Modeling Roles

During modeling, you define which role(s) are allowed to execute a particular process step. In other words, you model the permissions that control which users may work on which parts of the process. Use element Lane in the BPMN editor to define related roles that apply to all process steps within that lane.

Using Lanes

If you want to model role-based applications, you need to use lanes. Drag & drop the element from the BPMN elements toolbar to the diagram pane:

Basic rules for modeling with lanes are:

• All BPMN elements within a lane can only be executed by users with the appropriate role, that is, users who have the required permissions.

• Process steps that do not require special permission can be modeled either in lanes without roles or outside of lanes.

Lane Handling

To activate the lane element, click its border or header:

If the element is active, an indicator is displayed in the lower right corner and the border of the element is thicker:

Assigning Roles to Lanes

The usage of lanes is only indicated when you want to create a role-based process. In that case, you use a lane to assign one or more roles to it and thereby define the permissions for executing the process steps in that lane. The following section explains how to assign roles to lanes.

When you click Roles in the attributes panel, a separate editor will open where you can assign existing roles and create new ones:

In the role editor, you have two options:

• You can add an already existing role.

• You can create a new role.

Adding an Existing Role

When you open the role editor, it already contains an empty line. Start typing the name of the role your are seaching for in field Role. The field has an autocomplete function. As soon as you start typing, a drop-down list is displayed containing all available roles that match your input:

Select the role you want to use.

In the next step you need to assign the rights that grant the correponding permissions to the role owner. Available options are:

You can continue to add further roles (or create new ones, see below) as multiple roles can be assigned to one lane. When you have finished, save your changes to apply them to the lane:

The number of roles assigned to a lane is displayed in the attributes panel:

You have to open the user management, to assign a role to users:

For a detailed description on how to assign roles to users, refer to Assigning Roles.

Creating a New Role

Click New Role to create a new role and assign it to the lane element:

Enter the name of the new role in the pop-up window. The input is mandatory:

If the role name is already in use, you will not be able to save. Use the existing role instead (see Adding an Existing Role below):

Save to create the role:

The new role is now added to the role editor and assigned to the current lane:

In the next step you need to assign the rights that will be granted to the role owner:

Available options are:

You can continue to create further roles (or add already existing ones, see below) as multiple roles can be assigned to one lane. When you have finished, save your changes to apply them to the lane:

The number of roles assigned to a lane is displayed in the attributes panel:

The new role has also been added to the user management. You have to open the user management, to assign the new role to users (refer to Assigning Roles for details):

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