Creating Process in Studio

For developers, the BPMN Modeler in Studio serves as the primary tool for creating automated processes. It offers features beyond pure modeling, including:

Navigation to process models through the Jmix project tree.
BPM Inspector for manipulating the properties of BPMN elements.
Entity Data Task: an extended BPMN component that enables manipulating with Jmix entities directly within the process.
Wizard for JPQL queries to load entities.
Wizard for Jmix view process forms.
Suggestions and hints where applicable.
Generation of Spring beans and Java delegate templates in the context of the process.
Process deployment at application startup and hot deployment.

Modeling Process in Studio

In the Jmix Tool window, find the BPM node. Right click on it and create a new BPMN model.

For our reimbursement process, fill the form:

Process id: reimbursement
Name: Reimbursement (will be filled automatically)

Then find a documentation field in the BPMN Navigator panel and fill it:

Creating Start Form

Each element on the canvas has its own properties. At the moment the only element present is StartEvent. It represents the Start form seen by the user initiating the process. Let’s configure it:

Click on the StartEvent element to select it.
Select Input dialog in the Form Type field. Its Open mode is automatically set to Dialog.

Next, create input parameters to prompt the user to enter values to this form:

Click create in the 'Parameters' field and add requestNumber parameter with the following properties:

Repeat the previous step to create three more input parameters:

Process variable Caption Type Editable Required

expenseAmount

Expense amount

Decimal (double)

true

true

expenseDate

Expense Date

Date

true

true

document

Document

File

true

true

Process variable	Caption	Type	Editable	Required
`expenseAmount`	Expense amount	Decimal (double)	true	true
`expenseDate`	Expense Date	Date	true	true
`document`	Document	File	true	true

In result, you’ll get all fields created:

Next, create an input parameter to let users select a manager for approval. This will require a few additional properties:

Process variable Caption Type Editable Required Entity name UI Component JPQL query

manager

Manager

Entity

true

true

User

ComboBox

leave blank^*

^* If no query is specified, this field defaults to select e from User e.
Set requestNumber as the Business key field value. A business key is a domain-specific identifier of a process instance.

Process variable	Caption	Type	Editable	Required	Entity name	UI Component	JPQL query
`manager`	Manager	Entity	true	true	User	ComboBox	leave blank^*

After adding all the parameters, the Form section should look as follows:

Creating Approval Task

Create a task for approval. It will be represented by the Approval form seen by the manager assigned to approve the reimbursement.

First, add a new element on the canvas:

Click on the StartEvent element to select it.
Click the Append task icon.
Click the Change type icon and select User Task in the drop-down.

By default, the built-in initiator process variable is available to assign a task.
Proceed to the Form section and specify the following properties:
- Form type: Input dialog
- Open mode: Dialog (this will be set by default)

Click the [ link button] and add the following existing parameters making them non-editable:

Process variable Caption Type Editable Required

Process variable	Caption	Type	Editable	Required
`requestNumber`	Request number	String	false	false
`expenseAmount`	Expense amount	Decimal (double)	false	false
`expenseDate`	Expense Date	Date	false	false
`document`	Document	File	false	false

requestNumber

Request number

String

false

expenseAmount

Expense amount

Decimal (double)

false

expenseDate

Expense Date

Date

false

document

Document

File

false

Click the [ link button] and create one additional parameter for this form:

Process variable Caption Type Editable Required

comment

Comment

Multiline string

true

false

This parameter will be represented by a text field allowing the manager to leave notes during the approval step.

Process variable	Caption	Type	Editable	Required
`comment`	Comment	Multiline string	true	false

Creating Outcomes

The Approval step has two outcomes: approved or rejected. Therefore, the manager making decision, should see two buttons on the form.

Make sure the Approval element is selected. Then go to Outcomes properties and click the [ link button].
Set properties for the first outcome:

Depending on the Approval task’s outcome, two scenarios are possible. To indicate a point with several alternative paths, add an Exclusive Gateway element:

Select the Approval task element and click Append Gateway .
Select the gateway element and create another user task with → → User Task.
Select the gateway and click to create EndEvent element.
Select the new sequence flows between elements and name them: approved and rejected.

Select the approved sequence flow and specify its Condition properties:
- Condition source: User task outcome
- User task id: Approval
- User task outcome: approve
Similarly, specify Condition properties for the rejected sequence flow:
- Condition source: User task outcome
- User task id: Approval
- User task outcome: reject

Creating Payment User Task

The other user task in our model is to notify accountants about reimbursement payment approval. It will be represented by the Payment form available only to accountants.

Select the user task on the canvas then set its Id and Name:
- Id: payment
- Name: Payment

For this task, we will implement the following behavior: it is sent to all accountants with any of them being able to claim this task. To achieve this, instead of a particular assignee, there is an option to specify Candidate groups or Candidate users.

Therefore, let’s create a Candidate group for accountants.

Before leaving Modeler, save your model as draft with

button on the toolbar. You can open it any time later using

button.

Go to the BPM→ User groups view and create a new group named Accountants and set accountants as its code.
Set the user type to Users.
Add users to the group.

Users involved in the processes must be granted the BPM: process actor role. This role provides access to BPM views and entities required for starting processes and working with user tasks. You can assign roles in the Application→ Users view.

Go back to the modeler and select the Payment user task.
Find the Candidate groups property field and click the edit button next to it.
In the Candidate group editor, add the Accountants group.
Configure an input dialog for the Payment task similarly to Approval task. Set the following properties:
- Form type: Input dialog
- Open mode: Dialog (this will be set by default)

Add input parameters. They match the parameters on the Approval form, but the comment field should be non-editable too:

Process variable Caption Type Editable Required

Process variable	Caption	Type	Editable	Required
`requestNumber`	Request number	String	false	true
`expenseAmount`	Expense amount	Decimal (double)	false	true
`expenseDate`	Expense Date	Date	false	true
`document`	Document	File	false	true
`comment`	Comment	Multiline string	false	false

requestNumber

Request number

String

false

true

expenseAmount

Expense amount

Decimal (double)

false

true

expenseDate

Expense Date

Date

false

true

document

Document

File

false

true

comment

Comment

Multiline string

false

Go back to the canvas and add the EndEvent element after the Payment task.

Specifying Users to Start Process

To start a process, the user must belong to a special user group. In our case, such a group will contain all users.

Switch to web application.
Open the User groups view and create a new group with the following properties:
- Name: All users
- Code: all-users
- Type: All users
Go back to the Studio Modeler view and click anywhere on the canvas to display the process properties.
Set Candidate groups to All users in the Starter candidates section.

Deploying Process

The process model is ready to be deployed to the process engine. Do the following steps:

Copy draft to processes:
If the application is started, use "Hot deploy" button:
Otherwise, run the application or start it in the debug mode:
If the process was deployed OK, you will see a message in the console:
```
BPMN process deployed: reimbursement.bpmn
```

Now you can start and test your process, go to the next section.

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