BPMN Splits for flexible flow conditions

Sunday, April 10, 2011
In last week's "BPMN Lecture" we talked about the "X" and "+" mark split conditions in the lecture titled, "Split Conditions are a Basic Concept in BPMN." Today let's look at the "O" mark.
  • "X" mark [XOR split]: One of the flows
  • "+" mark [AND split]: All of the flows
  • "O" mark [OR split]: Some of the flows
Once you learn how to utilize these three split conditions, you'll be able to handle all of the splits in business processes. (For now, we're going to ignore those voices that say these aren't the only ones. *)

<Tasks>
1. Task, 2abc. Tasks, 3. Task

[BPMN Sample <OR Split> : "1. Task" screen]



The above workflow is the one introduced last week. In this workflow, only one of the second tasks are processed. For example, the flow may be, 1–2a–3.

Contrarily, in the below workflow, any number of the second tasks may be executed; it could be just one, or two out of the three, or even all three. In Questetra BPM Suite, each flow (1–2a, 1–2b, and 1–2c) has independent conditions within the OR split property screen. For example, once task 1 is completes, if the conditions of 1–2a and 1–2b are true, while 1–2c is false, the flow will go to only the former two tasks. Also, task 3 will only be allocated after both 2a and 2b are completed.

Brush up your Process!!

P.S.
If you really want to learn about BPMN, we recommend you read the BPMN 2.0 specifications (Jan 3, 2011). Splits are addressed in chapter 10, section 5. This is a PDF file with 538 pages.
Or, if you just want to learn the basics, check out "BPMN Introduction" (4 page PDF).

<Tasks>
1. Task, 2abc. Tasks, 3. Task

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