Integrating gateways
For non-linear processes, which contain more than one branch, gateways can be used. The behavior of a gateway is defined by so-called routing rules.
A gateway is a function with 5 inputs and 5 outputs. Routing rules indicate the condition to generate one or multiple tokens at one or several outputs of the gateway.
Function inputs are numbered from 1 to 5 and function outputs from 11 to 15. Those numbers are used during the configuration of the gateway.
Extending a process definition with a gateway
To integrate a gateway in a process:
In the Process Automation app, extend the process definition with a Generic Gateway function.
Drag the Generic Gateway function from the functions sidebar to the workspace and connect it to the relevant tasks/functions.
Note
Make sure the entry point of your process is still a start event and the end point is an end event.
Build a JSON string representing the routing rules. See routing rules.
In the Profiles module, create a profile instance that applies the PA GW profile definition and store the serialized routing rules in the PA GW RoutingRules parameter.
In the Process Automation app, launch the process definition configuration wizard and select the previously created profile instance when you configure the gateway node.
Routing rules
The PA GW RoutingRules parameter of a profile instance can contain a set of ordered rules, with the option to skip the remaining rules as soon as a rule matches.
A rule contains one or multiple conditions comparing the field value of the process DOM instance or user DOM instance to fixed values.
Routing rule JSON object
RoutingRule object
| Name | Type | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation | string (discrete) | Possible values: - First Matching: The evaluation will stop when the first rule has a match. - All Matching: All rules will be evaluated. Only triggered if all of the conditions match. |
| Rules | Rule[] | See Rule object. |
Rule object
| Name | Type | Information |
|---|---|---|
| SequenceId | int | Needs to be unique. |
| Description | string | Description for developers. |
| OutgoingInterfaceIds | int[] | Value: 11, 12, 13, 14, and/or 15. The list of all the output interface IDs that this rule has to generate a token for. These represent the outgoing interfaces that need to be triggered when this rule matches. |
| DoTagTokens | bool | Value: true or false Used on a split gateway to tag all tokens generated from the same incoming token with the same unique identifier. On the associated merge gateway, only tokens with the same tag will be considered together for evaluating routing rules. |
| Conditions | RoutingCondition[] | See RoutingCondition object. |
RoutingCondition object
| Name | Type | Information |
|---|---|---|
| IncomingGatewayKeyName | nullable string | Value: "*", null, or another value. Null or "*" means any incoming gateway key name. If you use a DOM field, this is entirely ignored, so this will most likely be null. |
| Value | string | The value that will be used to validate a DOM field against. |
| Operation | string (discrete) | Possible values: - any: The incoming gateway key name and value are ignored. - equal: The operation will match when the incoming value matches the Value field. When a DOM field is specified, the DOM field will be checked instead of the incoming gateway key name. |
| IncomingInterfaceId | int | Value: -1, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. -1 represents all interfaces. |
| DomField | IncomingDomField | See IncomingDomField object. |
IncomingDomField object
| Name | Type | Information |
|---|---|---|
| FieldDescriptorId | string | The GUID of the field descriptor defined in the section definition of the DOM definition. |
| SectionDefinitionId | string | The GUID of the section definition that the field descriptor belongs to. |
| UserDomInstance | string | The label of the activity from the process definition where the user task is generated. When this is defined, a user DOM instance will be processed instead of the process DOM instance. |
Below you can find examples of the possible routing rules.
General example
{
"Evaluation": "First Matching",
"Rules": [{
"SequenceId": 1,
"Description": "Generate a token on each outgoing interface",
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [],
"DoTagTokens": true,
"Conditions": [{
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": "*",
"Value": "*",
"Operation": "any",
"IncomingInterfaceId": -1
},
"DomField": {
"FieldDescriptorId": "9a15783b-ccc0-4d8f-9574-0870c55f4a73",
"SectionDefinitionId": "5d6c39ed-f616-4ad2-b311-28e39d52505a"
}
]
}
]
}
Parallel split example
{
"Evaluation": "First Matching",
"Rules": [{
"SequenceId": 1,
"Description": "Generate a token on each outgoing interface",
"Conditions": [{
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": "*",
"Value": "*",
"Operation": "any",
"IncomingInterfaceId": -1
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [],
"DoTagTokens": true
}
]
}
Exclusive split examples
Example 1: Process DOM instance
{
"Evaluation": "First Matching",
"Rules": [{
"SequenceId": 1,
"Description": "Generate a token on first output (ID11) in case the Field Value in the Process DOM Instance is equal to OK",
"Conditions": [{
"DomField": {
"FieldDescriptorId": "9a15783b-ccc0-4d8f-9574-0870c55f4a73",
"SectionDefinitionId": "5d6c39ed-f616-4ad2-b311-28e39d52505a"
},
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": null,
"Value": "OK",
"Operation": "equal",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 1
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [11],
"DoTagTokens": false
}, {
"SequenceId": 2,
"Description": "Generate a token on second output(ID 12) in case the Field Value in the Process DOM Instance is equal to NOK ",
"Conditions": [{
"DomField": {
"FieldDescriptorId": "9a15783b-ccc0-4d8f-9574-0870c55f4a73",
"SectionDefinitionId": "5d6c39ed-f616-4ad2-b311-28e39d52505a"
},
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": null,
"Value": "NOK",
"Operation": "equal",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 1
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [12],
"DoTagTokens": false
}
]
}
Example 2: User DOM instance
{
"Evaluation": "First Matching",
"Rules": [{
"SequenceId": 1,
"Description": "Generate a token on first output (ID11) in case the Field Value in the Process DOM Instance is equal to OK",
"Conditions": [{
"DomField": {
"UserDomInstance": "Main"
"FieldDescriptorId": "9a15783b-ccc0-4d8f-9574-0870c55f4a73",
"SectionDefinitionId": "5d6c39ed-f616-4ad2-b311-28e39d52505a"
},
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": null,
"Value": "OK",
"Operation": "equal",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 1
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [11],
"DoTagTokens": false
}, {
"SequenceId": 2,
"Description": "Generate a token on second output(ID 12) in case the Field Value in the Process DOM Instance is equal to NOK ",
"Conditions": [{
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": null,
"Value": "NOK",
"Operation": "equal",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 1
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [12],
"DoTagTokens": false
}
]
}
Inclusive split example
{
"Evaluation": "All Matching",
"Rules": [{
"SequenceId": 1,
"Description": "Generate a token on first output (ID11) in case the Field Value X in the Process DOM Instance is equal to OK",
"Conditions": [{
"DomField": {
"FieldDescriptorId": "9a15783b-ccc0-4d8f-9574-0870c55f4a73",
"SectionDefinitionId": "5d6c39ed-f616-4ad2-b311-28e39d52505a"
},
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": null,
"Value": "OK",
"Operation": "equal",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 1
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [11],
"DoTagTokens": false
}, {
"SequenceId": 2,
"Description": "Generate a token on second output(ID 12) in case the Field Value Y in the Process DOM Instance is equal to No",
"Conditions": [{
"DomField": {
"FieldDescriptorId": "ff15785b-5550-4d52-5146-045255f54993",
"SectionDefinitionId": "aa6c33dd-f616-4ad2-b311-20e42d5320ff"
},
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": null,
"Value": "No",
"Operation": "equal",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 1
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [12],
"DoTagTokens": false
}
]
}
Parallel merge examples
Example 1
{
"Evaluation": "All Matching",
"Rules": [{
"SequenceId": 1,
"Description": "Generate a token as soon as we have received a token on each of the 2 incoming interfaces",
"Conditions": [{
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": "*",
"Value": "*",
"Operation": "any",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 1
}, {
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": "*",
"Value": "*",
"Operation": "any",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 2
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [11],
"DoTagTokens": false
}
]
}
Example 2
{
"Evaluation": "All Matching",
"Rules": [{
"SequenceId": 1,
"Description": "Generate a token as soon as we have received an incoming token on input 1 and 2",
"Conditions": [{
"DomField": {
"FieldDescriptorId": "ff15785b-5550-4d52-5146-045255f54993",
"SectionDefinitionId": "aa6c33dd-f616-4ad2-b311-20e42d5320ff"
},
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": null,
"Value": "OK",
"Operation": "equal",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 1
}, {
"DomField": {
"FieldDescriptorId": "9a15783b-ccc0-4d8f-9574-0870c55f4a73",
"SectionDefinitionId": "5d6c39ed-f616-4ad2-b311-28e39d52505a "
},
"IncomingGatewayKeyName": null,
"Value": "OK",
"Operation": "equal",
"IncomingInterfaceId": 2
}
],
"OutgoingInterfaceIds": [11],
"DoTagTokens": false
}
]
}