11 Replies Latest reply on Mar 2, 2010 5:39 PM by kukeltje

    How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?

    wir33658

      How is it possible to create collections of already created (java-)tasks within the Eclipse-jBPM-Editor or even better within the Signavio-Editor ?

       

      What I mean by this is to reuse already created (java-)tasks with a drag&drop, because in our process flows many tasks need to be done again and again at different process stages.

       

      So I don’t want to create the same tasks again and again (even not copying them from somewhere-else).

      I imagine something like a list of (java-)taks icons to the left which I can pick from.

       

      Does anybody have any idea how to do this or have heart of anyone doing somehting similar ?

       

      Your help is very appreciated.

       

      Regards, Robert.

        • 1. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
          kukeltje
          How is it possible to create collections of already created (java-)tasks within the Eclipse-jBPM-Editor or even better within the Signavio-Editor ?

           

          It is only possible by defining xml snippets in eclipse.

           

          So I don’t want to create the same tasks again and again (even not copying them from somewhere-else).

          I imagine something like a list of (java-)taks icons to the left which I can pick from.

           

          That is what XML snippets a for.... but you'd have to be in the source tab

           

          Does anybody have any idea how to do this or have heart of anyone doing somehting similar ?

           

          No, sorry (but I do not know the Signavio editor fully, maybe it has a hidden feature

          • 2. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
            wir33658

            Thanks for your answer.

             

            I understand that it is possible to copy-paste on the XML level, but thats not what bussiness people wanna see. Remember its about Bussiness Process Management which means that very often - even most of the times - you have to sit down with your customer and draw diagramms of workflows. They are not interessted in XML. They want to see a graphical overview, pull in their tasks at the right place.

            • 3. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
              kukeltje
              And that is what you can do... sit down with them and draw processdefinitions. If you have that very many identical tasks in one process, you van an exotic process. (I've not seen one yet). Optimizations in the designer (no talking about the signavio one) are very low priority.
              • 4. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
                wir33658
                Hm, a fair statement "exotic process". I work in the semiconductor industry and we have tons of so called operations (tasks if you want) at the production level which will be reused again and again (just with different parameters).
                • 5. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
                  falko.menge

                  I implemented a generator for stencilset extensions for exactly that purpose in the Oryx project, which forms the core of the Signavio editor. The generator allows to create stencil set extensions containing pre-configured model elements, e.g., jBPM Java activities, which will appear in the pallete on the left. You can see that in action by pointing a Mozilla Firefox to com.posr.ws – an Oryx application based on the stencilset extension generator (screenshot).

                   

                  The generator can be started by sending a HTTP-POST request to a servlet. An example HTML form and CSV file to send such a request also provided. The generator is also included in the jBPM releases since version 4.1. However, it is not enabled by default, the example files are missing, and the class for repository access is not configured with the correct paths.

                   

                  Thus, I suggest to grab the source from http://code.google.com/p/signavio-oryx-initiative/source/checkout or directly from http://code.google.com/p/oryx-editor/source/checkout to get all related files.

                   

                  Then you have to compile the Repository class with correct paths and enable the servlet in the web.xml of the jbpmeditor.war, i.e., with:

                      <servlet>
                          <display-name>Stencilset Extension Generator Servlet</display-name>
                          <servlet-name>StencilSetExtensionGeneratorServlet</servlet-name>
                          <servlet-class>
                               org.oryxeditor.server.StencilSetExtensionGeneratorServlet
                          </servlet-class>
                      </servlet>
                      <servlet-mapping>
                              <servlet-name>StencilSetExtensionGeneratorServlet</servlet-name>
                              <url-pattern>/editor/stencilset-extension-generator</url-pattern>
                      </servlet-mapping>

                   

                  You may also need to create the folder 'jbpmeditor.war/editor/stencilsets/extensions/generated-stencil-set-extensions', which is used to store the generated exceptions.

                   

                  So there is a chance, that you can use this to solve your problem. However, it will definitely not work out of the box. If you have further questions regarding the stencilset extension generator or Oryx in general, I'll be happy to answer them.

                  • 6. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
                    wir33658

                    Hi Falko,

                     

                    thanks for the detailed and helpful answer. I am still in the evaluating phase and need to check out certain things. Your answer shows me that it is in general possible to extend the editor with customer stencils. This is important for me to know. Right now I will not have enough time to check your suggested solution out. But I might get back to you later on.

                     

                    Thanks a lot for now.

                     

                    Rob.

                    • 7. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
                      jbossphan
                      While not ideal, another option would be to limit the information required when defining the workflows and then run them through a stylesheet to fill in the details. The assumption here is that the activities don't require much modification once selected by the designer. So if you have 12 defined activities that are available to your designers, they would maybe use the "java" activity and fill in the class with a logical activity name. When importing the workflows into the repository you would use a stylesheet to convert this as appropriate. I'm looking at introducing a separate validation stage using schematron but that's the subject of another post.
                      • 8. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
                        kukeltje
                        Well, the designer can be extended in a way. If you look at the sourcecode of the GPD3, the ESB node is such an example. It's not easy to do, but if you really have that many, it might help.
                        • 9. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
                          falko.menge

                          Hi Rob,

                           

                          I forgot to mention, that if your set of set of custom stencils is rather static, you may also skip the all dynamic generation I talked about and just create a stencilset extension manually (or even modify the jBPM stencilset).

                           

                          Maybe have a look at the existing stencilsets and extensions, which are defined through simple JSON files in combination with SVG and PNG files for the graphical representation. In fact, the jBPM stencilset is also just an extension to the BPMN 1.2 stencilset of Oryx.

                           

                          The key idea, which will make the jPDL export work for your custom stencils, is to set their 'superId' property to one of the existing elements in the jBPM stencilset, e.g., 'java' for the Java activity.

                           

                          The following pages of the Oryx wiki may also be of help for understanding the concepts:

                          HowToCreateStencilSet

                          StencilSetPerspectives

                          StencilSetExtension

                           

                          Greetings from Berlin,

                          Falko

                          • 10. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
                            kukeltje

                            Peter,

                             

                            You are right, that is just why implementing a process is in the eyes of the jBPM developers team is to be seen as a joint effort between business analysts and more technical oriented people. Finding someone that could do both is even nicer, but they are expensive.

                             

                            Ronald

                            • 11. Re: How to create a graphical collection of already defined tasks?
                              kukeltje
                              This is realy great, thanks for the update... I'll keep this in mind answering future questions.