Importing a Visio XML Drawing File
The Visio drawing used in your workspace can be based on BPMN shapes. You import it into a workspace project.
You can import a Visio XML drawing from Visio 2010 Premium (or later) that is created with the BPMN template or flowchart using BPMN shapes. Other types of Visio drawings cannot be converted to BPEL.
To import the file:
- 1. Save it as an XML drawing with the .vdx extension.
- 2. Select File > Import > Orchestration > Visio XML Drawing
- 3. Select a Visio file from your workspace or the file system. The file must have the .vdx extension.
- 4. Select a project folder location for the file. For example, select the "bpel" folder of an orchestration project.
- 5. If needed, type in a name (or keep the default) for the files being converted to BPEL. You may need to supply a name if the file includes multiple pools. If a Visio file contains multiple pools, each pool is converted to one BPEL file. Multiple pools are not supported in one BPEL file. Process Developer automatically adds the .bpel extension.
- 6. If needed, you can overwrite an existing BPEL file.
Tips on converting Visio files:
- •The Visio file is not imported into your project. The import wizard converts the Visio file to BPEL.
- •The Scale factor creates the BPEL process with a default amount of space between activities. The scale factor is a Visio measure unit (by default in inches) to convert to pixels in Process Developer. If the default of 150 creates a BPEL process that displays too much space between activities, try setting the value to 100. Alternately, in Process Developer, select Auto Layout to improve the placement of activities on the canvas.
- •Messaging data that exists between pools is not supported. In Process Developer, you must create a process-to-process or process-to-subprocess invoke handler in the Process Deployment Descriptor.
- •Be sure to view the Errors and Problems views to see messages generated from the conversion