Monday, February 2, 2009

Validate the process flow using WebSphere Business Modeler features

How to Validate the process flow using WebSphere Business Modeler features

Validating elements and process flows

Each time you save a process model, WebSphere® Business Modeler performs validation to ensure that the model functions correctly with other models and can generate usable outputs.

 
  • Validation
    WebSphere Business Modeler performs validation on model elements to ensure that they are complete and correctly defined.
  • Validating elements
    WebSphere Business Modeler performs validation of any updates that you make every time you save a model element.
  • Setting a filter for the Errors view
    By using a filter on the Errors view, you can choose to view only errors that relate to a specific set of model elements or that have a specific severity level.

Validation

WebSphere® Business Modeler performs validation on model elements to ensure that they are complete and correctly defined.

When you create models of business items, activities, resources and data, you want to be sure that your models will function correctly with one another and can be used to correctly generate usable outputs. There are a number of different ways of validating the models and model elements that you create:
 
  • As you define model elements, you are prompted to add any required information. In some cases, an editor may not allow you to complete the definition of an element if its details are inadmissible.
  • The Project Tree view marks elements that contain errors with an error indicator: .
  • When you save an element that contains errors or is incomplete, a message is added to the Errors view that informs you of the error condition.
  • When you open a diagram that contains an error, the error indicator marks the element that contains the error.
 
To perform validation, WebSphere Business Modeler applies a set of rules to the model elements that you have defined. The particular set of rules that is used depends on the mode that you have selected.

The technology modes (WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation, WebSphere MQ Workflow, and WebSphere Process Server) are more restrictive than the other modes and have additional validation rules. A previously valid model may become invalid if you change to a technology mode, or change from one technology mode to another.

If any connections in the process model have no source or target, you may receive a message advising you to correct the model before continuing your work. To remove all the dangling connections in a process, right-click the process in the Project Tree view and select Repair Process.

The Errors view displays information about errors, including their description, element name, and location. You can set a filter on the Errors view to customize the scope and types of displayed errors.
 
 

Validating elements

WebSphere® Business Modeler performs validation of any updates that you make every time you save a model element.

To validate a model element, you must be working in the editor for that element.
Complete the following steps:
 
  1. Click File > Save. If there is an error in the element that you attempted to save, an error indicator appears on the element, in the diagram (if the element appears in a process diagram or in a hierarchy diagram), and in the Project Tree view.
  2. If any errors are displayed, open the Errors view:
    1. Select Window > Show View > Errors View. The Errors view opens.
    2. If you have not already done so, set a filter for the Errors view so that it shows errors only for the range of model elements in which you are interested.
    3. Locate the errors for your element by searching for the element name in the Element name column. If you are receiving errors in one project that are associated with an element that is reused from another project, you can determine which project contains the element in question by looking at the Parent project column in the Errors view.
      Tip: If you are having trouble identifying which errors are associated with a particular element, use the Errors viewfilter to show only the element that you are interested in. You can also sort the entries in the Errors view by element name.
      If you want to confirm that the error applies to the correct element, you can do so by double-clicking the line in the Errors view that displays the error. The element that has the error is selected in the diagram or in the Project Tree view.
  3. After you have located the error, correct the error condition according to the information provided in the Errors view.
 
You have validated an element of a model.
Note: If you switch from one technology mode to another, errors may appear in model elements that previously did not have errors. In this case, the new technology mode may require a different set of characteristics for some model elements.
 

Setting a filter for the Errors view

By using a filter on the Errors view, you can choose to view only errors that relate to a specific set of model elements or that have a specific severity level.
To set a filter for the Errors view, complete the following steps:
 
  1. Click on the title bar of the Errors view. A window appears.
  2. Select either or both of Error and Warning to specify that you want to see messages with these levels of severity.
  3. Select one of the following options for Show project tree messages for:
    • Current workspace
    • Selected project
    • Selected element and children
    • Selected element only
    Tip: If you have a workspace with many errors or warnings, you might not want to select the Current workspace option otherwise it might be difficult to sort through all of the errors.
  4. Click OK.
 

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