Business Process Model Overview

A Business Process is a collection of actions that take place in your company, revolving around a specific business practice. These processes can involve a variety of participants and might include internal and external computer systems or personnel. In Oracle Java CAPS Business Process Manager (BPM), you create a graphical representation of the Business Process called a Business Process model. The model defines each component in the process and the flow of data through those components.

The Business Process model indicates the flow of data from start to end, and can include activities performed by the software, decision points, and any business logic used to transform and transfer the data. A Business Process can also contain activities that must be performed by a user, meaning that the flow of data is paused until the specified user performs the required activity.

Business Process Components

Business Process components, or modeling elements, include activities, branching activities (decision points), intermediate activities, and links, as well as the business rules that define the logic of how data is transformed and moved. You can create sub-processes that can then be incorporated into a main Business Process.

The modeling elements you add from the Business Process Designer are standard BPEL elements, and are described in detail in Business Process Activities.

By default, the Start and End activities appear on the blank Business Process Designer as soon as you create a Business Process. There is only one starting point for any Business Process model. There can be multiple end points.

Java CAPS Components

In addition to the standard Business Process components, you can also drag and drop other Java CAPS component activities from the NetBeans Projects window directly into the Business Process Designer. Java CAPS component activities include the following:

• Adapter activities, such as read and write

• Object Type Definition (OTD) activities, such as marshal and unmarshal

• Java Collaboration Definition activities

• Java Message Service (JMS) activities

• Visual Page Designer page and page flows

• Master Index Java methods

• Business Activity Monitor activities

• Data Integrator activities

Java CAPS Component Activities

When you define certain Java CAPS components, one or more activity is added to that component in the NetBeans Projects window. You cannot drag and drop a Java CAPS component, such as a Collaboration or OTD, directly into a Business Process. Instead, you drag and drop an activity defined by the component into the Business Process. For example, when you create a Java Collaboration Definition or OTD, activities are added to the Collaboration node in NetBeans Projects window. Activities appear as yellow rectangles, similar to the Business Process Designer activity icons.

JMS Activities

When you publish messages from a Business Process using a JMS send operation, the default message type specified in the JMSMessageType field is a text message. To publish bytes, stream, or map messages, you need to explicitly define the type in the message type field by defining a Business Rule for the send operation link (see Incorporating Business Rules for more information about using business rules).