10 Replies Latest reply on Feb 26, 2008 3:36 AM by marklittle

    What Graphical Editor should I use?

    iva030

      What is the Graphical editor I should use with JBoss ESB/jBPM to model the business processes? Where do I get it from? I would like to be able to model a process which can include any ESB nodes I've defined as part of the process.

      Thanks,
      Ivan

        • 1. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
          marklittle

          Have you looked at the JBoss Developer Studio and the jBPM Graphical Process Designer? Take a look at our blog too.

          • 2. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
            iva030

            I'm using an Eclipse/MyEclipse IDE so I want to stay away from the JBoss Developer Studio and instead go with the eclipse plugin. I have been looking for the download for the jBPM GDP you mention, however...
            this is where I'm getting confused.

            The downloads take me to pages (see link) where I find the following array of options listed below, none of which are actually called "jBPM Graphical Process Designer" or "jBPM GDP". Do I need to install all of these plugins separately, or just one? If just one, then which is the best? Furthermore option a) jbpm-jpdl-3.2.2 (below) has a "Suite" download option... is that an eclipse plugin or a standalone version? And option b) jbpm-jpdl-designer-3.1.2 (below) has a "nodeps" download option... what is that? H e l p!

            http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=70542

            Package Release Date
            ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------
            a) jBPM jPDL 3 jbpm-jpdl-3.2.2 September 12, 2007
            b) jBPM Process Designer jbpm-jpdl-designer-3.1.2 January 10, 2008
            c) jBPM BPEL 1.1 jbpm-bpel-1.1.GA November 29, 2007
            d) jBPM 2 jboss-jbpm-2.0 October 18, 2004
            e) jBpm 1 jbpm-1.0.1 April 6, 2004
            


            • 3. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
              kconner

              The best place to ask this would be on the jBPM forums. We make use of these plugins to provide support for jBPM but they are in the best position to help you.

              • 4. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
                jeffdelong

                jbpm-jpdl-designer-3.1.2 has the ESB Service Node

                • 5. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
                  iva030

                  I extracted the jBPM GDP plugin (jbpm-jpdl-designer-3.1.2.zip) to my eclipse installation and restarted Eclipse using the -clean option. I see the plugin, however when I try to create a New jBPM Process Project, I'm first presented with a dialog to provide a name for the project, then when I hit Next, I am presented with a dialog asking me to "Configure JBoss jBPM Runtime". I do not see this step in the turial presented in the link below, most probably because the jBPM Runtime Server is assumed to already be configured in that example.

                  http://docs.jboss.com/jbpm/v3/gpd/firstprocess.html

                  So now in this Configure jBPM Runtime dialog, I try to browse to the JBoss ESB server that I have downloaded & installed (c:\jbossesb-server-4.2.1GA) but none of the folders I select here works...
                  I thought that the JBoss ESB came with an embedded jBPM as part of it. Do I need to download another/separate jBPM runtime install?

                  How do I configure the jBPM Runtime?

                  Thanks,
                  Ivan

                  • 6. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
                    jeffdelong

                    The jBPM JPDL Designer requires a jBPM installation to satisfies certain needs (e.g., jBPM version, etc.). A jBPM installation is included in the JBoss SOA Platform (the product you get with a subscription), but not in the JBoss ESB server (the ESB server does include jBPM deployed in an ESB archive, but this is not sufficient for the designer).

                    So yes, you should download a separate jbpm-jpdl-3.2.2 (you do not need the suite, which also contains a copy of the designer and a jboss app server). Install that, and point to it from the Configure JBoss jBPM Runtime dialog.

                    Hopefully in the future this requirement to have a jBPM runtime will go away.

                    • 7. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
                      iva030

                      That did it... thx!

                      So now that I have installed options A and B from this list below - lemme guess... somewhere along the line I may need C, D, and E, right? The BPEL (option C) sounds like a safe bet I'll need it, but I'm not sure what the other two (D & E) are. Are they just older/obsolete packages that have been replaced by the newer options I've already installed, or will I need those also?

                      Package Release Date
                      ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------
                      a) jBPM jPDL 3 jbpm-jpdl-3.2.2 September 12, 2007
                      b) jBPM Process Designer jbpm-jpdl-designer-3.1.2 January 10, 2008
                      c) jBPM BPEL 1.1 jbpm-bpel-1.1.GA November 29, 2007
                      d) jBPM 2 jboss-jbpm-2.0 October 18, 2004
                      e) jBpm 1 jbpm-1.0.1 April 6, 2004
                      

                      Thanks,
                      Ivan

                      • 8. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
                        jeffdelong

                        BPEL you may need if you decide to do web services orchestration. Please note however that the jBPM BPEL product is new and has not been tested / integrated wtih JBoss ESB at this point.

                        The other downloads are as you suggest old versions. You won't need them.

                        • 9. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
                          iva030

                          I am getting a number of exceptions in my Eclipse environment ever since I added the jBPM GDP, and I believe it's due to the way I had to perform the install of this plugin... the instructions state to "search for new features to install" then click the 'New Archived Site...' button and browse to the zip file (jbpm-jpdl-designer-3.1.2.zip) that I downloaded. Well, that does not work as I get an error telling me this file is not an update site. So I simply extracted the files into the Eclipse folder structure.

                          First of all, is that appropriate to simply extract the files, or should I get the zip file from a particular location where it will be considered a "valid update site"?

                          Additionally, please note that I have an eclipse install which is a Fullstack download from Genuitec's MyEclipse... so I have an /eclipse folder and I also have a /myeclipse/eclipse folder. If extracting the files is the only way to install this, which /eclipse folder should I extract the files to?

                          Thanks,
                          Ivan

                          • 10. Re: What Graphical Editor should I use?
                            marklittle

                            You should take questions about the Eclipse designer to the jBPM forum.