Working with Business Process Choreographer

The WebSphere Business Process Choreographer provides support for business-process applications within IBM WebSphere Application Server. Business processes can be automatic, recoverable processes, or processes that require human interaction. With Process Choreographer, you can combine business process technology with any other service offered by products supporting the open J2EE architecture.

Business Process Choreographer has been shipped with:

• IBM WebSphere Application Server Enterprise V5
• IBM WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation V5.1 and above
• IBM WebSphere Process Server V6 and above.

Learn about the Business Process Choreographer with these valuable, in-depth technical articles.

• WebSphere Process Server V6.1 – Business Process Choreographer: Concepts and Architecture
  Business Process Choreographer (BPC) is the component in IBM WebSphere Process Server V6.1 that provides support for business processes and human tasks. It allows you to model your business process using the Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL), and to model interactions that involve humans using human tasks. Both business processes and human tasks are exposed as services in the Service Component Architecture (SCA). This whitepaper introduces the concepts and architecture for business processes and human tasks as provided by Business Process Choreographer. (An earlier version of this article based on WebSphere Process Server V6.0 is also available.)

• WebSphere Process Server V6.1 Business Process Choreographer Programming Model
  As part of WebSphere Process Server, V6.1, Business Process Choreographer provides support for business processes and human tasks. It offers a way to model your business process based on the WS-BPEL specification, and to model interactions that involve humans, such as human-to-human, human-to-machine, and machine-to-human interactions. Both business processes and human tasks are exposed as services in a Service Oriented Architecture. This white paper introduces the programming model for processes and tasks provided by Business Process Choreographer. (An earlier version of this article basedon WebSphere Process Server V6.0 is also available.)

• Optimizing WebSphere Business Process Choreographer Explorer
  Learn tips and techniques to improve tool performance by optimizing data querying and filtering.

• WebSphere Process Server operational architecture, Part 1
  Part 1 describes concepts such as Service Component Architecture (SCA), Business Process Choreographer (BPC), and Service Integration Bus (SIB) in the context of WebSphere Process Server, and describes how they work together to build a secure transactional runtime environment for SOA.

• Versioning business processes and human tasks in WebSphere Process Server
  IT Architects and Integration Developers need to design business-process-based applications that can adapt to changing environments and future business needs. This article shows you how to build versions of business processes and human tasks that are based on best practices in IBM WebSphere Integration Developer V6.1 and WebSphere Process Server V6.1.

• Selecting a human task with custom properties using WebSphere Process Server
  WebSphere Process Server V6.1 provides a technology called the Human Task Manager (HTM) that manages the life cycle of people interactions with business processes. An instance of a human interaction is called a task. Associated with a task is meta data called properties. Solution designers and developers can define some of these properties, known as custom properties. This article illustrates the use of custom properties for human tasks to locate specific task instances.

• Authorization and staff resolution in Business Process Choreographer:
  Part 1: Understanding the concepts and components of staff resolution
  A description of the concepts and architecture of the Business Process Choreographer in IBM WebSphere Process Server, specifically the components involved in staff resolution. The interaction between the Business Flow Manager, Human Task Manager, authorization management, staff support service, staff resolution plug-ins, and staff repositories is discussed, along with their roles in staff resolution.

• Authorization and staff resolution in Business Process Choreographer:
  Part 2: Understanding the programming model for staff resolution
  Learn how staff resolution is used to create work items, which are the core artifacts of instance-based authorization, how to model authorization rules using staff verbs, how these verbs are transformed at deployment, and how they are used for staff resolution at run time.

• Authorization and staff resolution in Business Process Choreographer:
  Part 3: Customization options for staff resolution
  Describes the customization options for Business Process Choreographer staff resolution, how staff verbs can be created and customized, how you can post-process staff resolution results, and how you can dynamically assign people for staff resolution.

• Authorization and staff resolution in Business Process Choreographer:
  Part 4: Staff resolution specifications and reference guide
  Provides the details and specifications of Business Process Choreographer staff resolution, including staff resolution plug-in query syntax and configuration parameters, and information necessary for customization.

• Business Process Choreographer query() and queryAll():
  How to access processes, tasks and work items through the API and JDBC
  This document explains technical details for the query() and queryAll() API functions and provides best practices on how to use them.

• Choosing the right configuration for WebSphere Process Server Version 6.0.2
  An overview of different network deployment setups of WebSphere Process Server v6.0.2 that provides a deep understanding of the key differences between these setups, their advantages and their drawbacks.

• Performance Tuning of Human Workflows Using Materialized Views
  This document concentrates on optimizing the throughput and API response times of human workflows and human tasks.

• Installing a WebSphere Process Server 6.0.2 clustered environment
  Step-by-step approach through the design, installation, configuration and verification of a single-cell, clustered environment, enabling you to see the impact of the planning decisions you need to make.

• Clustering WebSphere Process Server V6.0.2
  Part 1: Understanding the topology
  Set up a basic clustered IBM WebSphere Process Server V6.0.2 installation using a step-by-step approach for a reasonably simple, yet robust, clustered topology that improves availability and scalability.

• Clustering WebSphere Process Server V6.0.2
  Part 2: Install and configure WebSphere Process Server clusters
  Install WebSphere Process Server and configure the clusters and related resources.

• Setting up WebSphere Portal Server 5.1.0.3 and WebSphere Process Server 6.0.1.1 in a clustered environment
  This document describes how to set up a clustered environment for Portal 5.1.0.3 (abbreviated to Portal in this document) in a cluster with WebSphere Process Server 6.0.1.1 (abbreviated to WPS) in a cluster, both located in the same cell.

• WebSphere Process Server V6.1 – Business Process Choreographer: Concepts and Architecture
  Business Process Choreographer (BPC) is the component in IBM WebSphere Process Server V6.1 that provides support for business processes and human tasks. It allows you to model your business process using the Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL), and to model interactions that involve humans using human tasks. Both business processes and human tasks are exposed as services in the Service Component Architecture (SCA). This whitepaper introduces the concepts and architecture for business processes and human tasks as provided by Business Process Choreographer. (An earlier version of this article based on WebSphere Process Server V6.0 is also available.)

• Business Process Choreographer samples
  These samples demonstrate and explain the features of IBM WebSphere Business Process Choreographer. They help you to develop your own business processes and human tasks. Each sample focuses on a specific feature or modeling pattern and leaves aside other aspects.

• Using human tasks in different scenarios in IBM WebSphere Integration Developer
  The IBM WebSphere Integration Developer provides several editors to implement various SCA components. Two SCA component types are "human tasks" and "business processes". These components can interact in different scenarios with each other, depending on the use case. This article describes various interaction scenarios between these two SCA implementations. It also gives guidance on when to model an in-line task and when to use a standalone task in conjunction with BPEL processes.

• Process Cleanup Service for Business Process Choreographer
  Business processes can be defined so that when a process completes, all of its associated data remains stored in the Business Process Choreographer runtime database. This article describes a process cleanup service which takes advantage of the scheduler service and other extensions that come with WebSphere Application Server to regularly trigger cleanup actions for completed business processes. A ready-to-use sample J2EE application and its source code are provided for download.

• Basic steps for clustering WebSphere Process Server
  Set up a basic clustered IBM WebSphere Process Server installation using a step-by-step approach for a simple, yet robust, clustered topology that addresses both availability and scalability.

• Migrating WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation V5.1.x projects to WebSphere Process Server V6
  This article shows how to migrate a simple business process from WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition v5.1.x to the WebSphere Integration Developer v6.0 tooling environment. It also covers how to deploy and test that process in WebSphere Process Server v6.0. After reading this article, you will discover how the programming model has changed and how to create and wire the service types that were available in WebSphere Studio Application Developer by using WebSphere Integration Developer.

• WebSphere Process Server V6.1 Business Process Choreographer Programming Model
  As part of WebSphere Process Server, V6.1, Business Process Choreographer provides support for business processes and human tasks. It offers a way to model your business process based on the WS-BPEL specification, and to model interactions that involve humans, such as human-to-human, human-to-machine, and machine-to-human interactions. Both business processes and human tasks are exposed as services in a Service Oriented Architecture. This white paper introduces the programming model for processes and tasks provided by Business Process Choreographer. (An earlier version of this article basedon WebSphere Process Server V6.0 is also available.)

• Event Handlers in Business Process Choreographer
  Use this new feature of Business Process Choreographer in WebSphere Process Server Version 6.0 to make processes more dynamic and to implement workflow patterns that involve multiple instances.

• Access WebSphere Process Server V6.0 business processes with PHP
  This article shows how to access Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) based applications running in IBM WebSphere Process Server Version 6.0 from a PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) Server.

• Enable generic Web services interfaces for Business Process Choreographer
  In this article, you'll learn how to extend the IBM WebSphere Process Server Business Process Choreographer Human Task Manager and Business Flow Manager APIs, typically available only for J2EE clients, to Web services clients, such as Microsoft®.NET™ clients.

• Using compensation in business processes with Business Process Choreographer
  The design and implementation of fault handling in software applications is as important as the implementation of the normal processing, and often requires an equal amount of care, time, and effort when building robust and reliable applications. Faults can occur in specific situations, so you must be ready to react to them. Faults may already exist within a business process and can compromise the integrity of the system, so you must use process logic to restore the system's integrity. This can be achieved by business logic that is called in case of a failure and that reverses the effects of former service calls. This concept is known as compensation. This article explains the concepts and usage of compensation in business processes that are run with the Business Process Choreographer, a component of IBM WebSphere Process Server Version 6.0.

• Create a dynamic service binding with WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition V5.1
  Explore the basic steps to achieving a dynamic service binding in IBM WebSpherer Studio Application Developer and WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation in this article. Extending the premise of "Dynamic Service Binding with WebSphere Process Choreographer," a developerWorks article by Birgit Duerrstein, you exploit the different facilities of the EndpointReferenceType class to change other properties of the Web service binding dynamically.

• WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation Process Choreographer: Migrating Process Choreographer to Version 5.1
  This paper describes the support provided by WebSphere process choreographer to migrate configuration data and business process applications from earlier WebSphere versions to Version 5.1. (PDF)

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer: Concepts and Architecture
  This paper uses scenarios to show how you can benefit from using Process Choreographer in today's business environment. It explains some basic business-process concepts that are used by Process Choreographer and describes how to develop, use, and administer business processes. An overview of the architecture is also given.

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer Programming Model
  This paper describes the programming model for business processes in WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer. (PDF)

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer: Using Process Choreographer in a distributed environment
  This paper describes how to use IBM WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer in a distributed environment. It gives an overview of different network deployment (ND) scenarios and describes the specific installation and configuration steps that need to be done before you can use Process Choreographer in a distributed environment. This paper also covers how to manage business processes in a distributed environment.

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer: Enhanced audit log data analysis and query
  This paper describes how audit log is set up, the data which is written to the audit log table, and provides information on best practices for using this data to answer typical statistical and historical questions regarding business processes. This paper refers to WebSphere Application Server Enterprise, Versions 5.0, 5.0.1 and 5.0.2. (PDF)

• Modeling compensation in WebSphere Business Integration Server Foundation Process Choreographer
  This article describes what compensation is and how to model it in several process scenarios using WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition. This information can help a business process modeler introduce compensation into its processes.

• Enhanced audit data log analysis and query for BPEL processes with Process Choreographer 5.1
  This article describes how to exploit the audit log data written by the business process choreographer, part of IBMr WebSpherer Business Integration Server Foundation V5.1.x, for Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) processes.

Process Choreographer provides a ready-to-use Web user interface based on JSPs and servlets. The interface allows users to access business-process applications. You can use this Web interface as is or adapt it to fit your needs. The following series of articles provides an overview of the Process Choreographer Web Client and step-by-step instructions and examples to help you customize and extend the Web Client:

• Customizing the WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer Web Client - Part 1:
  Adapting the look and feel
  Part 1 describes the components of the Web Client user interface and gives an overview of how you can adapt the look and feel of the Web Client, for example, to fit your corporate user interface guidelines.

• Customizing the WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer Web Client - Part 2:
  Create user-defined worklists
  Part 2 explains what a worklist is and then describes how to create worklists and integrate them into Process Choreographer.

• Customizing the WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer Web Client - Part 3:
  Defining business-process specific JSPs
  Part 3 explains the concept of business-process specific JSPs and shows how they can be integrated in the Web Client and in IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer Integration Edition.

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer: Displaying work items in the Web client
  This paper helps you understand the concept of work items, then provides more information on modeling work items for activities and processes and the impact this has on work items in the Process Choreographer Web client.

The following articles describe the concepts, general architecure, and programming model for the Process Choreographer staff resolution:

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer: Staff Resolution Architecture
  This document describes the architecture of the components involved in staff resolution. It explains the interaction between the Web client, business process engine, work item manager, staff resolution plug-ins, and staff repositories, then focuses on the role of staff resolution.

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer: Programming Model for Staff Resolution
  This article introduces the programming model for the components involved in the Process Choreographer staff resolution. It explains the evolution of a staff query from the abstract query verb to the plug-in specific staff resolution queries used to interact with staff repositories.

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer: Staff Resolution Parameter Reference
  This document is intended for application developers and solution architects. It provides a detailed description, examples, and reference material for WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer (WPC) staff support. (PDF)

• Understanding how WebSphere MQ Workflow and WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer can work together
  This paper gives an overview of MQ Workflow and Process Choreographer and then describes interoperability scenarios for both products. It is intended for application developers and business solution architects.

• WebSphere Application Server Enterprise Process Choreographer: Work items and the query() call
  This article describes the underlying implementation of the query functions in Process Choreographer and provides best practices on how to use them.

• Business Process Execution Language for Web Services version 1.1
  Business Process Execution Language for Web Services provides a means to formally specify business processes and interaction protocols. BPEL4WS provides a language for the formal specification of business processes and business interaction protocols. By doing so, it extends the Web Services interaction model and enables it to support business transactions. BPEL4WS defines an interoperable integration model that should facilitate the expansion of automated process integration in both the intra-corporate and the business-to-business spaces.

• OASIS Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WSBPEL) TC
  Enabling users to describe business process activities as Web services and define how they can be connected to accomplish specific tasks.

• Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) Resource Guide
  An objective guide to leading BPEL products, information and resources.

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