Getting Started

If not already done, download the Stardust features as described in the Installation Guide.

Apart from the Stardust installation, you only need a Tomcat 6.0 installation to go through this tutorial.

Naming

As a start some names of the product are described here. For an overview on the provided packages provided by Stardust , refer to chapter Installation Packages of the Installation Guide.

Stardust

This is the general product name.

Stardust Process Engine

This name is used for the runtime component of Stardust.

Open the Process Workbench

To open the Stardust Process Workbench, start your Eclipse environment, where you installed the Stardust Process Workbench Eclipse plugins and features.

We will now add the following views to the desktop:

1. Open Window > Show Views > Other....
2. Add the Server > Servers View and the Process Manager > Process Model Bookmarks.

So, now we are ready to start the tutorial.

Starting the Modeling

Before your business process can be executed, you must model its elements (activities to be performed, variable definitions, applications and resources) as well as the relationships between these elements. For this purpose Stardust provides the Stardust Process Workbench where you can define your processes by drawing diagrams. Diagrams in Stardust contain process definitions, on the basis of which other components of Stardust, e.g. the Stardust Portal, can control the enactment of your processes. The Process Workbench and the Stardust Portal will be introduced in the following sections.

In our ACME example we will use applications and data implemented in Java, which have to be integrated in the business model. We have prepared the applications and data classes so that you can proceed with this tutorial without having to implement the model-specific components yourself. To get the example resources in a zipped file, click the following link:

support-case.zip

In the following figure you see a screenshot of the complete ACME Workflow example model:

Figure: The ACME Workflow Model

Setting up Embedded Tomcat in Eclipse

Eclipse provides integration for the Apache Tomcat Web environment and this can be used for rapid Stardust deployments within Eclipse.

To establish Tomcat integration in Eclipse (this only needs to be done once for all successive deployments. It is not required for each Stardust deployment):

1. From the Eclipse main menu choose File > New > Other...
   

   ! Tip: If your Eclipse installation does not have Server in the list of available objects to create, you will need to update your environment with the necessary plug ins of the Eclipse Web Tools Project, or use the Eclipse installation which comes with the normal Stardust distribution.

   

2. Select Server > Server.
3. Click Next.

   

4. Select Tomcat v6.0 Server
5. Click Finish if you previously configured a Tomcat Server with your Eclipse Workbench.
6. Otherwise select Next.
7. Browse to the folder of your Tomcat installation.

   

8. Select Finish.

If your Eclipse desktop does not yet have a view for Servers as shown below, select Window > Show View in the main menu (or select the Show View button in the left lower corner of your Eclipse window) and choose Other... > Server > Servers to open it.

Creating an Eclipse Project with Process Manager Facets

For this tutorial we will use a Dynamic Web Project (from the Eclipse Web Tools Project). To create a new Dynamic Web Project, follow these steps in Eclipse:

1. On the main menu select File > New > Project....
2. In the upcoming wizard choose Web > Dynamic Web Project.
3. Click Next

   
   Figure: Creating a Dynamic Web Project - Step 1

4. Name your project Support-Case
   Tip: Give the project a name that does not contain spaces to make Web references easier. The project name will become part of a case sensitive URL in a later part of this tutorial.
5. Make sure that the target runtime is set to Apache Tomcat v6.0. If not, please set up the Apache Tomcat server as described in the preceding section Setting up Embedded Tomcat in Eclipse.
6. In the Configurations entry, select Stardust Portal in the drop down list. The facets provided with this configuration contain among others the Stardust Portal facet, which enables you to run the Stardust Portal as Web application of your dynamic Web project. The provided facets can be added or removed later as desired. Please refer to the section described in section Process Manager Facets of the Rapid Application Development guide for detailed information on the Process Manager facets.

   
   Figure: Creating a Dynamic Web Project - Step 2

7. Click Next.
8. Leave the default values for source and build path and select Next.

   
   Figure: Set Build Path.

9. Leave the entries in the Web Module dialog and click Next.

   

10. In the JSF Capabilities dialog enter the following values:
    • JSF Implementation Library: Disable Library Configuration
    • JSF Configuration File: /WEB-INF/faces-config.xml (or a custom configuration file)
    • JSF Servlet Name: Faces Servlet
    • JSF Servlet Classname: javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet
    • URL Mapping Patterns: /faces/*

    

11. Click Finish.
12. A dialog asking if you like to switch to the J2EE perspective opens. The J2EE perspective is optional. It will not be needed so for this tutorial, so click No.

    
    Figure: Change the perspective

A dialog opens to inform you to set a location for the repository path:

Figure: Repository Path Warning

Please set a repository path as described in the section Setting the Repository Path of the Document Service Integration Guide.

After Eclipse created the project, you see a new project folder in the Package Explorer view:

Figure: New Dynamic Web Project in the Package Explorer

! Tip: You can use different explorer in eclipse. If you like to see all files under your project open the Navigator view.

Creating a new Model

The next step is either to open an existing model or to create a new one. Both can be done in the Stardust Process Workbench. Since no model exists in our introductory scenario, we will proceed with creating a new model.

Models

Three aspects are essential for a proper understanding of the notion and the function of a model:

• A model represents all the organizational and operational context of your business processes. Therefore, you will normally define all the processes related to your company in a single model.
• Stardust supports modeling in a multi-user environment. A group of modelers can work on the same model.
• Versioning information is preserved together with model information. Stardust maintains a version hierarchy throughout the entire life cycle of a model.

To create a new model:

1. Right-click your project in the Package Explorer and select New > Other...
2. In the dialog popping up, choose Process Manager Wizards > Process Model.
3. Click Next.

   
   Figure: Creating a New Model

4. In the upcoming dialog fill in the model name ACME Workflow Model

Figure: Fill in Model Name

Finish

An open (editable) version of the ACME Workflow Model has now been created.

License.LicenseFilePath = <path-to-your-license-file>

Importing the Model

If you wish to omit the modeling phase and just set up this scenario in a minimum of time, you can import an existing model instead of creating one manually. In the main menu use the option File > Import... > Process Manager > Process Model. In the appearing dialog, choose Stardust XML as Model Type and select the file ACMEWorkflowModel.xpdl residing in your Stardust installation in the directory examples/support-case/dat.

On Handling Diagrams

Now you are ready to start building diagrams. In the Process Workbench window you will find the Outline view area, organizing the processes in your model and the components used in or by these processes. The Package Explorer area will display your projects and the created model files.

Figure: Initial State of a Model in the Stardust Process Workbench

Diagrams

Diagrams are principally bound to a single process definition and contain a series of activities with the information connected to these activities (activity performers, data and applications). With each newly created process definition, a default diagram for this definition is created. You can add an arbitrary number of diagrams to a process definition. To get more detailed information on diagrams please refer to the chapter Working with Diagrams of the Stardust Modeling guide.

The diagrams which you can see in the Outline view tree under the model element (which is the Stardust icon root element) are intended to visualize the hierarchies of participants in your model and the dependencies among process definitions, e.g. a graph of a process with its sub-processes. In this tutorial we want to direct your attention to diagrams bound to a single process definition, so we will focus on the diagrams which appear in the tree view after a process definition has been created.