Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved


Process Modeling Concepts : Making Processes Easier to Follow

Making Processes Easier to Follow
There are a number of ways you can make complex processes easier to follow:
Gadgets
A gadget is a user interface aid that allows you to easily create sequence flows or other links between objects.
The advantage of using gadgets is that it is quick to do, and can be used to perform many, but not all, of the tasks traditionally performed from the palette.
See the TIBCO Business Studio Modeling Guide for more information on the different gadgets available.
Swimlanes
Swimlanes consist of Lanes and Flows.
Lanes
A lane is a subdivision of a pool that is used as a container for partitioning processes. How you use lanes is specific to your business. A lane can be Normal or Closed. The contents of a normal lane are visible. The contents of a closed lane are not visible and are used for "black-box" processes where you do not know the details of the contained processes.
If you delete a lane in TIBCO Business Studio, all the objects in that lane are also deleted. If you do this inadvertently, press Ctrl+Z to restore the contents of the lane.
Suppose the back office of a financial institution has a process in which the Securities Reconciliations Department, the Cash Reconciliations Department, the Legal Department and a custodian are all involved. When defining this process, they can be represented by lanes within the pool:
Sequence flow can connect objects in different lanes:
 
The previous example shows a securities trade between a Broker and a Custodian. The same trade could be represented as follows:
This shows the Custodian lane in a Normal state and the Broker lane in a Closed state. The trade might be represented this way because it is documenting the Custodian’s part in the trade and the Custodian has no knowledge of the internal processes of the Broker.
Pools
A pool is used as a container for partitioning processes in ways that make sense for your business.
A pool is commonly used to document a process in a self-contained system. Typically the business analyst focusses on just one system or pool, but sometimes needs to show interactions with outside systems. For example, a customer places order and does not know how it is fulfilled in the closed supplier pool, but at some point in the process the customer pool receives a fulfillment response (message).
Pools are used in conjunction with lanes and are also related to message flow, which can also be used to show message flow between objects in different pools (see Message Flows).
Associations
An association is a connection from a data object or text annotation to a flow object (for example, an activity) used to make a process more readable:
You can change the direction of the association in the Properties view:
Data Objects
A data object is used for informational purposes to show how a document or other data relates to the process. It may be associated with a sequence flow or message flow, but it does not affect either flow.
Data objects are usually associated with flow objects with an association:
A data object can also be associated with a sequence flow or other flow object:
Text Annotations
Text annotations serve to explain or clarify the process. They can be connected to flow objects (for example, tasks) using an association:
Unlike any text that you enter on the Description tab in the Properties view for an object, text annotations are displayed directly on the process.
Groups
Groups are used to indicate a relationship between elements of a process by enclosing them in a dashed line. A group can span lanes and pools. For example:
Groups are not preserved upon export because they have no meaning in the runtime environment.

Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved