Creating and managing shared components

Shared components are reusable process elements that glossary managers define once in the glossary and make available for use across multiple process diagrams and spaces. Updates that you make to a shared component automatically apply to all processes that use this component.

Overview

Shared components help you maintain consistency across processes that use common elements and reduce the effort required to update these elements. For example, if you have an order-to-delivery process that contains many identical activities but also some activities that are specific to different countries, you can create the common activities as shared components. When you need to update a common element that appears in multiple processes, you update it once in the glossary instead of updating each process individually.

You can create shared components for the following element types:
  • Activities of the type "Task"
  • Gateways
  • Events

Shared components are stored in the glossary and can be linked to process diagrams. When a shared component is used in a process diagram, it inherits all properties from the glossary definition, ensuring consistency across your account.

All users can view and use shared components in process diagrams. Only users with glossary management permissions can create, edit, or delete shared components in the glossary.

For information about managing glossary permissions, see Managing glossary access and contents.

Creating a shared component

To create a shared component, you must be a glossary manager. Complete the following steps:
  1. From the Library page, click the Glossary tab.
  2. Click the Shared Components tab.
  3. Click Add and select the type of component that you want to create.
  4. In the window that opens, click the default element title to edit the title.
  5. Enter any relevant properties, problems, documentation, policies, or attachments to be reused in this shared component.
    Note: The Participant property is not available for shared components. The participant is determined by the swimlane placement in each process diagram.
  6. Close the pop-up window. Your shared component is automatically saved and visible in the list of shared components.
  7. In the list, next to the component that you created, select the Visible checkbox to make it visible and usable to other editors in process diagrams.
Note: Shared components cannot be converted to linked processes or subprocesses.

Managing a shared component

From the glossary, click Shared components to see the list of existing shared components and check their usage or make a change.

  • To see where a shared component is used, click the Where UsedWhere Used button icon in the row for the relevant component.

    You can see the processes that use this shared component and in which spaces they are located.

  • To edit a component, click your component name and edit the relevant properties or elements. Close the pop-up window to save your changes.

    Updates are automatically applied to all process diagrams that use the shared component. Shared components cannot be edited directly from process diagrams.

Deleting a shared component

  1. To delete a shared component, go to the Library > Glossary tab.
  2. In the row for the shared component, click Remove.
  3. In the confirmation window, click Delete.

When you delete a shared component from the glossary, all instances in process diagrams are automatically converted to standard components. The components remain in your process diagrams with their current properties but are no longer linked to the glossary.

What to do next

To add a shared component to a process, you need to add a task, gateway, or event to your process diagram and link it to an existing shared component. For more information, see Using a shared component in a process diagram.