jBPM & Drools Workshop, NY 2012-06-19

1. jBPM5: Bringing more
Power
jBPM,
to your Business
Open Source BPM
Processes
Kris Verlaenen
jBPM Project Lead
June, 2012
1

2. jBPM Overview
• jBPM Project
• jBPM walkthrough
• Roadmap

3. What is BPM?
Business Process Management
A business process is a process that describes
the order in which a series of steps need to be executed,
using a flow chart.

4. Why BPM?
• Visibility • Continuous improvement
• Monitoring • Speed of development
• Higher-level • Increased agility

5. jBPM Project
• (Executable) business processes
– light-weight, native BPMN2 engine
– from embedded to as a service
• Entire life cycle
• Both developers and business users
• Advanced, adaptive processes

6. Life
Cycle Business
Analyst
Model
Developer
System
Administrator Monitor BPM Deploy
Execute
End
User

7. End User
r
ito
on
Your
jBPM Console
Application
M
e
Core Services
ut
ec
Your Core History Task
Ex
Services Engine Log Service
Rules
y
lo
ep
Guvnor
D
Repository
el
Web-Based
Eclipse Editor
od
Designer
M
Developer Business
Analyst

8. Key Characteristics
• Open-source, lightweight
• Native BPMN 2.0
• High-level business processes
• Business user & developer collaborate
• Advanced, adaptive processes
• Modularized, pluggable, standards

9. Advanced, adaptive processes
• (One of the) most advanced open-
source BPMN2 engine
• Adaptive, ad-hoc, dynamic processes
• Integration and unification with business
rules and complex event processing

10. jBPM Walkthrough
• Core engine
• From Workflow to BPM
• Extra features
• Social, Cloud and Mobile

11. Core Engine
• Core engine is a workflow engine in pure
Java
– state transitions
– lightweight
– embeddable
– generic, extensible Core
Engine

12. Core Engine
Stateful
Knowledge Knowledge
Base Session
Process Process
Definition Instance

13. Java Interface
ProcessRuntime interface
• startProcess(processId)
• startProcess(processId, parameters)
• signalEvent(type, event)
• signalEvent(type, event, instanceId)
• abortProcessInstance(instanceId)
• getProcessInstance(instanceId)
• …

14. Java Example
// (1) Create knowledge base and add process definition
KnowledgeBuilder kbuilder = ...
kbuilder.add( ..., "sample.bpmn", ResourceType.BPMN2);
KnowledgeBase kbase = kbuilder.newKnowledgeBase();
// (2) Create new stateful knowledge session
StatefulKnowledgeSession ksession =
kbase.newStatefulKnowledgeSession();
// (3) Start a new process instance
ksession.startProcess(“com.sample.bpmn.hello”);

15. From Workflow
to BPM

16. From Workflow to BPM
XML
Core
Engine BPMN
2.0

17. BPMN 2.0
<definitions ... >
<process id="com.sample.bpmn.hello" name="Hello World" >
<startEvent id="_1" name="StartProcess" />
<sequenceFlow sourceRef="_1" targetRef="_2" />
<scriptTask id="_2" name="Hello" >
<script>System.out.println("Hello World");</script>
</scriptTask>
<sequenceFlow sourceRef="_2" targetRef="_3" />
<endEvent id="_3" name="EndProcess" />
</process>
</definitions>

19. jBPM Eclipse Plugin
• Developer-focused
• Features:
– Wizards, runtimes, perspective
– Graphical editor
– Testing and debugging
– Service repository, generators
– Guvnor integration

21. Web-based Designer
• Business User-focused
• Features
– Graphical Editor
– Visual validation
– Service repository, generators
– Guvnor integration
• Based on Oryx Designer
– JavaScript, JSON

22. From Workflow to BPM
JPA
Persistence
XML
JTA Trans-
actions Core
Engine BPMN
2.0

23. Persistence and Transactions
• Persistence (JPA, pluggable)
– Runtime persistence
– History logging
– Services
• Transactions (JTA, pluggable)
– Command-scoped
– User-defined

24. Persistence
• Core engine no persistence
• Macro transactions
• Binary persistence of runtime data
• Separation of history information
• External services
– using work items, async
– independent task service

25. ProcessInstance
startProcess Process 1 active d/m/yy hh:mm ...
Runtime
Engine
addTask
Task 1 Task1 sales ...
Service Tasks 2 Task2 HR ...
Task Task

26. ProcessInstance
Process 1 active d/m/yy hh:mm ...
Runtime
Engine
complete
Task 1 Task1 sales ...
Service Tasks 2 Task2 HR ...
Task Task
complete

27. ProcessInstance
Process 1 active d/m/yy hh:mm ...
Runtime
Engine
complete
Task 1 Task1 sales ...
Service Tasks 2 Task2 HR ...
Task Task
complete

28. From Workflow to BPM
Persistence
XML
Trans-
actions Core
Engine BPMN
2.0
History Events
Log
Management
Console BAM

29. Console
• Web-based management
• Business user
• Features
– Process instance management
– User task lists / forms
– Reporting

33. Console
• GWT
• Generic BPM console
– jBPM integration code
• REST API
• One embedded session
– Persistence, history logging
• Eclipse BIRT reporting: custom reports

34. From Workflow to BPM
Persistence
XML
Trans-
actions Core
Engine BPMN
2.0
Events
Domain-specific
Integration
Processes
Human Task
ESB Service

35. Domain-specific Processes
• Extend palette with domain-specific,
declarative service nodes
– define input / output parameters
– runtime binding

36. Domain-specific Processes
• Why? • Other examples
– Domain-specific – Human task
– Java method
– Declarative
– WS, Rest
– High-level – Email, Twitter
– Context-defined – FTP, RSS, Jabber
– Finder, Exec, Archive
– Google Calendar
Repository ! – YOUR SERVICES !

37. Service Repository

38. Example: Notification
[
[
"name" : "Notification",
"parameters" : [
"Message" : new StringDataType(),
"From" : new StringDataType(),
"To" : new StringDataType(),
"Priority" : new StringDataType(),
],
"displayName" : "Notification",
"icon" : "icons/notification.gif"
]
]

39. Example: Notification
class NotificationHandler implements WorkItemHandler {
public void executeWorkItem(WorkItem wI,
WorkItemManager manager) {
String from = (String) wI.getParameter("From");
String to = (String) wI.getParameter("To");
String m = (String) wI.getParameter("Message");
// send email
EmailService service = ...;
service.sendEmail(from, to, "Notification", m);
manager.completeWorkItem(wI.getId(), null);
}
}

40. Human task service
• User task
• Human task service (WS-HT)
– Task lists
– Task life cycle
• Task clients
– Task forms

41. Human Task Service
• Independent, pure Java implementation
• Different underlying technologies
– Local
– Apache Mina, HornetQ, JMS
• I18N, calendar, deadlines, escalation
• UserGroupCallback

42. SwitchYard
Lightweight service delivery
framework providing full life
cycle support for developing,
deploying, and managing
service-oriented applications
• SwitchYard BPM
component

43. Extra Features

44. Extra features
• Process instance migration
• JUnit testing
• Spring
• OSGi
• Migration from jBPM3(/4)

45. Installer
• Out-of-the-box working environment
• Sample process
• Components
– Eclipse (jBPM + Drools)
– Guvnor + Designer
– jbpm-console
– Services
• H2 DB, human task service, history log

46. Examples
• Evaluation
• Examples module
– Looping
– Multi-instances
– Human tasks (including user / group
assignment, delegation, forms, etc.)
– Process + rules integration

49. Social, Cloud
and Mobile

50. Ready for the future?
Traditional BPM systems have problems
with change, complexity, flexibility, data-
intensive applications, etc.
• Adaptive Case Management (ACM)
• Unstructured, non-lineair or flexible processes
• Event-driven BPM (edBPM)

51. Motivation
A business solution usually involves the
interaction between these technologies.

Technology overlap

Business overlap
Attribute the same importance to the
three complementary business
modeling techniques

52. Processes Rules Events
Business Logic

54. Example: Build Management
Source: Hudson Execution and Scheduling Architecture

55. Example: Build Management
Source: Hudson Execution and Scheduling Architecture

56. Logistic Company - Solution
Vehicle Aircraft Traffic Flow Traffic Incident Weather
Event Stream Event Stream Event Stream Event Stream Event Stream
Knowledge Bases
Shipment
Event Stream
New Inferred
Facts Facts
Stop
Event Stream
Reasoning
Knowledge Based Reasoning
CEP [Temporal Reasoning]
Spatial Reasoning
Source: E. Tirelli & A. Mollenkopf - ORF2009

57. Vision
A knowledge-oriented platform for
developers and business users

58. Exceptional Control Flow
90%
5%
3%
2%

59. Exceptional Control Flow
90%
Rule1 Rule2 Rule3
When When When
... ... ...
Then Then Then
... ... ...
5% 3% 2%

60. Example: Clinical DSS

61. Combining Processes,
Rules and Events
• Integration
– From loose coupling
– To advanced integration
• Unification
– Processes and (event) rules are different
types of business knowledge assets
– Tooling (IDE, repository, management)

62. JBoss AS 7
• Blazingly fast
• Lightweight
• Module core
• jBPM5 on AS7: Lightning !

63. OpenShift
• Based on Open Source
• Innovation
• Choice
• Java, PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl & more
• Express, Flex, Power
• Amazon EC2

64. jBPM Everywhere
• Run jBPM5 natively on
Android

65. Roadmap
Feb'11 Jun'11 Dec'11 Apr'12
jBPM 5.0 5.2
5.1 Service repository 5.3 5.x 6.x
Web Designer
Examples Eclipse Designer Common Executable
AS7
Documentation Form Builder Simulation
JUnit test OpenShift
As a service

66. JBoss Enterprise Product Delivery Model
Example: jBPM Community and Enterprise Product
3
3.2
JBoss SOA-P 5
Full Support (3yrs) Transition (1yr) Maintenance (1yr)
Flow
Enterprise versions provide long-term
4
support, regular releases including fixes,
5 new features, and new platforms
certifications.
JBoss BRMS 5.3
Full Support (3yrs) Transition (1yr)
6 New community features may
be backported to Enterprise
7 versions
While community projects continue to rapidly evolve,
enterprise middleware products focus on long term stability.

67. Roadmap: jBPM 5.3
Date: May 21st, 2012
• Eclipse Designer
• Form Builder
• Web Designer
• Test and form generators

68. Eclipse BPMN2 editor
http://eclipse.org/projects/project.php?id=soa.bpmn2-
modeler

69. Eclipse BPMN2 editor
• eclipse.org project
• Using Eclipse BPMN2 EMF model
• Graphical editor for full BPMN2
specification (based on Graphiti)
• Target engine + profiles
• Custom jBPM editors / extensions

70. Form Builder
• Generate form for process / task
• Graphically design process (D&D)
• Triggers, validation
• Integrated into
Guvnor

71. Roadmap: jBPM 5.x
• Simulation and replay
• BPM as a service
– Expose as ...
– Session mgmt and HA
– Integrate with external services
• Cloud

72. jBPM5: Bringing more
Power
jBPM,
to your Business
Open Source BPM
Processes
Kris Verlaenen
jBPM Project Lead
June, 2012
72