Gateways represent decision points in the process. They split or merge the flow of the process and control which path will be taken depending on certain conditions.
For example, suppose an employee has prepared an invoice. If the amount is large, it must be approved not only by the employee's immediate supervisor but also by the CEO. If the amount is insignificant, then the employee will be given money right away.
Exclusive gateway
The exclusive gateway activates only one outgoing connector.
This is how it works. First, you specify the conditions for the gateway outgoing connectors. In this article, we describe in details how to do it.
When the process flow comes to the gateway, the system evaluates the conditions and selects the connector which meets the condition. The conditions are evaluated in the order they appear in the gateway settings, on the Connectors tab.
Note that for the exclusive gateway, the default connector must be specified.
For example, in the sales process, a salesperson may offer optional services to the client. Depending on the decision of the buyer, the process will either end, or the salesperson will be assigned the task of drawing up a service agreement.
Inclusive gateway
The Inclusive gateway activates one or more process paths based on the conditions on the outgoing connectors.
For example, after an operator accepts an order, the following alternative flows can be created depending on the conditions:
- if the order amount is > 1000 dollars, the operator will add gift A to the order
- in case of instant payment, the buyer will be offered gift B
- if both conditions are met, the buyer will receive the two gifts.
- if no conditions are met, QuickBPM will skip the gateway operations and immediately assign the task to deliver the goods.
Please note that each diverging inclusive gateway requires a similar converging gateway.
Parallel gateway
The Parallel gateway activates all the outgoing connectors.
This gateway is very different from the ones described above, as it does not evaluate the conditions of the connectors.
A parallel gateway is used to split the process into several flows that will be executed simultaneously.
Note that all process paths originating from a diverging parallel gateway must come to a similar converging gateway.
For example, after a new employee is hired, the office manager will have to prepare the work area, the system administrator will create an account in the corporate system, and the hr-specialist will prepare a welcome package for the newcomer. All these tasks can be performed simultaneously, therefore, to describe the process, it is advisable to choose a parallel gateway.
Gateway settings
You can rename gateways, add a description, change the type, as well as set the order in which connectors conditions will be evaluated. To open the settings window, click on the gateway shape on the process diagram.
General Tab
- Name – in this field you can specify the name of the gateway that will be displayed in the process diagram
- Description – here you can describe how exactly the gateway works
- Gateway type – a drop-down list that allows you to change the gateway type.
Connectors tab
This tab is available only for exclusive gateways. Here you can specify the order in which the conditions will be evaluated and select the default connector.
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