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Properties on flows [message #892940]

Mon, 02 July 2012 04:47

Andreas Bauer

Messages: 2
Registered: July 2012

Junior Member

Hi all,

In my BPMN application I'm using Activity.getProperties() to access properties stored on a Task (and similar methods to create them). However, it seems the same is not supported for flows.

I suppose I could store the properties in the process under the name of the incoming or outgoing Task, but when the user changes the ID of a Task, this data becomes inconsistent. So I'm wondering if the lack of properties on flows is a bug or a feature.

Can someone enlighten me, or even tell me how to accomplish what I'm after?

Many thanks,

Andi.

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Re: Properties on flows [message #893081 is a reply to message #892940]

Mon, 02 July 2012 14:11

Robert Brodt

Messages: 811
Registered: August 2010
Location: Colorado Springs, CO

Senior Member

Hi Andreas,

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. According to the BPMN 2.0 specification (http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/PDF/) SequenceFlows do not have Properties, so hence there are no "getProperties()" and "setProperties()" methods for flows.

Cheers!
Bob

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Re: Properties on flows [message #893623 is a reply to message #893081]

Thu, 05 July 2012 01:22

Andreas Bauer

Messages: 2
Registered: July 2012

Junior Member

Thanks for the quick reply. It makes perfect sense.

Nonetheless, I'm working on an application that apparently doesn't really follow the standard, so I'm still stuck with the problem of storing flow properties. For now, I've shoved them under the process to which the flows belong, but then I'm faced with making sure that all references etc. are kept up to date. This seems to be doable, but I've been wondering if there's a nicer way or even code extensions planned that may go beyond of what's allowed in the standard. Afterall, a standard-compliant editor wouldn't have to offer users the possibility of adding flow properties. But I guess, that's wishful thinking and/or against the design goals of your work.

Again thanks!
Andi.

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Re: Properties on flows [message #893756 is a reply to message #892940]

Thu, 05 July 2012 13:10

Henning Losert

Messages: 5
Registered: March 2012

Junior Member

Hi Andreas,

I'm not really sure what you're trying to achieve with Properties on SequenceFlows, but there is actually a way to extend BPMN2 meta-model elements and enable those extensions in the BPMN2 Modeler. You may want to take a look at what the jBPM5 extension does. For instance, it defines a "priority" attribute for SequenceFlows. If you have a fixed set of attributes that you want to add to SequenceFlows (or any other BPMN2 element, for that matter), this may be just the way for you to go.

If you need the user to be able to define arbitrary properties in your editor, you may be able (although I can't guarantee it) to extend SequenceFlow with a "properties" attribute that does the same as the one on Activity.

I hope this makes sense at all. I don't know how powerful the model extension mechanism of BPMN2 Modeler is, I haven't used it myself yet. But it may be just what you are looking for.

Cheers
Henning

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Re: Properties on flows [message #893885 is a reply to message #893756]

Thu, 05 July 2012 19:53

Robert Brodt

Messages: 811
Registered: August 2010
Location: Colorado Springs, CO

Senior Member

All BaseElements are extensible through the BPMN 2.0 extensibility mechanism (see section 8.2.3 of the BPMN 2.0 specification). Also, have a look at the org.eclipse.bpmn2.modeler.ui.property.ExtensionValueTableComposite class and its uses in the jBPM5 plugin for details on how to manage these extension attributes. You should be able to add Properties to SequenceFlows by way of this mechanism.

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