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BPMN Events ( , , )

This section covers a introduction to BPMN Events. In BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation), events represent something that happens during a process. They are key elements that define when a process starts, how it reacts to triggers, and how it ends. Although BPMN has many event types, which initially appear confusing, events are characterised on several different properties.

BPMN Event Types

In BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation), events represent something that happens during a process. They are key elements that define when a process starts, how it reacts to triggers, and how it ends.

Flows for APEX supports a range of standard BPMN event types. Here are the most commonly used ones:

🟢 **Start Events ( ) **

  • Purpose: Indicate where and how a process begins.

  • Types:

    • None ( ) – A generic start point.
    • Message Start ( ) – Triggered by an incoming message.
    • Timer Start ( ) – Begins at a scheduled time or recurring interval.

🟡 Intermediate Events ( )

Purpose: Represent events that occur during the process, affecting its flow.

  • Types:
    • Message Intermediate – Wait for or send a message.
    • Timer Intermediate – Wait for a specific duration or timestamp.
    • Error Intermediate – Handle errors thrown in a subprocess or task.
    • Escallation Intermediate – Escallate handling of a subprocess or a task

There are two subtypes:

  • Catching events ( outlined type, e.g., ) – Wait for something to happen.
  • Throwing events ( solid type, e.g., ) ) – Indicate that something has happened.

In addition, ther are two categories of Iintermediate. events, dependant on their location in the process diagram:

  • Standalone Intermediate Events – placed directly in the process flow, and which represent an action that occurs or waited for during the process.
  • Boundary Events – are attached to the boundary of an activity (typically a task, subprocess or call activity) and represent something that might interrupt or influence that activity. They monitor for events while the activity is running. Boundary events can be:
    • Interrupting (solid line) - Cancels the activity when triggered, or
    • Non-Interrupting (dashed line) - Runs in parallel without stopping the activity.

🔴 End Events ( )

  • Purpose: Indicate how and why the process ends.

  • Types:

    • None – Generic end of a process. ( )
    • Message End – Sends a message when the process ends. ( )
    • Error End – Ends the process due to an error (can be caught). ( )
    • Terminate End – Instantly stops the entire process, regardless of running tasks. ( )