No information would show up within that rectangle, but arrows would flow to and from the black box.Ĭonsider the example of the restaurant process. To create a black box pool, you’d simply use a labeled rectangle. Further, it’s common for the additional pools in your diagram to be external entities, where you don’t know or control their process. It’s not best practice for BPMN diagrams to have multiple detailed pools - it could be a sign that the scope or audience for your diagram is too broad. What is a Black Box Pool?Ī black box pool is a pool within a diagram that doesn’t include any details.
The key difference between a pool and a lane is that pools should be used as the biggest container for your process, while lanes should be specific and detailed within a pool.Īlmost all of the details of your diagram should fit within one pool and that pool can have as many lanes as necessary to clearly depict your process. It’s normal for people to misuse “lane” when they mean “pool” and vise versa. What is the Difference Between a Pool and Lane in BPMN?
However, you could further break down the restaurant pool into lanes like “server” and “kitchen” to be more specific about who within the restaurant is carrying out specific tasks. Using the example of the process of eating at a restaurant from above, the customer would be their own pool and the restaurant would be its own pool. Lanes are a division that fit within pools to give a more specific definition of who ultimately performs a certain activity. If you were making a model of how a restaurant serves a customer, the restaurant and the customer would be their own pools. These tend to be broad functions, like “marketing” or “IT” or even between two different companies or entities altogether. Pools are a type of division that defines a process or organization.
#BUSINESS PROCESS MODELLING NOTATION HOW TO#
? Watch our tutorial video for tips on Gliffy's swimlane functionality: How to Make a Swimlane Diagram Pools These rows, called swimlanes or pools, are a core part of the structure of BPMN diagrams, too. You may be familiar with swimlane diagrams, which are a type of flowchart that use columns or rows to organize a process. Last, your flow objects, artifacts, and connectors lie on top of a swimlane framework.