Thursday, January 8, 2009

Use modeling elements to accurately describe a business process

 
IBM Certification Test 992.2 - Modeling
 

How to Use modeling elements to accurately describe a business process

The task of modeling a process consists of defining the details of a business process flow, and modeling all the data, resources, and other elements that are used by the flow.

Modeling elements Overview()

Use modeling elements to model a business process.  Modeling elements can be divided into two major groups:
  1. Modeling elements that are displayed in the Project Tree 
  2. modeling elements that are displayed in the  Process Diagram ()
 
Project Tree Process Diagram 
The project tree displays a collection of catalogs.

A catalog is a container that holds elements of related types within your model.

A catalog performs the same function as a folder in a traditional directory structure. Catalogs group elements of the same type together in the Project Tree view. For example, you can group any process that you create in a catalog called Processes.
When you create a project, a number of catalogs are created for you by default, according to the different elements that you can model. Some contain predefined elements, while others are designed to hold the model elements that you create. These include the following catalogs:

You can use these catalogs to store your model elements, or you can create new catalogs that more accurately reflect how you want to set up your project. For example, rather than use the default Processes catalog to store all of your processes, you might want to create new catalogs called Accounting, Human Resources, and Order Fulfillment. You can create any number of catalogs, organized according to how you wish to maintain your project.

The process diagram is a graphical representation of a business process flow, consisting of activities and the connections between these activities. You can use a process diagram to visually compose a process flow, using elements that you drag and drop from the palette or from the Project Tree view.
A process diagram can contain the following global elements , which you can drag and drop from the Project Tree view: A process diagram can also contain the following local elements , which you can drag and drop from the palette:
 

Catalogs

A catalog is a container that holds elements of related types within your model.

A catalog performs the same function as a folder in a traditional directory structure. Catalogs group elements of the same type together in the Project Tree view. For example, you can group any process that you create in a catalog called Processes.
Process catalogs
A process catalog is a container that holds processes, tasks, repositories, and services.

Process catalogs are displayed in the Project Tree view. A process catalog performs the function of a folder, allowing you to group a related set of processes, tasks, repositories, and services that you create to model your business operations. For example, the ABC Project sample contains a single process catalog, Processes, which contains all of its processes, tasks, repositories, and services. Alternatively, you could create a separate catalog for each of your separate business operations, such as Ordering to contain all the customer order functions of the business, and Production to contain the production functions.

Each time you create a project, a process catalog called Processes is created for you.
You can nest process catalogs inside one another. This enables you to create a multilevel structure to contain your processes.
Remember: The fully qualified name of any element (which includes the workspace location and the catalog structure as well as the element name) must not exceed 256 characters. If you use long names for catalogs and project elements, and if you nest the catalogs several levels deep, you may approach or pass this limitation. WebSphere® Business Modeler will allow you to pass the 256 character limit, but if you export such a project and later try to import it, then any elements with a path longer than 256 characters (including the target workspace location) will not be imported. Additionally, if you export a project that contains element names that are below the limit, but then import the project into a workspace with a longer path than the workspace of the original project, then any elements that would have a path longer than 256 characters in the new project will not be imported.

Resource catalogs
A resource catalog is a container that holds resource definition templates, resource definitions, resources, roles and timetables.

Resource catalogs are displayed in the Project Tree view. A resource catalog performs the function of a folder, allowing you to group a related set of resource definitions, resources, roles, and timetables that you create to represent the resources of an organization. For example, the ABC Project sample contains a resource catalog, Resources, which contains all of ABC's resource definitions, resources, roles, and timetables. Alternatively, you could create separate resource catalogs for each type of resource, such as Vehicles, Employees, Customers, and Computers.

Each time you create a project, a resource catalog called Resources is created for you. Another resource catalog, called Predefined resources, contains some individual resource definitions and bulk resource definitions that you can use to create resources.

A resource catalog can also contain other resource catalogs, enabling you to create a multilevel structure to contain your resources. If you do this, however, you should be aware that the fully qualified name of any element (which includes the workspace location and the catalog structure as well as the element name) must not exceed 256 characters. If you use long names for catalogs and project elements, and if you nest the catalogs several levels deep, you may approach this limitation. Although WebSphere® Business Modeler prevents you from exceeding the maximum number of characters within a project, you should be careful about nesting if you plan to import and export your projects.

 

Modeling process flow

Creating a process diagram involves modeling the processes, tasks, repositories, and services that represent your business process and the flow elements that connect the process.

 Modeling elements Details ()

  1. See Project Tree view buttons and icons for project tree modeling element details
  2. See Palette icons for process diagram modeling element details

Common modeling patterns

To help you choose the most appropriate elements for modeling your processes, you can review some commonly used flow patterns and the suggested elements to implement them.
  • Split paths in process flows
    You can split the path of a process flow in a number of different ways. The method you use to create the paths depends on whether the new paths are exclusive (only one can occur at a time) or inclusive (more than one path can occur at the same time). If the paths are inclusive, the method you use to create the paths depends on whether each path is always followed, or if one or more of the paths is followed depending on some condition.
  • Combined paths in process flows
    You can combine parallel paths back into a single path in several ways. The method you use to combine the paths depends on whether the parallel paths are exclusive (only one can occur at a time) or inclusive (more than one path can occur at the same time). If the paths are inclusive, the method used to combine the paths depends on whether the paths need to be synchronized. If the paths are synchronized, the outgoing path must wait for all incoming paths to complete before continuing.
  • Repeated segments in process flows
    A cycle occurs when a segment of the process flow is repeated until some condition is met. Use a loop to model a cycle, but be careful that what you model is a true cycle.
 

Adding flow elements to process diagrams

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