How to create clone process

Question

#IBM-BPM, #Process

Answer 1

There is no "clone" button for a BPD in Process Designer, but three ways cover every meaning of "clone":

• Copy a BPD inside the same process app - in the Web Process Designer library, right-click the BPD > Copy (desktop designer: Duplicate). The copy gets a new id and name; variables, lanes, activities and linked services are referenced, not copied.
• Copy artifacts to another process app or toolkit - in the desktop designer select the artifacts in the library, right-click > Copy Items to... and choose the target project; dependencies (business objects, services, coach views) are copied along. In the web designer use Move / Copy from the library context menu.
• Clone a whole process app - export the snapshot (Process Center > process app > snapshot > Export .twx), import it again and rename it; or create a new snapshot and a new track (Process Center > Manage > Tracks) when what you need is a parallel version of the same app.

To clone a running instance (start a new instance with the data of an existing one), read the variables of the source and start the BPD with them:

GET  /rest/bpm/wle/v1/process/{piid}?parts=data                      -> variables
POST /rest/bpm/wle/v1/process?action=start&bpdId={bpdId}&snapshotId={snap}&params={"order":{...}}   -> new instance

If the goal is a reusable process pattern, put the BPD in a toolkit and call it from the apps as a linked process instead of cloning it - one place to fix.

References

• BAW documentation - copying and moving library items, snapshots and tracks
• Process REST API - start a process with input data