The user interface didn't display a line to show that the pool ended.

This only became apparent, when I clicked on the pool, and saw its boundaries.

Just in case this helps.

Andy

[Stoppy]

Hi Andy,

What version are you on?

Since my post, I have upgraded to EA Version 11.1.1112 (Corporate Edition) and have tried to replicate my scenario I originally posted and unable to get the error message.

I will say Sparx, have done a great job with layering lanes and pools and I am not wrestling with my models as much these days.  

Even if I physically move a sub lane out of a lane in the project browser and drag and drop a element in the lane on the model, the project browser, places the sub lane back into the lane.

I would consider the issue resolved.

Hope that helps from my end!

Stoppy  

[AndyJ]

Hi Stoppy,

The user is on 11.1.1112 (Corporate Edition) and I'm on 12.0.1202

Note that the issue (in this case) was a pool that wasn't large enough to contain the length of the contained lanes.

This became obvious as soon as I clicked onto the pool, but wasn't visible before that, because the pool was behind the lanes.

Andy

[Stoppy]

Hi Andy,

I can replicate your model scenario and receive the message prompt, but I would consider the prompt valid. (Good to know for future padawan modelers I may need to manage  )

As I mention before, I think the layering and nesting improvements have resolved and addressed my original issue.

Even if I screw around with the pool in your scenario and do a half baked attempt to resize, the pool layers correctly, and when adding a element to the model the project browser corrects and restructures the tree.

Regards,

Stoppy  

[maneuver]

Good afternoon , I have a little doubt , maybe out of context of this topic , but boring .

How do I change the "view" of the Project Browser , to see the folder hierarchy with that plus and their lines, not the right arrow or down? ?

It's possible in EA v 11 ? Tks !

[qwerty]

Ehrm. What?

q.

[Eve]

How do I change the "view" of the Project Browser , to see the folder hierarchy with that plus and their lines, not the right arrow or down? ?

We don't provide customization of the tree styles. (I'm not aware of any program that does)

[AndyJ]

Ah yes.

We were talking about how things appear on the BPMN diagram, (lines boxes etc.),

AND

how things are placed in the structure in the project browser.

Sorry that wasn't clear.

Andy