Process Definitions
Process definitions for process visibility are a template for process monitoring. A process definition contains the following:
All the business activities that potentially start, end, or terminate a process
All the business activities that are relevant for observation or the calculation of key performance indicators (KPIs)
All potential integration points with other processes
Changes in process definitions do not affect the way processes are executed — they only effect the way processes are monitored.
Process definitions support versioning. New process instances are logged with the version defined as the current version in the process header. New versions of existing process instances will continue to be logged as long as a version is marked as “active”.
Built-in processes are executed in the implementation layer. This is the existing ABAP implementation in SAP Business Suite applications like ERP, SRM or CRM. Callable entities are functions in the implemented software that can be called directly. They are executed independently within a logical unit of work (LUW). In the current SAP Business Suite, categories of callable entities are:
UI transactions
Enterprise Services
RFCs
Batch processes
Mobile transactions
Conceptually, callable entities are made up of a number of (primitive) business object (BO) activities. These are actions that you execute on a business object, such as, “create”, “update”, “release”, and so on. An event signifies that a BO activity has been executed.
The application facade layer exposes the process-relevant entities of the application layer, such as, the callable business entities and (reusable) tasks.
Business Object Types
A representation of a uniquely identifiable business entity. For example, a Sales Order or a Purchase Order.
Callable Business Entity
The projection of the callable entity in the facade layer. A callable business entity can be used by many different processes definitions.
(Reusable) Task
Represents the business object activity of the implementation layer in the facade.
The process model layer contains the process definition of the built-in processes (compound realized processes) of the local component. The process definition can be federated with other processes to create E2E processes (realized process chains).
Activities
A process consists of a list of sequential and/or parallel activities. The activities serve to separate the overall process into pieces. The characteristics of an activity are:
It is self-contained and serves a well-defined business purpose.
It is one action executed by a single user.
One or many callable business entities may be assigned to an activity.
It is not dependent on any particular channel, for example, like a user interface or enterprise services.