Using a shared component in a process diagram

Shared components are reusable process elements that you can use across multiple process diagrams to represent common activities, gateways, or events. Shared components are defined in the glossary, and you can link to them from your process diagram.

Before you begin

Glossary managers must create shared components before you can integrate these components into your process diagrams. For more information, see Creating and managing shared components.

Adding a shared component to a process

To use a shared component in a process diagram, complete the following steps:
  1. In your process diagram, insert a new activity, gateway, or event.
  2. Right-click this new element and select Link to Shared Component.
  3. Select the shared component that you want to use from the list of available components.
    Your activity now has the shared component's name and all its details and associated attributes.
    Note: Only shared components of the same type as the selected element are displayed. If the component already has properties that are defined, they are replaced by the shared component properties.
  4. You can edit the following attributes of a shared component in each process diagram:
    • Participant: The participant property is determined by the swimlane placement in your specific process diagram.
      Note: Other shared components' properties are read-only and can be edited only in the glossary.
    • Color: You can change the color without affecting other instances.

To see which process diagrams use a shared component, open the shared component in the glossary and click the Where Used tab.

Updating a shared component link

To make a shared component point to a different shared component, complete the following steps:
  1. Right-click the shared component in your process diagram.
  2. Click Update Shared Component Link.
  3. Select the shared component that you want to use from the list of available components.

Converting to a standard component

If you need to customize a shared component for a specific process, you can convert it to a standard component. This detaches the component from the glossary definition.

To convert a shared component, complete the following steps:
  1. Right-click the shared component in your process diagram.
  2. Click Unlink Shared Component.
  3. In the confirmation window, click Unlink.

The component becomes a standard component that you can edit independently. Changes to the original shared component in the glossary no longer affect this component.

Editing a shared component

Glossary managers can edit a shared component from the glossary, in the Shared components tab. In the list of shared components, click the name of the component that you want to edit and make your changes. These changes are automatically applied to all process diagrams that use this shared component.
Note: To access this view directly from a process diagram, select the element that is linked to a shared component and open its Details. In the Shared components section, click the Edit icon.

Shared components cannot be edited directly from process diagrams.

For more information about managing shared components, see Creating and managing shared components.