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CIS 4120 – FINAL ALTERNATE EXAM – LEARNING CONTRACT Chrystal Thomas

Project Name: Amazon Web Server using BizAgi Xpress

Project Description: In this project I will use the Process Modeler to diagram a Vacation request process and then automate it using BizAgi Xpress. I will also create business rules for this process.

Project Goals: I want to learn more about Amazon Web servers using BizAgi Xpress.

Learning Plan: I will learn about diagramming a process and creating rules for that process.

The saying “you learn by doing” is so very true. One of the first learning experiences I had was on the

AWS. When I first did the EC2 for Poets exercise, I just followed the instructions not really knowing what

I was doing or how it applied. In doing this assignment I finally understood what I was doing and how the

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Remote Desktop Connection worked together in order to use the

BizAgi Xpress on a remote server. At first I kept creating more and more instances, not really

understanding that all I had to do was to “Start” the previous session. I kept looking for the previous

public DNS not realizing that it changes each time. Since I had so many instances, I didn’t know which

one was the last one. I finally realized that I needed to write down the Instance name and Ami ID

because they stayed the same. I also realized that if I stopped an instance and restarted it, a new Public

DNS is assigned and you have to change it on the Remote Desktop connection although the password

stays the same.

This is what I learned using BizAgi Modeler and BizAgi Xpress on a web server:

In creating the diagram for the Vacation Request, I learned that the model is created using the Modeler

version and is then converted to the Xpress version. The Modeler was the same version we used in class

so I had no problem creating the pool and lanes for Employee, Boss and Human Resources Assistant as

shown below:

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What was new to me was using the Milestone tool. A milestone is a sub-partition within a Process. This

tool made it easier for me to keep track of where in the process I was:

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On completion of the above, I started the familiar process of building the Vacation Request model. After

its completion, I used the “Run Process” which wasn’t used in any of our assignments. Its purpose is to

turn the processes created in the modeler into a running application within the BPM Suite.

I had to open the diagram created in the Modeler from BizAgi Xpress. The appearance of this screen was

not like the Modeler version. The document came in as an icon instead of a diagram:

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This screen is where I learned to create entities for the tasks in the Vacation Request diagram. A concept

not previously used in the Modeler. As the below screen shows, a menu appears where you chose “Edit

Attribute List”:

Here I learned to create attributes like “string” and “length”. I understand the concept of using

attributes from prior classes but, as we all know, all software is different in how it’s done.

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When I completed the attributes, I got the following screen which looks similar to diagrams I had to do

in the CIS 3000 when using UML Class diagrams. The diagram shows the links between the entities:

What have I learned so far? I have learned that as a user of computers, we are so used to just clicking

buttons to get what we want. We don’t realize what goes on in the background.

Learning to create Forms

Learning how to create Forms in BizAgi was fun. Forms are the user interface required by the process.

For instance, the form that shows a person’s vacation information and whether it is approved or not.

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Creating forms was an interesting process and one I liked because after expanding the Vacation Request

it showed all the fields it contained and I only had to drag and drop the fields onto the form. Here I

created the form for Vacation Request:

Once the fields are on the form I only had to right click on each field to determine whether it was

Editable—true or false; Required—true or false; or Visible—true or false. When a field is graded out, it

means that the field cannot be changed.

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Learning Business Rules

The next area I learned about was creating business rules. This process to me can be very involved. I

found out that you definitely have to know what you want as far as rules and constraints before getting

started.

I first had to choose “Define Expressions” which define the statements or constraints that control or

influence the behavior of your business. This was a neat process to me. I had to click on the yellow line

going to the “Make Administrative Task” which opened a Boolean Expression window:

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Again this was a drag and drop process. For instance, I had to drag and drop the “Vacation Request

Approved” attribute onto the form, choose the expression “is equal to” and insert the value, and change

the value to “true”.

I then had to follow the same steps for the yellow line going to the “Inform Reject Reason” task but used

the “Is Else” condition.

The second part of “Business Rules” had me creating Activity Actions. Here I learned to create certain

rules to fill the fields Request Date and Applicant. I first had to create a rule to set the Date of the

Request and to save the Case Creator as the applicant.

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Here is an Activity Actions screen where I learned to add actions:

Here I learned to add Expressions and create Assignments:

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I named the assignment “Applicant and Date”.

I then set properties for the “Applicant and Date”.

This opened up the Assignment window where I defined variables and assigned their attributes.

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Define Performers

The next module I learned about was the “Define Perfomers” module. This is where people or

responsible sources for each one of the process activities are defined. What BizAgi does in this process is

to identify the relation that exist between the different employees based on the variables that

characterize and differentiate them. I missed some steps here that I later found out about. I will

definitely have to go over this process again.

At this point I had to select the “Approve Vacation Request” to make the assignments.

Default

expression

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Integrate with Other Services

Integrate BizAgi with the rest of the organizatin and eco-system.

Here I learned how to define a integration interface for the task “Verify Available Vacation Days”:

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I had to go to a URL to get an already defined process called “GetDaysOfVacation:

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I used the same steps to create the “Number of Available days:

This “throw exception” defines what action should be taken if an error occurs.

Action called “Throw

Exception”

userName

Applicant username

from previous screen

shot

Number of

Available

Days

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Execute Web Application

I learned how to execute the project I created in this section. I identify the performers and set up their

user name, password and domain, etc. I then log in as one of the performers (Boss, Applicant, Assistant)

and fill out a request for vacation form. It ends with either an “approve” or “reject” on a form showing

the details.

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Selecting the performers from Admin.

The first step was to create parameters for the “Rejected Reasons” that a vacation request could

contain:

Here is where I created the new users (i.e., Boss, Applicant, Assistant):

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Here I filled in the Name, User Name, Domain and password for each new user.

The fun part came next. I had to log in as one of the new users with the Username and password I

created for each:

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I first had to create a new case:

As the Applicant, I had to fill out the form for a vacation request and submit it

The next step would have been to automate it.

Boss receives

request and

approve vacation

Shows who created the

request and who approved it.

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Although in my submission of what I would cover for this Alternate exam, I stated that I would automate

the process. What I didn’t know is that the automation is a whole other long process. The form I created

does show the initial request and the approval from the boss. I did accomplish my learning plan which

was “I will learn about diagramming a process and creating rules for that process.” I would have liked to

go through the process of automation, but due to time constraints I have to stop.

This project has been very enlightening to me. Although I wasn’t expecting all the problems I ran into

and the amount of time spent on it, I can say that I learned from them. I now know how the relationship

between the Modeler and the Xpress version works. The Modeler is used to create the activity tasks, but

Xpress is where the process happens that leads up to and includes the automation. I also learned how

the seven modules work together. It was interesting that when I finished one modules and started the

next, what I had done in the previous module was already linked to the tasks in the next module. All I

had to do was click on the task and it took me to the correct screen needed for that process. What I

didn’t get a chance to learn was how to edit previous sectons. For example, I initially did the Performers

wrong and wanted to go back and correct it, but I never found a way to do it. I tried deleting the

performers and starting over with them, but it didn’t work because certain areas did not show up again.

After that, I started getting SQL Server errors and nothing worked. I had to start over by creating a new

instance, reinstalling the software and recreating all the module steps. Although I’m not a expert with

BizAgi Xpress, I can say that I learned some things not to do. Overall it was a good learning experience

and if we have to use it in CIS 4140 at least I’ll know something!