Business Process Modeling Notation

C-1390A graphical representation promoted by the Business Process Management Initiative of the Object Management Group, BPMN provides a graphical notation for expressing business processes in a business process diagram.

The BPMN specification also defines the relationships between the graphical elements and process execution languages such as BPEL.

For more information on BPMN, see www.bpmn.org. The BPMI organization, an affiliate of the Object Management Group, is presented at www.bpmi.org.

About stencils and flow shapes

The Visio flow chart contains a set of Visio stencils representing BPMN shapes configured for use with Process Commander. These include:

BPMN (uses standard Business Process Modeling Notation shapes) PROJ-179 V6.1 grp-3558 NORIN
FlowStandard
FlowClassic
PegaBPMN (shown at right)

The stencils are .VSS files contained in binary file rules. They are named webwb.PegaBPMN.biw,webwb.PegaStandardStencil.biw, webwb.visModShapeLegacy.biw, and webwb.BPMNStencil.biw, respectively.

Prior to V6.1, the PegaBPMN stencil was named BPMN.

Many constructs in BPMN notation have different names than Process Commander normally uses for the same concept:

A BPMN activity is similar to a task or shape in Process Commander
A BPMN process is similar to a flow rule
A BPMN transition is similar to a connector arrow on a flow rule

This table shows the task shapes as they appear on the Shapes palette for each type of stencil (shapes on the palette do not necessarily match their appearance in the Visio flow):

Shape Name	PegaBPMN	FlowStandard and FlowClassic	BPMN
Assignment
Assignment Service			None
Comment
Connector
Correspondence		None
Decision
Flow
Flow-End
Fork			None (Uses the Decision shape as Fork type)
Integrator			None
Notify			None
Start
Spinoff			None (Uses the Flow shape and a property setting.)
SplitForEach
SplitJoin
Swimlane
Ticket
Utility

How to set stencils

To use the same stencil for every flow you create, select Preferences from your profile menu. In the Edit group of preferences, select a Stencil value. Click Save.
To use these shapes for a single flow when you create a new flow, select the stencil in the Using Template field on the New form.
To change the stencil in an existing flow in the Visio form, select a value from the Stencil drop-down list in the Flow Properties panel and click Change.

Note the following:

If you are applying a new stencil to an existing flow, the revised flow may contain old shapes if equivalents do not exist in the new stencil. For example, an Assignment Service shape in a PegaBPMN stencil remains the same when a BPMN stencil is applied. The updates do not affect flow execution.
When working with an existing BPMN flow and PegaBPMN shapes are needed (Assignment Service, Integrator, Notify, for example) switch to the PegaBPMN stencil, add the shapes, and switch back to BPMN.
When changing stencils, a shape that is delete protected remains on the Visio flow; the new shape will overlay it. To remove the setting, select the shape, select Format > Protection, and click None on the Protection menu. Click OK to close the menu.

The Correspondence shape is equivalent to a Utility shape that calls the standard Work-.CorrNew activity.

Modifying BPMN shape notations

You can modify the notation for some shapes (see below) in the BPMN stencil. Select the shape in the flow, right-click, and select a notation from the menu. The notations do not affect shape execution.

Decision shape