BPMN relocating elements

[Svend Erik Nygaard]

Link a swimlane to its performer by Ctrl+L  (Instance Classifier)
I never reuse swimlanes (pools or lanes). But I link each swimlane to its performer by setting its instance classifier to a UML element - business actor or other business object (e.g. baggage belt) performimg the activities in that swimlane.
This may not be a BPMN feature but a UML feature (?). But it Works nicely (so far?) in EA. And the performer is displayed on the diagrams like: "Swiwlane Name : Performer". Sometimes I leave the swimlane name empty - but if I can I give it a name representing the activities in the swimlane.
This also works nicely in the traceability window. For each actor I can see the set of performed swimlanes across processes - and the activities withing each of the swimlanes. In that window, the benefit of naming each swimlane for its own context really shows.
I imagine a BPMN export will ignore this instance classifier (?)
I hope this will still be supported (?)
... or that the proper BPMN entity/rolename will displayed on diagrams in upcoming versions

[Eve]

If you are following this thread, please download release candidate 1 and try the BPMN functionality.

If we don't hear back we will be forced to assume that there are no complaints with the direction we are heading...

[ducatiross]

If you are following this thread, please download release candidate 1 and try the BPMN functionality.

If we don't hear back we will be forced to assume that there are no complaints with the direction we are heading...

Downloading it now Simon !
Will let you know.

[ducatiross]

Link a swimlane to its performer by Ctrl+L  (Instance Classifier)This also works nicely in the traceability window. For each actor I can see the set of performed swimlanes across processes - and the activities withing each of the swimlanes.

Svend - I've tried this just now and don't see any reference to the Lane in the Traceability window when I have the actor selected. I located the lane in the browser, did CTRL-L, and linked in the Actor, but when selecting the actor and going to the traceability window, there was no evidence of it being linked in any way to the lane. Am I doing something wrong ?

[VK]

I located the lane in the browser, did CTRL-L, and linked in the Actor, but when selecting the actor and going to the traceability window, there was no evidence of it being linked in any way to the lane.

Try selecting Classifiers in the Relationship Selector ( the button before the Help button in the Traceability window toolbar )

[Eve]

Regarding the suggestion of a classifier for Pools/Lanes, one of this things discussed when working on build 1204 was pretty much that.

A Pool has properties partnerEntity and partnerRole. These refer to the specific entity or general role being played by this pool. In that way their meaning is very similar to a classifier. We've made a change so that if no name is specified for a Pool, these values will be displayed on the diagram instead. Using a UML classifier notation when a name was present was considered, but it didn't feel right.

A Pool also has a processRef property, instead of being like a classifier, that is about specifying the behavior of the Pool.

As for Lanes, the partitionElementRef can be used in a similar way, and we've handled the notation in the same way as Pools above. According to the specification it's actually about dividing the FlowElements into the appropriate lane. For that reason I recommend specifying a ResourceRole element, because the only way I can see it doing its job is to set the resources property of an activity to match.

Having said all that, these links will not currently show up in the traceability window.

[ducatiross]

Having said all that, these links will not currently show up in the traceability window.

Simon - This seems like a way forward to relate activities to the role responsible for performing them, but may be of limited use if they are not available in either the Properties dialog or shown in the Traceability window. Is there a plan to make them accessible ? How else can they be viewed or queried ?

As regards Release 12 Candidate 1, I downloaded and tried this quickly yesterday, and it seems that it no longer forces elements to be located in the area where the diagram is. This is good because it enables us to maintain a strict project structure that facilitates teamwork and re-use. I'd be happy with that. Particular as some elements I want to put on the BPMN diagrams are nothing to do with BPMN objects (like Issues and other 'generic' elements).

[Svend Erik Nygaard]

I currently also use classifier with data objects and data stores though.
Going through the BPMN suggested links, e.g.:
DataObject.itemSubjectRef -> ItemDefinition.structureRef -> Class
... is quite cumbersome, AND besides the ekstra Work it also results in:
- poor visibility of the mapping
- looong chain in the mapping traceabilitiy

[Mhatch]

If someone could report on the status of these three 'bugs/features' in the release candidate it would be appreciated (I cannot install it due to locked down workstation).  I'm currently using version 11.1.1112.

1. Existing items dropped onto a BPMN model are moved to the package where the model resides (Bad!).  
2. When adding a pool to a diagram, a new CollaborationModel is added as the parent of the working diagram (Confusing.)
3. The default properties page of BPMN objects is the BPMN properties, rather than the general page. (Annoying.)
4. After changing an Intermediate Event BPMN Type to something other than the default (blank), it is not possible to change it back.

Thanks!
-Mike

[MMA]

Hi Mike,

Issue #1 #2 was resolved in 1113

Issue #3 was resolved in 12 RC. Then General page and the BPMN properties are on the same page.

About #4: the Intermediate Event you are talking about is Edge mounted (or boundary event). According to BPMN 2.0 Specification, Table 10.89 – Intermediate Event Types in Normal Flow

The None Intermediate Event is only valid in normal flow, i.e., it MAY
NOT be used on the boundary of an Activity. Although there is no specific
trigger for this Event, it is defined as throw Event.

So this is a feature to guide us to build a syntax correct model.

Hope that helps
Miles

[Eve]

About #4: the Intermediate Event you are talking about is Edge mounted (or boundary event). According to BPMN 2.0 Specification, Table 10.89 – Intermediate Event Types in Normal Flow

If you want your model to be incompletely specified for any reason you can open the tagged values docked window and set eventDefinition to None.

[llsempro]

@Simon:
WHY don't the resource references show up in relationship or traceability matrix?  How can I view all processes where a BPMN resourceRole is reused?  Or see all of the activities that are in a resourceRole across multiple processes? 

[Geert Bellekens]

@Simon:
WHY don't the resource references show up in relationship or traceability matrix?  How can I view all processes where a BPMN resourceRole is reused?  Or see all of the activities that are in a resourceRole across multiple processes?

Don't you think it's a better idea to start a new topic instead of replying to a 3 year old topic about something only slightly related?

Geert