Everything that you interact with in the process modeler is an Element. The Process Modeler contains many stencils filled with many different types of elements. Most of the elements in the Process Modeler are for use on the diagram, such as the “Activity” and “Decision” element types. Some elements, such as the “Requirements” element, are not used on the diagram. Instead they are related to other elements by making simple drag-and-drop assignments.
The diagram itself is also an element. This is useful if you want to define a process that has a series of sub-processes. A diagram element representing a sub-process can be placed within the flow of a higher level diagram. This enables you to create a layered, top-down view of your processes and makes it easy for others to navigate directly from one diagram to another.
One of the key strengths of the Process Modeler is it's ability to reuse elements across multiple diagrams. This means that an element created and used on one diagram can be selected from the Project Navigator and dragged onto a different diagram. This is powerful because any changes that are made to that specific element will be automatically reflected on both diagrams.
Elements can be created in a variety of ways.
- Dragging a stencil shape from the stencil onto a diagram.
A new “Untitled” element will be created and stored in the default folder location for the selected element type. The name and location of the newly created element can be easily modified in the element properties editor.
- Clicking on an element type from the right element toolbar.
A dialog will appear for you to give the new element a name and a folder name in the project navigator. The right elements bar contains the most commonly used elements.
- Selecting an element type from the “Elements” menu.
This is similar to selecting an element from the right element toolbar. A dialog will appear for you to give the new element a name and a folder name in the project navigator. The elements menu contains many more elements to choose from than the right elements bar.
- Right clicking on the project navigator.
The project navigator's context menu contains options for creating new elements. When you right-click on the project navigator and select a new element option a dialog will appear for you to give the new element a name. The folder name will already be filled out based on where you right-clicked in the project navigator.
Element reuse is a powerful feature of the Process Modeler and can drastically reduce document maintenance time by eliminating content duplication and subsequent manual updating and synchronization of duplicated content. To reuse an existing element on a new diagram, select the element from the Project Navigator and drag it onto the target diagram.
Elements are much more than simply a shape on a diagram. Each element is capable of storing all kinds of valuable information. When you click on an element in a diagram, it's details will be displayed in the element properties editor below the diagram. This editor will help you collect specific information that is used to describe the element in more detail.
The element properties editor can have multiple panels to capture specific pieces of data. To switch between panels, click on the desired tab at the bottom of the properties editor. The editor may show different tabs, panels and fields depending on the element type you are currently viewing.
Elements are related to each other in many different ways. Elements such as requirements, people, groups and roles can be dragged from the project navigator and dropped on to other elements to create different types of relationships.
To create a generic relationship between two elements, you can drag-and-drop one element into the Related Elements table of another element. The related elements table is found on the Elements Details tab of the Elements Properties window. Simply drag any element from the Project Navigator onto the Related Elements table to create the relationship.
The primary way to view and interact with all of the elements in a project is through the Project Navigator. The project navigator shows all of the elements in the project. If you want to edit the details of an element simply double-click on the element in the project navigator. To add an existing element to a diagram select the element from the navigator and drag it on to the target diagram.
If you want to remove an element from a diagram, click on the element to select it, then hit the “Delete” key. This will remove the element from the diagram, but will not permanently delete the element from the project navigator.
If you want to permanently delete an element from the project, right-click on the element in the project navigator and then select “Delete” from the right-click menu.
To get a different view of the elements in your project you can use the Related Elements view or the Reverse Lookup view. To display these views click on the “View” menu and then either click on the “View Related Elements” or “View Reverse Lookup” option.
The Related Elements view will show you all the elements that the currently selected element is related to.
Figure 4.3. View Related Elements
The Reverse Lookup view will show you all the elements that are related to the currently selected element.
Figure 4.4. View Reverse Lookup
The Process Modeler makes it easy to leverage existing documentation by linking a file or Web page URL to an element. Existing files (such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF documents, and images) can be easily linked to any element, similar to adding an attachment to an email. You can just as easily create hyperlinks to Web page URLs.
To link a file or Web page URL to an element, click the Link button in the top-right corner of the of the properties editor or select “Insert Hyperlink” from the “Edit” menu. Press the “File” button in the dialog box, then select the file you wish to link to. Alternatively, you can paste in a Web page URL in the "Path / URL" field. A link to the specified resource will be automatically included in your generated documentation.
If an image file is linked to an element it will be visible in your generated documentation.
A requirement element is a special type of element specifically designed to document and track requirement information. Along with the standard fields on the "Element Overview" tab of the element properties editor, additional information such as the requirement's status and type can be captured and maintained. Requirement elements can be dragged onto another element's requirements table to link specific requirements to specific elements.
A benefit of doing this is that if a requirement changes you only need to change the requirement in one place and that change will be automatically carried through to all of the elements that are linked to the updated requirement. Another nice feature is the requirement panel view, which lists all of the elements that are linked to each requirement. To see this view select the View Requirements option from the View menu.
The role, group and person elements are special elements that are used to associate people with other elements. These elements can be dragged on to other elements to do things like assign and track ownership of a particular requirement, process or activity.
A person element is used to represent a named individual. This element type is able to store supervisor and contact information.
A role is usually a job title or job function. For instance a fork lift operator may be a role. A role can have both owners and assigned personnel. Roles are helpful because they are more general than a person element. For example, an activity could have a receiving clerk role as the assigned owner instead of one or more named individuals. If the receiving clerk is replaced by a new employee, this activity does not need to be modified. Only the role's list of assigned personnel would need to be updated.
A group element is used to represent a collection of people. A group is similar to a role, only it contains fewer fields on the "Element Details" tab. Like roles, groups can also have owners and assigned personnel. Groups are generally used to represent specifics departments or teams within a company. Instead of assigning a role as the owner of a specific element you can use a group.
The ownership panel will show you all the elements that each person, group and role is directly responsible for. To see this view select the View Ownership option from the View menu.
A note element is a general purpose element used to capture and display additional information on a diagram. A note can be reused on multiple diagrams just like any other element. Using a note on a diagram is generally more useful than just using plain text because the note will be included in generated documentation.
