What's new in IBM Business Process Manager V8.5.7

Compelling business user experience

General news that affects your experience

See new technology in the updated sample applications

The sample applications have been updated to use client-side human services and responsive controls as examples of how to use the new features in IBM BPM V8.5.7.

Use responsive content management controls

The Content Management toolkit has been updated with the Responsive Document Explorer, the Responsive Document List, and the Responsive Document Viewer. The original controls remain in the toolkit but are deprecated.

Improved Process Portal experience

Process Portal replaces the Heritage Process Portal that was available in earlier versions of IBM BPM. Process Portal provides access to most heritage capabilities and introduces many new features, such as a mobile-ready user interface, the ability to edit and share saved searches, and support for federated environments. A new Responsive Portal Components toolkit, which contains the responsive controls Process Portal uses, is included. See

• Process Portal: What's new in IBM Business Process Manager V8.5.7
• Administering Process Portal
• Customizing Process Portal
• Controls in the Responsive Portal Components toolkit

Process federation

You can now configure Process Portal for a single IBM BPM system or for a federated IBM BPM environment. In federated environments, you see a federated task list, saved searches, and launch list. Tasks can originate from multiple process servers running different versions of IBM BPM. The task list can also include activities from both BPD and BPEL processes. See

• Configuring Process Portal for a federated environment
• Adding an IBM BPM system to a federated environment

Mobile enablement

Build mobile-ready process applications by using coach views from the new Responsive Coaches toolkit

IBM BPM V8.5.7.0 deprecates the Coaches toolkit and introduces the Responsive Coaches toolkit, which contains coach views that help you build applications that can run on multiple device types. All the coach views in the Responsive Coaches toolkit are suitable for use on both desktop and mobile devices and are based on technologies such as AngularJS and Bootstrap. See Controls in the Responsive Coaches toolkit.

Convert deprecated coach views in imported process applications and toolkits

• To prepare a process application to be deployed to multiple device types, you can now convert the non-responsive, Dojo-based coach views from artifacts that were built in IBM BPM versions earlier than V8.5.7.0 into responsive, AngularJS-based coach views from the new Responsive Coaches toolkit.
• You do not have to convert a process application or toolkit that is created in IBM BPM V8.5.7.0. Convert a process applications or toolkit that you imported from an IBM BPM version earlier than V8.5.7.0. See Conversion of deprecations in imported process applications and toolkits.

Web-based tools and simplified process and case modeling

Enhanced UI tools

Separately manage and reuse client-side human services, access EPVs and environment variables from client-side human services, better validate coach contents

• To break down client-side human services into meaningful subflows, you can now define nested client-side human services so that they can be separately managed and reused in different contexts. You can nest client-side human services in other client-side human services, which can be either top-level root services or other nested services. Root services can contain one or more single- or multi-layered nested services. See Reusing client-side human services.
• You can link to exposed process values (EPVs) and environment variables from client-side human services, and then access the variables by using scripts you define in the client-side human services. Default value support makes defining input and private variables in client-side human services easier. Depending on how the client-side human services are used, the specified values or the default values take effect at run time. See Declaring variables.
• Using the data change properties of a coach, you can perform client-side validation of the coach contents or control how a button becomes enabled by using a conditional variable. To do that, add a fast-running client-side JavaScript that contains validation script logic to react to data changes in the coach. See Validating coach data without exiting a coach.
• To reduce clutter in your client-side human service diagram, you can use pre-execution and post-execution scripts inline on the activity or event nodes. See Assigning pre- and post-execution scripts.

Track variables in process monitoring more easily

Setting up tracking variables for process monitoring is simplified by tracking points. A new tracking tab in the properties view means you can quickly add tracking points as you develop processes. See Associating process variables to a tracking group.

Achieve a common style by using a theme

Each process application or toolkit can have a theme. Themes contain theme definitions that are used to generate the CSS used to display coaches and coach views. If you change a value in a theme definition, all the coaches and coach views that use that definition use the new value. However, a specific coach view instance can also override the values the theme provides. New applications use the provided IBM BPM Theme as their default theme. No theme is set for migrated applications. When migrated applications are upgraded to use coach views from the Responsive Coaches toolkit, set the default theme for the process application or toolkit. See Themes.

Custom themes are editable through the theme editor. The theme editor has a design mode and a source mode. The design mode displays the theme definitions and simulations of the responsive controls. When you change a definition, you can see the impact on these simulations or in the actual controls when you open or run the coaches or coach views that contain them. The source mode displays the definitions in Less stylesheet language. The existing definitions are templates for creating definitions. See Creating themes.

Some responsive controls expose some theme definitions as configuration options. For example, you can configure the Button control to use the primary color, alternate color, alert color, warning color, success color, or information color. The theme defines the specific color value for each color type.

Quickly design coaches and coach views using the grid layout

The layout page of a coach or coach view provides the grid mode where you define areas for content. You can then add coach views to these areas in the content mode. To add content and adjust the layout, switch between modes. For information and an example, see Laying out a coach or coach view using the grid layout.

Business processes and cases are one

Improve your efficiency with the web Process Designer

The web editor, now referred to as the web Process Designer, opens when you open a process app from Process Center and includes features that allow you to work more efficiently:

• The ability to undo your previous action.
• Copy and paste, zoom, and pan and custom colors in the process and client-side human service editors.
• The process editor palette has drawers so that you can quickly add specific implementations to the canvas.
• The web editors have a Quick Add function so that you can add complete flows to the canvas in one step. See Adding nodes to diagrams by using the keyboard.

Converged process includes BPD and case type functions in the same artifact

The web Process Designer introduces a new artifact called a process, which simplifies development by combining the function of a business process (BPD) with the activities and content support that was provided by case types in previous releases. Processes support case patterns, as well as structured and unstructured process flows in a single BPMN process model. See Creating a process.

• You can convert your BPDs to processes so that you can work in the web Process Designer. See Converting BPDs to processes
• You can invoke any type of artifact from a process, so you can migrate your processes in stages. For example, you can continue to use heritage human services and coaches until you are ready to convert your user interfaces to responsive user interfaces.

A new Inspector integrated with the web Process Designer

Run and debug your processes, services, and tasks in the web Inspector that is integrated with the web Process Designer. The Inspector merges the functionality of the desktop Inspector and the run time Process Inspector. You can switch easily between working in the designer and debugging in the Inspector. See Running and debugging processes and services.

Extensive Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system support

IBM BPM can now access all ECM systems that use the Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) standard. As a result, a business process can retrieve information from the many CMIS-compliant ECM systems and can work with multiple ECM systems within a process application. See Management of folders and documents for ECM systems.

Installing, configuring, and migrating

Installing and configuring

New supported environments

• You can run IBM Business Process Manager on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu Linux, or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) on Power® 8 LE hardware.
• You can now add Business Process Archive Manager to an existing deployment environment. See Configuring Business Process Archive Manager.

Additional WebSphere® Application Server configuration

The exportWASconfig.py and importWASconfig py scripts for exporting and importing customized WebSphere Application Server configuration have been enhanced to include configuration information for JDBC providers, JMS providers, connection factories, activation specifications, JMS queue and topic specifications, namespace bindings, and service integration buses (SIBs). See exportWASConfig.py script and importWASConfig.py script.

Manage IBM BPM endpoints

Use the following new commands to manage IBM BPM endpoints:

• setBPMEndpoint creates or updates an IBM BPM endpoint. See setBPMEndpoint command.
• getBPMEndpoint displays the attributes of an IBM BPM endpoint. See getBPMEndpoint command.
• deleteBPMEndpoint deletes an IBM BPM endpoint. See deleteBPMEndpoint command.

Manage compatibility IBM BPM endpoints

Use the following new commands to manage the compatibility IBM BPM endpoints that are used with deprecated WebSphere Lombardi Edition URL generation scenarios. The compatibility IBM BPM endpoints include the LSW_SERVLET, EXPOSED_ITEMS, TASK_REST_API, and TASK_TEMPLATE_REST_API scenarios. You can manage the endpoints by using the following administrative commands:

• createBPMCompatEndpoints creates all the compatibility IBM BPM endpoints. See createBPMCompatEndpoints command.
• deleteBPMCompatEndpoints deletes all the compatibility IBM BPM endpoints. See deleteBPMCompatEndpoints command.

Omit the optional -de parameter for most configuration commands

You use the -de parameter with configuration commands to specify the name of the current deployment environment. If there is only one deployment environment in the WebSphere cell, you can omit this parameter. However, the -de parameter must be specified as an option when you use the BPMConfig -migrate and -delete parameters.

Manage elements and attributes in 100Custom.xml files by using the updateBPMConfig command

The updateBPMConfig command has been extended with several parameters that you can use to create, update, append, or delete elements and attributes in 100Custom.xml files. See updateBPMConfig command.

Read enhanced documentation for the 100Custom.xml files and associated configuration files

The documentation has been expanded and improved for the 100Custom.xml files, 99Local.xml files, and associated configuration files. See The 100Custom.xml file and configuration and its subtopics as well as Using process instrumentation data for cache tuning.

Export system data and database information for performance analysis by using the BPMConfig command

The -export parameter for the BPMConfig command has been extended with the -system and -db options, which you can use to export system data and database information for performance analysis purposes. See the -export parameter description in the topic BPMConfig command-line utility.

Analyze performance and test loads by using the Human Services Benchmark sample

The Human Services Benchmark sample features a business process application that you can use to evaluate the performance of IBM BPM process handling. You can customize the sample to suit your applications. See the sample bpm-performance-sample on the IBM Bluemix Continuous Delivery Service website.

Migrating and upgrading

Migrate advanced applications to the default virtual host

You can now choose whether the default value default_host is used when advanced applications are migrated to the target environment because a new property called use.default.virtual.host is added to the migration.properties file. To keep the original virtual host value (which you configured in the source environment), leave the value as false. If you set the value to true, after migration all web applications in the target environment use default_host.

Generate SQL script files for migration

The BPMConfig -create -sqlfiles option now generates SQL script files for migrating earlier versions of IBM BPM to IBM BPMV8.5.7 as well as for configuring new installations. See BPMConfig command-line utility.

Upgrade the database more easily

• Upgrading the database while you upgrade the product to IBM BPM V8.5.7 no longer requires you to have a migration or configuration properties file. Now you enter all parameters directly on the command line.
• The DBUpgrade and BPMGenerateUpgradeSchemaScripts now use different options when they are used for an upgrade rather than for migration. See DBUpgrade command-line utility and BPMGenerateUpgradeSchemaScripts command-line utility.

Security change for saved searches

Before V8.5.7, any user could modify a shared saved search that another user created by using the REST APIs. With the new /rest/bpm/wle/v1/searches/tasks/saved_search_name REST APIs that are introduced in V8.5.7, only the saved search owner and administrators can modify or delete shared saved searches. If you want saved searches edit permissions to behave as they do in earlier versions for this API, make all users saved search administrators by removing the tw_admins security role from the ACTION_ADMINISTER_SHARED_SAVED_SEARCHES action policy.

To ensure compatibility, you can still use the saveAsName option in the deprecated /rest/bpm/wle/v1/search/query REST API from previous releases to create shared saved searches and modify shared saved searches that other users created. If you want all saved search editing to use the enhanced authorization rules of the new /rest/bpm/wle/v1/searches/tasks/saved_search_name REST APIs, you can disable the saveAsName option in the deprecated REST APIs from the previous release by setting the disable-search-query-save-as-name configuration property to true in the 100Custom.xml file.

Upgrading to Process Federation Server V8.5.7

Upgrade from Process Federation Server V8.5.6 to Process Federation Server V8.5.7. See Upgrading IBM Process Federation Server V8.5.6 to V8.5.7.