Converting heritage services

Convert heritage services into service flows that you can model in the Process Designer. Heritage services are services that were created in previous releases with the desktop Process Designer. For information about the artifacts that are created when you convert a heritage service, see Mapping heritage service artifacts to service flow artifacts. If the heritage service that you want to convert is an integration service with web service integrations , see Converting web service integrations.

About this task

Consider converting your heritage services for these reasons:
  • Converting a service creates the equivalent service flow in the Service Flow editor. This editor can add other services, events, and gateways to your service flow. In other words, your original service becomes the starting point for a more sophisticated service flow. The Service Flow editor is only available in the Process Designer. See Creating a service flow.
  • Conversion is simple, as shown in the following steps.
Some important points to consider when you convert your services:
  • Conversion is one way. After a heritage service is converted, you cannot undo the operation, so make sure you take a snapshot before you convert the service.
  • Through conversion, artifacts in the heritage service are replaced with their equivalent in the Service Flow editor. For example, a script node and an error end event in a general system service are converted into a script activity and an error end event in the resulting service flow.
    Important: After conversion, test the service flow to ensure that all artifacts are present, the logic is correct, and the service flow works as expected. Depending on the complexity of the heritage service submitted for conversion and on the available support, you can expect one of the following outcomes:
    • If the heritage service includes only artifacts that have a direct equivalent in the Service Flow editor, the conversion completes successfully and the service flow preserves the logic of the initial heritage service.
    • If there are artifacts for which there is no equivalent in the Service Flow editor, the conversion replaces the unsupported artifacts with placeholder Service Task activities. Edit the service flow in the Process Designer as needed to make sure it implements the logic of the initial service correctly.
    • If the logic of the heritage service is not supported by the service flow, unsupported artifacts might be lost during conversion. In some rare cases, conversion might not occur.
  • Conversion of a heritage service is done at the process application or toolkit level. Artifacts in dependent toolkits are not converted automatically. You must open the dependent toolkit and convert the artifacts manually, or you can use the Toolkit Dependencies section in the Service Conversion page. A dependent toolkit with converted services can be easily added to your process application. In the Toolkits library navigation, find the toolkit and select the option to upgrade the dependency.
    Tip: Services that are included in system toolkits have a dual nature, which allows them to behave as both their traditional flow types (integration, general system, decision) and as service flows. For example, you can open an integration service in the System Data toolkit either as its traditional integration flow in the desktop Process Designer or as a service flow in the web Process Designer.

Procedure

  1. Open the process application or toolkit.
  2. Open the Process App Settings or Toolkit Settings editor.
  3. In the Service Conversion tab, select the services that you want to convert and click Convert.
    To ensure that a snapshot is created before conversion, Create a snapshot before converting is selected by default in the Convert Heritage Services dialog.
    You are reminded that editing your converted service flow is done in the Process Designer.
    Important: Only services that can be converted are listed for selection. Some services that have been created in earlier products such as Teamworks or WebSphere® Lombardi Edition cannot be converted into service flows, and are therefore not displayed. In the desktop Process Designer, these services are listed in the category User Interface under Services and they are displayed with the icon of a general system service.

    If you have such a service, you can use the desktop Process Designer to convert it to either a heritage human service (if it contains coaches), otherwise convert it to a general system service. Alternatively, you could consider rewriting your legacy services to take advantage of newer features such as client-side human services and coach views using the BPM UI toolkit.

  4. Click Finish.
    A message states the number of converted services, confirms that the pre-conversion snapshot was created, and suggests you check your converted services in the Service Flow editor.
    If you see references in toolkits, convert the references, as discussed in Converting deprecated functions.
  5. After conversion, test the service flows, make all the necessary edits in the Process Designer, and re-test to ensure that the service flows work correctly.
  6. Click Services in the library to see your converted services.

Results

Since a converted service is a service flow, all your former services regardless of type are listed as service flows. Suppose that you converted a general system service that is called Tax Bracket Rules and an Integration service called Corporate Tax Regulations. You would then have two service flows: Tax Bracket Rules and Corporate Tax Regulations.

Service conversion is part of two other conversions that are necessary to start working with your applications in the web Process Designer:
  • Converting Business Process Definitions (BPDs) to processes: To continue developing your BPDs with the Process Designer, which includes features that are not found in the desktop editor, you must convert your BPDs. To convert your BPDs, see Converting BPDs to processes.
  • Converting deprecated functions: The Process Designer extends your processes to run on mobile devices such as tablets and cell phones. Your older and deprecated functions must be converted to work with these newer devices. To convert your deprecated functions, see Converting deprecated functions.