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  1. Preface
  2. Welcome to Informatica Process Developer
  3. Using Guide Developer for the First Time
  4. Getting Started with Informatica Process Developer
  5. About Interfaces Service References and Local WSDL
  6. Planning Your BPEL Process
  7. Participants
  8. Implementing a BPMN Task or Event in BPEL
  9. Implementing a BPMN Gateway or Control Flow
  10. Using Variables
  11. Attachments
  12. Using Links
  13. Data Manipulation
  14. Compensation
  15. Correlation
  16. What is Correlation
  17. What is a Correlation Set
  18. Creating Message Properties and Property Aliases
  19. Adding a Correlation Set
  20. Deleting a Correlation Set
  21. Adding Correlations to an Activity
  22. Rules for Declaring and Using Correlation Sets
  23. Correlation Sets and Engine-Managed Correlation
  24. Event Handling
  25. Fault Handling
  26. Simulating and Debugging
  27. Deploying Your Processes
  28. BPEL Unit Testing
  29. Creating POJO and XQuery Custom Functions
  30. Custom Service Interactions
  31. Process Exception Management
  32. Creating Reports for Process Server and Central
  33. Business Event Processing
  34. Process Central Forms and Configuration
  35. Building a Process with a System Service
  36. Human Tasks
  37. BPEL Faults and Reports

Designer

Designer

Adding Boundary Events

Adding Boundary Events

The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) 2.0 specification includes the concept of a boundary event. In Process Developer, a BPMN
boundary event
is a BPEL scope handler (event, fault, or compensation) that is dropped onto the boundary of a bordered activity. You can use a boundary event as a shortcut to creating a scope and its interior scope handler, providing a cleaner-appearing design. The event handling is shown at the same level as the main activity. Behind the scenes, Process Developer creates the BPEL code to wrap the activity in a scope for valid execution.
The following illustration shows a normal event handler compared to a boundary event on a scope.
normal event handler of scope vs. boundary event
You can add a boundary event to any bordered activity. The following example shows an invoke with an
onEvent
handler that escalates a repair request from Standard to Premium.
Boundary event example on an invoke
The properties of a boundary event are:
  • Must be one of
    onEvent
    ,
    onAlarm
    ,
    Catch
    ,
    Catch All
    , or
    Compensation.
  • Must be dropped only onto the boundary (border) of any rounded border activity, such as a scope or invoke.
  • Must use outbound links to activities that have not yet executed (downstream activities) or are not already dead path (branches of an if container).
  • Outbound links cannot have conditions.
  • Can be defined as interrupting or non-interrupting (discussed below).
  • Interrupting boundary event is a Process Developer extension to BPEL.
  • Only available in the BPMN editor, not the Classic editor.
Here are some examples of boundary events.
Non-interrupting onAlarm or onEvent
In the following illustration, the collapsed scope displays an
onAlarm
handler on its boundary. The handler can execute in parallel with the activities in the scope. A boundary event does not have a container like the
onAlarm
or
onEvent
handler that is dropped into a scope. Rather, the boundary event links to one or more activities to execute. The links cannot have conditions.
boundary event example
In the example above, the
onAlarm
boundary event behaves exactly like a scope
onAlarm
handler. The same processing rule applies: activities in the main scope execute in parallel with the
onAlarm
activity, if the alarm is triggered. This makes the boundary event non-interrupting. The linked activity (the reply in the above example) cannot be not part of the main process.
The Interrupting Boundary Event property is disabled by default, as the illustration shows:
boundary event example
Interrupting onAlarm or onEvent
If desired, you can add a new processing rule to an
onAlarm
or
onEvent
by enabling the Interrupting property, shown above. In this case, the main scope terminates when the event is triggered.
Some use cases for an interrupting boundary event are as follows:
  • onEvent
    : cancel an order
  • onAlarm
    : request is no longer relevant, don't bother
An interrupting boundary event can be connected back to a downstream activity in the main process. Note that this behavior is an extension to WS-BPEL 2.0. Process Developer uses the Mutually Exclusive Transitions extension to execute an interrupting boundary event.
In the following illustration, the collapsed scope contains an interrupting
onAlarm
that, when triggered, terminates the main scope. Only one path is executed.
boundary event interrupting
Note the difference in icon appearance for non-interrupting and interrupting boundary events.
boundary event interrupting and non-interrupting icons
You can also add a boundary event for a fault or compensation handler. There are some minor exceptions as described in
Catch and Catch All Boundary Events and Compensate, Compensate Scope and Rethrow
.
See also:
  • Adding a Fault Handler for a Scope
  • Adding a Fault Handler as a Boundary Event for an Invoke Activity
  • Adding a Compensation Handler to a Scope
  • Compensating an Invoke Activity
  • Using a Variable from a Catch or Interrupting OnEvent Boundary Event

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