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Introduction to Activiti

Tom Baeyens & Joram BarrezAlfresco

twitter: @tombaeyens @jbarrez

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Tom Baeyens

• Founder of Activiti & jBPM• Passionate about Java and BPM

Joram Barrez

• Ex-core developer JBoss jBPM• Core developer Activiti

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Agenda

• What is Activiti?• What is BPMN 2.0?• BPM for business people• BPM for developers• Example / demo

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What is Activiti?

• Apache licensed BPMN 2.0 engine• BPM for business and IT people

• Process definitions as input• Boxes and arrows• Execution flow

• Manages executions• Execute automatic steps• While waiting,

persist execution state

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What is Activiti

Activiti Modeler

Activiti Cycle

Activiti Explorer

Activiti Probe

Activiti Designer

REST interface

iPhoneExplorer

Activiti Engine

AndroidExplorer

Java Applications

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BPMN 2.0

• OMG standard• Shapes• Execution semantics• File format

• First pure play BPM standard• General endorsement

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BPM for business people

• BPM as a management discipline• BPM as software engineering

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1. Simplify business-IT collaborationSoftware Project

Non-techBusiness Analyst Developer

•Java •XML •Buildscripts•Tests•…

TomcatJDK 5JBoss…

Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL

Activiti YourApp

Analyst

Developer

Requirements

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1. Simplify business-IT collaboration

• Abstract business process• Drawing• No technical details

• Executable business process• Drawing• Technical details• Executable on a BPM System

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1. Simplify business-IT collaboration

AnalystBusiness

Intelligence

ProcessCollaboration

Developer

Sys admin

Developer

DeveloperDeploy

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1. Simplify business-IT collaboration

Developer

Analyst

DeveloperDeveloper

Sys admin

Shared network drive Doc mgmt systemAbstract process models

Doc mgmt systemAbstract process modelsJIRASVNMaven repo

Doc mgmt systemMaven repoDB instancesTomcat instancesActiviti instances

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1. Simplify business-IT collaboration

• Unified concept of repositories and artifacts• Repository

• Tree structure• Containing artifacts

• Artifacts• Different types• Links to other artifacts• Links to people

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1. Simplify business-IT collaboration• Network drive

• Word docs, PDFs, Screenshots• Signavio model repository

• BPMN process models• Jira

• Issues• SVN (code, projects)

• Java code• Executable process models• Rules• Forms

• Maven repo (deployable artifacts)• Jar, War, Ear files

• Tomcat instances• DB instances• Activiti instances

Analyst

DeveloperSys admin

Developer

Developer

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Mockup

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BPM for developers

• Embeds in • Your database• Your transaction• Your domain model• Your Spring configuration

Software Project

TomcatJDK 5JBoss…

Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL

Activiti YourApp

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Simple

• Activiti Engine is “just” a jar file• Power to the developer• Intuitive API• Activiti tables next to your app’s tables• Transaction integration• Spring integration• Great docs and examples • Spec 500 pages vs simple user guide

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Community

• Alfresco• Apache licensed jBPM replacement

• SpringSource• Signavio• Camunda• MuleSoft• Next Level Integration• Mimacom• Tijs Rademakers & Co (Eclipse designer plugin)• Yuri Horbach (iPhone / iPad)• Lim Chee Kin (Grails plugin)• And growing

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What do you get?

• World-class rock-solid BPM and workflow engine

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Activiti Modeler

• Webbased, powerful BPMN 2.0 graphical editor

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Activiti Explorer

• Task management • Near future: reporting / process inspection

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Activiti Probe

• System admin functionalities• activiti log inspection, handle stuck jobs, …

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Activiti Cycle

• BPM collaboration 2.0

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Activiti Cycle

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Activiti Cycle

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Activiti REST API

• Remote communication with Activiti

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Activiti Eclipse designer

• Initiative started by Tijs, Ron, Yvo and Tiese• Activiti extension support, BPMN 2.0 validation,

hierarchical modeling

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Activiti & IPhone

• Mobile BPM == natural evolution of how work is done• Initiative started by Yuri Horbach

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Activiti Grails integration

• Community contribution by Lim Chee Kin• Seamless integration into grails app

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Activiti Grails integration• Typical Grails convience capabilities

• Activiti templates• Easy business archive

deployment• Generate controller/views

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Real-life demo

• Use case: banks shouldn’t lend money to just anybody• Thorough analysis is needed• All steps needs to be recorded in official documents• Decisions are done based on Excel decision tables

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The mortgage process – high level

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Detailed view

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The mortgage process

= CMIS call