Work with Elements
Use the Elements Palette to add elements to a process by dragging and dropping them onto the process editor canvas. After you add an element, you define its properties, data association, forms, and sequence flows where they apply.
Elements are divided into the following types:
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Human
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System
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Events
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Gateways
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Insight
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Integrations
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Other
Human
Human flow elements represent tasks where a process participant is required to perform the work. The task can be a simple interaction, such as filling out a form, or part of a more complicated workflow that requires input from multiple process participants.
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A submit task provides a form or submit action that the user acts on to create a request or provide information about a certain subject.
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An approve task provides a form for review or an approve/reject action that the user acts on to approve or reject the request.
System
System flow elements allow you to define interactions across business processes. For example, you can use a Service flow element to invoke an external service or process, a Call flow element to call a reusable process from within the current process, or a Send flow element to send a message to a system or process outside the current process.
| System Task Types | Description |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Use to designate a placeholder for another activity or task. |
| Data Mappers | Use to assign values to data objects and variables within the process. |
| Services | Use to communicate with other processes and services. |
| Call | Use to call a reusable process from within the current process. |
| Send and Receive | Use to send and receive messages to and from a system or business process outside of the current process. |
| Notify | Use to send an email notification to a user. |
| Dynamic Process | Use to assign a dynamic process within the business process. |
| Bot Activity | Use to integrate external robotic process automation (RPA) applications with your business process. |
| Decisions | Use to incorporate Decision Modeling Notation (DMN) based decision model snapshots within your business process. |
| Micro Process | Use to incorporate micro processes created within different applications in your main business process. |
| Subprocess | Use to group, embed, segment, or reuse processes. |
| Event Subprocess | Use to handle exceptions that occur in the runtime life cycle of a process. |
Events
Event flow elements can be divided into two types:
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Start and End elements that define the starting and ending points of a process
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Intermediate events that can either occur within the typical flow of your process or trigger an interruption with your process
| Event Types | Description |
|---|---|
| Document Start | Use to trigger a process instance when a document is received. |
| Folder Start | Use to trigger a process instance when a folder is received. |
| Start (none) | Use when no instance trigger is defined, such as when a process instance is created by another flow element, or as a placeholder when the start event isn’t known. |
| Form Start | Use to trigger a process instance when a user submits a form. |
| Message Start | Use to trigger a process instance when an email message is received. |
| Message Throw and Catch | Use to send and receive messages to and from another business process or service. |
| Timer Catch | Use to control the flow of your business process using a time condition. |
| Error Boundary | Use to handle an error that occurs within a process flow. |
| End Event (none) | Use to mark the end of a process path, or as a placeholder. |
| Message End | Use to send a message to another process or service when the process is completed. |
| Error End | Use when the end of a process is the result of an error condition. |
| Terminate End | Use to immediately stop a process. |
Gateways
Gateway flow elements determine the path a token takes through a process. They define control points within your process by splitting and merging paths.
| Gateway Types | Description |
|---|---|
| Exclusive | Splits a process into multiple paths, where process flow continues down only one of the paths. The decision about which path the process should proceed along is based on data-specific conditions. |
| Inclusive | Splits a process into multiple paths, where process flow can continue down multiple paths depending on conditional sequence flow. |
| Parallel | Splits a process into multiple paths, where process flow continues down all paths simultaneously. |
| Event-Based | Splits a process into multiple paths, where process flow continues down only one of the paths. An event-based gateway is similar to an exclusive gateway because both involve one path in the flow. However, for an event-based gateway, decisions about process flow are based on an event taking place rather than a condition being met. |
Insight
Insight flow elements enable you to quickly add integrations to your process. Drag and drop the required Insight model element to key points in your process application. Select a pertinent milestone at that point, define a process identifier, and define the data to extract. At runtime, you can easily monitor and analyze your business processes in real time using Insight dashboards.
Integrations
Integrations flow elements enable you to quickly add integrations to your process. Drag and drop the required integration and perform data associations to include a REST connector, web service, or active integration in your process.
Other
Notes are equivalent to sticky notes. They’re temporary and you should use them more as a reminder and delete them as soon as the information is used.
See Add Process-Level Documentation.