Activities

BPMN Activity Basics

An Activity

• is work that is performed within a Business Process
• can be atomic or non-atomic (compound)
• represent points in a Process flow where work is performed
• is executable element of a BPMN Process

Activities Type

• Task
  • an atomic Activity within a Process flow
  • is used when the work in the Process cannot be broken down to a finer level of detail
  • an end-user or applications are used to perform the Task when it is executed
• Sub-Process
• Call Activity
  • allows the inclusion of re-usable Tasks and Processes in the diagram

Types of Tasks

Type	Icon	Explanation
Receive task		Waits for a Message to arrive from an external Participant Once the Message has been received, the Task is completed
Receive start task		Starts the process MUST NOT have any incoming Sequence Flow Instantiate attribute MUST be set to true
User Task		A typical “workflow” Task where a human performer performs the Task with the assistance of a software application The task is scheduled through a task list manager of some sort Examples: Phone operator updates customer record User changing their password
Manual Task		Is expected to be performed without the aid of any business process execution engine or any application Examples: A telephone technician installing a telephone at a customer location
Business Rule Task		Provides a mechanism for the Process to provide input to a Business Rules Engine and to get the output of calculations that the Business Rules Engine might provide
Script Task		Is executed by a business process engine The modeler or implementer defines a script in a language that the engine can interpret When the Task is ready to start, the engine will execute the script When the script is completed, the Task will also be completed.

Receive, Manual and User tasks examples

Business Rule and Script Tasks examples

Business Rule vs Gateways

Sub-process Markers

• A Sub-Process is an Activity whose internal details have been modeled using Activities, Gateways, Events, and Sequence Flows
• A Sub-Process is a graphical object within a Process, but it also can be “opened up” to show a lower-level Process

Types of Sub-Processes

Collapsed

Expanded

Sub-process Markers

Makers can be combined.