Work with sub-processes

You can organize complex processes in Semarchy xDI Designer using sub-processes and reuse processes by reference.

A sub-process is a group of steps that you can configure to keep your process organized. A sub-process is contained in an existing process and follows that process' lifecycle. It is used only within its parent process.

You can also call another process by reference. The referenced process has its own lifecycle and can be called from multiple processes.

Sub-processes aim at keeping a process organized and readable. Process references enable modularization and process reuse.

Add a sub-process

Sub-processes group steps to keep processes organized.

To add a sub-process:

  1. In the Palette, select the Process tool in the Component accordion.

  2. Click on the process diagram. A sub-process step appears in the diagram.

  3. Enter a name for this process and then press Enter.

  4. A new editor opens to edit this sub-process.
    Use the breadcrumb trail to navigate from the sub-process to its parent process.

You can nest sub-processes within sub-processes with no nesting limit.

Reference another process

To modularize and reuse your process, you can use another process by reference.

To reference another process:

  1. Drag and drop first the process that you want to reference from the Project Explorer into the process editor. This process is added as a reference in the current process.

  2. Select the referenced process step in the process diagram, right-click and then select Show Properties View.

  3. In the Parameters section set the process parameter values. Each process used by reference is configured with different values.

  4. Press Ctrl+S to save the process.

At the top of the process editor, the Breadcrumb Trail helps you navigate the sub-processes.

By default, only the current process and its sub-processes can be edited, and referenced processes and mappings are read-only, to prevent unexpected changes.

To enable the edition:

  1. Right-click a referenced process in the Breadcrumb Trail and select Enable Edition. This enables editing the referenced process in this process editor.

  2. Right-click a referenced process in the Breadcrumb Trail and select Open Editor to open a new editor for the referenced process.

breadcrumbtrail enableEdition

Any change made on a process used by reference impacts all the processes referencing that process.