Business Process Flow Diagram

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EntArtJoe
Posts: 35
Joined: 05 Sep 2016, 08:35

Hi there
I've captured quite a bit of detail up to this point, but I'm struggling to build Business Process Flow diagrams. I have a number of Visio BMPN diagrams that I want to replicate in the the EA model.

I'd really appreciate a step by step example of how I get to see a Process Flow Diagram in the Essential Viewer, preferably including decisions along the way.

Thanks
Joseph
sarah.smith
Posts: 56
Joined: 04 Feb 2009, 15:44

Hi Joseph,

Have a look at this article in the tutorials section of the website - it should tell you exactly what you need to do - http://www.essentialproject.org/busines ... -modelling

Regards

Sarah
EntArtJoe
Posts: 35
Joined: 05 Sep 2016, 08:35

Hi Sarah
Thanks for your reply, I believe I followed all the steps and captured a process (as an example). In the Instance browser I can see the simple process with a Start and End points. But when I look in the viewer and click on the Business Process Flow link I get a small black square with some fragment of a message in red and green writing visible.

The link to the screen shot is : https://www.dropbox.com/s/owjcjvwskl6ne ... 5.png?dl=0

Any advice would be much appreciated. Naturally I need to show stake holders the process flow diagrams I've captured.

Thanks
Joseph
sarah.smith
Posts: 56
Joined: 04 Feb 2009, 15:44

Hi Joseph,

This often indicates that there is an error in the modelling. Could you post a screenshot of your business process flow, from within the logical business model, and then I will be able to provide some more info.

Regards

Sarah
EntArtJoe
Posts: 35
Joined: 05 Sep 2016, 08:35

Hi Sarah,
I re-did the flow that was giving me trouble and now it seems to be working ok.
My next question is related so I hope you will indulge me a little further please.

I have a number of Visio Process flows which are in the form of Cross-Functional flow charts. I would like to know if these are possible in Essential Architect? Alternatively, can I import Visio XML files into the tool directly and if so how? Or, can I attach PDF's to Process descriptions ?

Thanks
Joseph
EntArtJoe
Posts: 35
Joined: 05 Sep 2016, 08:35

Hi Sarah
I'm having a fair amount of trouble getting other process flow diagrams to work. I'm in the Business_Process Flow windows in the Logical_Business_Model. I drag a Start spot onto the editor and then either a Process or Activity, so far so good, mouse over till I see the little white hand then double click and populate the form. BUT, once I get past like 2 'blue' blocks I can't seem to get the white glove to appear again, is there a particular spot I need to mouse over? Or some rule about Activities and Processes.....!

Driving me a bit to distraction now.

Thanks
Joseph
sarah.smith
Posts: 56
Joined: 04 Feb 2009, 15:44

Hi Jospeh,

Glad to hear that the initial flow is working. I'll cover your points in order:
- Re the cross functional flows, can you send me an example so I can see exactly what you are trying to achieve
- Importing Visio directly into the tool - at the moment no, although we do have this as a high priority requirement and we are planning to provide this functionality
- Can I attach PDFs to process description - yes you can; every class has an 'external reference link' slot which allows you to link off via a url to other documents or websites
- Problem modelling the process flows - protege does come with its quirks! There are no rules, what I have found is that if you click on the box and drag it to make it bigger then it is much easier to get the white glove to appear

We are updating the process flow diagrams in the viewer in the next release, which is due out shortly. An example of what they will look like can be found here - http://essentialviewer.com/demo/uml_mod ... %20Reports - in the new demo.

If you want to look at all the populated views you can access the full demo from the essential website home page, or from the Demo menu item under About.

Regards

Sarah
EntArtJoe
Posts: 35
Joined: 05 Sep 2016, 08:35

Hi Sarah
Thanks very much for your very informative reply. I've put a copy of the Visio File I'm thinking about at this Drop Box location in PDF and Visio form.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sckf3xeuwg19 ... MM6ma?dl=0

Please let me know if you can't access these 2 files.

I will use the External Reference Link for now.

The new version of the Process flows looks exactly what I need :-)

Regards
Joseph
sarah.smith
Posts: 56
Joined: 04 Feb 2009, 15:44

Hi Joseph,

Yes I was able to access the examples. We can capture the majority of the detail you show, however, we cannot add external information and text such as the red box round a number of steps with the text 'current process does not assign a role', although we can capture notes against individual process steps. We do not, however, have the ability to produce a swim-lane layout at present - the layout would be as you see on the example I sent a link to, so we can show the performing role/application, but not in the format you currently have.

Hope that helps.

Regards

Sarah
EntArtJoe
Posts: 35
Joined: 05 Sep 2016, 08:35

Hi Sarah
Thanks for the reply, I think that would all be ok, I see it as a reason to break down my somewhat cluttered process flows into smaller steps, perhaps add some detail into the Process Descriptions, etc. Of course we can always add the Link to the original PDF if the business requires it.

Regards
Joseph
p.s looking forward to the new version :-)
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