Parent process deployment does not link process-state with subprocess definition -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Key: JBPM-457 URL: http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBPM-457 Project: JBoss jBPM Issue Type: Bug Components: Core Engine Reporter: Eduardo Jimenez Assigned To: Tom Baeyens Priority: Critical Fix For: jBPM jPDL 3.2.2 From the ProcessState code: Code: if (jbpmSession != null) { // now, we must be able to find the sub-process if (subProcessName != null) { // if the name and the version are specified if (subProcessVersion != null) { try { int version = Integer.parseInt(subProcessVersion); // select that exact process definition as the subprocess definition subProcessDefinition = jbpmSession.getGraphSession().findProcessDefinition(subProcessNam e, version); } catch (NumberFormatException e) { jpdlReader.addWarning("version in process-state was not a number: " + processStateElement.asXML()); } } else { // if only the name is specified // select the latest version of that process as the subprocess // definition subProcessDefinition = jbpmSession.getGraphSession().findLatestProcessDefinition(subProces sName); } } else { jpdlReader.addWarning("no sub-process name specified in process-state " + processStateElement.asXML()); } } if there is no session open, it simply won't look for the parent process. Now, from the ProcessArchiveDeployer: Code: public static void deployZipInputStream(ZipInputStream zipInputStream, JbpmSessionFactory jbpmSessio nFactory) { ProcessDefinition processDefinition = ProcessDefinition.parseParZipInputStream(zipInputStream); deployProcessDefinition(processDefinition, jbpmSessionFactory); } It reads the process definition first, then calls deploy, which opens the first jbpmSession!!!. The session must be open first before attempting to deploy!. Now, you might say, use the ant task, but the bug is still there: Code: private void deploy(File file, JbpmSessionFactory jbpmSessionFactory) throws IOException, FileNotFou ndException { ZipInputStream zipInputStream = new ZipInputStream(new FileInputStream(file)); ProcessArchiveDeployer.deployZipInputStream(zipInputStream,jbpmSessionFactory); } See, the ant task doens't open a jbpmSession either, so its up to ProcessArchiveDeployer.deployZipInputStream() to do it, which is the same method I'm having an issue with. Examining ProcessArchiveDeployer, every way of deploying a process would have the same problem.