Aeneis

Aeneis Onboarding Example

This chapter will give an introduction to modeling with Aeneis Web Modeller by using an onboarding example. Detailed documentation for Aeneis can be found in the online help of the BPM Portal.

Creating a model

Login into Aeneis Web Modeller

Login to the BPMPortal and open the Web Modeller to create a first process model that can be published to the system.

Open

After login into the BPMPortal, the following screen will appear:

Open

Select the menu 'Modeller' and the Web Modeller will be started.

Create a new model

In the next step, a new process diagram must be created. This model will define the individual steps in the process. Afterward, the model can be exported as a process definition to the system. Click on the three dots besides the title 'BPM Flow processes' in the folder 'Solutions'. Select 'New' and 'Process'. 

Insert the name 'Onboarding' and commit the message 'New diagram'. 

Create and edit process models

The following example is meant to show the different possibilities to model and design processes in Aeneis WebModeller in combination with the system. The scenario is a so-called “onboarding procedure” for a new employee, which is a process known to any company.

This paragraph explains the basic functions for working with process models:

• Create a new model

• Editing process models

• Opening and saving diagrams

First steps
1. When starting a process model, all involved departments and/or company parts should be defined. This will be managed by so-called swimlanes, also simply called lanes. The single lanes represent subzones, e.g. departments in the company. A lane and a start event is already displayed within our newly created model. Firstly, the process definition name must be changed to 'Onboarding' on the right side.

2. In order to rename the automatically generated swimlane, select the start event. The BPM Flow attributes will be opened on the right side. Insert a new Responsible by clicking on the plus symbol. Enter a user or a group name and decide whether it's a group or a user of the system.

3. Choose the swimlane symbol in the shortcut list and drag it into the model. Insert the name 'IT' for the swimlane name. 

4. For the first step, the task “create a personnel file” should be processed. An activity has to be placed behind the start event. By selecting the activity symbol in the left band and drag into the model with focus on the start event, the activity is added. The labeling can be done immediately. 

AND Gateway

With an “AND” gateway, it is possible to execute multiple steps of a process instance at the same time. The and/parallel gateway waits for all activities inside the gateway to be finished before going on. In this example, there are two activities to be done at the same time; one for the HR and one for the IT department.

The first step is to select the diamond symbol with a plus inside from the shape libraries tab and place it with focus to the previous activity into the diagram. After placing it, its type can be altered by changing the Gateway type via the three dots, which are displayed when the symbol is selected.

In our example, we stay with the parallel gateway. Now, two new activities can be inserted. Both activities will automatically be generated in the lane 'HR'.  The HR department now gets the task to “organize the desk”, meanwhile the IT department should take care of “creating a network account”. Drag the activity 'Create network account' into the lane 'IT'. More than two tasks may also be added at the same time.

A forking AND gateway has to be closed at the end so that the process is able to go on with the next activities. Therefore, a new AND gateway have to be added to the diagram and placed at the point where the parallel part should end. Choose the Connector on the activity 'Create network account' and drag the connector to the gateway for connecting both. 

The process flow is finished so far, but an end event has to be added in order to show where the process terminates. For changing an end symbol into a Terminate Event, the extended groups must be opened by clicking on the plus button in the upper right corner in the menu on the right side. In the group BPMN, the Event Type Dimension can be changed into Terminate Event. 

Defining and editing attributes

A process needs different attributes in order to be able to run. These attributes can be created or edited by clicking on an element. In the group menu BPM|Flow on the right, different menu options are shown for the current element. In the image, we see the general attributes for a process, which can be found in the properties of the start event.

Enter users or groups into the fields Owner, Starter, and Deployer. 

Adding tasks to activities

After this short overview of the attributes that are necessary, the example process may be continued. Basically, every activity must have its own unique name. If no task is explicitly defined for the activity, the system generates a task with the name of the activity. With the aid of the automation properties menu, one or more tasks may be added for an activity. Optionally, the duration of an activity may be entered. More about CPM can be found on this page: Critical Path Method (CPM). In this case, a task is added to the “Create personnel file”.

1. First, the BPM|Flow attributes for this activity has to be opened. By clicking the plus symbol next to the task area, a task name can be entered. 

2. By double-click on the task name in the BPM|Flow menu, an additional window opens in which the task can be configured. At first, the task name can be changed. In addition, in the area 'Role Assignment', the swimlane assignment of this specific task can be changed by assigning a special group or user. This option overwrites the assignment of the swimlane. The description area is for further and more detailed information on this task, which will be shown during process execution. It is also possible to add links.

XOR/Exclusive Gateway

When running through an XOR/exclusive Gateway, not all outgoing transitions are followed, in contrast to the AND gateway. A decision must be made which defines which path is followed. Only the tasks on this path are to be completed. That decision is made by the user who finishes the last task before the process enters the XOR Gateway. This can be done by a pop-up, which shows all possible decisions.

1. Behind the joining AND gateway, an XOR element has to be added. To clarify what kind of decision has to be made, this XOR can be labelled like all the other elements (e.g. “Hardware necessary?”).

2. It is possible to label the transitions in order to clarify which way belongs to which decision. By default, one way gets labelled with “yes” and one with “no”; however, this can be customized. In this case, the way denoted 'yes' leads to the activity “Order Hardware” and the other one leads to “archive personnel file”. The transition can be adapted in the General properties of the sequence flow or via double-click on the label in the model. 

Deployment to the system

The publishing (deployment) of the process to the system can be realized by choosing the option 'Deploy BPM|Flow' in the menu 'Import/Export'. For this, the user needs the role of deployer in the system to be able to publish the model.

After entering the URL, username and the password, the process can be published by clicking 'OK'. A message about the success of the deployment will be shown.