BPMN notation reference
BPMN has a large vocabulary and a small core. This is the reference for the whole thing: what each symbol means, and the rules about which may connect to which.
If you are learning it, read events, gateways and flows first. Those three cover most real models.
#When it matters
Reading a BPMN model somebody else drew.
Reviewing a model that will be executed, where notation is behaviour.
Settling an argument about whether a line should be dashed.
#The symbols
Symbol | Means |
|---|---|
Events | Circles. Something happens: start, timer, message, error, end. |
Activities | Rounded rectangles. Work, done by a person or a system. |
Gateways | Diamonds. The path splits or joins. |
Flows | Solid within a pool, dashed between pools. |
Swimlanes | Pools for participants, lanes for roles. |
Artifacts | Data objects, stores, groups and annotations. |
#A few things that catch people out
The rule that catches everyone: sequence flow never crosses a pool boundary.
Marker icons are semantics, not decoration. A service task and a user task behave differently.
A model you cannot explain without annotations is usually over-modelled.
#Related
The notation is the meaning.
