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03 Advanced Process Modeling

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BPMN Main Elements - Recap

Flow Objects Connections

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Activity
Message Association
Gateway

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Event
Flow

Pools & lanes Artifacts

Pool

Data Data
Object Store
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Lane
BPMN Gateways – Recap

• Exclusive (XOR)

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• Exclusive decision take one branch

• Exclusive merge proceed when one branch has completed

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• Parallel (AND)
• Parallel split take all branches

• Parallel join proceed when all incoming branches have completed

• Inclusive (OR)
• Inclusive decision take one or several branches depending on conditions
113
• Inclusive merge proceed when all active incoming branches have completed

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Exercise: critique the following model

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Anything wrong with this model?

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 Is this better?

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Identifying sub-processes
Acquire raw materials

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Ship and invoice

 Expanded…

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Sub-processes … 1

• An activity in a process can invoke a separate

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sub-process

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• Use this feature to:
1. Decompose large models into smaller ones,
making them easier to understand and maintain
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©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Guideline: Multi-level Modeling

• Level 1:

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• Value Chain

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• Simple linear description of phases of a process

• No gateways
120
• Each activity chain may be a sub-process
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
Guideline: Multi-level Modeling

• Level 2+:

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• Expand each activity in the value chain

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• Add incrementally the following:
• Decisions, handoffs (lanes, pools)

• Parallel gateways, different types of events

121
• Data objects and data stores
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
Guideline: Multi-level Modeling

• At each level, decompose according to:

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• Logical milestones towards achieving the outcome of a
process

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• Major objects used in the process

• Decompose until processes are of “reasonable” size

• e.q. Up to 20 nodes (tasks + events + gateways) per model 122

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Value Chain with Sub-processes
Purchase Purchase Goods Invoice
Approval
Request Order Receipt Verification

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Consider re-
submission

Purchase Request process

rejected

Check purchase
request for 1st
approval

approved rejected
Purchase Request

Check purchase
request for 2nd
approval

approved

Send approved
request to requestor

Purchase Order process

Make copy of Forward to purchase

purchase request department

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Approved Purchase Request
 Fragment of SCOR’s Process Hierarchy

Process Receive and

Level 3 Inquity and Validate ...

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Quote Order

Receive

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Order
Level 4 Enter Order Check Credit ...

Credit
Available? Clear Order
Access Credit
Level 5 Record
Contact
customer
account rep. ...
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APICS SCOR framework: http://www.apics.org/
 Side Note: Bizagi Milestones (Non-standard BPMN)

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For details see: http://tinyurl.com/pp5reuo

Side Note: Non-BPMN Value Chain Notation
(e.g. Signavio, ARIS)

Collapsed
process model

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Sub-processes … 2

• An activity in a process can invoke a separate sub-

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process

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• Use this feature to:
1. Decompose large models into smaller ones, making
them easier to understand and maintain
2. Share common fragments across multiple processes 127

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

 Shared Sub-process

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Sub-processes … 3

• An activity in a process can invoke a separate sub-process

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• Use this feature to:
1. Decompose large models into smaller ones, making

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

them easier to understand and maintain
2. Share common fragments across multiple processes
3. Delimit parts of a process that can be
repeated/interrupted 129

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Repeated Process

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130

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

 Spring 2024
03 Advanced Process Modeling:

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Structured Repetition

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Block-structured repetition:
Activity loop

• Activity loop markers allow us to state

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that a task or a sub-process may be

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repeated multiple times

Task Sub-process
Loop Loop
132

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

More on rework and repetition

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XOR-join: entry point XOR-split: exit point

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Structured
cycle
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Example: block-structured repetition
Completion
condition

Until Response is approved

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Finalise
Assign Investigate
Ministerial
Ministerial Ministerial
Response
Enquiry Enquiry
Ministerial Ministerial
Enquiry Enquiry

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received finilized

Prepare Review
Ministerial Ministerial
Response Response
Enquiry Response
investigated reviewed

Must have a 134

decision activity
Exercise

• After a claim is registered, it is examined by a claims officer

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• The claims officer writes a “settlement recommendation”

• This recommendation is checked by a senior claims officer who may mark

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the claim as “OK” or “Not OK”

• If the claim is marked as “Not OK”, it is sent back to the claims officer and
the examination is repeated

• If the claim is marked as “OK”, the claims officer notifies the settlement to
the customer 135

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Parallel Repetition: Multi-instance
Activity

• The multi-instance activity provides a mechanism to indicate that an activity

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is executed multiple times concurrently Multi-Instance Multi-Instance
Task Sub-process

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• Useful when the same activity needs to be executed for multiple entities or
data items, such as:
• Request quotes from multiple suppliers

• Check the availability for each line item in an order separately

• Send and gather questionnaires from multiple witnesses in the context of an insurance
136
claim

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Example: Multi-instance Activity -
Procurement

• In procurement, typically a quote is to be obtained

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from all preferred suppliers

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• After all quotes are received, they are evaluated
and the best quote is selected

• A corresponding purchase order is then placed 137

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Solution: without multi-instance activity
Procurement
Obtain Quote
from Supplier A

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Obtain Quote
from Supplier B

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Obtain Quote Select best ...
... Place PO
from Supplier C quote

Obtain Quote
from Supplier D

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Obtain Quote
from Supplier E
Solution: with multi-instance activity
Procurement

cardinality

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For each supplier

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... Select best ...
Obtain Quote Place PO
quote

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ICE: Motor insurance claim
lodgment

• After a car accident, a statement is sought from

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the witnesses that were present, in order to lodge
the insurance claim

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• As soon as the first two statements are received,
the claim can be lodged to the insurance company
without waiting for the other statements 140

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

ICE: Motor insurance claim lodgment (Solution)

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 Spring 2024
03 Advanced Process Modeling:

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Events

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Events

• In BPMN, events model something instantaneous

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happening during the execution of a process

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• Types of event:
• Start

• Intermediate
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• End
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
BPMN event types
Start Intermediate End

Untyped Event – Indicates that an instance of the

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process is created (start) or completed (end),
without specifying the cause for creation/completion Catching

Start Message Event – Indicates that an instance

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of the process is created when a message is
received

End Message Event – Indicates that an instance of

the process is completed when a message is sent

Intermediate Message Event – Indicates that an

event is expected to occur during the process. The
event is triggered when a message is received or
sent 144
Comparison with sending/receiving tasks

= Receive
invoice
Invoice
received

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= Send invoice

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Invoice
sent

= Send invoice

Invoice
sent

Receive

Invoice
≠ invoice
145

received
 So, when to use what?
• Use message events only when the corresponding activity would
simply send or receive a message and do nothing else

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 Temporal events

Start Intermediate End

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Start Timer Event – Indicates that an instance of the
process is created at certain date(s)/time(s), e.g. start

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process at 6pm every Friday

Intermediate Timer Event – Triggered at certain date(s)/

time(s), or after a time interval has elapsed since the
moment the event is enabled (delay)

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 Example: PO Handling
• A Purchase Order (PO) handling process starts when a PO is
received

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• The PO is first registered:

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• If the current date is not a working day, the process waits until the
following working day before proceeding

• Otherwise, an availability check is performed and a PO response is

sent back to the customer
Next working day
weekend/
holiday

weekday Check Send PO

Register PO 148
Availability Response
PO PO
Received fulfilled
ICE

• In a small claims tribunal, call-overs occur once a month, to

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set down the matter for the upcoming trials

• The process for setting up a call-over starts three weeks prior

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to the call-over day, with the preparation of the call-over list
containing information such as contact details of the involved
parties and estimated hearing date
149

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

ICE: Continued …

• One week prior to the call-over, the involved parties are

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contacted to determine if they are all ready to go to trial

• If this is the case, the call-over is set, otherwise it is deferred

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to the next available slot

• Finally, on the call-over day, the call-over material is prepared

and the call-over is held
150

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

ICE: Solution

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©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

 Exercise 8: Model the billing process of an
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• The ISP sends an invoice by email to the customer

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on the first working day of each month (Day 1)

• On Day 7, the customer has the full outstanding

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amount automatically debited from their bank
account

• If an automatic transaction fails for any reason, the

152
customer is notified on Day 8
 Exercise 8: Model the billing process of an
Internet Service Provider (ISP) …
• On Day 9, the transaction that failed on

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Day 7 is re-attempted

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• If it fails again, on Day 10 a late fee is
charged to the customer’s bank account
• At this stage, the automatic payment is no
longer attempted 153
 Exercise 8: Model the billing process of an
Internet Service Provider (ISP) …
• On Day 14, the Internet service is

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suspended until payment is received

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• If on Day 30 the payment is still
outstanding, the account is closed and a
disconnection fee is applied
154
• A debt-recovery procedure is then started
 Exercise 8: Solution

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Recap: Message and Timer events
Start Intermediate End
Catching Catching Throwing Throwing

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process message message process
starts upon received sent during ends upon

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message during the the process message
received process sent

process time event

starts when occurred
time event 156
(to model delay)
occurs
 Event-based decision
• With the XOR-split gateway, a branch is chosen based on
conditions that evaluate over available data

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• The choice can be made immediately after the token arrives
from the incoming flow

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• Sometimes, the choice must be delayed until an event happens
• The choice is based on a “race” among events

• Two types of XOR split:

data-driven event-driven
XOR-split XOR split 157
Data-based vs. event-based Choices

• In an XOR-split gateway, one branch is chosen

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based on expressions evaluated over available data

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• Choice is made immediately when the gateway is reached

• Sometimes, the choice must be delayed until

something happens
158
• Choice is based on a “race between events”

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Data-based vs. event-based Choices …

• BPMN distinguishes between:

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• Exclusive decision gateway (XOR-split)

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• http://www.workflowpatterns.com/patterns/control/basic/wc
p4_animation.php

• & Event-based decision gateway

• http://www.workflowpatterns.com/patterns/control/state/wc
159
p16.php
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
Choices outside our control…
Stock Replenishment

• A restaurant chain submits a purchase order (PO)

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to replenish its warehouses every Thursday

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• The restaurant chain’s procurement system
expects to receive either a “PO Response” or
an error message 160

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Choices outside our control…
Stock Replenishment

• However, it may also happen that no response is received

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at all due to system errors or due to delays in handling the
PO on the supplier’s side

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• If no response is received by Friday afternoon or if an error
message is received, a purchasing officer at the restaurant
chain’s headquarters should be notified

• Otherwise, the PO Response is processed normally 161

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Solution: event-driven XOR split
Stock replenishment

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ICE

• In the context of a claim handling process, it is sometimes necessary

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to send a questionnaire to the claimant to gather additional
information

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• The claimant is expected to return the questionnaire within five days

• If no response is received after five days, a reminder is sent to the

claimant

• If after another five days there is still no response, another reminder

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is sent and so on until the completed questionnaire is received
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
 Spring 2024
03 Advanced Process Modeling:

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Expected handling

164
 Let’s extend our PO handling
process (PO Handling)

• A PO handling process starts when a PO is received

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• The PO is first registered
• If the current date is not a working day, the process waits until

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

the following working day before proceeding
• Otherwise, an availability check is performed and a PO response
is sent back to the customer
Next working day
weekend/
holiday

Register PO weekday Check Send PO 165

Availability Response
PO PO
Received fulfilled
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
 Let’s extend our PO handling process Next working day
weekend/
holiday

weekday Check Send PO

Register PO
Availability Response
PO PO
Received fulfilled

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• A PO change request may be received anytime after the PO is
registered

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• This request includes a change in quantity or line items
• When such a request is received, any processing related to
the PO must be stopped
• The PO change request is then registered
• Thereafter, the process proceeds as it would do after a normal
PO is registered
• Further, if the customer sends a PO cancelation request after 166
the PO registration, the PO processing must be stopped and
the cancelation request must be handled
Abortion (Terminate Event)

• Exceptions are events that deviate a process from

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its “normal” course

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• The simplest form of exception is to notify that
there is an exception (negative outcome)
• This can be done via the Terminate end event:
• It forces the whole process to abort 167

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Example 1: terminate event
Signal the negative outcome…

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168
Example 2: terminate event
Abort the process by removing all tokens…

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169
Exception handling
Handling exceptions often involves stopping a sub-process and performing a special
activity

Types of exceptions for an activity (task/sub-process) in BPMN:

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External: something goes wrong outside the process, and the
execution of the current activity must be interrupted (Handled with

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

the Message event)

Internal: something goes wrong inside an activity, whose execution

must thus be interrupted (Handled with the Error event)

Timeout: an activity takes too long and must be interrupted (Handled

with the Timer event)
• All these events are catching intermediate events 170
• They stop the enclosing activity and start an exception handling routine
 Let’s extend our PO handling process Next working day
weekend/
holiday

weekday Check Send PO

Register PO
Availability Response
PO PO
Received fulfilled

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• A PO change request may be received anytime after the PO is
registered

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

• This request includes a change in quantity or line items
• When such a request is received, any processing related to
the PO must be stopped
• The PO change request is then registered
• Thereafter, the process proceeds as it would do after a normal
PO is registered
• Further, if the customer sends a PO cancelation request after 171
the PO registration, the PO processing must be stopped and
the cancelation request must be handled
 Solution: exception handling (External)
PO handling

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Handle PO
Next workingNext
day working day
weekend/ weekend/
holiday holiday

weekday weekday Check Check Send PO Send PO

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

Register PO Availability Response Response
Availability
PO PO PO PO
Response
Received Registered fulfilled fulfilled
sent

PO Change PO Cancel
received received
Handle PO
Cancelation
Register PO
PO
Change
canceled

172
 Internal exception: error event
Start Intermediate End Error Event – Indicates an error: the “end”
version generates an error event while the
“catching intermediate” version consumes it

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when attached to the boundary of an activity
Must be attached to the
activity’s boundary
Compensate Event – Indicates that the enclosing

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

process must be compensated: the “throwing
intermediate” and the “end” version generate the
compensation event while the “intermediate
catching” version consumes it when attached to
the boundary of an activity

173
 Example: internal exception
PO handling
• Consider again our “PO Handling process” example with the following
extension: if an item is not available

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• Any processing related to the PO must be stopped

• Thereafter, the client needs to be notified that the PO cannot be further

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

processed Handle PO
Next workingNext
day working day
weekend/ weekend/
holiday holiday

weekday weekday Check Check Send PO Send PO

Register PO Availability Response Response
Availability
PO PO PO
PO Response
Received Registered fulfilled
fulfilled sent

PO Change PO Cancel
received received 174
Handle PO
Cancelation
Register PO
PO
Change
canceled
 Solution: internal exception
Throwing and catching
error events must have
the same label
PO handling
Handle PO
Handle PO
Nextworking
Next working day
day Items not
weekend/
weekend/ available

Spring 2024
holiday
holiday

weekday
weekday Check
Check Send POSend PO
Register PO
Register PO Availability
Availability ResponseResponse
Items
PO
PO
PO available Response PO PO
Response
Registered
Registered fulfilled
fulfilled

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

Received
Received sentsent

PO Change PO Cancel Items not

received received available
Handle PO
Cancelation
Register PO
PO Notification
Change
canceled sent

Must catch an error

event thrown from
within the same activity
175
 Example: activity timeout
Order-to-transportation quote

• Once a wholesale order has been confirmed, the

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supplier transmits this order to the carrier for
the preparation of the transportation quote

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

• In order to prepare the quote, the carrier needs
to compute the route plan (including all track
points that need to be traversed during the
176
travel) and estimate the trailer usage
 Example: activity timeout
Order-to-transportation quote

• By contract, wholesale orders have to be

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dispatched within four days from the receipt

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

of the order
• This implies that transportation quotes have to be
prepared within 48 hours from the receipt of the
order to remain within the terms of the contract
177
Solution: activity timeout
Order-to-transportation quote

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178
 More on the PO handling example…
PO handling
Handle PO

Next working day Items not

weekend/ available
holiday

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weekday Check Send PO
Register PO Availability Response
Items
PO PO available PO
Response
Received Registered fulfilled
sent

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

Items not
PO Change PO Cancel
received available
received Handle PO
Cancelation
Register PO PO Notification
Change canceled sent

• The customer may send a request for address change after the PO
registration
• When such a request is received, it is just registered, without further 179

action
Non-interrupting boundary events
• Sometimes we may need to trigger an activity

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in parallel to the normal flow, (i.e. without
interrupting the normal flow)

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• This can be achieved by using non-interrupting
boundary events

Must be attached to 180

the activity’s boundary
 Solution: non-interrupting boundary events
PO handling

Handle PO

Spring 2024
Next working day Items not
weekend/ available
holiday

weekday Check Send PO

Register PO Availability Response

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

Items
PO PO available PO
Response
Received Registered fulfilled
sent

PO Change PO Cancel Items not Address

received received available change
Handle PO received
Cancelation
Register PO Update
PO Notification
Change customer
canceled sent address

Customer
address
181
updated
Summary
In this lecture we have learned about:

• BPMN sub-processes • Event-based choice gateway

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• Repetition markers • Boundary events
• Loop marker and parallel • Interrupting and non-

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multi-instance marker interrupting

• Events • Error events (throw and

• Timer, message and error catch)

events 182

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU

Reading Homework Group1

• Read “4.5.5 Non-Interrupting Events and

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Complex Exceptions” section

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• Pages 119 to 121

• Do Exercise 4.13
183
• Later on present your findings in the class
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
Reading Homework Group2

• Read “4.5.6 Interlude: Event Sub-

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Processes” section

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

• Pages 121 to 122

• Do Exercise 4.14
184
• Later on present your findings in the class
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
Reading Homework Group3

• Read “4.5.7 Activity Compensation”

Spring 2024
section

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

• Pages 122 to 124

• Do Exercise 4.15
185
• Later on present your findings in the class
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
Reading Homework Group4

• Read “4.6 Process & Business Rules”

Spring 2024
section

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

• Pages 124 to 125

• Do Exercise 4.16
186
• Later on present your findings in the class
©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU
Reading Homework Group5

• Read “4.7 Process Choreographies” section

Spring 2024
• Pages 125 to 127

ISD MS Prg @CSF-KU

• Do Exercises 4.17 & 4.18

• Later on present your findings in the class

187

©2011 IS Department, CSF, KU