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hierarchyenterprise-architectbpmn

Sparx Enterprise Architect EA: Hierarchical structure of models (BPMN)


Is there a best practice in Sparx to model the following scenario?

I have several business processes modelled with BPMN. Most of the pools and lanes are identical.

Question: Is it better to have each process including his copy of the pools and lanes and activities, as shown in the image? Or would it be better to have an external collection - each pool and lane is in one central location, the tasks are collected there - and the diagram simply show the different processes while reusing some of the activities?

current structure


Solution

  • This is not only the best practice, it is also mandatory.

    Pools are owned by the Business Process, and Lanes are owned by the pools.

    Reuse is achieved by assigning the same PartnerRole or PartnerEntity to the pools

    enter image description here

    or, in case of lanes assigning the same PartitionElementRef

    enter image description here

    Bonus: If you do it like this you can leave the names of the Pools and Elements empty. They will automatically show the name of the linked PartnerRole/PartnerEntity/PartitionElemenetRef in the diagrams. So no more headaches in case such a name changes.