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Procedure documentationDefining Process Participants Using Pools Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

The pool serves as a graphical container which separates a set of activities from other pools. Each process has one default pool that is created automatically with the process. The default pool does not have a graphical representation in the process. You use graphically represented pools to model a process, which involves more than one participant in the sense of a business entity or business role.

Each pool represents one participant in the process.

Pools can be:

  • Active

    In the active pool, you actually model the process and only the process, modeled in the active pool can be built and executed. For more information about building a process, see Building and Deploying a Process.

    When you create an active pool, you have to define pool administrators.

  • Passive

    The passive pool contains other activities, which are relevant to the process in the active pool, but are external. These external activities do not form an end-to-end process because you need only a part of it in the active pool. The content of a passive pool is excluded from the build.

Active and passive pools communicate through message flows.

You can have only one active pool in a model at a time. More information: Pools and Lanes

When you create the pool, you can define pool administrators. Pool administrators can trigger administrative actions on the processes in the pool, such as canceling, suspending and resuming the process using the SAP NetWeaver Administrator tool. Pool administrators have administrative rights only on the process and cannot trigger administrative actions on tasks.

When you create a pool, you can also define user texts with dynamic content using variables. For more information, see Defining Pool User Texts.

Prerequisites

  • You have opened the Process Development perspective in the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio and have expanded your project in Project Explorer view.

  • You have configured the AS Java in the Developer Studio to be able to search for users in the User Management Engine (UME). For more information, see Configuring the Application Server in the Developer Studio.

Procedure

1. Create the Pool
  1. Expand Process Modeling, then expand Processes.

  2. In the context menu of a process, choose Open.

  3. Expand Swimlanes from Palette.

  4. Choose Pool and click the modeling surface.

    The pool appears in the place you clicked. You can resize the pool when you choose it and use its resize handlers.

  5. Choose General in the Properties view and select the Make this pool active (other pools become inactive) checkbox if you want to make the pool active.

  6. Specify a name of the pool in the Name field.

  7. (Optional) Specify a description of the pool in the Documentation field.

Caution Caution

Your process must have at least one and only one active pool to build successfully. If your process does not have an active pool, you can use a Quick Fix, available in the Problems view, to make at least one and only one pool in the process active. To do that, in the context menu of the Collaboration “<name>” must contain exactly one active pool problem description in the Problems view, choose Quick Fix. In the dialog that appears, you can choose a pool that is automatically made active. Other pools become inactive.

End of the caution.
2. Define Pool Administrators
  1. Select the Make this pool active (other pools become inactive) checkbox if it is not selected.

  2. Choose Administrators in the Properties view and define administrators of the pool by one of the following options:

    • Select Choose one or more UME principals radio button to search administrators from a list.

      1. Choose the Choose... pushbutton.

      2. In the dialog that appears, choose a principal type from the dropdown menu and enter a principal name. Choose the Search pushbutton.

      3. Select a principal from the Search Results field and choose the Add—> pushbutton to add the principal to the Principals to Select field.

        Note Note

        To add all principals listed in the Search Results field to the Principals to Select field, choose the Add All—> pushbutton.

        End of the note.
      4. Choose the OK pushbutton.

        The principals you selected appear in the Principals field.

        Caution Caution

        Pool administrators defined using UME groups and/or UME roles are resolved to users at process instantiation only. Changes made to UME groups or roles will not affect the pool administrators of already instantiated processes.

        End of the caution.
    • Select the Use an expression radio button to define administrators by an expression.

      1. Choose the Edit... pushbutton.

        The expression editor opens.

      2. Specify an expression. For more information, see Creating Expressions.

You have created a pool and have defined pool administrators. Each pool in the process has one default lane upon its creation. For more information about lanes, see Defining Roles in the Process using Lanes.

Note Note

If you use the default pool or a pool with only one lane, you can also define task owners of the tasks in that lane. To do that, you use the Properties view of the pool. For more information, see Defining Task Owners.

End of the note.