after some more experimentation i am able to change variables by explicitly saving the token variable map. for example, to update a date variable: Token rootToken = processInstance.getRootToken(); contextInstance.setVariable("timeNow", new Date(), rootToken); saveHibernateObject(contextInstance.getTokenVariableMap(rootToken)); so it appear to be just a hibernate cascade issue or something. or is this just the way it needs to be done? thanks. david f. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4084830#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...