Working with BPMN Pools and Lanes

[BobN]

I am havng a very frustrating time trying to position and size BPMN lanes within pools. The product seems to have taken on a mind of its own - when a lane is moved or re-sized it is sometimes repositioned to the very left of the pool, hiding the pool name. Sometimes the lanes are captive and sometimes they aren't - i.e. they might move with the pool or they might not.  They also seem to be captured by one another when you are doing fine adjustments in their positions. Is there any additional guidance on how to deal with these issues?

[«Midnight»]

Are you using a recent build of EA? There have been several sets of refinements in this area since the EA 7.0 days.

[BobN]

We are currently using 7.5.844. Have there been any BPMN fixes in the more recent builds? I would upgrade but the corporate help desk has to be involved so there is a bit of a bureaucratic muddle to cut through.

Thanks

[«Midnight»]

I don't think there has been anything relevant since then. You might want to check the release notes on the EA History page just in case.

[Graham_Moir]

This may not sort out your issues completely, but I have found that making the element selectable/non-selectable for the pool and lanes helps a lot.  The other option that may help is getting the z-order right.

[Tarja]

Sorry to say, but I have encountered the same problem :-(

This seems to be a general problem in many modeling tools now-a-days, so I am not surprised.

Sometimes the easiest way to get the focus back to a certain lane is to use the tab key. It navigates through all elements. Slow but certain.

I have noticed that it is wise to send back the pools in Z-order. In that way the lanes and other elements are more easily handled.

I miss the old Rational Rose which activity diagram behaved really nicely: the lanes grew automatically as long and as wide as you needed. And all lanes were beautifully attached together. Those good old times...

- Tarja

[BobN]

Thanks to both of you. I did find that the z-order and making the pools non-selectable did help. It is good to get some assurance that others have had the problem and I'm not just getting grumpy in my old age.

Bob