đź“– Definitions
Here main Stackflows platform definitions you need to know
Process definitions
Process Engine
Provides access to all the services that expose the BPM and workflow operations.
Engine executes and operates process models (including diagram)
Process Diagram (BPMN)
A two-dimensional (definition, digital structure) representation of a business process
A business process notation diagram, or BPMN diagram for short, is used to build easy-to-read business process model flowcharts
BPMN diagram symbols are categorized into four main groups: flow objects, connecting objects, swimlanes, and artefacts. Sample
Process Model (BPMN)
A three-dimensional (definition, digital structure, changes in time aka revisions) description of a business process
The model contains different versions which are received after each model (diagram) deployment.
The model always contains the latest version which is up and running in the process engine
Each process model version contains a process diagram (BPMN)
A process model can be executed by a trigger (action-based or time-based)
The latest version contains activity instance statistics. Sample
Each version could contain a heatmap. Sample
Decision Model (DMN)
A three-dimensional (definition, digital structure, changes in time aka revisions) description of a business decision. Sample
Decision Diagram (DMN)
A two-dimensional (definition, digital structure) representation of a business decision Sample
Process Instance
A particular digitalized business event that follows rules described by a process model
One started/running/finished execution of a Process Model
A process model can contain unlimited process instances running at the same time
Tenant
Currently, Stackflows are running a single the process engineProce instance
All customers (companies) are split by tenant ID, which means, that each Process Model has a tenant ID.
Process versions and statuses
If the latest version is 5.0 when the new version (called “Experiment”) is being created
Each model has the status
draft
published
All running processes, including old ones, can be modified, but starting building a draft version and Re-deployed to the same version
Old versions with no running instances are being marked as NOT ACTIVE and not able for updates.
Process Log
Any kind of log or message retrieved while executing or trying to execute a process model
Business key
A business key is a domain-specific identifier of a process instance. Compare this to the process instance id, which is a StackFlows-generated UUID.
The business key is special for two reasons:
Performance: Querying by business key is often more efficient than querying by a variable value. For example, it does not require a join with the variables table.
Visibility: The business key is displayed prominently in applications like Stackflows user area.
Product definitions
Engine
Currently, Stackflows are running our own process engine and “Camunda”, but the concept is to support different BPMN engines in the long-term.
Environment
Basically, environment ID is equal to tenant ID, which means that each model can be deployed to the engine with tenant ID and that will indicate which environment is related to
One company can have many environments
Business (organization) unit
An organizational unit is a construct used to represent an organizational structure. Looking technically it’s just an ID, a Name, and a relation to another organization unit. It’s like organization structure, but it can include anything the organization wants - roles, departments, teams. More about organization units
Categories
A tree of free-form entries whose main purpose is to group models together that have similar qualities or belong to similar groups
Stackflows supports category tree, which allows user to put one process model into one or another category
If process models under one business process have the same goal, so category helps to categorize models by:
Departments
Type
Other
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