Modeling and Implementation Guide for Oracle Business Process Management
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15 Working with Services and References

This chapter describes the different service and reference components that you can use in Oracle BPM. It describes how these appear in the business catalog and how the components in the business catalog relates to the SOA Composite that defines these services and references. It also describes how to customize these components to make them easier to understand and more appropriate for Business Analysts.

This chapter includes the following sections:

15.1 Introduction to Services and References

Some flow objects in Oracle BPM require you to define a service or a reference to implement them. You can define services and references in the SOA Composite in your BPM project.

The business catalog retrieves the services and references from the SOA Composite. When you add a new component in the Exposed Services or References areas in the Composite, it automatically appears in the corresponding predefined module in the business catalog.

The following SOA components appear as services or references in the business catalog:

15.1.1 Introduction to Services

Services are those components that you can use to implement your BPMN process.

The Services predefined module stores the components that display a service handle in the SOA Composite.

You can use services to implement the following flow objects:

15.1.2 Introduction to References

References are the interfaces that you can use to define the interface of your BPMN processes.

The References predefined module stores the components that display a reference handle in the SOA Composite.

You can use references to define the process interface using the following flow objects:

15.1.3 Introduction to Callbacks

If a service is asynchronous and contains a callback operation, then the component in the business catalog contains a callback inner component. The callback inner component groups all the callback operations in the service.

After selecting the service component in the business catalog, you can view a list of the operations in the callback component in the Structure window.

The implementation of message events and receive tasks configured to wait for a callback from the service, only allow you to select an operation from the callback inner component of the corresponding service.

Figure 15-1 Service with callback operation


15.2 Introduction to Service Adapters in Oracle BPM

Service Adapters enable you to integrate with other applications and external services. Oracle BPM supports the use of Service Adapters to integrate your BPMN process with external applications, legacy applications and external services such as FTP or databases.

Oracle BPM supports Service Adapters for the following technologies:

For a detailed description of Service Adapters see:

When you add an SOA Service Adapter to the SOA Composite of a BPM project, the service adapter automatically appears in the business catalog. The business catalog stores the SOA Service Adapters in different modules depending on the swimlane of the SOA Composite where you added the SOA Service Adapter:

Depending on the nature of the Service Adapter, the SOA Composite allows you to add the components in the different swimlanes. For example, you must add a file adapter that contains a read operation in the Exposed Services swimlane. But if the file adapter contains a write operation, you must add it in the External References swimlane.

Figure 15-2 shows an SOA Composite that contains a file adapter with read operation and a file adapter with a write operation. Note that the file adapter that contains the write operation appear under the Services predefined module in the business catalog, while the file adapter that contains the read operation appears under the References predefined module.

The business catalog stores Service Adapters under the External module within the Services or References predefined modules. The Service Adapter is represented as a node, if you select the Structure window displays the operations it contains. If the Service Adapter is configured as asynchronous then the Structure window also displays the callback inner object.

Figure 15-2 Adapter Services in Oracle BPM


15.3 Introduction to Oracle Mediators in Oracle BPM

Oracle Mediators facilitate the communication between the components within a composite application, these components include BPMN processes.

You can use Oracle Mediator in a BPM project in the following use cases:

Figure 15-3 Mediator Components in the Business Catalog


When you add a mediator to the SOA Composite the business catalog generates the following components:

Figure 15-4 shows a BPEL process that invokes a BPMN process through a Mediator. Note that the service handle of the Mediator connects to the BPEL process and the reference handle connects to the BPMN process.

Figure 15-4 BPEL Process Using a Mediator to Invoke a BPMN Process


For more information on SOA Mediators, see part Using the Oracle Mediator Service Component in Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle SOA Suite.

15.4 Introduction to BPEL Processes in Oracle BPM

BPEL processes enable you to model a business process using a standard different from BPMN. Depending on the nature of the process, some processes might be easier to implement in one of the two technologies. Oracle BPM enables you to integrate the BPEL and BPMN processes in your project, leveraging the best of the two standards.

When you add a BPEL process to the SOA Composite the business catalog generates the following components:

For more information on BPEL Processes, see part Using the BPEL Process Service Component in Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle SOA Suite.

Figure 15-5 BPEL Process Components in Business Catalog


15.5 Using Services in Oracle BPM

The following flow objects require you to define a service to implement them:

15.6 Using References in Oracle BPM

The following flow objects enable you to define an interface using a reference component from the business catalog:

15.7 Customizing Services and References

The interfaces of some of the services and references you use in your process might be too complex or use names that do not clearly convey their use. These interfaces are not appropriate for a Business Analyst. You can customize these services and references to hide their complexity and make them more suitable for a Business Analyst. You might also customize a service or a reference to make your process easier to understand to other Process Developers.

Customizing a service or a reference enables you to:

When you customize a service or a reference they disappear from the predefined modules where they were stored and Oracle BPM Studio replaces their uses by the customized component.

If you delete the customized service or reference then they appear back in the corresponding predefined module, unless you remove them from the SOA Composite.

15.7.1 How to Customize a Service or a Reference

To customize a service or a reference:

  1. In the Project Navigator, right-click the service or the reference.

  2. Select Customize Service.

    The Customize Adapter Service dialog appears.

  3. In the Name field, enter a name for the customized service or reference.

  4. Click Browse and select a module to store the customized service or reference.

  5. Optionally, enter a description for the customized service or reference.

  6. From the operations list, select those operations that you want to appear in the customized service or reference.

  7. Edit the operations to customize them.

    See Section 15.7.2, "How to Customize an Operation" for information on how to customize an operation.

  8. Click OK.

15.7.2 How to Customize an Operation

To customize an operation:

  1. From the Operations table, select an operation.

  2. Click Edit.

    The Edit Operations dialog appears.

  3. In the Display Name field, enter the customized name for the operation.

  4. In the Description field, enter a description for the operation.

  5. If the operation requires input or output arguments, then you can provide a description for them.

  6. Click OK.

15.7.3 What Happens When You Customize a Service or a Reference

The customized service or reference appear in the module you chose to store it. The component in the Services or References predefined module disappears.

If there are any BPMN processes that use the component you customized, BPM Studio automatically updates the implementation of the activities in those processes to use the customized service or reference.

If you delete the customized service or reference, then it appears back in the corresponding predefined module.