Representing data attributes within BPMN

[colinc]

I am wondering what others do for representing the data objects in BPMN.

The Data Object provided is actually a UML Object, which can't have attributes.  

I am guessing the reasoning is to keep the the data object at a very high level, then provide an implementation or trace link through to a Class; however it is useful to capture the high level attributes at the document level before drilling into data lengths etc. (eg. Name at high level; through to the detail of First name char (20) , Surname char (20)....

Any ideas?

Colin

[thomaskilian]

Just a thought: creating a 2nd package where the domain model is placed. Then create a class which traces to the BPMN object to capture the attributes.

I'm currently just thinking about using BPMN but not actually using it. I still have a too big gap between BPMN and my past Use Case approach.

[colinc]

Yeah' that's what I'm doing, but it ends up being an extra layer just for the sake it.

I haven't quite worked out the Use Case BPMN correspondence yet either; but so far I've been experimenting with using BPMN to show the process flow, with scenarios within each activity. This helps solve the normal problem of how to indicate the 'flow' between use cases, without resorting to activity diagrams that business users tend not to understand.

The two styles certainly aren't a perfect match though.

Colin

[thomaskilian]

Looks like BPMN is not the answer to all questions...

[Graham_Moir]

What is ?!

[«Midnight»]

"No" all to often...

Sigh