Kris Verlaenen <kris.verlaenen <at> cs.kuleuven.be> writes:
Kris thanks a lot for your answers they're very helpfull.
Is there a way to render the process model more user friendly toward
> more 'business' people ? [...] A graphical editor would be very
> nice.
Oups ! I made an english mistake here :)
I was thinking about the data model that you use within the process. It seems
to me that with Drools you must use JavaBeans that you define using Eclipse
standard tools. Meaning you have to generate getter/setter, etc... You don't
have a graphical representation of your beans and their relationship. Compared
to what you have when you work with BPEL tools where you work with a graphical
tool to define your data...
I wished there was a graphical tool to design the data model that you will be
using in your process so that it was more accessible for business people. It's
not a problem for Java IT people, though a specific tool for it would increase
productivity still.
Maybe this tool exists somewhere ? I didn't found one yet. I'd hate to have to
plug-in a UML or GMF/DSL modeling tool + generator just for designing the
JavaBeans.
By the way what is the better approach : using a global
JavaBean 'processModel' Object where you plug all the data that you need in
the process or using multiple variable ?
I'm still not set on whether it's better to generate 'state' variable
(shouldProcessStop, isProcessEnded, isCustomerIdentified, etc...) that would
be calculated through rules or actions nodes and then used in constraints or
if I should try to 'evaluate' those status in the constraints themselves.
Having the rules engine close by opens new dimension on BPM compared to jBPM...
There is an Eclipse plugin that allows you to query for human tasks
and
complete them, for testing purposes. Similarly, there is a simple Swing
GUI that can be used to see the work items generated by the process and
complete them:
Is it part of the Drools release ? Or an aditional tool ?
A huge thanks for your answers, I'm really looking forward using Drools for
BPM ; discovering this module was a really pleasant surprise...