BPEL Roadmap

[joshua_hj]

JBoss jBPM BPEL

I have a few questions that I would like to post about the BPEL extension module.

I have done some work in the BPEL arena using both Oracle solutions, the Eclipse BPEL designer and the Oracle BPEL Process Manager (engine).

AFAIK, the designer is free to use and is a very helpful tool for those starting coding in BPEL, and that is no problem.
In the other way, the PM is not free to use, so the need for an Open Source solution is on the table.
The best outcome is to join the Eclipse designer from Oracle and the BPEL engine from JBoss, and that´s why I have a few questions about the JBoss BPEL engine:

1. I have noted the difference in terms of version progression between the jBPM and BPEL ext. Does that mean anything, does JBoss is focusing more on jBPM than on BPEL?
2. Will the process development be easier in the future, because it is quite complex now, when dealing with a lot of processes and with complex process relations.
3. Is there any plan for a Web Console that allows the user to interact/observe process activity?
4. What about failover/process resume on sudden system failure. Will it be possible to continue process execution after a system restart?
5. About documentation/samples/tutorials?

Thanks Joshua

[aguizar]

No, it just means that Tom and Koen release more often than me :-)
Yes; most of the complexity in the deployment process comes from the number of artifacts needed to deploy a service compliant with WS4EE 1.1. The tools subproject from JBoss Web Services will ease BPEL deployments. Apart from that, any suggestions on how to make it simpler are welcome.
Since the BPEL extension builds on jBPM objects, the monitoring capabilities offered by the jBPM web application should be usable for BPEL processes. However, the app is not very modular right now, so I'd have to modify it and maintain the forked version in the BPEL codebase.

I don't want to do that right now, since Tom is working on compartmentalizing the web application with JSF facelets. Once he's done, I'll simply use these components to assemble a BPEL admin console.
Yes. See issue BPEL-174.
Our documentation already includes samples and tutorials. Let us know what new items you would like to see.

[tom.baeyens]

I don't want to do that right now, since Tom is working on compartmentalizing the web application with JSF facelets. Once he's done, I'll simply use these components to assemble a BPEL admin console.

i agree.

[joshua_hj]

OK, Thanks Alex and Tom for the reply.


One more question:
What about circular dependencies? Process A needs process B and B needs process A. How is that handled at deploy time? I had this problem with befor with Oracle tools (WSDLRuntimeLocation).

Thanks Joshua

[tom.baeyens]

subprocess matching is going to be a part of the admin console.

[huanghao]

First post in this forum

@joshua_hj: isn't Oracle BPEL Process Manager free to use, or i got it wrong? At the moment you can just the v10.1.2 download for free. Or what you mean is that when you want to have some advanced features, you have to pay?

pls correct me if i am wrong:-)

[aguizar]

Huang,

While the download is certainly free, the licensing is not. Look for the following statement in the license agreement:

LICENSE RIGHTS
We grant you a nonexclusive, nontransferable limited license to use the programs only for the purpose of developing a single prototype of your application, and not for any other purpose.

Be careful about what you agree with when you click the "I agree" button! ;-)

[huanghao]

Hi, thanks Alex!

Those days i've been searching for a good combination of BPEL designer and BPEL engine. The criteria is free and of course should be easy to use.

As far as i found out, possible combinations could be:

1. ActiveBPEL + ActivePEL design (TBD)

2. NetBeans Enterprise Pack 5.5: ?all-in-one?(TBD)

3. IBM BPWS4J engine + Eclispse plug-in BPWS4J editor (exclude)
BPWS4J only works with JDK 1.4 or lower, not scalable
BPWS4J editor is pluggable only in Eclipse 2.1 or lower, no further support either.

4. Jboss BPM: BPEL engine and a plug-in design tool(TBD)

5. Oracle BPEL Process Manager + Eclips BPEL tool (exclude)
As you say:-)