Thanks. Yes I could see the error in the stack trace - but it means nothing to me, hence the request for assistance on the forum for ideas or suggestions to resolve the error. I have used nothing other than what is in the starter kit - and have copied the example from the user guide about the various methods etc for creating a process definition by parsing some XML (I even used the simple xml example in the user guide). If anyone has any constructive suggestions - that would be most helpful. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4004286#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...