Activities (BPM)

Go Up to Business Process Modeling Elements

An activity is work that a company performs and can be atomic or non-atomic (compound). The types of activities that are a part of a Process Model are: Process, Sub-process, and Task. Processes must be contained within a Pool. The table below displays the icon for each element with a description.

Element	Palette Icon	Description
Task		This is an activity that is performed within a business process.
Sub-processes
Independent Sub-process	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	An independent Sub-process element is an activity within a Process that calls to another process that exists within a business process definition diagram.
Embedded Sub-process	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	An Embedded (or nested) Sub-process is an activity that contains other activities (a Process). The Process within the Process is dependent on the parent Process for instigation and has visibility to the parent’s global data. No mapping of data is required.

Task

A task is an activity that is included within a Process. You use a Task when the work in the Process is not broken down to a finer level of Process Model detail. Generally, an end-user and/or an application are used to perform the Task when it is executed. The tasks can have different behaviors, however these behaviors are not indicated by any graphical indicators.

To set a type for a task:

1 Right-click on the tasks to open the Properties View.

2 On the General tab, click the drop-down arrow in the Task type text box and select the type from the list. The additional properties that you can set change depending on the type selected. For example if you select “Service,” you can set the “In Message,” “Out Message,” and “Implementation” properties.

Note: You can convert a task to an Independent Sub-process or Embedded Sub-process.

There are many different task types:

Task Type	Description
Manual	A Manual Task is expected to be performed without the aid of any business process execution engine or any application.
Receive	A Receive task waits for a message to arrive from an external participant. Once the message has been received, the Task is completed. A Receive Task is often used to start a Process.
Reference	The Reference Task refers to another activity that has been defined with the exact same behavior.
Script	When the Task is ready to start, the engine executes a script written in a language that a business process engine can interpret. When the script is completed, the Task is also completed.
Business Rule	A Business Rule Task enables the Process to send and receive data from a Business Rules Engine.
Send	A Send Task sends a message to an external participant. Once the message has been sent, the Task is completed.
Service	A Service Task provides some sort of service such as a Web service or an automated application.
User	This is a workflow task performed by a human with the assistance of a software application. It is scheduled through a task list manager of some sort.

The table below describes the types of markers for a Task:

Element	Icon	Description
Loop	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	The attributes of Tasks and Sub-processes determine if they are repeated or performed once. There are two types of loops: Standard and Multi-Instance. The looping indicator is displayed at the bottom-center of the activity.
Multi-Instance (Parallel)		This refers to multiple instances of the activities performed at the same time. Activities that are Parallel Multi-Instance have a marker of three vertical lines placed in the bottom center of the activity.
Multi-Instance (Sequential)		This refers to multiple instances of the activities performed in sequence. Activities that are Sequential Multi-Instance have a marker of three horizontal lines placed in the bottom center of the activity.
Compensation		Compensation reverses steps already performed because the results are no longer necessary and must be reverted. The indicator is a pair of left-facing triangles placed in the bottom center of the activity.

Converting a Task

When you right-click on a task you can select the Convert to command on the shortcut menu. You have two conversion options: Embedded Sub-process and Independent Sub-process. This command is useful if you want to break down a task into smaller parts or add more details/subtasks.

For example, in your design process you determined that your task will be “Load New Software on Computer”. You then decide you want to make the task more detailed requiring a sub-process where you can create tasks for each detail: (1) shop for best price on software; (2) purchase software; (3) verify compatibility; and (4) load software.

When you convert a task the following characteristics apply:

• A converted element is placed on the diagram in the same place as the task.
• The converted task is renamed with the new element’s type default name. For example, if you are converting to an embedded sub-process, the converted element is named “embedded sub-process”.
• When connecting objects are anchored to the task, they are not moved and after the conversion and retain their connection point.
• You will get a warning dialog if the conversion breaks any validation rules.
• Object formatting attributes are retained after the conversion.
• Elements retain their same size after the conversion.

Sub-processes

A Sub-process extends the set of common activity attributes. The two different sub-processes are embedded and independent.

The Sub-process can be in a collapsed view that hides its details or it can be an expanded view that shows its details within the view of the Process in which it is contained. In the collapsed form, the Sub-process element uses a marker to distinguish it as a sub-process, rather than a Task. The first graphic shows a collapsed sub-process. The second graphic shows the Embedded Sub-process expanded.

Embedded Sub-process

An Embedded (or nested) Sub-process element is an activity containing other activities (a Process). The Process within the Process depends on the parent Process for instigation and has visibility to the parent’s global data. No mapping of data is required. The elements within the Embedded Sub-process, being dependent on their parent, do not have all the features of a full Business Process Diagram, such as Pools and Lanes. So an expanded view of the Embedded Sub-process only contains Events, Activities, connecting elements, and Artifacts.

Note: When an Embedded Subprocess is placed in the Diagram View, the label appears vertically centered. Once you add a child element, the label is then relocated to the top center of the Embedded Subprocess.

There are six types of standard markers for Embedded Sub-processes, including the Standard marker. The (Collapsed) Sub-process Marker, can be combined with four other markers: a Loop Marker or a Parallel Marker, a Compensation Marker, and an Ad Hoc Marker. A collapsed sub-process may have one to three of these other markers, in all combinations except that the Loop and Multiple Instance cannot be shown at the same time.

The table below briefly describes each embedded sub-process:.

Element	Palette Icon	Description
Standard Embedded Sub-process		A Sub-process hides its flow details. The Collapsed Sub-process element uses a marker to distinguish it as a Sub-process, rather than a Task. The marker is a small square with a plus sign (+) inside.
Ad Hoc Embedded Sub-process		An Ad Hoc Process is a group of activities that have no pre-definable sequence relationships.   Activities within the Process are disconnected from each other. During execution of the Process, any one or more of the activities may be active and they can be performed in almost any order or frequency.
Loop Embedded Sub-process		The attributes of Tasks and Sub-processes will determine if they are repeated or performed once. There are two types of loops: Standard and Multi- Instance. A small looping indicator is displayed at the bottom-center of the activity.
Multiple Instance Embedded Sub-process		The attributes of Tasks and Sub-processes determine if they are repeated or performed once. A small parallel indicator is displayed at the bottom-center of the activity.
Transaction Embedded Sub-process		A Sub-process, either collapsed or expanded, can be set as being a Transaction, which has a special behavior that is controlled through a transaction protocol (such as BTP or WS-Transaction). The boundary of the activity is double-lined to indicate that it is a Transaction.

Note: To select multiple elements in the Embedded Subprocess, hold down the ALT key to invoke the marquee cursor.

Independent Sub-process

An Independent Sub-process element is an activity within a Process that “calls” to another Process that exists within a separate diagram. The Process that is called is not dependent on the Independent Sub-process’ parent Process for instantiation or global data. The called Process is instantiated when called, but it can be instantiated by other Independent Sub-process elements (in other diagrams) or by a message from an external source. The Independent Sub-process element may pass data to/from the called Process.

When an Independent Sub-process (ISP) is created (either in the Model View tree or dropped in the Diagram view), a new diagram with an associated pool and lane are created at the model level. The default name of the ISP will be the default name of the Independent Sub-process element (e.g. Independent Sub-Process).

There are six types of standard markers for Independent Sub-processes, including the Standard marker. The (Collapsed) Sub-process Marker, can be combined with four other markers: a Loop Marker or a Parallel Marker, a Compensation Marker, and an Ad Hoc Marker. A collapsed sub-process may have one to three of these other markers, in all combinations except that the Loop and Multiple Instance cannot be shown at the same time.

The table below briefly describes each independent sub-process:

Element	Palette Icon	Description
Standard Independent Sub-process		A Sub-process hides its flow details. The Collapsed Sub-process element uses a marker to distinguish it as a sub-process, rather than a Task. The marker is a small square with a plus sign (+) inside.
Ad Hoc Independent Sub-process		An Ad Hoc Process is a group of activities that have no pre-definable sequence relationships.   Activities within the Process are disconnected from each other. During execution of the Process, any one or more of the activities may be active and they can be performed in almost any order or frequency.
Loop Independent Sub-process		The attributes of Tasks and Sub-processes will determine if they are repeated or performed once. There are two types of loops: Standard and Multi- Instance. A small looping indicator is displayed at the bottom-center of the activity.
Multiple Instance Independent Sub-process		The attributes of Tasks and Sub-processes determine if they are repeated or performed once. A small parallel indicator is displayed at the bottom-center of the activity.
Transaction Independent Sub-process		A sub-process, either collapsed or expanded, can be set as being a Transaction, which has a special behavior that is controlled through a transaction protocol (such as BTP or WS-Transaction). The activity has a double border to indicate that it is a Transaction.