ActiveVOS Designer User’s Guide

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Which Edit Style to Choose: BPMN or ActiveVOS Classic

Both BPMN and ActiveVOS Classic edit styles generate 100% validated, executable BPEL XML code. Both styles are diagramming notations for process descriptions. You can choose which visual style is easier for you and your team.

For tips on BPMN, see Tips and Tricks - BPMN Design.

Advantages of ActiveVOS Classic

• The edit style has been in use since version 1.0 of ActiveVOS. If you are a long-time user, you may want to continue using this style
• The style includes activities and links that have a one-to-one correspondence with the WS-BPEL 2.0 constructs. Both styles include extension activities (people, break, and continue).

Advantages of BPMN

• The edit style is based on a standard notation
• The style is similar to flowcharting which makes it friendly and familiar to business users
• Each shape and symbol has a precisely defined meaning
• The style uses all BPEL constructs plus some common BPMN constructs. Not all BPEL constructs are visible. Some are hidden in order to produce a cleaner, clearer diagram.
• You can export a BPMN diagram to XDPL and use another vendor’s BPMN simulation engine

Examples of Each Style

The following examples show some main differences between BPMN and ActiveVOS Classic styles.

Example One: Shapes and Symbols

BPMN shapes have meanings. Circles indicate events, as shown with the receive and reply on the left below. Start events and end events have solid borders, while intermediate events have outlined borders. In ActiveVOS Classic, activities are categorized as basic and structured. Receives and replies are basic activities, represented by Active Endpoints proprietary icons shown on the right.

Example Two: Start, End, and Exception Events

BPMN uses event icons to indicate the start and end of a workflow (in BPMN terms a subprocess), as shown in the scope below on the left. The start and end events are within a hidden sequence container. You add activities between start and end. When you add a catchAll fault handler to the scope, the fault handler is displayed as a dotted rectangle within the scope. In ActiveVOS Classic, a scope starts out as an empty container. You display a fault handler with the Show Fault Handler option. Then you add a catchAll to it.

Example Three: Control Flow vs. Containers

BPEL often requires nested activities, such as those in a forEach, if, while, or repeatUntil. BPMN (on the left below) represents nesting with control flow arrows. In the forEach example, note also that the control flow contains an embedded (hidden) sequence. The sequence contains start and end events, and you can add activities in between. The start and end event are considered good style in BPMN, but are not strictly required, so they can be deleted if desired. ActiveVOS Classic displays a forEach container with an embedded, visible scope into which you add all activities manually.

Example Four: Nested Activities

In BPMN, arrows represent control flow. Representing control flow using arrows can be easier to read than using containers, as shown in the example of nested repeatUntil activities. In this diagram, the parent repeatUntil has two children: a repeatUntil and an invoke. The child repeatUntil has one child: an invoke. The BPMN diagram is easier for many people to understand.

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