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What is BPMN Diagram Importer from IBM Telelogic System Architect for WebSphere Business Modeler?
System Architect, a product recently acquired by IBM as part of the purchase of Telelogic, can compose various types of process diagrams, including a "business process diagram" that is similar to the processes managed by IBM® WebSphere® Business Modeler. In System Architect, the user can export the diagram as XML.
BPMN Diagram Importer runs inside WebSphere Business Modeler and opens the XML file that was exported, then transforms the model to the structure used within WebSphere Business Modeler. This migration tool is intended to populate a new WebSphere Business Modeler project.
Without BPMN Diagram Importer, the most obvious means of reproducing the System Architect model in WebSphere Business Modeler is to redraw it by hand. Redrawing is time-consuming and mistake-prone. If this automated migrator is used, then even the intricate mapping rules will be applied consistently, and the migrator can report certain ambiguous situations.
System Architect diagrams are useful for strategic enterprise planning because they can be connected to business motivation and strategy as well as information technology (IT) building blocks that support the business architecture. Some of these diagrams, and the business services and information they use, could be reused in the IT architecture. BPMN Diagram Importer enables users to combine System Architect's strategic enterprise planning with WebSphere Business Modeler's optimized process execution.
How does it work?
Individual data items encountered as XML elements and content are treated as property values. Certain values are used to decide which type of object to create in WebSphere Business Modeler, and other values become properties of the WebSphere Business Modeler object. In cases of uncertainty, the migrator will create an object (a task, if nothing else) rather than not. Some ambiguous situations trigger an entry in a list of warnings, which the user can save as a list of items requiring review after the model has been imported.
The System Architect diagrams that can be migrated use the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) standard, which is now maintained at the Object Management Group. There are seven basic shapes of objects (processes, events, gateways, and the like); three that define regions for associating the shapes; and three that connect the shapes. Many characteristics can be set on each object, only a few of which are defined in the BPMN standard. IBM supports BPMN by participating in the working group that is producing Version 2.0 of the standard and by providing BPMN-style visual rendition of models in relevant products.
There are two primary parts to the process. In the first part, the System Architect user selects a "Business Process" diagram, which uses BPMN objects, and exports it as XML. The XML file can be transferred to a different system if necessary. In the second part, a WebSphere Business Modeler user steps through the import menus, chooses the System Architect XML import option, and then selects the XML file that was exported by System Architect. The import should be populating a new project. When the import is completed, the WebSphere Business Modeler user can open the project and review the details. In some cases, the migrator might have created more than was needed, and the excess items can be deleted. The WebSphere Business Modeler items that have a description field (task, decision, timer, local repository, fork, join, and others) can be checked for additional information.
The migrator development was based on the XML formats of System Architect 11.0 and WebSphere Business Modeler 6.1, which were the latest versions in spring of 2008. WebSphere Business Modeler should be used in Advanced Mode.
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