BPMN notations: Gateways & Artifact

1. Gateways In BPMN, gateways are symbols used to control the flow of execution within a process. They allow the process to branch, merge, or stop based on...

1. Gateways

In BPMN, gateways are symbols used to control the flow of execution within a process. They allow the process to branch, merge, or stop based on defined conditions and logic.

1.1 Exclusive Gateway

This gateway allows only one path to continue after evaluating conditions (similar to an OR gateway).
Examples:
- Determine if an order is eligible for delivery.
- Choose one of the available payment methods.

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1.2. Parallel Gateway

This gateway allows all paths to continue simultaneously.
Examples:
- Send an email notification to the customer and update information in the system.
- Start quality check activities in parallel.

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1.3. Inclusive Gateway

This gateway allows one or more paths to continue based on conditions.
Examples:
- Perform additional processing steps depending on the type of error that occurred.
- Send notifications to relevant departments based on their roles.

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1.4. Complex Gateway

This gateway allows for controlling the execution flow using complex logical expressions.
Examples:
- Choose the appropriate processing method based on a combination of multiple conditions.
- Repeat a loop until a desired condition is met.

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1.5. Event-based Gateway

This gateway allows the execution flow to continue when a specific event occurs.

Event-based gateways have multiple types based on the different events discussed in this post.
Examples:
- Start the process when a request is received from the customer.
- Wait for the payment event to be completed before proceeding to the next step.
Below is a gateway based on an Intermediate Multiple Event, waiting for one of three different events to occur and will "catch" the first event that is triggered:

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2. Artifact

An artifact is a symbol in BPMN used to describe additional elements in a process that don't directly affect the execution flow. It provides supplementary information to help readers better understand the process and the purpose of its elements.

There are three main types of artifacts in BPMN: Data Object, Group, and Text Annotation