IBM Business Process Manager concepts and terminology
You can become more familiar with Business Process Manager (BPM) concepts to clarify how
it interacts with IBM® Integration Bus.
What is Process Designer?
IBM Process Designer is a graphical user
interface tool. You can use it to quickly model and implement your
business processes. You then test and demonstrate the process design
during the development phase. For more information about Process Designer,
look for getting started with Process Designer in the Business Process Manager product documentation.
What is a Process Center?
You use the tools and repository of a Process Center to model
the processes, services, and other assets in a business process by
using IBM Process Designer. For more information
about Process Center, look for process designer and process center
tasks in the Business Process Manager product documentation.
What are business process definitions?
A business process definition is a model, you create in Process
Designer, of a business process. For more information, look for business
process definitions (BPDs) in the Business Process Manager product documentation.
What are business objects?
A business object is a set of fields or elements that you use
together to represent a meaningful business process. You define business
objects as variables to pass information through a business process.
Each business object can be a primitive data type (such as, a string
or an integer) or it can itself be a business object. For more information,
look for business objects in the Business Process Manager product documentation.
What are system tasks and Integration Services?
System tasks are activities in a business process definition that
are completed by an automated system. For more information, look for
understanding task types in the BPM information center.
An
Integration Service is a particular type of system task that you use
to access the web and other services. For more information, look for
understanding service types in the Business Process Manager product documentation.
What are toolkits?
A BPM toolkit is a library of process designer artifacts; such
as business objects, Integration Services, or business process definitions.
A toolkit can be used for sharing between business process definitions.
Toolkits are stored and managed with Process Center. For more information
about toolkits, look for managing toolkits in the Business Process Manager product documentation.
What are snapshots?
You make versions by using snapshots. A snapshot records the state
of library items (such as toolkits) at a specific time. For more information,
look for creating snapshots in the process center console in the Business Process Manager product documentation.
What is a BPM export .twx file?
You import an export .twx file to transport BPM
artifacts between Process Centers or to integrate with IBM Integration Bus. The format for the export .twx file
is proprietary. For more information, look for importing and exporting
process applications from the process center console in the Business Process Manager product documentation.