Before You Begin

This 15-minute tutorial shows you how to create applications in both Visual Builder and Processes in Oracle Integration; create a structured process and a business type; and add and arrange process elements.

Background

In Oracle Integration, you have access to both Processes and Visual Builder.

Processes lets you design, automate, and manage business processes in the cloud. The design-time environment (called Composer) provides patterns to speed up the design process. Runtime features allow you to manage user tasks.

Visual Builder is a visual and declarative environment that lets you develop and host engaging mobile and web applications. It lets you design web and mobile applications that integrate with Processes and handle some of its runtime features, so that users can view and execute process tasks. For a process to be used by Visual Builder, it has to begin with a message or form start event.

A business type in Processes, like a business object in Visual Builder, provides a way to structure the data in a process application. The data used in a message or form start event can consist of primitive data types, business types, or combinations of primitive and business types. You'll build a process application that uses different kinds of start events and data.

What Do You Need?

• Access to Oracle Integration
• A supported browser

Create an Application in Visual Builder

1. Log in to Oracle Integration. Your service URL should have the following format:

   https://instanceURL/ic/home/

2. In the side menu, click Visual Builder.

   

   • If you have no current applications, the landing page appears. If you wish, click the video icon to take an interactive tour of the features of Oracle Visual Builder. Then click + New Application.

     

   • If you have one or more current applications, the Visual Applications page appears, Click New.

     

3. In the Create Application dialog box, enter Travel Process Application in the Application Name field, and enter Process tutorial application in the Description field.

   The Application ID field is automatically populated as you type based on the Application Name. The Application template field is set to Empty Application.

4. Click Finish. The application opens on the Welcome page.
5. Click the Process tile under Add Artifacts.
6. In the Processes pane of the Navigator, click the Menu and select Design Processes.

   

   You are now on the Process Applications page of Processes in Oracle Integration, in another browser tab. The Visual Builder tab remains open.

   

Create an Application in Processes

1. On the Process Applications page, click Create.  On the Create Process Applications page, select Create an Application.

   

2. In the Name field on the Create an Application page, enter My Travel Process Application. From the Space drop-down list, select My Space and click Create. The Open Immediately check box is selected by default.
   

   

3. On the My Travel Process Application page, click Form Approval Pattern.

   

4. In the Create Process dialog box, enter TravelProcess in the Name field and click Create.

   

   The process opens. It begins with submitting a form, includes three tasks for users to complete, and provides one decision gateway.

   

   You'll make some modifications to the process over the next few tutorials.

Create a Business Type

Next, create a very simple business type with only the most basic data that a travel approval process might use.

1. In the Application pane, click Business Types.

   

2. On the Business Types page, click Create and select New Business Object.

   

3. In the Create Business Object dialog box, enter TravelApproval and click Next.

   

4. Click the + sign (Add Attribute). In the Add Attribute dialog box, enter city and click Add. By default, the attribute is of String type.

   

5. Click + again and enter reason in the dialog box, and then click Add.
6. Click + again and enter amount, and then click Change Type. In the Type Selector dialog box, select integer from the Type drop-down list and click OK. Then click Add.

   

7. In the Create Business Object dialog box, click Finish.

   

   The TravelApproval object appears on the Business Types page.

   

Rearrange the Process Canvas and Create Start Events

A process normally has just one start event. This one has three, to show the different kinds of data you can pass to Visual Builder.

1. Click the TravelProcess tab.
2. Double-click the Submit Request label and rename it Complex Form. This is your first start event.

   

3. If necessary, widen your browser window to make the process canvas as wide as possible. Move each element to the right to create enough room to add two more start events to the left of the Complex Form. You'll need to rearrange some of the arrows, too.
4. In the right pane under BPMN, expand Events and drag a Message Start component to the left of the Complex Form.

   

5. Double-click the label and rename it Complex Message.
6. Select the arrow and drag it onto Approve Request.

   

7. Select the line that points to Approve Request and drag it so that it forms a right angle.

   

8. Drag a Message Start component to the left of the Complex Message event.
9. Double-click the label and rename it Simple Message.
10. Select the arrow and drag it onto Approve Request.
11. Select the line that points to Approve Request and drag it so that it forms a right angle. You now have three different start events.

    

    The resulting process looks something like this, with three message start events, three tasks, a decision gateway, and a completion event. It also contains two swimlanes, identified by gray bars on the left. The upper swimlane is the Process Owner swimlane, and the lower swimlane is the Process Reviewer swimlane. The Process Owner initiates the process using a start event and, if the request is rejected, resubmits it. The Process Reviewer approves or rejects the request and, when it's approved, fulfills it. The Completed event also takes place in the process reviewer swimlane.

    In these tutorials, you run the process in test mode so that you can play both the Process Owner and the Process Reviewer roles.

    

    A plus sign below the existing swimlane names allows you to create another swimlane if you need one, but you won't need to use it here.

12. Click Save to save the process.