1. Introduction to
Activiti
Jeff Potts
1

2. Tom Baeyens
• Founder
of
Ac.vi.
&
jBPM
• Passionate
about
Java
and
BPM
Joram Barrez
• Ex-core developer JBoss jBPM
• Core
developer
Ac.vi.
2

3. Agenda
• What is Activiti?
• What is BPMN 2.0?
• BPM for business people
• BPM for developers
• Example / demo
3

4. What is Activiti?
• Apache licensed BPMN 2.0 engine
• BPM for business
and
IT
people
• Process
defini.ons
as
input
• Boxes and arrows
• Execution flow
• Manages executions
• Execute automatic steps
• While waiting,
persist execution state
4

5. What is Activiti
Ac.vi.
Java
Applica.ons
Modeler
Ac.vi.
Designer
Ac.vi.
Ac.vi.
Probe
Engine
Ac.vi.
Explorer
Ac.vi.
REST
interface
Cycle
iPhone
Android
Explorer
Explorer
5

6. What is Activiti
Ac.vi.
Java
Applica.ons
Modeler
Ac.vi.
Designer
Ac.vi.
Ac.vi.
Probe
Engine
Ac.vi.
Explorer
Ac.vi.
REST
interface
Cycle
iPhone
Android
Explorer
Explorer
6

7. BPMN 2.0
• OMG standard
• Shapes
• Execution semantics
• File format
• First pure play BPM standard
• General endorsement
7

8. BPM for business people
• BPM as a management discipline
• BPM as software engineering
8

9. 1. Simplify business-IT collaboration
Software Project
Requirements • Java
• XML
• Buildscripts
Non-tech • Tests
Business • …
Analyst Developer
Analyst
Developer
Tomcat Activiti Your
JDK 5 App
JBoss
…
Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL
9

10. 1. Simplify business-IT collaboration
• Abstract business process
• Drawing
• No technical details
• Executable business process
• Drawing
• Technical details
• Executable on a BPM System
10

11. 1. Simplify business-IT collaboration
Process
Business Collaboration
Intelligence
Analyst
Developer
Developer
Sys admin Deploy Developer
11

12. 1. Simplify business-IT collaboration
 Shared
network
drive
 Doc
mgmt
system
 Abstract
process
models
 Doc
mgmt
system
Analyst  Abstract
process
models
 JIRA
 SVN
Sys admin  Maven
repo
Developer
Developer
 Doc
mgmt
system
Developer
 Maven
repo
 DB
instances
 Tomcat
instances
 Ac.vi.
instances
12

13. 1. Simplify business-IT collaboration
• Unified concept of repositories and artifacts
• Repository
• Tree structure
• Containing artifacts
• Artifacts
• Different types
• Links to other artifacts
• Links to people
13

14. 1. Simplify business-IT collaboration
• Network drive
• Word docs, PDFs, Screenshots
• Signavio
model
repository
Analyst
• BPMN process models
• Jira
• Issues
• SVN (code, projects)
• Java code
Devel • Executable process models
oper • Rules
Developer
• Forms
• Maven
repo
(deployable
ar.facts)
• Jar, War, Ear files
• Tomcat instances
• DB instances
Develo • Activiti instances
per
Sys admin
14

15. BPM for developers
• Embeds in
• Your database Software Project
• Your transaction
• Your domain model
• Your Spring
configura.on
Tomcat Activiti Your
JDK 5 App
JBoss
…
Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL
15

16. Simple
• Activiti Engine is “just” a jar file
• Power to the developer
• Intuitive API
• Activiti tables next to your app’s tables
• Transaction integration
• Spring integration
• Great docs and examples
• Spec 500 pages vs simple user guide
16

17. Community
• Alfresco
• Apache licensed jBPM replacement
• SpringSource
• Signavio
• Camunda
• MuleSoft
• Next Level Integration
• Mimacom
• Tijs Rademakers & Co (Eclipse designer plugin)
• Yuri Horbach (iPhone / iPad)
• Lim Chee Kin (Grails plugin)
• And growing
17

18. Activiti Eclipse designer
• Initiative started by Tijs, Ron, Yvo and Tiese
• Activiti extension support, BPMN 2.0 validation,
hierarchical modeling
18

19. Demo!