9 Sharing BPM Projects Using the Process Asset Manager

This chapter describes how to store business assets in a process asset manager. The process asset manager runs in an application server that you configure.

This chapter includes the following sections:

9.1 Introduction to the Process Asset Manager

The process asset manager provides a uniform way to manage the different business assets that are part of a BPM project and Oracle Business Process Architect projects.

You can use the Process Asset Manager to share BPM projects between the different persons working on the project. Process developers working with Oracle BPM Studio can share their BPM projects with other process developers, or with process analysts using Oracle Business Process Composer. For more information about the development life cycle, see Overview of the Application Development Life Cycle.

After you checkout a project from the process asset manager, the JDeveloper SVN features are enabled. You can choose between using the process asset manager versioning functionality of the SVN. For example, you can publish a project using the process asset manager save action, or the SVN commit action. A project that you checked out from the process asset manager is an SVN project for JDeveloper.

The process asset manager supports the following:

  • Collaboration

    It enables multiple users to work on the same project simultaneously.

  • Security and Access Control

    It provides fine grained security and access control of the business assets. The application accessing the catalog determines the correct access rights granted to the principal of the application.

  • Versioning

    It stores multiple versions of the same business asset.

  • Conflict Resolution, Diff and Merge

    When a business asset is modified simultaneously by different users, the process asset manager enables you view the differences between the different versions, resolve the conflicts between them and merge the changes.

  • Life Cycle

    It supports a flexible life cycle model that enables a business asset to mature from initial brainstorming to development and testing, to integration test and finally deployment in production.

  • Reporting

    It provides a detailed reporting of the business assets in the catalog and their history.

  • Backup and Recovery

    In the event of hardware failure, software bugs, and human error, you can revert the changes to a stable version of the project.

9.2 Working with BPM Projects Stored in the Process Asset Manager

This section covers the typical use cases of the Process Asset Manager, including setting up an environment and adding and exporting BPM projects.

9.2.1 How to Set Up an Environment to Work with Projects Stored in the Process Asset Manager

Before you start working with a BPM project stored in the Process Asset Manager, you must set up your environment by configuring a connection and checking out the BPM project.

To set up your environment:

  1. Create a Process Asset Manager connection.
  2. Checkout the BPM project from the Process Asset Manager.
  3. Modify the BPM project.
  4. Save the changes to the Process Asset Manager.

9.2.2 How to Modify a BPM Project Stored in the Process Asset Manager

You can modify a BPM project that you checked out from the Process Asset Manager and then save the changes to the Process Asset Manager, to share them with other developers.

To modify a BPM project stored in the Process Asset Manager:

  1. Update your local copy with the changes from the Process Asset Manager.
  2. Modify the BPM project.
  3. Save the changes to the Process Asset Manager.

9.2.3 How to add a BPM Project to the Process Asset Manager

You can add a BPM project that you created and stored locally, to the Process Asset Manager.

To add a BPM project to the Process Asset Manager

  1. If you do not have a Process Asset Manager connection, create one.
  2. Save the BPM project to the Process Asset Manager.

9.2.4 How to Export a BPM Project Stored in the Business Process Manager

You can export a BPM project in the process asset manager to a zip file that you can store locally.

To export a BPM project:

  1. Open the Process Asset Manager Navigator.
  2. Right-click the BPM project that you want to export.
  3. Select Export.

    The Export Project from PAM wizard appears.

  4. Click Next.

    If you want to avoid viewing the welcome page the next time you export a project, select Skip This Page Next Time.

  5. Enter a file name to identify the exported file.
  6. Click the Search button next to the Location field, to select a destination where to store the exported file.
  7. Click Next.

    The Included Files page appears. This page shows all the files that are included in the export file.

  8. Click Next.

    The Finished page appears. This page shows if the export operation was successful.

  9. Click Finish.

9.3 Working with the Process Asset Manager

The Process Asset Manager supports creating a connection, checking out and saving a BPM project, updating a BPM project locally, removing projects, and viewing the change history.

9.3.1 How to Create a Process Asset Manager Connection

Before you start to work with a process asset manager, you must configure a process asset manager connection to locate the server where the process asset manager is stored.

To create a process asset manager connection:

  1. Open the Process Asset Manager Navigator window:

    1. From the JDeveloper menu, select Window.

    2. Select Process Asset Manager Navigator.

    The Process Asset Manager Navigator opens on the left of the screen.

  2. Right-click the PAM node, and select Create Connection.

    The Create Process Asset Manager Connection wizard appears.

  3. Click Next.

    The Connection Name page appears.

    If you want to avoid viewing the welcome page the next time you export a project, select Skip This Page Next Time.

  4. Enter a name to identify the connection.

  5. Enter the user name to log in to the process asset manager server.

  6. Enter the password to log in to the process asset manager server.

  7. Click Next.

  8. In the WebLogic Hostname field, enter the URL to locate the process asset manager server.

  9. Optionally, configure the port, SSL port and the Always Use SSL option

  10. Click Test Connection to test if the provided information is correct.

    The Status field shows if the connection to the process asset manager server is successful.

  11. Click Finish.

    The new connection appears in the Process Asset Manager Navigator.

9.3.2 How to Check Out a BPM Project from the Process Asset Manager

You can checkout a specific version of a BPM project from the process asset manager and store it locally. You can make local modifications to this local project and then check them in to the process asset manager.

To check out a BPM Project from the process asset manager:

  1. In the Process Asset Manager Navigator, expand the connection node and the expand the space node.
  2. Right-click the BPM project to check out.
  3. Select Check Out.

    The Checkout Project from PAM dialog box appears.

  4. Click the Search button next to the Destination field to select a local destination where to store the checked out project.
  5. Click OK.

    The Checking Out Project dialog box appears while the Process Asset Manager checks out the project.

    The BPM project that you selected is stored to a local destination and appears in the Applications window. Note that the BPM project checked out from the Process Asset Manager shows an icon with the status of the project, to view the status place the cursor over the node and wait for the tool tip to appear.

9.3.3 How to Save a BPM Project to the Process Asset Manager

You can store a BPM project in the process asset manager to share it with other users and work together on the same project. You can use this procedure to store a new BPM project or to save the changes you made to a BPM project already stored in the Process Asset Manager.

To save a BPM project to the process asset manager:

  1. Open the BPM project you want to store in the process asset manager.
  2. In the Applications window, right click the BPM project.
  3. Select Save to PAM.

    You might need to do an update and resolve any possible conflicts before you can save your changes.

    The Select Connection dialog box appears.

  4. From the PAM Connections list, select a connection, or click the Add button to create a new connection.
  5. From the Space list, select a space, or click the Add button to create a new space.
  6. Click OK.

    The Save Project to PAM dialog box appears. This dialog box displays the source of the BPM project, and the connection and space where to store the BPM project.

  7. Enter a comment.
  8. Click OK.

    The BPM project appears in the Process Asset Manager and is available to other users using the Process Asset Manager.

    Note:

    If the project is locked from Business Process Composer you cannot save your changes. To save your changes, first release the lock from Business Process Composer.

9.3.4 How to Update Local BPM Projects

You can update your local BPM project with the changes made to the BPM Project in the Process Asset Manager.

To update local BPM projects:

  1. In the Applications window, right-click the BPM project that you want to refresh.
  2. Select Update. This item is located under the Save to PAM item.
  3. If there are changes in the BPM Project stored in the Process Asset Manager, the Update Status dialog box appears. Click OK to accept the changes.

    The Updating Local Source Dialog appears while the Process Asset Manager updates the local BPM Project.

    Figure 9-1 Update Status Dialog

    Description of Figure 9-1 follows
    Description of "Figure 9-1 Update Status Dialog"

9.3.5 How to Delete a BPM Project from the Process Asset Manager

You can delete a project from the Process Asset Manager.

To delete a BPM Project from the process asset manager:

  1. Open the Process Asset Manager Navigator.
  2. Right-click the BPM project that you want to delete.
  3. Select Delete.

    The Delete Project from BAC dialog box appears.

  4. Click Yes.

    The Deleting Project dialog box appears while the Process Asset Manager deletes the project.

9.3.6 How to View the Change History

You can view the history of the changes made to a BPM project since it was added to the Process Asset Manager, and you can browse the details of each of those changes.

To view the change history:

  1. Open the Process Asset Manager Navigator.
  2. Right click the BPM project from which you want to see the change history.
  3. Select History and Changes.

    The History dialog box appears. The history table shows the date, author and comments for each of the changes in the history of the BPM project. When you select a change the Affected Components table shows the modified artifacts and files, depending on which tab you select. Figure 9-2 shows the History dialog box for the BookFlight project.

    Figure 9-2 History Dialog

    Description of Figure 9-2 follows
    Description of "Figure 9-2 History Dialog"