BPMN 2.0 Reference

BPMN Reference
Date Printed: 18 July 2013 © Chris Moloney Page 1 of 25
http://au.linkedin.com/in/chrismoloney/
BPMN Reference
Enterprise Business Architecture Group
_________________________________________________________________________
July 2013
Version: v1.0
Document details
Document Purpose: The purpose of the BPMN Reference document is to outline conventions and
guidelines for modelling business processes in a standard way across the
organisation.
Enquiries and
Proposed Changes:
If you have any questions regarding this document or proposed changes
please contact:
Chris Moloney, Business Architect
Web: http://au.linkedin.com/in/chrismoloney/
Email: moloney.chris@gmail.com
Document Information
Author: Chris Moloney Status: Final
Location: Slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/chrismoloney
Revision History
Version Date Author
CR/Review
No. Description
0.1 17/01/2012 Chris Moloney Draft

BPMN Reference
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 4
1.1 Purpose......................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Intended Audience ....................................................................................................................4
2 BUSINESS PROCESS MODELLING ................................................................. 5
2.1 What is Business Process Modelling? ...................................................................................5
2.2 BPMN in Context .......................................................................................................................5
3 ABOUT BPMN .................................................................................................... 6
3.1 What is BPMN?..........................................................................................................................6
3.2 Objectives and Benefits ...........................................................................................................6
4 BPMN ELEMENTS.............................................................................................. 7
4.1 Basic BPMN Modelling Elements ............................................................................................8
4.2 Extended BPMN Modelling Elements ...................................................................................10
4.2.1 Event Type Dimension ......................................................................................................14
4.2.2 Activity Markers.................................................................................................................16
4.2.3 Task Types........................................................................................................................17
5 BPMN STYLE GUIDE ....................................................................................... 19
5.1 Page Layout.............................................................................................................................19
5.1.1 Header...............................................................................................................................19
5.1.2 Orientation.........................................................................................................................19
5.2 Use of Text, Colour, Size and Lines ......................................................................................19
5.2.1 Labels................................................................................................................................19
5.2.2 Colour Fill ..........................................................................................................................19
5.2.3 Size ...................................................................................................................................20
5.2.4 Line Colour ........................................................................................................................20
5.2.5 Line Style...........................................................................................................................20
5.3 Start and End Event Rules .....................................................................................................20
5.4 Swimlane Rules.......................................................................................................................20
5.5 Flow Connection Rules ..........................................................................................................20
5.5.1 Sequence Flows................................................................................................................20
5.5.2 Message Flows .................................................................................................................21
5.6 Naming Conventions ..............................................................................................................21
5.6.1 Activity Names...................................................................................................................21
5.6.2 Pool and Swim Lane Names.............................................................................................22

BPMN Reference
5.6.3 Event Names.....................................................................................................................22
6 BPMN EXAMPLES ........................................................................................... 23
6.1 Hardware Shipment ................................................................................................................23
6.2 Pizza Ordering .........................................................................................................................24
7 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION........................................................................... 25
7.1 Object Management Group (OMG) BPMN Standard............................................................25
7.2 Examples..................................................................................................................................25
7.3 Guidelines and Cheat Sheets.................................................................................................25

BPMN Reference
1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
The purpose of the BPMN Reference document is to outline conventions and guidelines for
modelling business processes in a standard way across the organisation.
Standardised modelling will provide guidance to the producers of business process models..
It will also assist the readers of the business process models in their understanding of the
models.
This document assumes an understanding of business process modelling and is not
intended to be a complete training or instruction manual but to provide guidelines for
business process modellers within the organisation.
1.2 Intended Audience
This document is primarily intended for staff wishing to document the business processes of
the organisation, including:
Business Analysts;
Systems Analysts;
Business Process Owners; and
IT Staff.
It may also be used as a reference for other staff to assist them in reading and
understanding business process models.

BPMN Reference
2 Business Process Modelling
2.1 What is Business Process Modelling?
Business process modelling provides a way of visually representing the activities of the
business. The purpose is to generate a graphical representation of business processes that
describe business activities and their interdependencies. The resulting diagram then
describes the process and can assist in analysing and understanding processes and
revealing inefficiencies and areas for improvement.
2.2 BPMN in Context
Business processes describe how the business performs its work and is an essential view of
the overall business architecture which in turn is an essential component of the overall
enterprise architecture.
Fig 1: Enterprise Business Architecture Views.
.

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3 About BPMN
In order to provide consistency in the documentation of business processes across the
organisation, business process modellers should adhere to the Business Process Model and
Notation (BPMN) standard.
3.1 What is BPMN?
Prior to the development of BPMN there was no industry standard way to map business
processes. The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard was developed to
address this and provide an industry standard notation for business process modeling.
The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard was developed by the
Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI), and is currently maintained by the Object
Management Group after the two organizations merged in 2005. As of March 2011, the
current version of BPMN is 2.0. (See http://www.bpmn.org for further information)
3.2 Objectives and Benefits
The primary objective of BPMN is to provide a standard notation that is readily
understandable by all business stakeholders. BPMN follows the tradition of flowcharting
notations for readability and flexibility and is intended to serve as common language to
bridge the communication gap that frequently occurs between business process design and
implementation.
BPMN provides businesses with a method of understanding their internal business
procedures in a graphical notation and gives organizations the ability to communicate these
procedures in a standard manner.
It is likely that business process modelers will need to understand multiple and potentially
different representations of the same process as it moves through its lifecycle of
development, implementation, execution, monitoring, and analysis. A standard graphical
notation facilitates the understanding of the business transactions within and between
organizations. This assists businesses in understanding their processes and the participants
in their business and will enables organizations to adjust to new internal and Business to
Business (B2B) circumstances quickly.

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4 BPMN Elements
The BPMN 2.0 standard defines both a basic and extended element set. The basic set
provides a small set of notation categories so that BPMN users may easily recognise the
basic types of elements and understand the diagram. Within the basic categories of
elements, variations and additional information can be added to support the requirements for
complexity without dramatically changing the basic look and feel of the diagram. The five
basic categories of elements are:1
1. Flow Objects
2. Data
3. Connecting Objects
4. Swimlanes
5. Artefacts
1. Flow objects are the main graphical elements to define the behaviour of a Business
Process. There are three Flow Objects:
1.1. Events
1.2. Activities
1.3. Gateways
2. Data is represented with four elements:
2.1. Data Objects
2.2. Data Inputs
2.3. Data Outputs
2.4. Data Stores
3. There are four Connecting Objects used to connect the Flow Objects to each other or
other information.
3.1. Sequence Flows
3.2. Message Flows
3.3. Associations
3.4. Data Associations
4. There are two ways of grouping the primary modelling elements through “Swimlanes”:
4.1. Pools
4.2. Lanes
1
Business Process Model and Notation, v0.2 p.27 http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0

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5. Artefacts are used to provide additional information about the Process. There are two
standard Artefacts, but the standard allows modellers to add as many of their own
Artefacts as necessary.
5.1. Group
5.2. Text Annotation
4.1 Basic BPMN Modelling Elements
The following table displays a list of the basic modelling elements.
Event An Event is something that “happens”
during the course of a Process. These
Events affect the flow of the model and
usually have a cause (trigger) or an
impact (result). Events are circles with
open centres to allow internal markers
to differentiate different triggers or
results.
There are three types of Events, based
on when they affect the flow:
Start,
Intermediate, and
End.
Activity An Activity is a generic term for work
that company performs in a Process. An
Activity can be atomic or non-atomic
(compound). The types of Activities that
are a part of a Process Model are: Sub-
Process and Task, which are rounded
rectangles.
Gateway A Gateway is used to control the
divergence and convergence of
Sequence Flows in a Process. Thus, it
will determine branching, forking,
merging, and joining of paths. Internal
markers will indicate the type of
behaviour control.
Sequence Flow A Sequence Flow is used to show the
order that Activities will be performed in
a Process.
Message Flow A Message Flow is used to show the
flow of Messages between two
Participants that are prepared to send
and receive them. In BPMN, two
separate Pools in a Collaboration
Diagram will represent the two
Participants.

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Association An Association is used to link
information and Artefacts with BPMN
graphical elements. Text Annotations
and other Artefacts can be Associated
with the graphical elements. An
arrowhead on the Association indicates
a direction of flow (e.g., data), when
appropriate.
Pool A Pool is the graphical representation of
a Participant in a Collaboration. It also
acts as a “swimlane” and a graphical
container for partitioning a set of
Activities from other Pools, usually in
the context of B2B situations. A Pool
MAY have internal details, in the form of
the Process that will be executed. Or a
Pool MAY have no internal details, i.e.,
it can be a "black box."
Lane A Lane is a sub-partition within a
Process, sometimes within a Pool, and
will extend the entire length of the
Process, either vertically or horizontally.
Lanes are used to organize and
categorize Activities.
Data Object Data Objects provide information about
what Activities require to be performed
and/or what they produce, Data Objects
can represent a singular object or a
collection of objects. Data Input and
Data Output provide the same
information for Processes.
Message A Message is used to depict the
contents of a communication between
two Participants.
(Letter, Email, Phone Call)
Group (a box
around a group
of objects in the
same category)
A Group is a grouping of graphical
elements that are within the same
Category. This type of grouping does
not affect the Sequence Flows within
the Group. The Category name appears
on the diagram as the group label.
Categories can be used for
documentation or analysis purposes.
Groups are one way in which
Categories of objects can be visually
displayed on the diagram.
Text Annotation Text Annotations are a mechanism for a
modeller to provide additional text
information for the reader of a BPMN
Diagram.

BPMN Reference
4.2 Extended BPMN Modelling Elements
In addition to the basic BPMN Modelling Elements outlined in section 4.1 the following
extended modelling elements are able to be used in BPMN.
Event Flow
Dimension
(start,
intermediate,
end)
As the name implies, the Start Event
indicates where a particular Process will
start.
Intermediate Events occur between a
Start Event and an End Event. They will
affect the flow of the Process, but will
not start or (directly) terminate the
Process.
As the name implies, the End Event
indicates where a Process will end.
Start
Intermediate
End
Event Type
Dimension
See section 4.2.1 See section 4.2.1
Process / Sub-
Process (non-
atomic)
A Sub-Process is a compound Activity
that is included within a Process. It is
compound in that it can be broken down
into a finer level of detail through a set
of sub-Activities.
See next two figures
Collapsed Sub-
Process
The details of the Sub-Process are not
visible in the Diagram. A “plus” sign in
the lower-centre of the shape indicates
that the Activity is a Sub-Process and
has a lower level of detail.
Expanded Sub-
Process
The boundary of the Sub-Process is
expanded and the details (a Process)
are visible within its boundary. Note
that Sequence Flows cannot cross the
boundary of a Sub-Process.
Gateway Control
Types
Icons within the diamond shape of the
Gateway will indicate the type of flow
control behaviour. The types of control
include:

BPMN Reference
• Exclusive decision and merging. Both
Exclusive and Event-Based perform
exclusive decisions and merging
Exclusive can be shown with or without
the “X” marker.
• Event-Based and Parallel Event-based
gateways can start a new instance of
the Process.
• Inclusive Gateway decision and
merging.
• Complex Gateway – complex
conditions and situations.
• Parallel Gateway forking and joining.
Each type of control affects both the
incoming and outgoing flow.
Normal Flow
Uncontrolled
Flow
Normal flow refers to paths of Sequence
Flow that do not start from an
Intermediate Event attached to the
boundary of an Activity.
Uncontrolled flow refers to flow that is
not affected by any conditions or does
not pass through a Gateway. The
simplest example of this is a single
Sequence Flow connecting two
Activities. This can also apply to
multiple Sequence Flows that converge
to or diverge from an Activity.
Conditional Flow A Sequence Flow can have a condition
that is evaluated to determine whether
or not the Sequence Flow will be used.
If the conditional flow is outgoing from
an Activity, then the Sequence Flow will
have a mini diamond at the beginning of
the connector. If the conditional flow is
outgoing from a Gateway, then the line
will not have a mini-diamond (see
Uncontrolled Flow).
Default Flow For Data-Based Exclusive Gateways or
Inclusive Gateways, one type of flow is
the Default condition flow. This flow will
be used only if all the other outgoing
conditional flows are not true. These
Sequence Flows will have a diagonal
slash added to the beginning of the
connector.

BPMN Reference
Exception Flow Exception flow occurs outside the
normal flow of the Process and is based
upon an Intermediate Event attached to
the boundary of an Activity that occurs
during the performance of the Process.
Compensation
Association
Compensation Association occurs
outside the normal flow of the Process
and is based upon a Compensation
Intermediate Event that is triggered
through the failure of a transaction or a
throw Compensation Event. The target
of the Association MUST be marked as
a Compensation Activity.
Data Object Data Objects provide information about
what Activities require to be performed
and/or what they produce, Data Objects
can represent a singular object or a
collection of objects. Data Input and
Data Output provide the same
information for Processes.
Fork BPMN uses the term “fork” to refer to
the dividing of a path into two or more
parallel paths (also known as an AND-
Split). It is a place in the Process where
activities can be performed
concurrently, rather than sequentially.
Join BPMN uses the term “join” to refer to
the combining of two or more parallel
paths into one path (also known as an
AND-Join or synchronization). A Parallel
Gateway is used to show the joining of
multiple Sequence Flows.
Decision,
Branching Point
Decisions are Gateways within a
Process where the flow of control can
take one or more alternative paths.
See next four rows.

BPMN Reference
Exclusive This Decision represents a branching
point where Alternatives are based on
conditional expressions contained within
the outgoing Sequence Flows. Only one
of the Alternatives will be chosen.
Event Based This Decision represents a branching
an Event that occurs at that point in the
Process.
The specific Event, usually the receipt
of a Message, determines which of the
paths will be taken. Other types of
Events can be used, such as Timer.
Only one of the Alternatives will be
chosen.
There are two options for receiving
Messages:
• Tasks of Type Receive can be used
(see figure top-right).
• Intermediate Events of Type Message
can be used (see figure bottom-right).
Inclusive This Decision represents a branching
conditional Expressions contained
within the outgoing Sequence Flows. In
some sense it is a grouping of related
independent Binary (Yes/No) Decisions.
Since each path is independent, all
combinations of the paths MAY be
taken, from zero to all. However, it
should be designed so that at least one
path is taken. A Default Condition could
be used to ensure that at least one path
is taken.
There are two versions of this type of
Decision:
• The first uses a collection of
conditional Sequence Flows, marked
with mini diamonds (see top-right
figure).
• The second uses an Inclusive
Gateway (see bottom-right picture).

BPMN Reference
Merging BPMN uses the term “merge” to refer to
the exclusive combining of two or more
paths into one path (also known as an
OR Join).
A Merging Exclusive Gateway is used to
show the merging of multiple Sequence
Flows (see upper figure to the right). If
all the incoming flow is alternative, then
a Gateway is not needed. That is,
uncontrolled flow provides the same
behaviour (see lower figure to the right).
Sequence Flow
Looping
Loops can be created by connecting a
Sequence Flow to an “upstream” object.
An object is considered to be upstream
if that object has an outgoing Sequence
Flow that leads to a series of other
Sequence Flows, the last of which is an
incoming Sequence Flow for the original
object.
Process Break
(something out
of the control of
the process
makes the
process pause)
A Process Break is a location in the
Process that shows where an expected
delay will occur within a Process. An
Intermediate Event is used to show the
actual behaviour (see top-right figure).
In addition, a Process Break Artefact, as
designed by a modeller or modelling
tool, can be associated with the Event
to highlight the location of the delay
within the flow.
4.2.1 Event Type Dimension
Triggers or Results
Events allow internal markers to differentiate different triggers or results in the business
process model. The Start and some Intermediate Events have “triggers” that define the
cause for the Event. End Events MAY define a “result” that is a consequence of a Sequence
Flow path ending.
Message Receiving and sending messages.
Timer Cyclic timer events, points in time, time
spans or timeouts.
Error Catching or throwing named errors.
Escalation Escalation to a higher level of
responsibility.

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Cancel Reacting to cancelled transactions or
triggering cancellation.
Compensation Handling or triggering compensation.
Conditional Reacting to changed business
conditions or integrating business rules.
Link Off-page connectors. Two
corresponding link events equal a
sequence flow.
Signal Signalling across different processes. A
signal thrown can be caught multiple
times.
Terminate Triggering the immediate termination of
a process.
Multiple Catching one out of a set of events.
Throwing all events defined.
Parallel Multiple Catching all out of a set of parallel
events.
Catching and Throwing
Start Events can only react to (“catch”) a trigger. End Events can only create (“throw”) a
result. Intermediate Events can catch or throw triggers.
For the Events that “catch”, the markers are unfilled, and for triggers and results that “throw”,
the markers are filled.
Additionally, some Events, which were used to interrupt Activities in BPMN 1.1, can now be
used in a mode that does not interrupt. The boundary of these Events is dashed.
“Catching” “Throwing”
Message
Timer
Error

BPMN Reference
Escalation
Cancel
Compensation
Conditional
Link
Signal
Terminate
Multiple
Parallel Multiple
4.2.2 Activity Markers
Activity markers indicate the execution behaviour of activities. An activity may have one or
two of these markers.
Loop Evaluates a true/false condition after
each iteration. If true, the activity is
performed again.
(May be used in combination with the
Compensation marker.)
Parallel Multi-
Instance
Activity is performed in parallel for each
item in a list.

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Sequential Multi-
Instance
Activity is performed in sequentially for
each item in a list.
Ad Hoc Activity can be completed in any order.
Compensation Compensation is concerned with
undoing steps that were already
successfully completed, because their
results and possibly side effects are no
longer desired and need to be reversed.
If an Activity is still active, it cannot be
compensated, but rather needs to be
cancelled.
4.2.3 Task Types
Task types specify the nature of the action to be performed.
Send Task sends a message.
Once the message is sent the task is
completed.
Receive Task receives (waits for) a message.
Once the message is received the task
is completed.
User Task performed by human user with the
assistance of a software application or
system.
Manual Task performed manually without any
software application or system.

BPMN Reference
Business Rule Task evaluates a business rule.
Service Task uses some type of service, which
could be a web service or an automated
application.
Script Task is a script executed by a business
process engine.

BPMN Reference
5 BPMN Style Guide
BPMN diagrams within an organisation should be consistent and follow the same style. This
section provides some recommendations on style elements to aid consistency and
readability regardless of the tool used to create them.
5.1 Page Layout
5.1.1 Header
Each page should contain a header with the following details:
Company logo
Process Name
Created by
Endorsed by
Created date
Version
Updated date
Page number
5.1.2 Orientation
Pages should be in oriented in Landscape mode (rather than Portrait).
Diagrams should be modelled horizontally from left to right.
5.2 Use of Text, Colour, Size and Lines
5.2.1 Labels
BPMN elements should have labels (e.g., its name and/or other attributes) as follows:
Events: Label below
Activities: Label inside
Gateways: Label below
Data Objects, Inputs, Outputs, Stores: Label below
Flow Objects: No label except below a sequence flow out of a Gateway.
Swimlanes: Label vertically inside swimlane
5.2.2 Colour Fill
The fills that are used for the graphical elements should be white or clear with no shadows or
shading.

BPMN Reference
5.2.3 Size
Flow objects and markers are to be the standard size as per the tool template / stencil used
to create them.
5.2.4 Line Colour
The lines that are used to draw the graphical elements should be black.
5.2.5 Line Style
The line styles are to be the standard as per the tool template used to create them.
5.3 Start and End Event Rules
Each BPMN diagram must contain at least one start event.
Each process must contain at least one End event.
Each Sub-process must contain a single Start event.
Each Sub-process must contain a single End event.
Indicate success and failed end states of a process with separate End Events and
label them to indicate the end state.
5.4 Swimlane Rules
Use empty (Black Box) Pools to represent external participants.
Model internal process participants as Lanes within a single Pool, not as separate
Pools.
5.5 Flow Connection Rules
In connecting sequence and message flows the number one priority is to connect the objects
in a way that reader of the diagram will find the flow clear and easy to follow. Crossing flow
lines should be avoided if possible.
5.5.1 Sequence Flows
Sequence flows can be connected to any location on a flow object (left, right, top or
bottom) however the general direction of the sequence flow should be horizontal from
left to right.
Reversing the sequence flow from right to left should be avoided if possible.
Sequence flows cannot cross a Pool boundary.
If a sub-process has been expanded within a diagram then the objects within the
sub-process cannot be connected to objects outside of the sub-process.
A Start event has no incoming sequence flow, however it can have an incoming
message flow.
An End event has no outgoing sequence flow.
All Activities, Gateways and Events must be connected via a continuous chain of
sequence flows leading from a Start Event to an End Event.

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Sequence flows must not cross a Pool boundary. Use message flows to link Pools.
5.5.2 Message Flows
Message flows can be connected to any location on a flow object (left, right, top or
bottom) however the general direction of the message flow should be vertical.
Message flows cannot connect to objects that are within the same Pool.
Message flows cannot connect to a Gateway.
Begin customer facing processes with a Message Start Event receiving a Message
Flow from the Customer Pool.
5.6 Naming Conventions
This section defines guidelines and naming conventions to be used when creating BPMN
diagrams.
5.6.1 Activity Names
An Activity / Sub-Process name:
Should be precise and concise. The name should ideally be two or three words, and
never more than five words. The longer the name the more cluttered the diagram,
which reduces readability
Must be in title case - each word begins with a capital letter followed by lower case
letters for the rest of the word
Should be a present tense active verb followed by an object, and can be qualified
with a noun if necessary. For example, bill customer, set up contract, (not customer
billing, contract set up), settle monthly invoice
Should try not to contain generic verbs such as process, handle, manage, maintain
(see section “confusing verbs”)
Should not include the words to, and, for, from etc in the names
Should specify what is done. Avoid names that indicate who, when, where or how
something is done
Should not include the swim lane in the name. For example, use “take order” not
“take order from customer”. The name is already visible in the swim lane diagram. If it
seems difficult to name the process, carefully consider the objective of the process.
If the activity is performed in a specific IT system then the name of the system should
be included in brackets after the activity name.

BPMN Reference
Confusing Verbs Good Verbs
Update
Read
Delete
Download
Transmit
Send
Process
Handle
Manage
Maintain
Receive
Input
Enter
Review
Track
Tell
Pass
Fix
Discuss
Code
Get
Act on
Check
Make
Give
Analyse
Ask
Perform
Monitor
Amend
Change
Generate
Produce
Retrieve
Obtain
Remove
Capture
Log
Despatch
Distribute
Schedule
Assign
Revise
Verify
Complete
Plan
Develop
Notify
Provide
Resolve
Clarify
Configure
Transfer
Validate
Create
Execute
Update
Capture
Record
Evaluate
5.6.2 Pool and Swim Lane Names
letters for the rest of the word.
5.6.3 Event Names
Should be in the past tense and should clearly reflect the type of event (start, end,
and timer).
For example:
o Start event: Urgent Order Received
o End event: Invoice Sent
o Timer event: Invoice Due
letters for the rest of the word

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6 BPMN Examples
6.1 Hardware Shipment
Example taken from “BPMN 2.0 By Example Version 1.0” 2
2
“BPMN 2.0 By Example Version 1.0” p.3 http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/examples/PDF

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6.2 Pizza Ordering
Example taken from “BPMN 2.0 By Example Version 1.0”3
3
“BPMN 2.0 By Example Version 1.0” p.4 http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/examples/PDF

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7 Additional Information
7.1 Object Management Group (OMG) BPMN Standard
The official standard for BPMN can be found at http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/
o See also http://bpmn.org/ for supporting documents.
7.2 Examples
The Object Management Group (OMG) publishes a document containing worked
examples here:
o http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/examples/PDF
7.3 Guidelines and Cheat Sheets
BPMN 2.0 Poster
o http://www.bpmb.de/index.php/BPMNPoster
BPMN Method and Style Poster
o http://bpmessentials.com/uploads/media/BPMN_2.0-Poster.pdf

BPMN 2.0 Reference

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