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  1. OMG Issue

BPMN21 — Is a Choreography a type of Process?

  • Key: BPMN21-204
  • Legacy Issue Number: 15636
  • Status: open  
  • Source: craftware.net ( Eduardo Jara)
  • Summary:

    ANTECEDENTS:

    i) Chapter/Section 7.1.1. Page 23, it says:
    “There are three basic types of sub-models within an end-to-end BPMN model:
    Processes (Orchestration), including:
    Private non-executable (internal) Business Processes
    Private executable (internal) Business Processes
    Public Processes
    Choreographies
    Collaborations, which can include Processes and/or Choreographies
    A view of Conversations”
    -------------------------------------------------------------------

    ii) Chapter/Section 7.3. Page 41, it says:
    “The BPMN 2.0 aims to cover three basic models of Processes: private Processes (both executable and non-executable), public Processes, and Choreographies.”
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

    iii) Chapter/Section 9. Page 109, it says:
    “Collaborations … MAY include Processes within the Pools and/or Choreographies between the Pools”
    --------------------------------------------------------------------

    iv) Chapter/Section 11. Page 325, it says:
    “A Choreography is a type of process, but differs in purpose and behavior from a standard BPMN Process.”
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    v) Throughout the entire document.
    In several places it is used the expression “Choreography Process” instead of “Choreography”.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    COMMENTS:

    a) Classifications on pages 23 and 41 are different. It is not clear the difference between “types of sub-models within an end-to-end BPMN model” and “basic models of Processes”. In the first case “Choreographies are not Processes”, but in the second “Choreographies are Processes”.

    b) According to UML models “Choreographies are not Processes”. See Figure 9.1 (p 109), Figure 10.2 (p. 150) and Figure 11.1 (p. 326).

    c) Maybe in a broad sense a “Choreography IS a Process”. But the formal definitions (UML models in BPMN 2.0 specification) make a clear distinction between both concepts. Which ­ of course ­are tightly interrelated.

    SUGGESTIONS:

    Modify the classification on page 41 in order to be consistent with the classification on page 23.

    Replace “Choreography Process” by “Choreography”.

    On page 325 replace “A Choreography is a type of process, …” by “A Choreography is like a process, ..”

  • Reported: BPMN 2.0 — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 04:00 GMT
  • Updated: Fri, 6 Mar 2015 20:57 GMT