What is BPEL?

BPEL stands for Business Process Execution Language, and it is a standard, common language which purpose is to improve efficiency through management of increasingly complex business processes. BPEL is designed to provide a formal specification of business processes and interactions.

Why an iGrafx BPEL interface?

The BPEL interface for iGrafx is a powerful, easy-to-use model driven BPEL generator that provides independence from the underlying execution engine for complete process portability and perpetuation, freeing you to adapt to a changing enterprise software market.

Is BPEL for me?

BPEL uses a very structured notation to define a process and its interactions. This structure is necessary for IT professionals to accurately implement a desired process. However, it is too great a level of detail for business analysts designing processes.

Who is using BPEL?

The BPEL interface for iGrafx is ideal for:

BPM Implementers
IT Departments
System Integrators

Is BPEL a component of the iGrafx suite of products?

The iGrafx BPEL interface is an extension to any of the iGrafx process analysis and modeling products and can be purchased separately. iGrafx gives organizations a complete solution for developing optimized business processes in an accepted, approachable notation that can be extended with detail to create execution-ready BPEL.

What iGrafx diagram types can generate BPEL?

The Process and BPMN diagram types support BPEL output.

Within iGrafx, what is the relationship between BPMN, BPEL, Mapping File, WSDL, and Web Services?

iGrafx converts BPMN and Process (it can convert both!) diagrams to BPEL (a XML format) which IT uses to implement defined processes. The exported BPEL file includes Messages defined at Tasks (BPMN) or Activities (Process). The iGrafx Messages specify the data that is sent and received between partners when the process is executed. A partner is typically a set of Web Services.

The BPEL file specifies the sequence of Web Services to execute. A WSDL (Web Services Definition Language) file describes how to use each Web Service. This description may use different terms than the Messages defined by the iGrafx document. To resolve this issue, when the BPEL is created, a "mapping file" converts the iGrafx Messages to the correct terminology needed to execute the Web Services.

The IT manager creates the mapping file used by the BPEL export command. If the mapping file does not map all iGrafx Messages then the Export BPEL command creates two XML files that help the IT manager create a complete mapping file. T hese files are a "Default WSDL" and an "Output mapping file".

In iGrafx BPMN or Process documents, Messages are defined in three different places:

The Inputs page (e.g. wait to start a Task/Activity until a Message is received)
The On Completion tab of the Task page (e.g. send or receive a Message when Task/Activity is completed)
The Exceptions tab of the Outputs page (e.g. if Message is received, take the Exception path)