JBPM

jBPM is software, provided by J BOSS, which executes and manages business. JBoss jBPM, Java Business Process Management.

Overview of jBPM
jBPM is software that provides fundamental environment that is necessary when running management software for business execution. Basically, jBPM provides two functions as follows:


 * Define business flow based on business process
 * Control task execution according to the definition by allocating business process to participants in charge or systems and receiving results from executors

jBPM is open-source software, and thus it is available free of charge. Also, jBPM is written in Java, a programming language with high versatility, so it can be used without major constraints of operating environments.

jBPM allows us to separately design:


 * A process itself
 * An application that controls a flow of a process

Thus, it is possible to design based on actual condition as follows:


 * Those who have knowledge of business -> Design processes
 * Those who have knowledge of systems -> Design applications

Also, because a process and an application that control the flow of the process are separated, when one of these is changed, the other doesn’t require modifications.

Details of jBPM
jBPM is software used for process control function as workflow engine or used upon process execution. This is one of products included in JEMS (JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite) provided by JBoss as SOA platform.

jBPM has Community Edition and Enterprise Edition.


 * Community Edition
 * Volunteer developers; free to download from JBoss.org


 * Enterprise Edition
 * Red Hat, Inc. offers it as JBoss Enterprise Middleware by selecting and restructuring crucial and stable parts of each product in Community Edition in order to make it possible to use at corporate level.

jBPM offers following functions:
 * Graphical process designer
 * Business process (workflow) management
 * Data management regarding business process execution
 * Timer application corresponded to business calendar (Timer processing based on business calendars)
 * Logging function for business process analyses

jBPM Graphical Process Designer is a tool that enables anyone to define business processes intuitively without requiring programming skills, and it enables modeling of processes by means of diagrams. Graphically defined processes are defined as XML files called jPDL (jBPM Process Definition Language). Also, those who have knowledge of XML can define processes by creating source codes directly.

This tool allows you (us) to design business processes from viewpoints of both business and system.

jBPM supports two languages below:


 * JPDL (jBPM Process Definition Language)
 * BPEL

JPDL is the proprietary format for jBPM and is a language to express processes involving humans. It can include programs (Java code) in its definitions. BPEL is a language for automation of processes by means of web services.

In jBPM 4, a new Process Virtual Machine (PVM) is used to handle multiple process languages and execution modes.

Use of jBPM
By using jBPM, we can separate software used in processes and detach process flows from controlling software. Designing processes in this way facilitates partial changes or partial reuse of processes (SOA).

Red Hat, Inc. recommends the collaboration of JBossESBand JBoss Rules. JBossESB is software that supplies ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) function. ESB is a technique that aims to tie (connect) applications via buses rather than connecting applications individually. JBoss Rules is software for defining business rules, management of them, and so on.

JBoss Group LLC
JBoss is offered（provided） by a company named JBoss Group LLC. This company was established in 2001 by Marc Fleury, a developer of JBoss. The headquarter is located in Atlanta, Georgia. In JBoss Group LLC, engineering employees lead the development of JBoss as their core business, so products are released stably. The company was bought up by Red Hat, Inc. in 2006, and then Community Edition has come to be offered (provided) by JBoss Group LLC while Enterprise Edition is provided by Red Hat, Inc.

JBoss itself, including its source codes, is free software that anyone can use without any charges, but if users want, fee-based services provided by JBoss Group LLC are also available. Their business includes JBoss-related supports, consulting, training, sales of documents, and so forth.


 * Consulting: Service related to development of systems running on JBoss, service for development of unique (customized) servers based on JBoss, etc.
 * Sales of documents: A lot of manuals for JBoss are provided online as PDF documents for a fee

Some customers of JBoss Group LLC include large enterprises such as McDonald, Hewlett-Packard (HP), U.S. government institutions, financial institutions, etc.

Related Articles

 * BPM
 * Workflow
 * Workflow Engine
 * BPEL
 * SOA