Editing a BPL Diagram

Basics

• To select an activity, click it. When you do so, its attributes display in the Activity tab, where you can edit their values.

• To select multiple activities, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking.

• To clear the selection of a selected activity, click it again.

• You can connect activities via drag and drop actions.

• The toolbar provides options for adding activities; cutting, copying, pasting, deleting activities; and undo changes.

• The BPL Editor automatically validate activities as you add them to the diagram. If it detects an element with a logical error, it displays a red warning on the Activity tab for the element along with the reason for the error.

Color Indicators

The BPL Editor provides the following color indicators for shapes in the diagram:

• Typically the interior color of a BPL diagram shape is white, with a blue outline. If you select the shape, its interior color changes to yellow and the outline becoes bolder.

• If the shape is in error, its outline is red.

• If the shape is disabled, its interior color is gray, with a gray outline. When you select a disabled shape it shows a dotted outline.

Also, when a shape represents a complex activity such as <if> or <switch> that has multiple branches, joins, or other types of related shapes elsewhere in the BPL diagram, clicking on one of these shapes highlights the related shapes in green with a purple outline.

Specifying Diagram Preferences

The Preferences tab contains the following settings that apply to the appearance of the BPL diagram:

• Gridlines—Select one of the following choices for the appearance of the grid lines on the diagram: None, Light, Medium, or Dark.

• Show annotations—Reveal or hide the text notes that explain each shape. When you reveal annotations, they appear to the upper right of each shape that has an <annotation> element in the BPL document.

• Auto arrange—Cause each new shapes in the diagram to automatically conform to a structured arrangement without needing to select after adding each shape.

  Changing the position of shapes does not change the underlying BPL code.

Adding an Activity

To add an activity to a BPL diagram, do the following:

1. Select an option from the Add Activity list.

   This immediately places a new, unconnected activity to the diagram.

2. While the new activity is still selected, specify values as needed on the Activity tab:

   • Name—Enter a name for the caption inside the shape.

   • Disabled—Optionally select this check box to disable the activity; clear it to enable. The default is enabled.

   • Annotation—Optionally enter text to appear as comments next to the shape in the diagram.

   Other details depend on the type of activity.

3. Connect this activity to other activities as needed.

Or if this activity should be inserted between two existing activities, do the following:

1. Select the connector that connects those two activities.

2. Select an option from the Add Activity list.

   This immediately inserts the new activity between the two other activities.

3. While the new activity is still selected, specify values as needed on the Activity tab, as described above.

Editing Properties of an Activity

To edit properties of an activity, do the following:

1. Click the activity.

2. Specify values as needed on the Activity tab:

   • Name—Enter a name for the caption inside the shape.

   • Disabled—Optionally select this check box to disable the activity; clear it to enable. The default is enabled.

   • Annotation—Optionally enter text to appear as comments next to the shape in the diagram.

Removing an Activity

To remove an activity from a BPL diagram, do the following:

1. Select the activity.

2. Click the Remove button in the toolbar.

Adding a Connection

Each activity is displayed with one triangular input point and one output circle. You use these when connecting activities.

To add a connection from one activity to another, do the following:

1. Click the output circle of one activity.

2. Drag the cursor to input triangle of the other activity and then release.

   Equivalently, you can click the input triangle of one activity and drag to the output circle of the other activity.

3. Optionally select the connector, and enter a name for it on the Activity tab.

The tool does not allow you to make an illegal connection.

Once two shapes are connected, the connection is preserved no matter where you drag the respective shapes. You can drag shapes to any layout position you wish, within the same diagram.

Drilling Down and Back

Several kinds of BPL activities are displayed as their own subdiagrams. To see them in detail, it is necessary to drill down into them. Examples include <foreach> and <sequence>. The main BPL diagram shows only a stub, with an indicator that you need to click for more details.

For example, the following shows a <foreach> loop, as you would see it within the main BPL diagram:

The cyclical arrow icon at the bottom of the shape is a reminder that there are details not shown here. Another example is <sequence>, which displays a plus sign icon to remind you that there are more details:

In all cases, to drill down, you can do either of the following:

• Click the icon (circular arrow or plus sign).

• Click the activity and then click the Drill Down icon in the toolbar.

The BPL Editor then displays the full details for that activity, from start to end.

To return to the higher logical level, lick the Drill Up icon in the toolbar.

Adjusting the Layout

After you add shapes or create new connections, you can tidy the diagram by clicking the arrange icon on the tool bar.

For example, if you do not have the auto arrange feature set in your preferences, when you add a shape to a BPL diagram it looks something like the following figure.

When you click the auto arrange tool the shapes are aligned as shown in the following figure.

If you want your diagrams to always use this type of structured layout, select the Auto arrange check box on the Preferences tab.

By default, when you open a BPL diagram for the first time, the auto arrange feature is enabled. This choice may or may not be appropriate for a particular drawing. You can disable automatic arrangement to ensure that your diagram always displays with exactly the layout you want by clearing the Auto arrange check box on the Preferences tab. This way, when the diagram is displayed, it does not take on any layout characteristics except what you have specified.

See Also

• Creating BPL Business Processes

• Listing and Managing the Business Processes