 | Level: Intermediate Xiong Fei Pan (panxiongfei@gmail.com), Software Engineer, IBM
Ming Hua Qin (architectcrasher@hotmail.com), Software Engineer, IBM
15 Mar 2006
This article series demonstrates how to use IBM® WebSphere® Business Integration V6.0 products to model, assemble, deploy, and manage a business process in an end-to-end solution using WebSphere Business Modeler, WebSphere Integration Developer, WebSphere Process Server, and WebSphere Business Monitor.
Part 1 introduces you to IBM WebSphere Business Integration products and guides you through the steps to model a business process in WebSphere Business Modeler V6.0 based on a business scenario.
Introduction
Part 1 of this series provides a brief introduction to IBM WebSphere Business Integration products and shows you how to
model a project using IBM WebSphere Business Modeler Version 6.0. In Part 2, you learn how implement the exported modeling project in WebSphere Integration Developer V6.0.
WebSphere Business Integration V6.0 products
An On Demand business depends on the efficiency of its business processes to meet its business goals. IBM WebSphere Business Integration V6.0 products supply business integration capabilities to enable such businesses to quickly respond to customer demand, market opportunities, and external threats.
IBM WebSphere Business Integration V6.0 products include design and development tools, runtime servers, monitoring tools, toolkits, and process templates. These products enable you to develop, model, assemble, deploy, and manage end-to-end business processes on service-oriented architecture (SOA).
Figure 1 below highlights WebSphere Business Modeler, WebSphere Integration Developer, WebSphere Process Server, and WebSphere Business Monitor within the WebSphere Business Integration architecture.
Figure 1. Shows WebSphere Business Modeler, WebSphere Integration Developer, WebSphere Process Server and WebSphere Business Monitor within the IBM WebSphere Business Integration Architecture
WebSphere Business Modeler scenario
A critical factor in improving a company's business performance is how the company defines and models it's business processes. A company uses it's business processes, that is, the pattern of interactions that occurs between the company, its trading partners, customers, vendors and it's environment to meet it's business objectives. Changing conditions affect changes to business processes, thus business processes are often quite complex. An organization can use formal process documentation and process management systems to avoid bottlenecks within complex business processes. A well-constructed business process model eliminates inefficiencies, costs, and delays.
WebSphere Business Modeler is a business process modeling tool that enables you to:
- model, design, analyze and generate reports
- integrate new and revised workflows
- define an organization's resources and business items
Business scenario
This article uses a business scenario that demonstrates a report request process. When the system receives a report request, it checks the security of the report. If the security level is in the allowable range (security level < 3), then the process goes directly to the "Generate and Send Report" section; otherwise, it goes to the "Admin Approve" branch to wait for approval of the report administrator before going on to "Generate and Send Report" section.
Modeling the scenario
This section provides a step-by-step explanation on how to model the scenario using WebSphere Business Modeler V6.0. The business process presented here consists of a simple process diagram with elements such as task, inputs and outputs, decision, and merge. Finally, we export the modeling project for further implementation in WebSphere Integration Developer V6.0.
You need to install WebSphere Business Modeler V6.0 and have a basic understanding of business process integration to complete this scenario.
Download a free trial version of WebSphere Business Modeler Advanced Version 6.0.
These are the steps you use to create the business scenario:
- Create a business model project.
- Create and edit the process diagram.
- Add additional information to the process.
- Edit and create the data structure for business item.
- Define the decision expressions.
- Export the model project.
Step 1: Create a business model project
To create a business model project, switch to a new workspace and use the Quickstart Wizard.
- Select Help => Quickstart wizard.
- Specify the Project name, IntegrationHelloWorld.
- Specify the Process catalog name, Processes.
- Specify the Process name, RequestReportProcess.
Figure 2. Create a new business model project using the Quickstart Wizard
- Click Next to create the business item in the Quickstart wizard.
- Specify the Data catalog name, Business items.
- Specify the Business item name, ReportRequest.
Figure 3. Specify the Data catalog name and the Business item name
- Click Finish.
Step 2: Create and edit the process diagram
- Apply the 4-pane layout in the toolbar before you start. This layout is convenient for most process modeling.
Figure 4. Apply 4-pane layout
- From the main menu, select Modeling => Mode => Basic to select the Basic modeling mode.
Basic mode is intended for the business analyst or user who wants to work at a high-level view of a business process model. It focuses on creating and displaying sequence flows and does not show low-level details of data modeling.
Figure 5. Select Basic Model
- Remove the default Process start element.
In this process model, incoming data is responsible for starting the process. Therefore, it is unnecessary to have a Start node here.
Tip: Click the Process start element, then press the Delete key.
- Add the tasks to the process.
Based on this business scenario, three tasks exist: Receive Report Request, Approve Request, and Generate and Send Report.
Tip: You can drag a new Task from the left tool bar in the Process Editor onto the diagram, then change the name to "Receive Report Request", "Approve Request", and "Generate and Send Report". You can create multiple tasks by left-clicking while holding down the Shift key.
Figure 6. Select Create local task
- Add a Simple Decision activity to the process.
- Click and drop a new Simple Decision element from the toolbar onto the process diagram.
- Label the Decision as Is security level less than 3?
- Add a Merge activity to the process.
Click and drag Merge from the toolbar. A merge is used for redirecting multiple processing paths to a single connection. You can use the small arrow to find Merge as the button is initialized to create a Join.
Figure 7. Create a Merge
Alternatively, you can right-click on the diagram and select New => Merge. You can create all the elements directly in this way.
- Verify the arrangement of the elements as shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8. Verify the arrangement of the elements
- Save your work (Ctrl+S).
Step 3: Add additional information to the process
- Switch to the Intermediate business modeling mode. From the menu bar, select Modeling => Mode => Intermediate.
Figure 9. Switch to the Intermediate Mode
Tip: This mode is for the person who pays more attention to technical details in that it lets one specify or view additional details of process and data models in this mode.
Two new small boxes on the left and right sides of each element in the process diagram are added, and also outside the diagram boundary. These are the inputs and outputs defined for each task and the process. These icons do not appear if you are in the Basic Mode.
Figure 10. Intermediate Mode
- Make sure you are in the 4-pane layout view. If not, click the Apply 4-pane layout button on the toolbar at the top.
- Click on the process diagram background, and notice that the Attributes view now focuses on the process itself.
Figure 11. Attributes view
- In the Attributes View pane, select the Inputs tab and click the Add button. A new row is created in the Input Settings table. Change the default name "Input" to "inReportRequest".
Figure 12. Inputs tab
- From the Input settings tab, in the column of Associated Data, double-click String, and then click the small button that is displayed on the right of the field.
Figure 13. Input settings
- Select the Complex type radio button, expand the tree structure to IntegrationHelloWorld => Business Items => ReportRequest.
Figure 14. Select the associated data
- Click OK. The Business item ReportRequest is now associated as an input of the process.
- Click the Outputs tab and repeat steps 4 through 7, then change the name to "outReportRequest". Select ReportRequest as the associated data.
You can see the input and output icons on the outer boundaries of the RequestReport process diagram.
- In a similar way, create the input and output associated data for the Tasks and the Simple Decision. To create an input for the task, select the task. Ensure that for each task, the input name is inReportRequest and that the output name is outReportRequest, and the type is ReportRequest.
Important: Please add two outputs for the Generate and Send Report task, one is as shown above, the other is associated with no data type.
Figure 15. Verify two outputs for the Generate and Send Report task
- Create the connection between the Process input and the Receive Report Request task.
- Select the Connections icon on the toolbar.
- Click the input icon of the process, and then click the input icon (left side) of the Receive Report Request task to define the destination of the data flow. See Figure 16 below:
Figure 16. First connection
- Repeat the previous step to connect the other elements.
Verify that the process diagram appears as shown in Figure 17 below:
Figure 17. RequestReport Process diagram
- Save your work (Ctrl+S).
Step 4: Edit and create the data structure for the business item
Now, you can update the business process model by defining the data structure for the business item that we created.
- In the Project Tree, double-click the existing ReportRequest business item under IntegrationHelloWorld => Business Items.
- Click Add to create the new attribute for your business item.
Figure 18. Create a new attribute for your business item
- Click the gray attribute field and name it ReportID. Use the default Type String.
- Repeat step 2 and 3 to add the other attributes.
- Verify that the attributes appear as shown in Figure 19 below:
Figure 19. Attributes of the business item
- Save your work (Ctrl+S).
Step 5: Define the decision expressions
- Select Intermediate or Advanced for the mode.
- Select the "Is security level less than 3?" decision in the process diagram.
- Open the Attributes view and select the Output branches tab.
- Select the row with condition Yes.
- Scroll to the bottom of the Attributes view pane and click the Edit Expression button to open the Expression Builder.
Figure 20. Edit Expression
- In the Expression Builder dialog, select Modeling artifact from the first term drop-down list.
- Expand Modeling artifact, and under Processes, select SecurityLevel => RequestReportProcess => Is security level less than 3? => inReportRequest.
- Select is less than under Operator.
- Select Number from the Second term drop-down list and enter 3.0 as the Second term details. See Figure 21 below to verify your selections:
Figure 21. Verify the expression composer
- Click Apply.
- Review and verify the Expression Tree and Expression text as in Figure 22 below.
Figure 22. Expression Tree and Expression Text
- Click OK.
- Save your work (Ctrl+S).
Step 6: Export the modeling project
Now, you can do some preparatory work for exporting the modeling project, so that WebSphere Integration Developer can import and implement the model.
- Switch the Mode to WebSphere Process Server Mode.
Figure 23. Switch the Mode to WebSphere Process Server Mode
- Select File => Export => WebSphere Business Modeler Export.
Figure 24. WebSphere Business Modeler Export
- Click Next and select WebSphere Process Server as the Type.
Figure 25. Shows WebSphere Process Server as the Type
- Select the target directory and export project (make sure to check export entire project). See Figure 26, below to verify you have the correct setting:
Figure 26. Select the Destination and Source
- Click Finish. After the success notification displays, you can find the file folders "business items" and "processes" in the path you set.
We've listed a couple of things you should consider when exporting a modeling project.
- Export the entire project rather than specific elements to avoid missing the selection of required resources.
- Specify the Library project name for "Interface" and "Business Items" since they are better stored in a library rather than a module. We did not specify a library project for this business scenario.
Conclusion
This article provided you with some basic knowledge of the IBM WebSphere Business Integration software portfolio and how to model a business process in WebSphere Business Modeler V6.0.
Part 2 of this series shows you how to assemble and deploy the business process in WebSphere Integration Developer V6.0 and WebSphere Process Server V6.0.
This article provides step-by-step instructions to:
- Import the modeling project exported from WebSphere Business Modeler.
- Implement the business process in WebSphere Integration Developer.
- Customize the process: add Java implementation for the interfaces, and so forth
- Test the process in the test environment using the Test Component Client.
- Export the EAR file.
- Deploy the EAR file to WebSphere Process Server.
Downloads | Description | Name | Size | Download method |
|---|
| Sample model project | IntegrationHelloWorld.zip | 113KB | FTP |
|---|
| Model project exported for WID | Export4WID.zip | 10KB | FTP |
|---|
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About the authors | 
| | Xiong Fei Pan is a graduate student from Tongji University, Shanghai, China. He is interested in Java technology. You can learn more about him by visiting his blog. |
| 
| | Ming Hua Qin is a student from Nanjing University majoring in software engineering. His interests include programming and business processes, especially in the Java and the Network Security field. |
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