BPMN Core Set

In this topic, the core set of BPMN elements is introduced. For simple process modeling for documentation and communication purposes, the core set provide adequate means to easily create understandable diagrams. For creating more complex process models, the complete set of BPMN elements is required. For information on the complete set of elements, see BPMN Elements and its sub-topics. The full list of BPMN elements and attributes with their descriptions can be found in Business Process Modeling Notation, V2.0 (OMG Document Number: formal/2011-01-03 Standard document URL: http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/PDF), which has been used also as reference for this guide.

The basic categories of BPMN elements are:

•Flow objects

•Connecting objects

•Swimlanes

•Artifacts

Flow Objects

Flow objects include events, activities, and gateways.

Name	Description	Symbol
Event	Refers to something that happens during a process. The basic event types are: •Start event: starts a process flow •Intermediate event: happens during the course of a process flow •End event: ends a process flow
Activity	Functions as a generic term for the work that a company performs. The types of activities are: •Sub-process: used when the work in the process is further modeled in more detail on a lower diagram •Task: used when the work in the process is not broken down to a finer level of process model detail
Gateway	Acts as a decision point in a process flow. Internal markers will indicate the type of behaviour control, which can be, in addition to traditional decision making, forking, merging, and joining of paths.

Name

Description

Symbol

Event

Refers to something that happens during a process. The basic event types are:

•Start event: starts a process flow

•Intermediate event: happens during the course of a process flow

•End event: ends a process flow

pic_event_core

Activity

Functions as a generic term for the work that a company performs. The types of activities are:

•Sub-process: used when the work in the process is further modeled in more detail on a lower diagram

•Task: used when the work in the process is not broken down to a finer level of process model detail

pic_subprocess_core
pic_task_core

Gateway

Acts as a decision point in a process flow. Internal markers will indicate the type of behaviour control, which can be, in addition to traditional decision making, forking, merging, and joining of paths.

pic_gateways_core

Connecting Objects

Connecting objects include sequence flows, message flows, and associations.

Name	Description	Symbol
Sequence flow	Used for showing the order in which activities will be performed in a process.
Message flow	Used for showing the flow of messages between two separate process participants (such as two pools in the diagram) that send and receive them.
Association	Used for showing the inputs and outputs of activities by associating data, text, and other artifacts with flow objects.

Name

Description

Symbol

Sequence flow

Used for showing the order in which activities will be performed in a process.

Message flow

Used for showing the flow of messages between two separate process participants (such as two pools in the diagram) that send and receive them.

pic_messageflow_core

Association

Used for showing the inputs and outputs of

activities by associating data, text, and other artifacts with flow objects.

Swimlanes

Swimlanes include pools and lanes.

Name	Description	Symbol
Pool	Represents a participant in a process. It also acts as a graphical container for partitioning a set of activities from other pools.
Lane	Functions as a sub-partition within a pool and extends the entire length of the pool, either vertically or horizontally. Lanes are used for organizing and categorizing activities.

Name

Description

Symbol

Pool

Represents a participant in a process. It also acts as a graphical container for partitioning

a set of activities from other pools.

pic_pool_core

Lane

Functions as a sub-partition within a pool and extends the entire length of the pool, either vertically or horizontally. Lanes are used for

organizing and categorizing activities.

pic_lane_core

Artifacts

Artifacts include data objects, groups, and text annotations.

Name	Description	Symbol
Data object	Shows how data is required or produced by activities. Data objects are connected to activities through associations.
Group	Grouping can be used for documentation or analysis purposes. It does not affect the sequence flow.
Text Annotation	Allows a modeler to provide additional text information for the reader of a BPMN diagram.

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