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How to Draw BPMN 2.0 Business Process Diagram?

Business Process Modeling Notation 2.0 makes a great improvement in business process modeling. There are number of new notations introduced in BPMN 2.0. In this tutorial, we will show you how to draw choreography task and message. We will draw the example diagram of BPMN 2.0 draft specification (An example of stand-alone Choreography diagram). By finishing this tutorial, you will be able to draw a business process diagram that looks like this:
Final BPMN business process diagram

Compatible edition(s): Enterprise, Professional, Standard, Modeler

  • March 9, 2016
  • Views: 107,862
  • PDF

Drawing a BPMN 2.0 business process diagram

  1. Create a new project by selecting Project > New from the application toolbar. In the New Project window, enter Tutorial as project name and click Create Blank Project.
  2. Let's create a model first. Select View > Project Browser from the application toolbar.
    Open Project Browser
  3. Open the Model Structure page in Project Browser
    Open Model Structure page
  4. Click on the New Model button on top of the model list on the left hand side.
    New model
  5. Name the model Sales and click OK to confirm.
    Model specification
  6. We can create pools directly under Sales model without using diagram. Let's try. Right-click on Sales model and select Model Element > New Model Element... from the popup menu.
    New model element
  7. You can search the model you would like to create in the New Model Element window. Enter Po in the Model element type text field to search for Pool.
    Select Pool
  8. Enter Customer as Model element name.
    Entered model element name
  9. Uncheck Open specification after create and click OK to continue.
  10. Repeat the steps to create the pool Bidder, Manufacturer and Supplier.
  11. Right-click on the Sales model and select Sub Diagrams > New Diagram... from the popup menu.
    New diagram
  12. In the New Diagram window, select Business Process Diagram and click Next. Keep the diagram name as provided and click OK to create the diagram.
    New diagram window
  13. We can now start creating the business process diagram. First, let's create a start event. Select the Start Event tool from the diagram toolbar, and then click on the empty area of the business process diagram.
    Create start event
  14. Now click on the start event and drag out the Resource Catalog icon.
    Using Resource Catalog
  15. Release the mouse button on the blank area of the diagram, and select Choreography Task from Resource Catalog.
    Select Choreography Task
  16. Enter Order Request as the name of the choreogrpahy task and press Enter to confirm.
    Choreography task created
  17. Right-click on Order Request and select Open Specification...
    Open choreography task specification
  18. Select Customer pool as Participant 1.
    Selected participant 1
  19. Select Manufacturer pool as Participant 2.
  20. Select Customer pool as the Initiating participant.
    Participants selected
  21. Click OK to confirm. Now the task Order Request is done. You can see that the initiating participant is showing in the same color of the task, with the non-initiating participant showing in gray.
    Choreography task with participants selected
  22. Let's create a message between Customer and Manufacturer. Click on the Order Request task and drag out the Resource Catalog icon.
    Using Resource Catalog
  23. Release the mouse button above the choreography task and select Message from Resource Catalog.
    Select message
  24. Then, select New Message Flow from "Customer" to "Manufacturer" from the popup menu.
    Selected message flow
  25. Enter Order as the name of message and then press Enter to confirm.
    Message created
  26. Create an Event-based Exclusive Gateway from Order Request. Again, click on Order Request and then drag out the Resource Catalog icon. Release the mouse button in the empty space of the diagram and select Gateway from Resource Catalog to create a gateway.
    Creating gateway
  27. Enter Can Fulfill Order? as the name of gateway and press Enter to confirm. You can insert a line break by pressing Alt + Enter.
    Gateway created
  28. Right-click on the gateway and select Type > Event-Based Exclusive Decision/Merge (XOR).
    Set gateway type
  29. Repeat the steps to complete the business process diagram, like this:
    Updated BPD
  30. There could be multiple instances of 'procure parts' activity running simultaneously. Let's represent this by setting the loop type of task Procure Parts to Multi-Instance Loop. Right-click on the Procure Parts task and select Open specification... from the popup menu.
  31. Select Multi-Instance Loop for Loop type combo box.
    Set multi-instance loop
  32. Click OK to confirm. Now the Multi-Instance loop marker is shown in the Procure Parts task.
    Task with multi instance loop marker
  33. Let's create messages between Manufacturer and Bidder on the Part Auction task. With the use of Resource Catalog, create a Message from the Part Auction activity. Select New Message Flow from "Manufacturer" to "Bidder" from the popup menu.
    New message
  34. Name the message as Part Request.
  35. Repeat the step to create another message to Part Auction task. This time, select New Message Flow from "Bidder" to "Manufacturer" during creation. Name the message as Part Response. You can see that the message from Bidder to Manufacturer is in different color since Bidder is non-initiating participant.
    Message created
  36. Now the gateway All Parts Available? and All Parts Obtained? in business process diagram only modeled the false situation. What about the true case? Assuming that the flow should flow back to the Order Confirmation task. We don't want to make the diagram too complicated by having too many connector lines. Let's represent the flow with the use of a pair of intermediate events. Click on the All Parts Available? gateway and drag out the Resource Catalog icon. Release the mouse button above the gateway and select Intermediate Event from Resource Catalog. Enter A as name and press Enter.
    Intermediate event created
  37. Name the connector Yes.
  38. Right-click on the intermediate event and select Trigger > Link Trigger.
  39. Repeat the steps to create another link event from All Parts Obtained? gateway.
    Updated BPD
  40. Select Link Intermediate Event from the diagram toolbar.
    Select intermediate event
  41. Click on the left hand side of the Order Confirmation task and name it A. Connect it with the task. Up to now your diagram should look like this:
    Updated BPD
  42. Create the other messages. Finally, your business process diagram should look like this:
    Final BPMN business process diagram



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