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Activity
- Any unit of work in a BPMN process, from a single click to a whole embedded sub-process.Read the definition →
Boundary Event
- An event attached to the edge of an activity that interrupts it or spawns a parallel reaction when something happens during the work.Read the definition →
BPMN 2.0
- The 2011 OMG standard that turned business process diagrams into a portable, executable notation shared across analysts, architects, and engines.Read the definition →
Call Activity
- An activity that runs a whole other process that lives outside this diagram and is reused across many diagrams.Read the definition →
Collaboration Diagram
- A BPMN diagram that shows two or more pools exchanging messages, the view you use when "the process" spans multiple organisations.Read the definition →
Conditional Flow
- A sequence flow with a condition attached. The token only takes it when the condition evaluates to true.Read the definition →
Data Object
- A document icon attached to an activity or flow that shows what data the step needs or produces.Read the definition →
End Event
- The circle with a bold border that marks where a process (or one of its paths) finishes.Read the definition →
Error Event
- An event marked with a lightning bolt that throws or catches an error inside a process.Read the definition →
Exclusive Gateway (XOR)
- A diamond that routes the token down exactly one of its outgoing paths, the classic "if / else if / else" of BPMN.Read the definition →
Inclusive Gateway (OR)
- A diamond that routes the token down every outgoing path whose condition is true: one, some, or all of them.Read the definition →
Intermediate Event
- A double-circled event that happens between the start and end of a process: anything that interrupts, waits, signals, or catches.Read the definition →
Lane
- A horizontal sub-section of a pool that groups activities by the role or team that performs them.Read the definition →
Loop
- An activity repeated until a condition is met, BPMN’s way of showing "do this until" without drawing a back-arrow.Read the definition →
Message Flow
- A dashed arrow between two pools that shows a message sent from one participant to another.Read the definition →
Multi-Instance
- An activity that runs once per element of a collection, BPMN’s for-each, with sequential or parallel execution.Read the definition →
Parallel Gateway (AND)
- A diamond with a "+" that forks the token down every outgoing path at once, and waits for all of them on the join.Read the definition →
Pool
- A rectangle that bounds a single participant in a BPMN collaboration: one pool per organisation, department, or system.Read the definition →
Process Instance
- One specific execution of a process definition, the "record" that flows through the diagram.Read the definition →
Sequence Flow
- A solid arrow between two nodes in the same pool, the default "do this then that" of BPMN.Read the definition →
Service Task
- A task executed by an automated service, a gear icon that says "no human touches this step".Read the definition →
Signal Event
- An event marked with a triangle that broadcasts or catches a named signal: a fire-and-any-catcher message.Read the definition →
Start Event
- The thin-bordered circle that says where a process begins and what triggers it.Read the definition →
Sub-Process
- An activity that expands into its own internal flow, the way BPMN lets you keep a diagram readable.Read the definition →
Swimlane
- An umbrella term for pools and lanes: any horizontal band that groups activities by who or what performs them.Read the definition →
Task
- The atomic unit of work in BPMN: one activity, one actor, one outcome, not decomposable in this diagram.Read the definition →
Text Annotation
- A bracket with free-form text attached to a node: notes the diagram itself would not otherwise capture.Read the definition →
Timer Event
- A circle with a clock face that fires on a schedule, after a delay, or when a deadline passes.Read the definition →
Token
- The imaginary marker that moves through a BPMN diagram and represents the current execution point of an instance.Read the definition →
User Task
- A task explicitly performed by a person, the little user icon that marks "human in the loop".Read the definition →
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