How to Configure Loop Markers

Adding Delays, Deadlines, and Time Based Cycles to Your Process 18-5 To configure a deadline for an activity: 1. Locate the activity in your process for which you want to configure a deadline.

2. From the Component Palette, from the Catch Events section, select Timer.

3. Drop the timer event over the activity. The timer event becomes a boundary event. A sequence flow coming out from the boundary timer catch event appears. 4. Place the cursor over an end event and click to drop the sequence flow there. 5. If you want the deadline to happen on a specific date, then you must configure the boundary timer catch event as time date. If you want the deadline to happen after a certain period, then you must configure the boundary timer catch event as cycle. See Section 18.7.1, How to Configure a Timer Event To Use a Specific Date and Time for more information on how to configure a timer event as time date. See Section 18.7.3, How to Configure a Timer Event to Use an Interval for more information on how to configure a timer event as cycle.

6. In the Implementation tab, in the Timer Properties dialog, select Interrupting

Event .

18.4.2 What Happens When You Configure a Deadline for an Activity

If the activity is still running when the timer event fires, then the token quits the activity and move to a different point in the process. The timer event fires because a certain date arrives or because the specified period passes, depending on how you configured the timer event.

18.5 Configuring a Deadline for a BPMN Process

You can configure a process deadline for your process using an event subprocess that starts with an interrupting timer start. After a certain time passes or a date arrives, the timer event fires. If the token is still in the process then it moves to the event subprocess. The timer event is only active while the token remains in the process. You can configure the deadline to happen on a specific date, or after the token spends a certain time in the activity. In both cases you can specify a fixed date or interval or an expression that calculates the corresponding date or interval. For example, in a purchase order process, you can configure the process so that if the token stays in the process for more than three months, then it automatically ends the process. You might want to use an error end event in the event subprocess, so that the process does not finish running successfully.