Introduction to Sequence Flows Introduction to Unconditional Sequence Flows

6-26 Modeling and Implementation Guide for Oracle Business Process Management Figure 6–30 shows the default notation for the exclusive gateway. Figure 6–30 The Exclusive Gateway The exclusive gateway is represented by a diamond-shaped icon with an X in the middle.

6.7.2.1 The Exclusive Gateway in Context

Figure 6–31 shows an example of the exclusive gateway used within the Sale Quote example process. Here, the exclusive gateway is used to evaluate whether a review of business practices is required. Figure 6–31 The Exclusive Gateway within the Sales Quote Example Process This figure shows an example of the exclusive gateway within the Sales Quote example. It contains an exclusive gateway that splits the process path in two, one path represents yes, the other no. This evaluation is determined by the expression defined for the outgoing conditional sequence flow. If this evaluates to true, then the process flow proceeds down the Yes path. If it evaluates to false, then the process flow proceeds down the path of the default outgoing sequence flow.

6.7.2.2 Splitting and Merging Exclusive Gateways

When a token reaches an exclusive gateway the outgoing conditional sequence flows are evaluated until one of them evaluates to true. You can define the specific order in which these are evaluated by configuring a property for the exclusive gateway. Based on this configuration, when the first conditional sequence flow evaluates to true, the token moves down this outgoing sequence flow to the next flow object. If you have multiple outgoing conditional sequence flow you can determine the order in which they are evaluated. If none of the outgoing conditional sequence flows evaluate to true, then the token moves down the default outgoing sequence flow. Therefore, you must define a default outgoing sequence flow for the exclusive gateway. Modeling Business Processes with Oracle BPM 6-27 The exclusive gateway can also merge incoming sequence flows. However, there is no synchronization with other tokens that may be coming from other paths within the process flow.

6.7.3 Introduction to the Inclusive Gateway

The inclusive gateway enables you to split your process into two or more paths. Unlike the exclusive gateway, however, a token may flow down one or more of these paths depending on how the outgoing conditional sequence flows are evaluated. You can have multiple outgoing conditional sequence flows for an inclusive gateway split. You must define at least one default sequence flow. Figure 6–32 shows the default notation for the inclusive gateway split. Figure 6–32 The Inclusive Gateway Split The inclusive gateway split is represented by a diamond-shaped icon with a circle in the middle. It is shaded on the left-hand side to represent the split of the inclusive gateway. Figure 6–33 shows the default notation for the inclusive gateway merge. Figure 6–33 The Inclusive Gateway Merge The inclusive gateway merge is represented by a diamond-shaped icon with circle in the middle. It is shaded on the right-hand side to represent the merge of the inclusive gateway.

6.7.3.1 Splitting and Merging Inclusive Gateways

The inclusive gateway splits a process similar to the exclusive gateway, but enables tokens to proceed down multiple outgoing sequence flow. When a token arrives at an inclusive gateway, the expressions of its conditional sequence flows are evaluated. Next, a token is generated for each of the conditional sequence flows that evaluate to true. Additionally, a token is generated for the default sequence flow. These tokens are merged at the merge of the inclusive gateway. When a token reaches the merge gateway, it waits until all of the tokens generated by the split have reached the merge. Once all of these tokens have reached the merge of the inclusive gateway, Note: If other tokens arrive at an exclusive gateway merge, then they are also passed through as is. If you are synchronizing tokens or perform evaluations on incoming sequence flows, you should use a different type of gateway.