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1. Casewise online training: Draw DiagramsWelcome to Casewise online training: Draw Diagrams. This training is primarily concerned with teaching you how to create and maintain Corporate Modeler diagrams. The first module introduces you to some basic concepts about the Corporate Modeler Suite and subsequent modules concentrate on diagramming.

2. Before you begin...

What software do I need to complete this training course?

Import the training model

3. Get Started...

You are now ready to begin learning. Click the link below to start Module 1:

Module 1: Getting Started with Corporate Modeler »

Tips and Additional Information

The Casewise support site contains additional resources that are updated regularly. These include specialist or advanced documentation together with software updates.

http://www.casewise.com/support/.

Training

http://www.casewise.com/SupportingInformation/support/online_training/cm10.3/english/draw_diagrams/

4. What is the Corporate Modeler Suite?

The Corporate Modeler Suite is a set of tools used for modeling, and understanding, your business.

The main tools in the Corporate Modeler Suite are:

Corporate Modeler

Use Corporate Modeler to draw diagrams to model business processes, system behavior, and organizational hierarchies.

Drawing diagrams allows you to visualize how your objects interact with each other to form processes, data flows, or system behaviors.

Model Explorer

Use Model Explorer to Explore and Manage the objects that make up your models.

Exploring your data allows you to centrally control your repository.

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Matrix Manager

Use Matrix Manager to view the object associations in your model as a table (or matrix).

Viewing your data as a Matrix allows you to analyze how, when, and to what ends the objects in your model interact.

Corporate Publisher

Use Corporate Publisher to publish some or all of your model data in HTML or Word format.

Publishing your data enables people who do not have access to Corporate Modeler to view your model data.

Which of these tools will I be using?

As this course is mostly concerned with drawing diagrams, the tool you will use the most will be Corporate Modeler.

We will look at how you draw diagrams that represent your business processes (Process Dynamics diagrams), and diagrams that represent the organization of your company (Hierarchy diagrams) in modules 2 and 3.

We will also take a brief look at the other tools in the suite as we begin to perform tasks.

5. Launch and understand Corporate Modeler

What have we already learnt about Corporate Modeler?

When we looked at what the Corporate Modeler Suite actually comprised of in the last section, we described Corporate Modeler as follows:

Corporate Modeler

Use Corporate Modeler to draw diagrams to model business processes, system behavior, and organizational hierarchies.

Drawing diagrams allows you to visualize how your objects interact with each other to form processes, data flows, or system behaviors.

What does Corporate Modeler allow you to do?

Corporate Modeler allows you to:

Open and edit existing diagrams. Create new diagrams. Add objects to diagrams (both objects that already exist in your model, and new objects created

especially for this diagram). Connect objects with lines. Change the way your diagrams and objects appear.

Note that the list above only shows the most basic things you can do using Corporate Modeler. Other functions will be introduced throughout the body of this course.

How to... Open Corporate Modeler:

From the Start Here pages: Click Corporate Modeler. From the Start menu: Select Casewise Corporate Modeler Suite > Corporate Modeler.

6. Exercise: Open a diagram

Once you have launched Corporate Modeler, you can open the diagram: Module 01 - Diagram 01 - Launch and understand Corporate Modeler by following these steps:

1. Select File > Open Diagram...

The Diagram Selector dialog opens.

2. From the Models drop-down, select Training Model.3. From the Diagrams section, select Module 01 - Diagram 01 - Launch and understand

Corporate Modeler.4. Click OK.

The selected diagram opens.

Please take some time to look at the information contained within this diagram. It explains the various areas of Corporate Modeler's user interface and what they are used for.

7. Launch and understand Model Explorer

What have we already learnt about Model Explorer?

When we looked at what the Corporate Modeler Suite actually comprised (in the last section), we described Model Explorer as follows:

Model Explorer

Use Model Explorer to explore and manage the objects in your Corporate Models.

Exploring your data allows you to centrally control your repository.

What does Model Explorer allow you to do?

Model Explorer allows you to:

Open diagrams. Create new diagrams. View the properties of models, diagrams, and objects. Create new objects (independently of diagrams). Administer users and user access.

Note that the list above only shows the most basic things you can do using Model Explorer. Other functions will be introduced throughout the body of this course.

How to... Open Model Explorer:

From the Start Here pages: click Model Explorer. From the Start Menu: select Casewise Corporate Modeler Suite > Model Explorer.

8. Exercise: Open a diagram from Model Explorer

Once you have launched Model Explorer, you can open the diagram Module 01 - Diagram 02 - Launch and understand Model Explorer by following these steps:

1. From the left-hand tree view, expand the Training Model.2. Click Diagram.

The diagrams in this model are listed.

3. From the right-hand list view, select the diagram: Module 01 - Diagram 02 - Launch and understand Model Explorer.

4. Right-click Diagram > Open or press Ctrl+Enter.

The selected diagram opens.

9. Getting help while using Corporate Modeler

The Corporate Modeler Suite comes with various help resources, which you are advised to use whenever you are unsure how to use a function in the product.

How to... Open the help file:

1. Press F1 or select Help > Contents to open the help at its home page.2. Right-click an object and select What's This? or open a dialog and click the Help button to open

the help at a page relevant to the selected object or dialog.

How to... Search for help topics:

Click the Show button.

The Contents, Index and Search panes are revealed.

Each item in the contents represents a task that a user can perform. If you cannot find a topic in the table of contents, you can also do keyword searches on the index and search tabs.

Tip: Try the Index before you try the Search facility as it will produce fewer results, and therefore the list of results will be easier to navigate.

10. What are models and diagrams?

When you are using Corporate Modeler, you are creating objects and diagrams in a model. This section defines what objects, diagrams and models are, and what they represent in your real business.

Although this section is short, it is possibly the most important section of the course. Please make sure that you understand each concept as it is described and work through all of the available information.

This third section tries to answer the questions:

What is a model? What are diagrams, and how do they relate to the model? What are object types, and how do they relate to the model?

What are objects, and how do they relate to the model?

11. What are diagrams, and how do they fit in to the model?

A diagram is a visual representation of some of the objects in a model interacting with one another.

Using Corporate Modeler to draw a diagram is at the heart of modeling. A simple diagram, showing a business process, or a system's features, can be created in seconds and gives a real sense of how a process works, how a system will function, or how a group is organized.

Exercise: Look at a diagram

Explore the following Diagram in the training model:

Module 01 - Diagram 03 - What are diagrams, and how do they fit in to the model?

Things to notice while you are exploring this diagram:

This diagram represents a complete process, from a starting event, through several tasks, to a final, concluding result - an occurrence that signifies that the process is at an end.

The connectors on this diagram show the order in which the process occurs, so 'Order Ready to Deliver' comes first, followed by 'Load the van', then 'Find Delivery Location', and so on. until it ends at 'Order Fulfilled'.

Each object (Process, Event or Result) involved in the process has a name describing what it is, and a description that provides more detail.

The diagram describes a process that is - itself - made up of sub-processes.

12. What are object types, and how do they fit in to the model?

When you were exploring the model before, you may have noticed that expanding the tree in Model Explorer revealed not only model names, but also - beneath the model names - a series of additional objects. The lowest level in this tree represents the object types in your model - such as Applications, Diagrams and Processes.

An object type is a design object which is used as a template for creating new instances of that type of object.

Example

An object type entitled Geometric Shape has properties including: 'Name', 'Surface area', and 'Number of corners'.

In Corporate Modeler, if I drag the object type Geometric Shape from the New Objects palette onto the canvas I create an object based on the Geometric Shape object type. This object also has the properties:

'Name', 'Surface area', and 'Number of corners' and can be given values for these attributes, such as: Name = Square, Surface area = 14, and the Number of corners = 4.

13. Exercise: Create some modeling objects from the object type Geometric Shape

Explore the following diagram in the training model:

Module 01 - Diagram 04 - What are object types, and how do they fit in to the model?


Your object type defines the properties of your objects. When you create the new objects they all have the same available properties (they all have a

Dimensions tab, containing the properties: surface area, and number of corners). When you create the new objects, they become available in the Existing Objects palette (select

Geometric Shape from the drop-down to see them). If you look in Model Explorer, you will see that the tree structure contains the object type

Geometric Shape and that if you select this in the left-hand pane, all of your new objects appear in the right-hand pane.

What are objects, and how do they fit in to the model?

As seen in the previous topic and exercise, objects are actual examples of the underlying object type. Everything stored in the repository is an object. For further information, look at the definition of an object in the Glossary. (To open the Glossary: Open Corporate Modeler, Press F1, Click Show, and then select Glossary from the table of contents).

In the previous exercise:

The individual shapes you created (the objects representing Squares or Triangles) are objects that occur in the real world, have properties, and appear on diagrams.

You created these shapes from the object type called Geometric Shape on the New Objects palette. Geometric Shape is a template for those objects.

14. Module 2: Create a Business Process (Process Dynamics) diagram

This module is concerned with Business Process diagrams. These diagrams allow you to show how your business works. The module consists of the following topics:

1. What is a Business Process diagram? - this section describes the concepts behind business process (or process dynamics) diagramming.

2. Create a Business Process diagram - this section describes how to create a diagram that describes your business processes, including how to add, connect, move and remove objects.

3. Understanding the modeling objects that you add to diagrams - this section talks about the objects you add to a diagram, and teaches you how to add and connect objects on a diagram.

4. Some basic diagramming techniques - this section teaches you a few handy techniques for diagramming. These techniques are useful to learn for all users.

15. What is a Business Process diagram?

Most users of the Corporate Modeler Suite will be drawing Business Process diagrams. That is, modeling their business in a series of diagrams so that they can understand how their business works (its dynamics) and thereby to try to improve its processes.

This section provides you with:

A definition of what a Business Process diagram is. An illustration of a Business Process diagram. An illustration of Business Process models, and multi-level models generally.

Definition of a Business Process diagram

Drawing Business Process (or process dynamics) diagrams is one of the main uses for Corporate Modeler.

A Business Process diagram is a visualization of the processes that your company performs.

Business Process diagrams each represent a complete process, from an event that starts it off, through several tasks, to a final concluding result, an occurrence that signifies that the process is at an end.

Why draw a Business Process diagram?

Drawing Business Process diagrams allow you to understand and analyze your business. Understanding and analyzing your business processes allows you to streamline and improve your business performance.

16. Illustration of a Business Process diagram

To understand what a Business Process diagram is, explore the following diagram in the training model:

Module 02 - Diagram 01 - Definition of a Business Process diagram


This diagram represents a complete process, from a triggering event that starts it off, through several tasks, to a final concluding result that signifies that the process is at an end.

Objects are connected to each other in an order to show that - for example - the process 'Pick goods' must be completed before the process 'Wrap goods' can begin (you cannot wrap something that you do not yet have!).

The diagram describes a process that is itself made up of sub-processes.

16.1. ILLUSTRATION OF A BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL

A Business Process can be very complex and it is normal to have lots of Business Process diagrams stored in a single Business Process model. Each diagram within this model may show different parts of the business or information visualized at different levels of granularity - with some diagrams showing lots of detail about a process, and some showing only which teams are responsible for each area, or which building they occur in.

To represent this granularity in our diagrams we use a technique called Exploding. We explode an object on a diagram to look inside it and see the details it is made up of - these details are shown on another diagram. We call this second diagram a Detail diagram as it shows the details of the original exploded object.

Exercise: Look at a diagram


Module 02 - Diagram 02 - Illustration of a Business Process model


The first diagram you look at shows very high level information (information that is not very detailed).

The diagram you 'Explode to' from this diagram, shows more detail about the same process (in fact it shows the processes that you have to perform to have completed the original process).

What is an Explosion? (illustration)

16.2. WHAT IS AN EXPLOSION? (ILLUSTRATION)

An Explosion is a link from an object on one diagram to another diagram.

If you click on an exploded object (these can be identified easily, as they show a plus + symbol), you can navigate directly from the parent object to the child diagram.

An explosion created from a Process normally opens a diagram that shows the process in more detail. For example, the process Despatch Goods may explode to a diagram that is also called Despatch Goods, and that includes the sub-processes: 'Address Goods', 'Weigh Goods', 'Send to Post Room' and so on. The lower-level processes must be completed before the goods can be despatched (that is, the child diagram breaks the process Despatch Goods down into more detail, or sub-processes).

An explosion created from an object on a Hierarchy diagram (for example, the Organization 'Warehouse') can provide a link to any related diagram (for example, a diagram detailing any process that occurs at the Warehouse).

The linked diagrams are be used to show more detailed information about the exploded object.

You can move between the objects using the explode and return buttons on the toolbar.

16.3. EXPLODE AN OBJECT ON THIS DIAGRAM

An explosion allows us to connect one object on a diagram to another diagram. We often use - and have previously explored - both exploding objects to show more detail and using a Hierarchy diagram as the 'front page' of a series of diagrams and exploding from the objects on that diagram to all related diagrams as navigational tool.

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In this exercise we will be creating an explosion from our newly created Hierarchy diagram, thereby making this diagram into a 'front page' for a model containing marketing information.

If you do not fully understand what an explosion is, please read this topic before you begin:


How to... Explode an object on the diagram 'My Business'

1. On a diagram, select the object that you want to explode.2. Right-click and select Explode New > Diagram.

The New Diagram dialog opens.

3. Enter a Name for the new diagram.

Note: By default your new diagram will be given the name of the object it is an explosion of. This is because the exploded object and the detail diagram often represent the same information, just at a different level of detail.

4. Select that you wish to create a diagram that is based on a Template, and choose the template Template 02: Explode an object from those available.

5. Click OK.

The diagram is created and opens.

17. FAQS: ABOUT DFD EXPLOSIONS

When you explode a process object on a DFD, the following rules apply:

1. the exploded process object displays much larger on the child diagram2. any objects which are the direct inputs or outputs of the exploded process –

and their connectors - are replicated on the child diagram.

Note: DFD rules dictate that such objects can only be of type Process, Data Store or External Entity

3. objects not directly connected to the exploded process on the parent diagram are not replicated on the child diagram

For the above behavior to apply the diagram you are exploding from must be subject to DFD rules and you must choose a DFD template for your child diagram. If you explode from a non-DFD diagram to a DFD diagram then only the exploded object (e.g. a process) appears on the child diagram. If you explode to a non-DFD diagram then no objects are replicated on the child diagram.

The diagram below shows an example of how DFD explosions work.


17.1. CREATE A DETAIL DIAGRAM

There is a concept in the Corporate Modeler Suite called "explosions". This is when a process shown on a high level diagram is "decomposed" into a detail diagram. The idea of this detail diagram is that it shows a more detailed picture of the parent object.

For example, the Process "Despatch Goods" that appears on a high level diagram may be decomposed to a diagram containing the processes: "Wrap Goods", "Print Labels", and "Send to Post Room". These three processes all need to be completed to complete the Process "Despatch Goods".

What do you want to do?

To select an object that you want to detail and create an explosion to a new diagram from it, see:

Create a new diagram by exploding an object on a diagram .

Create a new diagram by exploding an object in Model Explorer .

To take an existing diagram and set it to be the explosion of an existing object, see:

Make an existing diagram into a detail diagram or change the parent object of a detail diagram .

To use these explosions to navigate around the diagram ("drill-down" to see extra detail, or "drill up" to see the context of the process), see:

Open a parent or detail diagram.

When you explode a process object on a DFD (Data Flow Diagram) the behavior is slightly different. Click here for further details.


It is also possible to explode an object into a matrix. To do this follow the procedure for exploding to a new diagram with the following minor change:

Click Explode New > Matrix.

Note that an exploded object can be easily identified on an open diagram, as it contains a plus sign (+). You can also navigate to the detail diagram easily, by clicking the plus sign (+).

Note: If you want to create a new diagram that neither: conforms to any pre-set diagramming rules, nor has any objects in the palette when it is first opened; you must select to create a blank diagram based on diagramming rules, and select No Rules from the drop-down list. This may be useful if you are responsible for creating templates.

18. OPEN A PARENT OR DETAIL DIAGRAM

There is a concept in the Corporate Modeler Suite called "explosions", also known as "drill-downs". This is when a process shown on a high level diagram is "decomposed" into a detail diagram. The idea of this detail diagram is that it shows the lower level processes that comprise the process on the higher level diagram it is decomposed from.

For example, the Process "Despatch Goods" that appears on a high level diagram may be decomposed to a diagram containing the processes: "Wrap Goods", "Print Labels", and "Send to Post Room". These three processes all need to be completed to complete the Process "Despatch Goods".

This topic describes the process of navigation from a parent object to its detail diagram and from a detail diagram to its parent.


If (in either Corporate Modeler or Model Explorer) you can see an exploded object and you wish to open the diagram this object explodes to, see:

Open a parent diagram .

Click File > Return.

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If only 1 diagram contains the object that is this diagram's parent: the selected diagram opens.

If more than 1 diagram contains the object that is this diagram's parent: the diagram selector opens, select the diagram you wish to open from the list presented and click OK.

19. AUTOMATIC DRILL DOWN DEPTH

In the Choose Diagram screen of the Corporate Publisher Wizard, the diagrams can be listed in a hierarchy (tree) format (as determined by the setting of 'Diagram List' option in the 'General' folder).

In this type of listing, if you double click on a diagram, some of its descendent diagrams are selected along with it.

How many levels of descendent diagrams are selected depends on this Automatic Drill Down Depth setting, as shown below (Note that the setting is shown in brackets, and that the level of a descendent diagram is reflected in how far it is indented from the left):

DiagramChild diagram (1)

Descendent diagram (2)Descendent diagram (3)

andso

onAll descendent levels (not specified or 0)

19.1. CHOOSE DIAGRAMS SCREEN

Select diagrams to output. The output can only include the diagrams you select, the objects on these diagrams and objects associated with the objects on these diagrams.

Which of these are actually outputted is determined by the settings you make in the next (Properties) screen. These options are the 'Include <diagram type>' options, the 'Diagram Page Properties' and the 'Object Page Properties'.

If the diagram hierarchy is unusually complex then an alphabetical list displays instead.

19.1.1. SELECT DIAGRAMS

Click on a diagram's 'not selected' symbol (see below) to select it; click on a diagram's 'selected' symbol (see below) to deselect it.

In a Hierarchy type list (tree), you can double click on a diagram to simultaneously select the diagram and some of its descendent diagrams. The number of levels of descendent diagrams that are selected is set by the Automatic Drill Down Depth option - this option is accessible from the next (Properties) screen; see the option's What's This? help for more details.

Note that in a Hierarchy type list (tree), the order of the child diagrams listing is determined by the 'Hierarchy Drill Down Ordering' and 'Non-Hierarchy Drill Down Ordering' options (in the Publication Set Editor's General tab).

Any red italic entries are due to recursive hierarchies.

Each of the symbols you might see in the list has a meaning.

You can select or deselect all the diagrams in one operation:

1. Display the shortcut menu from the right-hand mouse button.2. Select Select All or Deselect All.

You can only continue to the next screen if you have selected at least one diagram.

19.1.2. SAVE DIAGRAM SELECTIONS

Click Save Diagram Selections to save the currently selected diagrams to the Diagrams to Publish property in the Publication Set.

If there is already a list of diagrams specified in the Diagrams to Publish property, a message box will appear. Click Yes to replace that list by the diagrams currently selected in the Wizard. Otherwise click No.

If there is not already a list of diagrams specified, or if there is and Yes is selected then a message will appear confirming the action and asking whether the list is to be used by default.

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If Yes is selected on this second message box then the value of the Diagram Selection Method property will be set to Select Some. If No is selected then the value of Diagram Selection Method will be set to Select in Wizard (although the list of currently selected diagrams will be saved for future activation if you change the value of Diagram Selection Method to Select Some).

20. CREATE AN ENTITY DIAGRAM

Creating an Entity diagram means adding Entities to that diagram, to create relationships between those Entities, and to associate Attributes or Keys with your Entities.


To add Entities to your diagram, and then to draw the relationships between them as lines, see:

Add Entities and Relationships to a diagram .

You add Entities to a diagram, as you would any other modeling object - see Add Corporate Modeler objects to your diagram.

Relationships are reusable objects, so you can add either New or Existing Relationships using the object palette. Select your source Entity (the Entity that you want to be the parent in the relationship), drag a Relationship from the palette to the target Entity (the Entity you want to be the child in this relationship).

Note that a relationship must be connected to objects at both ends.

Tips

To edit the Properties of a Relationship (that is, specify its cardinality), double-click it. Use the Help button to find out what each field represents.

To associate Attributes with your Entities, see:

Add an Attribute to an Entity .

From the Entity Properties dialog:

1. Select Associations > Attributes.

The Attributes dialog opens. Any existing Attributes for this Entity are shown in the list.

2. Click New ...

The Attribute Properties dialog opens.

3. Enter Properties for the new Attribute.

4. Click OK.

Tips

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To edit the properties of an already existing Attribute, click Edit ... in the Attributes dialog.

To delete an Attribute (remove it so that it is no longer associated with this Entity), select the row and click Delete.

To change the Entity that an existing Attribute is associated with, see:

Move Attributes from one Entity to another .

1. Open the Attribute Properties dialog.

2. From the Entity drop-down list, select the Entity you want the Attribute to be associated with.

20.1. CREATE A BUSINESS PROCESS DIAGRAM

The pages in this section describe how to create a diagram that models a simple business process.

We recommend that you launch Corporate Modeler now.

The lessons in this section are mostly hands-on, and teach you how to:

create a diagram. add objects to a diagram.

connect two objects (such as processes) to each other.

move objects around the canvas once they're on a diagram.

remove objects from a diagram.

save your changes to a diagram.

ADD OBJECTS TO YOUR DIAGRAM

In a previous module, we created a new object called Shape from the object type Geometric Shape in the New Objects palette.

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Now, you need to use the new objects palette (to the left of the diagram) to drag and drop the following objects onto the diagram:

Drag the Event object from the New Objects palette to create a new object, and call it: Start the process.

Tip: If you edit the name on the object itself, you can save it by pressing Enter.

Drag the Process object from the New Objects palette to create a new object, and call it: First step in the process.

Tip: If you want to change the name, after you've saved it, select the shape and press Enter to see and edit the object's properties.

Drag the Process object from the New Objects palette to create a new object, and call it: Second step in the process.

Tip: Notice that when you drop the shapes near to one another they form an orderly line (they are snapping to a grid in Corporate Modeler).

Drag the Result object from the New Objects palette to create a new object, and call it: Finish the process.

Tip: All of these objects are now available in the Existing Objects palette (if you select Result from the drop-down list, then right-click the list below and click Refresh).

20.2. HOW TO CONNECT TWO OBJECTS TO EACH OTHER

Connecting the objects on your diagram (drawing arrows between them) is very important to your diagrams. The arrows, or 'connectors', show that one process or event occurs before another chronologically - for example, a bank account is opened before money can be paid into it.

How to ... Connect objects on your diagram:

1. Select the Event: Start the process.

2.

3. Press F12.

4. Select First step in the process (that is, the object you want to connect to).

5. A line is drawn connecting the two objects.

Tips:

Pressing F12 is a shortcut. You can also select the Event, drag the connector from the palette, and drop it over the Process to connect the Event to the Process.

By default, the connector is drawn as a straight line. If you want to draw the line as a dog leg (bent) in the first instance, you must change the Line Behavior to Bent. Select Tools > Options ... and then select the Diagram tab.

20.3. MOVE OBJECTS AROUND ON A DIAGRAM

All of the objects on your diagram can be moved around the canvas by selecting and dragging them.

To get a feel of how this works, return to your diagram in the training model (you called this diagram My First Diagram), and drag some of the objects around.


The objects remain connected when you drag them around. Quick tip: if you move an object and do not like the way the line has changed, you can select the

line and press F11 to redraw it.

To grab a series of objects on your diagram, use your mouse to draw a rectangle around the shapes that you want to move. When all the objects are selected, drag them to a new position.

Quick tip: to select all of the objects on your diagram:

Press Ctrl + A.

20.4. REMOVE OBJECTS FROM A DIAGRAM

There are two ways that you can remove an object from your diagram:

1. If you want to delete an object from the diagram, and you are certain that you will not want to reinstate it later or add it to another diagram, select the object on your diagram, right-click and choose Delete.

Note that you will not be able to delete any object that appears on more than one diagram already.

2. If you want to remove the object from the diagram, but you might want to add it to this or other diagrams later, select the object on your diagram, right-click and choose Clear.

We look at the differences between Clearing and Deleting later in this training course, when we look at the principles of object reuse.

To get a feel of how this works, return to your diagram in the training model (you called this diagram My First Diagram), and remove the object First step in the process.


20.5. SAVE THE DIAGRAM

You are probably used to saving anything you create on a computer using File > Save.

However, with Corporate Modeler, you do not have to explicitly save changes to your diagrams. This is done automatically during your session and when you close the diagram. Note that you can undo any changes you have made to your diagram during your session by pressing Ctrl + Z.

The File > Save As command creates a copy of the diagram

Any connectors running to or from this object are also removed.

20.6. UNDERSTANDING THE OBJECTS THAT YOU ADD TO DIAGRAMS

This section describes the different objects (for example, Events, Processes, Organizations) that you can use on a Process Dynamics diagram and the rules that govern their use.

This section teaches you:

What the objects that appear in the palette of a Business Process diagram represent. How to add other objects, and what they are used for.

How to create new diagrams with different objects in the palette.

UNDERSTAND THE OBJECTS IN A BUSINESS PROCESS DIAGRAM'S PALETTE

The object types that you can see here are what you typically use to create Business Process (Process Dynamics) diagrams.

Click the object for a detailed explanation of what it is, and what it should be used to represent on your diagram.

Connector sets

It is also possible to add connector set objects to your diagrams from the palette. These objects signify a decision or fork in a process.

Example: This XOR set (represented XOR circle) represents a credit check, which results in EITHER the user’s goods being sent OR the user sale being declined. It can never result in both results.

20.7. OTHER OBJECTS AND THEIR USES

There are other types of object that you can add to your diagram; these are described below.

Apart from the Free Text and Issue objects, these objects cannot appear on the Object Palette, so you must use the Insert menu to add them to a diagram (for example, Insert > Title adds a diagram title object to your diagram).

Issues.

These are objects that you can create while a model is under development. Typically, you use them to keep track of outstanding issues and other supplementary information.

You can then associate these Issues to specific objects or whole diagrams. You can also add your Issue objects to the diagram.

Free Text.

This is a text box that you can use to annotate your diagram.

Title.

Version Control.

This shows the information that is stored on the Version tab of the Diagram Properties dialog.

This is not part of the notation for this type of diagram, but is a kind of textual annotation - like free text - that allows you to enrich your diagram.

Gallery Picture.

Pictures, or graphics, can enhance the presentation of your diagram or can be used as annotations or additions to the diagram's content.

You can either: add a picture from the gallery by clicking Insert > Gallery Picture, or you can add a picture by copying it from another program and pasting it directly onto the canvas.

Object Link.

Object Links allow you to create a shortcut to an external application or document or to another diagram (this includes diagrams in other models).

For example, you could link to a Word or Excel document, which would then allow you to launch that document directly from the diagram.

You can also assign graphics to your Object Links so that they have a distinctive appearance on your diagram.

20.8. CREATE NEW DIAGRAMS WITH DIFFERENT OBJECTS IN THE PALETTE

The palette you see when you create a diagram is determined by the template you chose when you created your diagram. So if you want to see different objects in your palette, you should pick a different template.

How does this work?

When a new diagram is created from a template diagram, that template is copied (as though you selected Copy and Paste) to create the new diagram.

This means that the new diagram contains any objects created in the New Objects palette, any objects drawn on the template's canvas, and any rules set against the diagram template on creation.

Note: When you create new diagrams from a template, the template diagram is copied. The new diagram is not linked to the template, so if you change the properties of the template diagram, these changes do not flow through to the existing diagrams based on that template.

In the sample model provided - Casewise Framework Example - open each of these Template diagrams:

Template: Business Dynamics Model Template: Function Dynamics Model

Template: System Dynamics Model

Each of these templates is used as the basis for a particular type of Business Process diagram. When you create a new diagram, you should be very careful to select the correct template and thereby get the right objects in your palette.

20.9. SOME BASIC DIAGRAMMING TECHNIQUES

In this section, we shall look at some techniques used for managing a diagramming session, such as how to zoom in and out and what format you want for the Connectors on your diagram.

This is a very brief section that runs you through some very basic actions / activities will help you to optimize your use of the software.

20.10. TECHNIQUES: DIAGRAMS


Module 02 - Diagram 03 - Identify / Build Product

Techniques to try while you are exploring this diagram:

Double-click an empty part of the diagram.

What happens?

Try experimenting with these toolbar buttons:

What happens?

The background color of the whole diagram changes.

They all deal with controlling how much detail you see on your diagram, for example, zooming in and out.

Click to zoom in to a detail on the diagram.

Click to zoom out and see more of the diagram.

Click to show the whole diagram in the available area.

Select Format > Background color ... and choose a color.

20.11. TECHNIQUES: OBJECTS

Reopen the following diagram (if it is not already open) in the training model:

Module 02 - Diagram 03 - Identify / Build Product

Techniques to try while you are exploring this diagram:

Double-click an object.

What happens?

The Properties dialog for that object opens.

You can use these panes to record information about your model: all objects have a Description tab, and if you are looking at a Process or an Event object, you can enter metrics that describe how long it takes to complete each process, or what costs are accrued.

These metrics can be used to simulate your diagrams.

Click an object twice slowly.

What happens?

You can edit the object's name directly on the diagram without having to open its Properties dialog.

Select an object and right-click.

What happens?

A popup menu opens that contains the most commonly used commands for that object.

Try the What's This? command. You will be pleased to know that you - or the System Manager - can customize the help text that opens, even replacing our supplied text altogether.

Move an object so that it overlays another object, for example, place an Organization on top of a Process, then, right-click and use the Draw options.

What happens?

You can use the Move to Front and Move to Back options to hide and reveal objects.

When you have Processes in swim lanes, you can use these commands to ensure that you do not accidentally hide your Processes behind the swim lanes.

Nudge, Align and Resize can be used to modify the objects and their locations.

20.12. MODULE 3: CREATE A HIERARCHY DIAGRAM

This module looks at the use of Hierarchy diagrams in business process modeling. We investigate what they are used for and how they can be used to complement the Business Process (or Dynamics) diagrams we looked at in the last module.

The module consists of the following topics:

1. What is a Hierarchy diagram? - In this section you will learn what a Hierarchy diagram is, and what you use it to represent in your model.

2. Create a Hierarchy diagram - In this section you will learn how to draw a typical Hierarchy diagram from a template in the training model.

3. Some basic diagramming techniques - This section teaches you a few handy techniques for diagramming. These techniques are useful to learn for all users.

4. Before you begin this section you are advised to complete the module: Create a Business Process (Process Dynamics) diagram.

http://www.casewise.com/SupportingInformation/support/online_training/cm10.3/english/draw_diagrams/module02/create_a_business_process_diagram.htm

http://www.casewise.com/SupportingInformation/support/online_training/cm10.3/english/draw_diagrams/module02/create_a_business_process_diagram.htm

20.13. WHAT IS A HIERARCHY DIAGRAM?

As the name suggests, Hierarchy diagrams show hierarchical relationships between things in your business.

Example: On an Organogram (a diagram showing the employees of a company), the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is at the top. The CEO's immediate employees (the CEO's PA, for example) are placed beneath the CEO and connected to the CEO object via a hierarchy link.

Another example of a Hierarchy diagram is a Process Hierarchy, which is sometimes referred to as a Functional Decomposition chart. This type of diagram shows organizations (for example, departments) within your business, and links them to the processes they are responsible for, thus showing a hierarchy of responsibility.

The next topic shows some examples of Hierarchy diagrams.

20.14. TYPES OF HIERARCHY DIAGRAM

Hierarchy diagrams are typically used for Organization Charts (Organograms), Process Hierarchy diagrams (also known as Functional Decomposition charts), or even for a complete view of how all your business and system objects relate to each other.

Look at some examples:

The most common Hierarchy diagram shows the organization of your business. For example, the status of your staff in the organization.

See an example of an Organogram.

Process Hierarchy diagrams, or Functional Decomposition charts, show the organization of your business with regards to who is responsible for high-level processes.

See an example of a Functional Decomposition chart.

You can also use Hierarchy diagrams in a more flexible way, to show overviews of any unit that is constructed as a hierarchy. The most common example of this would be a company overview.

See an example of a company overview.

To see an example of a hierarchy diagram, you are asked to explore the following diagram in the training model:

Module 03 - Diagram 01 - Types of Hierarchy diagram


The New Objects palette for this diagram contains: a Hierarchy Link (the line used to connect objects on a Hierarchy diagram), a Process, an Organization, a Location, an Issue, and a Free Text object.

The Existing Objects palette can be filtered by object type or category. The object types or categories in this list reflect those in the New Objects palette (if you right-click the process in the new objects palette and remove it, then Process isn't available from the drop-down list below).

The hierarchy on this diagram shows: The location of the business, then the departments within that business (drawn as Organization objects), then the processes that those businesses are responsible for.

You can't open a properties dialog for a Hierarchy Link, this is because a Hierarchy Link has no properties.

20.15. WHEN TO USE HIERARCHY DIAGRAMS

As Hierarchy diagrams enable you to quickly describe very high-level information, they are often used for brainstorming or identifying the scope of a project.

You can quickly capture - for example - the organizational units (or departments) in your business, and the very high-level processes that those units are responsible for.

Note that this information is very helpful for senior managers, who are not necessarily interested in the details of your processes but who want to understand the structure of your business.

Tips and Additional information

Processes and Organizations added to your Hierarchy diagrams can be re-used (shown again) on your Business Process diagrams. This means that you could show that a process is performed by the marketing department on the Hierarchy diagram, and then show its context, or the steps it's comprised of on a Business Process diagram.

The objects on a Hierarchy diagram could be Exploded to show their details on a Business Process diagram. So, you could click on the process objects in the hierarchy and explode to diagrams showing more information about how those processes are performed.

20.16. USE A HIERARCHY DIAGRAM AS THE 'FRONT PAGE' OF YOUR MODEL

It is often difficult to organize the diagrams in your model so that other users can find the diagrams that interest them, and so that it is easy to know when you have captured all of the information about your processes as diagrams.

One way that you can do this is by using a Hierarchy diagram as the 'front page' or overview of your model.

For example, if your diagram shows the departments that your business is comprised of (shown as Organization objects) you could Explode each organization to show all of the business processes that department is responsible for.

This diagram shows the object warehouse (on a Hierarchy diagram) exploding to a diagram that shows a process the warehouse is responsible for, such as: Dispatch customer goods.

You could have similar explosions for every object on the hierarchy, so you click on Marketing to see processes such as: Design and Create Packaging and Create Newsletter.

This sort of structure enables users with only the most basic understanding of your business to locate

diagrams. All they have to know is which department the process they are interested in relates to.

Tips and Additional information:

The objects on your Hierarchy diagram can explode to any number of detail diagrams. You navigate to a detail diagram by clicking the plus symbol (+) on the exploded object.

If you want to use a diagram as the 'front page' of your model, you should make sure its name is first alphabetically (perhaps by leaving a space in the name, or by prefixing all diagram names with a number denoting the order they should appear in). This will result in your diagram appearing first in the list in the Open Diagram dialog, and in Model Explorer.

20.17. OBJECTS ON HIERARCHY DIAGRAMS

As you can see from the examples in this section, Hierarchy diagrams support all object types. So, you can draw any object on any Hierarchy diagram.

If you want to draw a diagram of a particular type (for example, you want to draw an Organization Hierarchy and only want organizations on it) you should use a template to control the objects that appear in the New Objects palette.

Note: You connect objects on a Hierarchy diagram using Hierarchy Links. These lines have no properties (no names, no description etc.), and are added to the diagram in the same way as connectors on Business Process diagrams.

Which objects are available in the palettes of Hierarchy diagrams are dictated by the diagram's template. In the Casewise Framework model the following diagram templates are available for creating Hierarchy diagrams:

Template: Application Hierarchy - Diagrams created from this template will display a hierarchy of applications used by your corporation. A good example of a parent-child relationship on this type of diagram might be to show Microsoft Office as the parent of the applications in the Office Suite.

Template: Business Logistics - Diagrams created from this template display a hierarchy of your business's locations, and the departments based at those locations. Note that the Organization objects in the palette of this template are titled: Department Type and Department, and the Location is called City. This is because the object types that appear in this palette have Categories.

Template: Location Hierarchy - Again, this shows the locations of your business using Organization objects. Again, the objects in the palette are categorised as: Country, City, State and Region and would be shown in a hierarchy accordingly. So, the Country object UK would appear above the City object Manchester, connected by a Hierarchy Link.

Template: Organization / Process - Draw the organizational units (representing the departments in your business), and connect them to the processes for which they are responsible.


Hierarchy diagrams do not have connectors in the palette, objects are connected using Hierarchy Links.

An object that appears above another object, and is connected via a hierarchy link, is the parent object (it is higher up in the hierarchy).

Example: On an Organogram (a diagram showing the employees of a company), the CEO is at the top. The CEO's immediate employees (the CEO's PA, for example) are placed beneath the CEO and connected to the CEO object via a Hierarchy Link.

20.18. CREATE A HIERARCHY DIAGRAM: EXERCISE

From your experience in previous modules you will create a simple organization hierarchy, add some objects, and connect them together using Hierarchy Links.

How to ... Create a New Diagram:

Follow the steps for creating a Business Process diagram, but select the template: Template: Organization / Process to base the new diagram on. Name the new diagram: My Business.

If you do not remember how to do this, you should return to the appropriate topic now:

Create a diagram.

When you are creating your new diagram, the New Diagram dialog should be completed in the manner described in this graphic.

(Click the graphic on the left to see a full size version.)

20.19. ADD OBJECTS TO YOUR DIAGRAM

In a previous module, we created new objects by dragging them onto the diagram from the New Objects palette. In this topic, we will drag existing objects (objects that have already been created in this model and may appear on other diagrams) onto the diagram.

The diagram you are creating shows the organization Marketing and - beneath this organization - the processes: Monitor Advertising, Organize Advertising, and Organize Exhibitions. It is showing the organization that is responsible for an activity (a process), and the hierarchy within the processes.

What are you supposed to do?

On the Existing Objects Palette:

1. From the Object Type or Category drop-down, select Organization.2. Select the object Marketing and drag it with your mouse onto the diagram canvas.

3. From the Object Type or Category drop-down, select Process.

4. Drag the following processes onto the diagram:

http://www.casewise.com/SupportingInformation/support/online_training/cm10.3/english/draw_diagrams/module02/create_a_diagram.htm

http://www.casewise.com/SupportingInformation/support/online_training/cm10.3/english/draw_diagrams/images/new_diagram_hierarchy_full_size.jpg

5. Monitor Advertising,Organize Advertising,Organize Exhibitions.

Your diagram should now look like this.


The objects will be located wherever you released the mouse on the canvas.


If you cannot see the Existing Objects palette, it may not be visible or it may be obscured by other palettes (such as the New Objects palette).

To open the Existing Objects palette, select View > Existing Objects. If the Existing Objects palette is open but you cannot see it, try dragging the other palettes (to the

left of the program) to different locations.

20.20. MOVE OBJECTS AROUND ON A DIAGRAM

On a Hierarchy diagram the layout of the objects is extremely important, this is because the position of the objects on the diagram determines their position in the hierarchy.

So in an organization hierarchy you would position the CEO above the General Manager, as the CEO is more senior in the chain of command.

What are you supposed to do?

We are now going to move the objects on the diagram to signify their position in the hierarchy.

On the diagram itself:

1. Drag the object Marketing so that it is in the middle of the diagram, beneath the diagram title.2. Drag the Organize Advertising object and place it beneath the Marketing object, and to the left.

3.

4. Drag the Organize Exhibitions object and place it to the right of the Organize Marketing object.

http://www.casewise.com/SupportingInformation/support/online_training/cm10.3/english/draw_diagrams/images/hierarchy_add_objects.jpg

5. Drag the Monitor Advertising object and place it directly beneath the Organize Advertising object.

Note: the Monitor Advertising object could be placed below the Organize Advertising object either because it is not as important a task for the Marketing team, or simply because it allows you to see that both of these tasks relate to a common area - advertising.



20.21. CONNECT TWO OBJECTS TO EACH OTHER USING A HIERARCHY LINK

Connecting the objects on your diagram (drawing lines between them) is very important to your Hierarchy diagrams. The lines (or Hierarchy Links) show that one object takes precedence over another in the hierarchy.

(The process of connecting objects with Hierarchy Links is the same as the process of connecting objects on a Business Process diagram.)

How to ... Connect objects on your diagram:

1. Select Marketing.

2.

3. Press F12.

4. Select Organize Advertising (the object you want to connect to).

5. A line is drawn connecting the two objects.

http://www.casewise.com/SupportingInformation/support/online_training/cm10.3/english/draw_diagrams/images/hierarchy_move_objects.jpg

6. Press F12.7. Select Monitor Advertising.

8. Press F12.

9. Select Organize Exhibitions.



Note that all of the objects were connected to the object marketing. This means the object Marketing is the parent of all the other objects on the diagram.

If I wanted to make Monitor Advertising subordinate to Organize Advertising(to show that one has precedence over the other) I would link these directly.

Tips:

Pressing F12 is a shortcut. You can also select the parent object, drag the Hierarchy Link from the palette, and drop it over the child object.

F12 ONLY works if the line in the New Objects palette is set as the default connection object. Please right-click the Hierarchy Link in your New Objects palette and select Edit Properties ... to see if this is the case.

20.22. EXPLODE AN OBJECT ON THIS DIAGRAM

An explosion allows us to connect one object on a diagram to another diagram. We often use - and have previously explored - both exploding objects to show more detail and using a Hierarchy diagram as the 'front page' of a series of diagrams and exploding from the objects on that diagram to all related diagrams as navigational tool.

In this exercise we will be creating an explosion from our newly created Hierarchy diagram, thereby making this diagram into a 'front page' for a model containing marketing information.

If you do not fully understand what an explosion is, please read this topic before you begin:

http://www.casewise.com/SupportingInformation/support/online_training/cm10.3/english/draw_diagrams/images/hierarchy_connect_main.jpg


20.23. WHAT IS AN EXPLOSION? (ILLUSTRATION)

An Explosion is a link from an object on one diagram to another diagram.

If you click on an exploded object (these can be identified easily, as they show a plus + symbol), you can navigate directly from the parent object to the child diagram.

An explosion created from a Process normally opens a diagram that shows the process in more detail. For example, the process Despatch Goods may explode to a diagram that is also called Despatch Goods, and that includes the sub-processes: 'Address Goods', 'Weigh Goods', 'Send to Post Room' and so on. The lower-level processes must be completed before the goods can be despatched (that is, the child diagram breaks the process Despatch Goods down into more detail, or sub-processes).

An explosion created from an object on a Hierarchy diagram (for example, the Organization 'Warehouse') can provide a link to any related diagram (for example, a diagram detailing any process that occurs at the Warehouse).

The linked diagrams are be used to show more detailed information about the exploded object.

How to... Explode an object on the diagram 'My Business'

1. On a diagram, select the object that you want to explode.2. Right-click and select Explode New > Diagram.

The New Diagram dialog opens.

3. Enter a Name for the new diagram.

Note: By default your new diagram will be given the name of the object it is an explosion of. This is because the exploded object and the detail diagram often represent the same information, just at a different level of detail.

4. Select that you wish to create a diagram that is based on a Template, and choose the template Template 02: Explode an object from those available.

5. Click OK.

The diagram is created and opens.

20.24. TECHNIQUES: NUDGE OBJECTS ON YOUR DIAGRAM

Nudge moves selected objects by small increments on the canvas, enabling you to place the objects on your diagram exactly where you want them. This feature helps you to make your output diagrams look really professional.


20.24.1. WHAT DOES NUDGE DO?

You can nudge the lines or shapes on your diagram according to the Grid Snap value (set on the diagram tab, under Tools > Options), or by pixel. In the first instance the shape will move in the selected direction by the value this diagram has its Grid Snap set to, and in the second instance the shape will move in the selected direction by exactly one pixel.

The following images show a shape being nudged upwards by one Grid Snap value (in this case the Grid Snap value has been set to 16mm).

20.24.2. HOW TO...

20.24.2.1. Nudge to grid

To move a shape up by one grid snap:

1. Select a shape, or a group of shapes or lines on the canvas.

2. Press the UP arrow on your keyboard.

The selected shape or shapes move up by one grid snap value.

20.24.2.1.1. Keyboard controls for Nudge to Grid

Up Nudge shape by a Grid value Up

Down Nudge shape by a Grid value Down

Left Nudge shape by a Grid value Left

Right Nudge shape by a Grid value Right

20.24.2.2. Nudge to pixel

To move a shape up by one pixel:

1. Select a shape, a line, or a group of shapes or lines on the canvas.

2. Press the Shift + Up keys.

The selected shape or shapes move up by one pixel.

Keyboard controls for Nudge to pixel

Shift + Up Nudge shape by a pixel: Up

Shift + Down Nudge shape by a pixel: Down

Shift + Left Nudge shape by a pixel: Left

Shift + Right Nudge shape by a pixel: Right

20.25. TECHNIQUES: ALIGN OBJECTS ON YOUR DIAGRAM

Align moves selected objects so that they are in line with another object on the canvas, enabling you to place the objects on your diagram in a neat row in one easy move.

Aligning shapes on a Corporate Modeler diagram is done in reference to another object, meaning that you know exactly where the objects will be placed once they have been aligned.

20.25.1. WHAT DOES ALIGN DO?

The following diagrams show how the layout of a diagram will change if objects B and C are aligned with the top of shape A.

Before After

Note: In this case the Align Top command required that object B had to move upwards and object C downwards in order to be horizontally aligned to the top of object A.

20.25.2. HOW TO... ALIGN OBJECTS1. Select an object, or a group of objects.

2. Select Draw > Align [Shape Edge].

Where [Shape Edge] is: top, middle, bottom, left, right or center.

The cursor becomes a crosshair.

3. Select the shape you want the previously selected shapes to align to.

The initially selected objects shift to be aligned with the [Shape Edge] of the target shape.

20.25.2.1. What happens if I select a different shape edge to align to?

The example above shows what happens if objects of the same shape and size are aligned using: Align Top.

This table shows what alternative behavior is expected when aligning shapes. The black line shows the alignment of the shapes and is not apparent on the diagram itself.

Name Example DescriptionAlign Left Aligns the selected shape(s) with the left

hand edge of the source shape.

Align Center Aligns the selected shape(s) with the vertical center of the source shape.

Align Right Aligns the selected shape(s) with the right hand edge of the source shape.

Align Top Aligns the selected shape(s) with the top edge of the source shape.

Align Middle Aligns the selected shape(s) with the horizontal center of the source shape.

Align Bottom Align the selected shape(s) with the bottom edge of the source shape.

20.26. MODULE 4: ADVANCED DIAGRAMMING

Now that you have created a Business Process diagram and a Hierarchy diagram, you have most of the skills required for drawing diagrams of any kind.

This short module provides a glance at some of the more advanced features available in the Corporate Modeler Suite. For more information about any of these areas, please look at the Corporate Modeler Help file.

The module consists of the following topics:

1. Categories in the Casewise Framework Example model - in this section you will learn about multi-level models in the Casewise Framework Example model (the model you receive with Corporate Modeler) and how to use categories to group information according to the granularity of its content.

2. Associate objects on a diagram - in this section you will learn how to create associations between the objects on your diagram, and thereby how to enhance the meaning of your diagrams.

3. Publish your model - in this section you will learn some of the key features of publishing your model. Note that publishing is a huge area and will not be covered to any level of detail here.

4. Some basic diagramming techniques - this section teaches you a few handy techniques for diagramming. These techniques are useful to learn for all users.

20.27. CATEGORIES IN THE CASEWISE FRAMEWORK MODEL

In this section we consider the principle of 'zooming in' or Exploding to ever more detail on your diagrams (creating multi-level models).

We also look at how diagrams on one level can be grouped (and thereby identified) using different diagram Categories.

In this section, you will look at:

What we mean by 'levels of detail' How levels of detail can be represented by explosions in a multi-level model.

Which diagram Categories you might use for Business Process diagrams and why.

Which Categories objects can have, and when / where you may use those objects.

WHAT ARE 'LEVELS OF DETAIL'?

When you Explode an object, you are creating a new diagram that represents the same information as the original object, but in more detail. It shows a different level of detail to the first.

Each diagram in the sequence shows more detail but has a smaller scope.

The easiest way to describe an explosion or the progression through levels of detail is through a simile. An atlas is an example of a model that shows different levels of detail (some maps have a wide scope, and others lots of detail).

Click on a map below to see what level of detail it shows.

Explodes to Explodes to

Like these maps, exploded process diagrams show increasing levels of detail and decreasing scope.

The first level of detail shows a wide scope of information but has very little detail, the next level of detail shows more detail about the selected, smaller, area.

20.28. LEVELS OF DETAIL IN A MODEL

In the previous topic, we saw how maps show either a wide scope (contextualizing their information) or show more detail. This topic shows how diagrams can work in much the same way.

Each diagram in the sequence shows more detail but has a smaller scope.

Click on a diagram below to see what level of detail it shows.

Explodes to Explodes to

Note that the links are not from one diagram to another, but from a process on a diagram to a diagram

20.29. DIAGRAM CATEGORIES IN A MULTI-LEVEL MODEL

In this section, we look at the role of diagram and object Categories in a multi-level model. A Category is a term used to subdivide (or categorize) diagrams and business objects.

Using Categories means that you can easily identify all diagrams, or all models with the same level of granularity; you can then publish all diagrams of one type for a particular audience.

The Casewise Framework model supplies templates for diagrams with the following categories:

Business Dynamics Diagram (BDM)

A Business Dynamics or BDM diagram is the highest level diagram category.

These diagrams show the scope of your process model, they present an end-to-end overview of the business.

Explodes to

System Dynamics Diagram (SDM)

A System Dynamics or SDM diagram is the next level of diagram.

It explodes a process on the parent Business Dynamics Diagram, and shows that process in much more detail and in terms of the real world process flow (X department does this then Y department does that).

Explodes to

Function Dynamics Diagram (FDM)

A Function Dynamics or (FDM) diagram is the lowest level of diagram, and as such shows the most detail.

It explodes a process on the parent System Dynamics Diagram, and shows that process in much more detail describing the exact processes required to complete an activity in the SDM.

This type of diagram is said to present information at 'task level'. This is because it describes each task a member of staff will have to perform to complete the process.

Think of this as a progression through the concepts:

[BDM] What does the business do? [SDM] Who, Where and When are the required acts performed?

[FDM] How is each specific act actually performed?

WHICH CATEGORY OF PROCESS SHOULD APPEAR ON EACH DIAGRAM?

The category of a process (process objects which can be dragged onto the diagram) does not necessarily specify what category of diagram that object is appropriate to, but does tell you what level of information that process represents.

For example: a category may be set to specify that the object is only appropriate for use in very detailed process diagrams which show the step-by-step behaviour for a user who is performing a task, or may tell us that it is very high-level information which may be of more interest to managers than to the staff performing the activity.

The picture below shows process categories in the Casewise Framework Example model, and describes the category of diagram they are likely to appear on.

20.30. SET THE CATEGORY FOR A DIAGRAM OR OBJECT

As you can see, setting the category for an object or diagram helps you to identify what level of information it represents.

You can either set the category of an object or diagram by creating it from a template that already has the prescribed category, or by setting the category in the object properties dialog.

How to... Set the category for an existing object

1. Open the properties dialog for the object or diagram.2. On the General pane, select a Category.

3. Click OK.

The object now has the selected Category.


More than one object type can appear in the New Objects palette, if they have different Categories.

20.31. ASSOCIATE OBJECTS ON A DIAGRAM

In addition to showing objects, you may want to describe their relationships to one another in a very visual way. You can do this by associating objects on a diagram.


What an association actually is. How to associate objects using swim lanes.

How to associate objects using an association drawn as a line.

What an intersection object is.

20.32. ASSOCIATE OBJECTS USING SWIM LANES

This topic describes how you can make associations on diagrams by dragging Processes into swim lane objects such as Organizations and Locations.

A so-called swim lane object is an Organization, or a Location.

They are known as 'swim lanes' because they are typically represented as elongated rectangles, which, when placed on a diagram, look like the lanes of a swimming pool.

Process objects are then placed inside them showing that they share an association. In the diagram below, A is an Organization, B is a Location, and C, D, and E are Processes:

We can then read this as: A is who or what performs C, while B is where D and E are performed.

20.32.1. MAKE THE ASSOCIATION

When you drag a process into a swim lane, an association between those objects is made automatically.

Note that this does not work if you place the swim lane on top of the Process.


You can also use this process to show an association between a Technology and an Application (an application being stored and used on a computer), but the 'association' will not be created as data in the database.

20.33. ASSOCIATE OBJECTS USING AN ASSOCIATION DRAWN AS A LINE

To associate two objects on a Business Process diagram and understand what the resulting layout means, you are asked to create a new association on the following diagram in the training model:

Module 04 - Diagram 01 - Associate objects using an association drawn as a line

How to... Associate objects using an association drawn as a line

1. Select the parent object in the association (in this case the Organization HR Department).

2. From the New Objects palette, drag the line named Organization - Processes to the Process Hire Staff (that is, the target object, or the object you want to connect to).

Associations appear on the object type list in the Palette Lines Propertiesdialog as the name of the objects that can be connected using that object. For example: the object type list may say Hierarchy Link, Connector, Process - Organization. In this case the user can create a Hierarchy Link, a Connector, or an Association which connects Process objects to Organization objects.

20.34. WHAT IS AN INTERSECTION OBJECT?

An intersection object is an object that records information about an association. It is an object that tells us WHY one object is associated with another and that stores any information about that association.

The following example shows an intersection object that describes the association between Business Goals and Processes. The intersection object is titled Fulfillment.

This association shows how Business Goals are fulfilled by Processes and conversely, how Processes fulfil Business Goals.

If there were no intersection object, we would not be able to store any information about why the two objects are associated. In the case above, we would be able to say that there was some reason why a Business Goal is associated with a Process, but we could not say why that association exists, or provide the association with any properties of its own.

In the example above, if the Association Type were originally created with the Source Object: Business Goal, the Name of the Association Type would be: Are fulfilled by, the Reverse Name would be: Fulfill, and the name of the intersection object would be: Fulfillment. All of these properties are stored against the intersection object.


You can only access the intersection object by opening the object properties dialog, selecting Associations > Object Type and then clicking the Edit Link button.

20.35. PUBLISH YOUR MODEL

This section briefly describes how Corporate Publisher can be used to produce HTML pages containing your diagrams, and the objects and descriptions they contain.


What Corporate Publisher is. What a publication set is.

How to create HTML output (how to run a publication set).

20.36. WHAT IS A PUBLICATION SET?

A publication set is a data file that determines the model information (the diagrams and objects) that will be published and the appearance of that information when output (the color and size of fonts, the format of images).

To understand better, open a publication set from Model Explorer and have a look around.

How to... View a publication set's properties

1. With the training model expanded In Model Explorer's left-hand (tree) pane, select Publication Set

2. In the right-hand (list) pane, right-click Default, and select Edit

After a few seconds, the Publication Set Editor opens.

Things to notice while you are exploring your publication set:

There are three tabs (along the bottom of the dialog), that allow you to set information about the General properties, Layout Properties and Language properties used in your output content.

The General pane allows you to set the properties of most of the things you may want to change - such as the picture format your diagrams will be published as, and which diagram types to include.

20.37. PUBLISH THE TRAINING MODEL AS HTML

This topic guides you through publishing the diagrams you have created in your model in HTML format.

How to... Run the Default publication set

1. In Model Explorer's left-hand (tree) pane, select Publication Sets.2. In the right-hand (list) pane, right-click Default, and select Run....

3. Corporate Publisher opens.

4. Click Next.

5. Click Next.

6. Select any diagrams you want to publish.

7. Click Next until the Next button is disabled, then click Create.

8. The selected diagrams are published and opened in Internet Explorer.

Things to notice while you are exploring your published diagrams:

It takes a while to build. This is because it is extremely large and contains a lot of settings. The diagrams are published as images in standard web formats.

Any properties your objects or diagrams have are published.

SOME BASIC DIAGRAMMING TECHNIQUES

In this section, we will look at some techniques that improve your ability to draw and edit diagrams. This section describes how you can clean up the lines drawn on your diagram, and resize objects on your diagram to match others.

This is a very brief section that runs you through some very basic actions / activities that will help you to optimize how you use the software.

20.38. TECHNIQUES: CLEANING UP THE LINES ON A DIAGRAM

This technique is only applicable to connectors, Associations and Relationships (which we have not looked at). The option is not available for Hierarchy Links. This means that you will only be able to try this function out on your Business Process diagrams at this point.

1. Select a line on an open diagram.

2. Either press the F11 key, or right-click and select Draw > Redraw Line.

The line is redrawn.

Example:

when redrawn (if the user has line behavior set to straight), becomes:

If you have lots of lines that need to be redrawn, you can select one or more objects, press F11, and redraw all of the lines connected to or from the selected objects.


If you do not like how your lines are redrawn, you can press Ctrl + Z and return your diagram to its original state.

The shortcut for Redraw Lines is F11.

20.39. TECHNIQUES: RESIZE OBJECTS ON YOUR DIAGRAM

Resize allows you to standardize the size of objects on your diagram, thereby ensuring that your objects are all equal and appear tidy in the finished output.

This function changes the size (or proportions) of objects on your diagram to be equal to that of another existing object.

20.39.1. WHAT DOES RESIZE DO?

There are three Resize options: Same Size, Same Width, and Same Height. The following table shows the expected behavior for each (object 2 is resized to match object 1 in each example).

Name Example (Before >> After) DescriptionSame Size

Matches the size of the selected shape(s) to that of the source shape.

Same Width

Matches the width of the selected shape(s) to that of the source shape, retains the selected shape's height.

Same Height

Matches the height of the selected shape(s) to that of the source shape, retains the selected shape's original width.

20.39.2. HOW TO... RESIZE OBJECTS1. Select an object, or a group of objects, on the canvas.

2. Select Draw > Resize > Same [Dimension].

Where [Dimension] is replaced by: size, height or width.

The cursor becomes a crosshair.

3. Select the shape that is to provide the source dimensions.

The [Dimension] of the initially selected objects resize to match the [Dimension] of the source object.

20.39.3. SEE AN EXAMPLE OF SHAPES BEING RESIZED

The following diagrams show how the layout of a diagram will change if objects B and C are resized to be the Same Size as shape A.

Before After

Note: The center point of automatically re-sized objects remains constant. This means that gaps / lines may increase or decrease in size, and objects may overlap.

20.40. MODULE 5: SIMULATION

This module is concerned with simulation. Simulations are diagrams that represent processes dynamically. The module consists of the following sections:

1. Preparing for Simulation - this section describes the concepts behind simulation and how to prepare the objects on your diagram

2. Running a Simulation - this section describes how to launch a simulation, and the parameters you can specify

20.41. PREPARING FOR SIMULATION

Simulations are diagrams that represent processes dynamically, at the layer where business metrics are available and well understood.

This section explains:

1. some background information about simulation2. how to configure your diagram objects to ensure a meaningful simulation

3. the various simulation parameters - for example: Time Period, Calendar and Break Point

20.42. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT SIMULATION

You can only simulate diagrams which are based on dynamics diagramming rules

Why simulate?

to identify and eliminate bottlenecks to identify and eliminate unacceptable delays

to identify ways to process in parallel where possible

to identify, assess and replace inefficient activities

it is too expensive to implement the wrong solution

it is unacceptable to implement a change and try again

to analyze the impact if you change who or what performs a process

to communicate process knowledge

Under what circumstances do simulations work best?

the process diagram is a good representation the metrics are entered and are reasonably accurate

you have a rough idea about the things that you want to achieve

What will simulation help me to understand?

How to increase:

Service Level

Throughput

How to decrease:

Total Process Cycle Time Waiting Time

Inventory Cost

Activity Cost

To see an example of a diagram which can be simulated, open the diagram Deliver Order (the one with the Category Function Dynamics Model) in the Casewise Framework Example model:

1. from the left-hand tree view in Model Explorer, expand the Casewise Framework Example model2. click Diagram. The diagrams in the model are listed in the right-hand list pane

3. double-click on the diagram Deliver Order to open it. Note: there are two diagrams having this name so make sure that you select the one with the Category Function Dynamics Model

20.43. WHICH OBJECT TYPES ARE INVOLVED IN SIMULATION?

Some - and often all - of the following object types are found on a simulatable diagram:

Event Process

Connector Set

Iteration Group

Organization

In addition, a Process Break can be added to your diagram. It does not appear as an object in the Corporate Modeler repository and there is no corresponding object type. A Process Break is therefore similar in nature to Free Text, in that they are both diagram shapes which do not exist as separate objects.

The following object types do not appear on a simulatable diagram but might require configuration in order to run the simulation:

Time Period Calendar

Probability Function

20.44. SIMULATION OBJECT TYPES: EVENT

An Event (for example: the arrival of a customer order) triggers a Business Process.

There are two Event properties which affect simulation:

the Frequency controls the rate at which jobs are passed to the process being simulated the Growth can be used to specify the rate at which the Frequency changes

20.45. SIMULATION OBJECT TYPES: PROCESS

A Process is an activity which is useful to the business.

Three groups of Process properties (each group corresponds to a pane on an object's properties dialog) are used during simulation:

Throughput - determines the simulation behavior of the Process

Cost - determines the overall cost of the Process

Frequency/Growth - determines the rate (and its rate of growth) at which the Process occurs, and whether the Process is being repeated

What are the meanings of the Throughput properties?

Service Time – specifies how long it takes to work on the batch.

the Service Time controls how long resources are used to fulfill the Process it defines the time the Process takes to perform one operation (this could be a job or batch)

Min/Max Batch - specifies how many jobs must be in the Process queue (or in-tray) before the Process becomes a candidate for being performed

Servers/Batch – who (that is, how many resources) must be available to perform the activity

Concurrency – how many jobs can be done simultaneously

The Cost comprises two values:

Direct Cost - can be directly related to a product or service Indirect Cost - is shared and therefore cannot be directly related to a single product or service; or

it refers to acts being performed which are not directly related to the main money making area of the business

The Frequency/Growth comprises three values:

Frequency - how often the Process occurs within a defined time period Growth - rate of change of the Frequency

Repeats - how many times the Process is repeated (a value of 1 means that the Process occurs only once). Note that setting a Repeat value of greater than 1 is an alternative to putting the Process in an Iteration Group

20.46. SIMULATION OBJECT TYPES: CONNECTOR SET

A Connector Set - as its name implies - represents a set of two or more Connectors. Single Connectors show the flow of control and the sequence of processing. Connectors are shown as lines linking two objects on diagrams.

Single Connectors can be:

Mandatory - a job must pass along the Connector Optional - a job might pass along the Connector

The Delay property on a Connector determines how long it takes for control of a job to pass from one end of a Connector to the other. In other words, the Delay simulates the period of time for a job hand off between processes (for example: the time taken to drive a fork lift truck from the delivery area of a factory to the machine which assembles the parts).

There are three types of Connector Set:

Exclusive Or (XOR) Input AND

Output AND

XOR

with an XOR, the sum of the Percent Splits on the Connectors leaving the Set must equal 100%

In the image below:

box 1 is the process Check Credit

box 2 is the process Process Order

box 3 is the process Reject Order

You might estimate that 10% of your customers fail the credit check, and are therefore handled by box 3 (Reject Order):

Input AND

Input AND Sets are formed by Connectors joined at the destination process. ALL source process jobs must arrive before the destination process can start. In the picture below, the job from process 4 and the job from process 5 must both be ready before process 6 can start:

There are two types of Input AND Set:

Independent Input AND Set. For a job to be passed to the output (process 6 in the picture), input must have been received from both of the input processes (4 and 5)

Recombinant Input AND Set. For a job to be passed to the output (process 6), input must have been received from both of the input processes (4 and 5) which originated from the same job - that is, from a job which was split earlier in the simulation.

Output AND

The Connectors are joined at the source process. Jobs leaving the source process MUST travel along all Connectors in the set. For example, after a product has been wrapped (process 7: Wrap Product), the address labels must be printed (process 8: Print Labels) AND the package must be weighed (process 9: Weigh Package):

20.47. SIMULATION OBJECT TYPES: ITERATION GROUP

An Iteration Group contains a set of processes that occur several times. It represents repetitive work that is performed on a job.

The properties of an Iteration Group object include Iterations, which is the number of times that each process in the Iteration Group is executed.

Example

The diagram Deliver Order (the one with the Category Function Dynamics Model) in the Casewise Framework Example model contains an Iteration Group.

20.48. SIMULATION OBJECT TYPES: ORGANIZATION

An Organization is an object that represents all or part of an administrative or functional structure (like a business or a political party).

In the Casewise Framework Example model, open the diagram Identify / Build Product. You will see that the sub-processes which combine to create the whole process (identifying and building the product) are distributed among five Organizations:

Legal Marketing

Design

Manufacturing

Senior Management

In this particular diagram, the Organizations represent departments within the company. Now open the properties of the Manufacturing department and look at the General pane

What do these properties mean?

Direct Cost

a cost that is accumulated when the resource is actively performing work that IS directly attributable to the job performed by that resource

Indirect Cost

a cost that is accumulated when the resource is actively performing work that IS NOT directly attributable to the job performed by that resource

Resources

are the number of resources (people, computers, and so on)

form the basis of a resource pool which the process can select one or more of

Process - Organization link

What does the link mean, and how is it created?

a process can be linked to multiple Organizations to simulate cross-functional work teams. an Organization may have multiple processes linked to it to simulate the mixed jobs that resources

perform.

if processes are to be constrained by the number of resources available from an Organization, then the Organization should be added to the diagram, and each process must be linked to the Organization. For example, open the diagram Collect Payments in the Casewise Framework Example model, where you will see the Organization Finance

a link is automatically created between the process and the Organization (swim lane) when the process shape is moved on top of the Organization.

to manually create the link between a process and an Organization, then you need to create an association

How are the Organization's resources used by the process(es)?

if the process is linked to an Organization, the Resource/Batch property on the process is used to show constraints on resources

if they are not linked, it is assumed that the resource is always available

if it is linked, the process cannot start unless the Organization has enough available resources

if you do not link the process to an Organization, Resource/Batch is for reporting only

20.49. SIMULATION: PROCESS BREAK

A Process Break is an interruption or delay. It is represented by a shape on a diagram, but it is not an object in the repository and its properties cannot therefore be displayed from Model Explorer.

A Process Break:

is restarted by an external or internal Event denotes that processing may be held up by unpredictable events

When specifying your simulation metrics, you need to estimate the value of the Delay on the Process Break properties dialog.

To see how a Process Break can be implemented, open the diagram Collect Payments in the Casewise Framework Example model. There you will see a Process Break called Await Payment, which has a Delay of 4 weeks specified.

20.50. SIMULATION: TIME PERIOD

The Time Period is the duration in minutes of a familiar interval of time (Day, Week, Month, and so on). You can access Time Period objects from Model Explorer; or, from the Simulator Console, select the menu option Simulator > Time Periods.

Click here to view a list of the preset Time Period objects included in the Casewise Framework Example model

Creating a new Time Period

You can create your own Time Period objects to suit the requirements of your simulation. Firstly, open the Simulator Console from the diagram Collect Payments in the Casewise Framework Example model by clicking the simulator icon (three green arrow-heads) in the toolbar:

For example, to create a new Time Period called Fortnight, access the Time Periods dialog - as described above - select New, and then enter the details for the new object. You need to specify the:

Name ("Fortnight") Abbreviation ("F")

Time In Minutes (20160)

Using the Time Period

You need to select a Time Period from the drop-down list for the Units property when creating new Break Point or Calendar objects (and possibly also when modifying an existing one, depending on what change you are implementing).

20.51. SIMULATION: CALENDAR

A Calendar is a sequence of sample points which indicate that some activity turns on and off during the Time Period specified (for example: Working Day, Month).

You can access Calendar objects from Model Explorer; or, from the Simulator Console, select the menu option Simulator > Calendars.

Example

In the Casewise Framework Example model, look at the diagram Collect Payments (you might need to open it first if you closed it after the previous topic). Open the Calendars dialog as described above (you need to start the Simulator Console). The dialog shows a list of existing Calendars. Only one has been set up already: Normal Working Week. Select it and click Edit.

Calendar properties

On the Normal Working Week Calendar dialog, the properties and their meanings are as follows:

the Cycle determines the period of time after which the Calendar values will be reused. Once the cycle has completed, a new cycle starts, having exactly the same Sample Point profile

the Start Time denotes when the Calendar cycle will begin. The format will depend on the chosen time cycle. If you choose to cycle every year, you can specify the day, month, hour, minute and second. However, if you choose to cycle every minute then you can only specify the Start Time in seconds

the Sample Point section of the dialog is to define the pattern of activity:

The values in the first column - the Duration - must add up to the length of the cycle. The number you specify for each Duration sample point is in the unit selected in the Unit drop-down box. For example, if Cycle is Weeks, the column must add up to 168 hours if the Sample Point Unit is Hours. Note: as you start entering your Sample Point rows, the dialog will always indicate the remaining part of the cycle; in this example, the number of hours remaining will be shown

The second column is % Peak Value. You enter a non-zero value when the simulator is to perform calculations, and zero when it should stop calculating for the length of time specified in the Duration column. A value between 0 and 100 means that the metrics on the various diagram objects are adjusted at run time accordingly. For example, if one of your processes incurs a Direct Cost of $100 per hour, then a % Peak Value of 50% would reduce the Direct Cost to $50 per hour

You could create your own version of the Normal Working Week in a hypothetical factory:

assuming the chosen Calendar cycle at your factory is weeks, then you can choose how active your processes are during a typical week by specifying percentage activity levels for sample points expressed in hours

if your week starts on Monday, then you might choose an activity level of 0% for the first 8 hours (representing the period of time between midnight on Sunday to 0800 hours on Monday). Then, your factory might achieve an activity level of 100% for the next 8 hours (0800 hours on Monday to 1600 hours on Monday), before returning to 0% for the next 16 hours (1600 hours on Monday to 0800 hours on Tuesday)

if you have a night shift at your factory, then you would need to enter sample points to cover the period between 1600 hours and 0800 hours the next morning

20.52. SIMULATION: BREAK POINT

A simulation will run indefinitely if there are no Break Points set, until manually stopped.

What are the different types of Break Point?

You access the Break Point dialog from the Simulator Console; select the menu option Simulator > Break Points.

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Why use Break Points?

Break Points are used to compare simulations. They are set so that direct comparisons can be made against different simulations that run to the same point

multiple Break Points allow multiple sets of simulation results to be reported

SIMULATION: PROBABILITY FUNCTION

A Probability Function (also known as a Distribution) can be associated with a simulator value (that is, an object metric) to vary it according to a specific mathematical curve which describes the probability of data occurring with predictable variations.

When you apply probability functions to your data we say you are simulating “using variation”.

There are four probability functions supplied with the Training Model

FLAT

A Flat probability function uses non-varied sets of data points. In other words, the value used during simulation is precisely the value you entered for the object metric. For example: if you set a Process Service Time to 30 Minutes and select the Flat probability function, then the Process always takes 30 minutes, no matter how many times it occurs.

NORMAL

A Normal probability function corresponds to the familiar bell-shaped curve which you might have seen in books about statistics. The curve looks like this:

If a Normal probability function is applied, then the values used during simulation vary according to the above curve.

For example:

If you specify a Service Time of 30 +/- 5 Minutes with a Normal probability function, then the Service Time will be mostly between 25 and 35 minutes, but will sometimes fall outside of this range. On the above curve, the full range of Service Time values is represented on the horizontal axis, and the number of occurrences for each Service Time value is represented on the vertical axis. The highest point on the curve corresponds to a Service Time of 30 minutes.

POISSON

A Poisson probability function corresponds to a skewed (or asymmetrical) bell-shaped curve:

TRIANGLE

A Triangle probability function corresponds to a triangular-shaped curve:

20.53. RUNNING A SIMULATION - OVERVIEW

Now that you are familiar with the essential background information about simulation, it is time to put some of the theory into practice.

You will be taken through the steps required to create a basic simulatable diagram. The diagram will be as simple as possible at this stage, so that you can understand how the simulator works without getting involved in unnecessary complexity.

20.54. CREATING A DIAGRAM

You will now create a new simulatable diagram in the Training Model. Then you will add objects to the diagram.

Create your new diagram

Follow these steps to create your new diagram, which will be based on a template:

1. from the left-hand tree view in Model Explorer, expand the Training Model2. click Diagram. The diagrams in the model are listed in the right-hand list pane

3. in the right-hand list pane, right-click and select New > Diagram

4. on the New Diagram dialog:

5.i. in the Name field enter: "My First Simulation"

ii. select the Base the diagram on a template option and in the drop-down box, choose the template Template: System Dynamics Model

iii. click OK. If Corporate Modeler (the diagrammer) is not already running, it will now open; if it is already running, and you have another diagram open, then your new diagram will now become the active one

Add objects to your diagram

Your diagram should now be open.

Now add the objects to your diagram:

1. drag and drop an Internal Event object from the New Objects palette onto the diagram canvas2. give the Internal Event object the name Receive Parts

3. drag and drop a Factory Process object from the New Objects palette onto the diagram canvas. Note: Factory Process is one of the available categories set up for Process objects in this model

4. give the Factory Process object the name Assemble Parts

5. drag and drop an Internal Result object from the New Objects palette onto the diagram canvas

6. give the Internal Result object the name Goods Ready

Now add two connectors to your diagram:

1. select the object Receive Parts2. drag the Mandatory connector from the New Objects palette and drop it on the object Assemble

Parts. A connector should appear, linking Receive Parts and Assemble Parts

3. select the object Assemble Parts

4. drag the Mandatory connector from the New Objects palette and drop it on the object Goods Ready. A connector should appear, linking Assemble Parts and Goods Ready

20.55. CONFIGURING OBJECT METRICS

If you have followed the steps in the previous topic, you should now have a diagram called My First Simulation which contains the following items on the canvas:

an Internal Event named Receive Parts a Factory Process named Assemble Parts

an Internal Result named Goods Ready

two connectors

Before you start entering your object metrics, ensure that the three objects are displayed in a horizontal line, so that Receive Parts is on the left, Assemble Parts is in the middle and Goods Ready on the right.

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Object metrics

In general, before you run a simulation you must decide whether or not your object metrics are sufficiently accurate. But, your new diagram - My First Simulation - only contains new objects which have not yet been configured. Therefore, you need to enter some values which the simulator will use in its calculations:

Configure the Internal Event Receive Parts

Configure the Factory Process Assemble Parts

i. in the Service Time field, enter the value 30

ii. select Minutes from the Time Period (unlabeled) drop-down list

iii. select Flat from the Probability Function (unlabeled) drop-down list

i. in the Direct Cost field, enter the value 10

ii. select Hours from the Time Period (unlabeled) drop-down list

iii. select Flat from the Probability Function (unlabeled) drop-down list

No configuration of the Internal Result Goods Ready is required.

Configure the connectors

20.56. RUNNING THE SIMULATION

Now you are ready to run the simulation. Open the Simulation Console by clicking the corresponding icon on the toolbar:

The Simulation Console opens, where you will see your diagram. One more thing needs to be done, however. As described in the topic Simulation: Break Point, you should set a Break Point so that the simulation comes to an end.

Setting a Break Point

Running the simulation

Starting the simulation

1. click the Start icon on the toolbar, or select Simulator > Start. The New Simulation Run properties dialog opens.

Note: if you had previously run one or more simulations for this diagram, then the Simulation Run selector dialog would display instead. In this case you would choose which set of saved parameters to deploy, then use either the Select option to run the simulation, or the Edit option to modify those parameters

2. select the Animation Control pane3. from the Animation Level drop-down list, select Animated

4. set the Animation Speed to 1000. Click here for more information about this metric

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5. set the Seed to 1

6. set the Calendar to Undefined7. click OK. The Simulation Run selector dialog displays, where you will see the set of run

parameters that you have just specified, labelled My First Simulation by default.

8. click the Select option. The simulation starts

Things to notice while the simulation is running

the connector symbols you selected - the fork lift truck and the large truck - move along the connectors as the jobs progress from the initiating Event object (Receive Parts) to the end Result (Goods Ready)

the number in the box on the Event object shows how many jobs have been initiated

there are two numbers in boxes on the Process object. The upper box shows how many jobs are currently being handled by the Process. The lower box shows how many jobs are waiting for Process resources to become available; if this number is ever non-zero, then you can conclude that your Process does not have enough resources to cope with the number of jobs it is required to handle

the number in the box on the Result object shows how many jobs have completed

the numbers in the boxes on the connectors show how many jobs are passing along them

the progress bars on the Event and Result objects show the numbers of jobs initiated and completed respectively

there is a clock at the bottom left hand corner of the Simulator Console, which is continually updating. Since the Animation Speed was set to 1000, then the simulation is running at approximately 1000 times real time speed

When 20 hours have elapsed on the simulator clock, the Simulation Paused dialog displays; this is because you set a Break Point at 20 hours. You should notice that:

the number in the box on the Event object is 20 the number in the box on the Result object is 19

The next topic explains how to interpret the results of your simulation. Click Next>> below to continue.

«Back |

20.57. RESULTS

Your simulation should have stopped at the Break Point you set for your diagram: My First Simulation. You should now see the dialog Simulation Paused.

Results

Firstly, you should notice from the number on the Result object that 19 jobs completed. This means that one job did not complete and therefore you do not have sufficient throughput.

Creating a report

1. on the Simulation Paused dialog, click Report

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2. on the Simulation Report dialog, select Minutes for the Report units

3. enter a suitable Description

4. click OK. You will be prompted for the name of an Excel file to save your report to. If you do not have Excel installed, then you cannot save the report

Interpreting the results

At the top of the resulting spreadsheet, you will see summary information about the simulation run. You will see that the Stop date is 20 hours after the Start date. You will also see that the Elapsed working time and Elapsed total time are both set to 1200 minutes.

The objects on your diagram are listed in the first column, grouped by object type. Only EVENTS, PROCESSES, OUTPUT CONNECTORS and RESULTS have objects listed (strictly speaking, connectors are not objects because they do not appear in the repository, and "connector" is not an object type).

Have a look at the various parameters in the report; most of them should be fairly self-explanatory. Click here for full explanations of the report parameters.

Note: the numbers on the report are rounded to two decimal places. So, where you see an Event Arrival rate (or Frequency) of 0.02 per minute, this is really 0.01666... rounded up - which is equivalent to 1 per hour.

Improving the simulation

In order to ensure that all 20 jobs are completed, one or more object metrics need to be adjusted. You might decide that, in your factory, you can transfer the parts from their arrival point to where they are assembled in 10 minutes rather than 15:

1. close the Simulator Console - click File > Exit2. on your diagram, double-click on the connector between the Event (Receive Parts) and the

Process (Assemble Parts)

3. change the Delay from 15 to 10

4. click OK to save your changes and exit the dialog

5. start the Simulator Console by clicking the icon on the diagram toolbar

6. check that the Break Point at 20 hours is still set by selecting Simulator > Break Points

7. select Start on the toolbar to run the simulation again

You should discover that when the Break Point at 20 hours is reached, all 20 jobs have finished. You can therefore conclude that, as long as the parts are transferred from their arrival point to where they are assembled in 10 minutes, you can complete all your jobs.

The change you made to the Delay above is an example of how you use simulation to investigate "what if" scenarios. In more complex diagrams, there could potentially be many ways of increasing throughput or reducing costs.

Close the Simulator Console (click File > Exit) and close the diagrammer (Corporate Modeler).

Click Next>> below to investigate a more complicated diagram.

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20.58. A COMPLEX DIAGRAM

In Model Explorer, open the diagram Collect Payments in the Casewise Framework Example model. The diagram models the process whereby a company collects payments from customers for goods which they have ordered.

About this diagram

Things to notice:

you will see a Process Break called Await Payment on the diagram, which represents a delay while the company waits for the customer to pay for the goods which they have already received (represented by the Event Order Fulfilled). Open the properties of Await Payment (double-click on the shape). The Delay is set to 4 weeks; therefore the customer has 4 weeks in which to pay

if the customer pays within 4 weeks, then the Event Payment Received is triggered. The payment can then be processed

if the customer fails to pay within 4 weeks, then the Event Payment Period Elapsed is triggered

if only partial payment is received, or if the customer does not meet the 4 week payment deadline, then the job is handled by the Process Determine Follow Up Action

there are two XOR (eXclusive OR) connector sets:

One XOR decides how the job is handled depending on whether or not full payment has been received. The decision is exclusive because either full payment is received or it is not - both paths cannot be followed by the same job;

The other XOR decides where to send the job, depending on which one of three possible follow up actions is appropriate. The job can only follow one of the three connectors out of the XOR set. Each of the three connectors must have a Percent Split specified; if you open the properties of each connector in turn, you will notice that the values are:

3% - leading to the Result Debt Written Off

67% - leading to the Process Issue Reminder

30% - leading to the Process Agree New Payment Method / Date

Close the diagram and exit Corporate Modeler.

Basic "What If" scenarios

Copy the diagram Collect Payments to your Training Model, as follows:

1. in Model Explorer, expand the Casewise Framework Example model in the left-hand tree view (if it is not already expanded)

2. select Diagrams in the left-hand tree view

3. select the diagram Collect Payments in the right-hand list view

4. using your mouse, drag the diagram and drop it on the Training Model node in the left-hand tree view. The diagram copy operation takes a few seconds, during which the dialog Review Import Changes will be displayed twice. Click OK on the dialog each time you see it.

You now have a copy of Collect Payments in your Training Model and can therefore run a simulation to get an idea of how jobs flow around the connectors:

open the diagram open the Simulator Console (click the simulator icon on the diagram toolbar)

select Simulator > Start, and on the Simulation Run Properties dialog, go to the Animation Control pane and set the Animation Speed to 50000.

click OK to start the simulation

While the simulation runs, you will notice that a large queue of jobs builds up at the Process Break Await Payment. You should see that the first job leaves the Process Break when its queue has reached 632 jobs. Why?

Things to try:

one way of increasing the number of payments is to speed up the processing of orders. You might be able to increase the number of orders fulfilled by 2 per working day; you would therefore set the Frequency on the Event Order Fulfilled to 10 per Working Day

none of the Processes has any associated costs. You could start assigning Direct Cost and Indirect Cost values to some of the Processes (open the properties and select the Costs pane)

you might decide that you want to deal more quickly with customers who do not pay on time. You could therefore employ more staff to handle such customers. To represent this scenario, open the properties of the Process Determine Follow Up Action, go to the Throughput pane, and change the Concurrency; a value of 2 corresponds to the Process being performed twice simultaneously

you might decide that a figure of 3% for the number of payments written off is too high. You would therefore need to reduce the value of Percent Split on the connector leading from the XOR set to the Result Debt Written Off. You would also need to increase the Percent Split on one or both of the other connectors accordingly

you might decide that a delay of 1 working day between the Processes Agree New Payment Method / Date and Determine Payment Due Date is too long. You would therefore adjust the Delay on the connector's properties

After you change some object metrics, you should run the Validate option on the toolbar of the simulator console. Any errors will be listed in the Errors & Warnings section at the bottom of the console.

20.59. MODULE 6: MATRIX

This module is concerned with the matrix diagrammer. A matrix in Corporate Modeler is a diagram which shows associations between the instances of two object types.

The module consists of the following sections:

1. Matrix concepts

This section outlines the key concepts about matrices

2. Creating a new matrix

This section describes how to create a new matrix. In the example used, the rows are Process objects and the columns Organizations

3. Populating your matrix

This section describes how to use the Flood command to add data to the matrix you created in the previous section

4. Investigating and configuring your matrix

This section explains how to use the Matrix Options dialog to configure:

row and column heading orientation the appearance of the intersection cells

5. Populating your matrix with selected objects

This section describes the several alternative ways of adding rows and columns to your matrix

6. A CRUD matrix

This section extends the ideas covered in the previous sections to explain how to create and populate a Process - Entity CRUD matrix

20.60. MATRIX CONCEPTS

A matrix is a diagram which shows the associations between the instances of two object types.

Key concepts about matrices

The following concepts are key to understanding matrices:

a matrix is two dimensional (two object types are involved) a matrix consists of a grid of intersecting rows and columns, and therefore looks similar to a

spreadsheet

a matrix shows the instances (or objects) of one object type (for example, Process) as the row headings. The column headings are the instances of the other object type (for example, Organization)

there must be an association type linking the two object types. This is a prerequisite for creating the matrix

the cell where a row and column intersect is known as an "intersection object" or an "intersection cell" or an "instance of an association type", or simply as a "matrix cell". When you view the properties of a cell, you see the properties of the intersection object - NOT the properties of the objects in the row or column heading corresponding to that cell

you can create or delete associations between the objects in the row and column headings

Example

A matrix could show which Organizations are responsible for performing which Processes. Each matrix row would represent a Process, and each column an Organization (or vice-versa). Any associations would be marked with a letter X in the matrix cell where the Process row and the column for its associated Organization meet.

The matrix grid would look similar to this:

20.61. CREATING A NEW MATRIX

You will now be taken through the steps to create a new matrix in your Training Model.

Exercise: create a Process - Organization matrix1. start Model Explorer if it is not already running. You can do this either by:

clicking the Model Explorer icon on the Corporate Modeler Suite Start Here page; or

selecting Start > Programs > Casewise Corporate Modeler Suite > Model Explorer

2. click the matrix icon on Model Explorer's toolbar:

The Matrix Manager application starts

3. select File > New. The New Matrix Wizard starts. Click Next >4. select your Training Model from the drop-down list. Click Next >

5. on the next screen, make sure that the option Don't use a template is selected. Click Next >

6. for the matrix name, enter "My First Matrix"

7. select Process from the drop-down list for the row. Click Next >

8. select Organizations from the drop-down list for the column. Click Next >

9. on the dialog Specify intersection cell values, click Add and then click on the line below Property Type. You should now see a drop-down list below Property Type.

Select Number of Resources from the drop-down list

10. under the heading Rule, select Show value only. Click Next > and then Finish

Your matrix has now been created, but you need to add data to it. Click Next >> below to continue to the next section, where you will be shown how to add rows and columns to your new matrix.

20.62. POPULATING YOUR MATRIX

You should now have successfully created a new Process - Organization matrix, by following the steps in the previous topic. The matrix is empty because no rows or columns exist yet.

Adding data to your matrix

This is the matrix toolbar:

You are now going to use the options Flood Rows (the icon with the down arrow) and Flood Columns (the icon with the right-facing arrow) to populate the matrix.

Flood Rows

You use Flood Rows to add objects from your model of the type you selected for the rows. In this case, the rows of your matrix are Processes.

1. click the Flood Rows icon on the toolbar (if you are not sure which one it is, hover your mouse pointer over each of the icons in turn to view their descriptions). Alternatively, from the menu select Insert > Flood Rows (Process).

The Flooding dialog displays. You will see that Process is shown in the Object Type box.

2. In the Selection Criteria drop-down box the default option is All Processes. Click the down arrow to view all available options. Click here for an explanation of the options.

For now, select All Processes. Click OK. You will notice that Process object names appear as the row headings

Flood Columns

You use Flood Columns to add objects from your model of the type you selected for the columns. The columns of your matrix are Organizations.

1. click the Flood Columns icon on the toolbar (or from the menu select Insert > Flood Columns (Organization)).

The Flooding dialog displays. You will see that Organization is shown in the Object Type box.

2. In the Selection Criteria drop-down box the default option is All Organizations. Click OK.

You will notice that Organization object names appear as the column headings. If you cannot see the object names properly (because they are vertical) then increase the height of the row containing the column headings by dragging the row border with your mouse

You will now investigate some of the properties of your new matrix. Click Next >> to continue.

20.63. INVESTIGATING AND CONFIGURING YOUR MATRIX

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Things to notice and investigate

20.63.1.1. Column headings

The column headings are displayed vertically by default. This means that you might not be able to read the names unless you adjust the height of the row containing the column headings (you might already have done this in the previous topic). To display the names horizontally:

1. select File > Matrix Options. The Matrix Options dialog opens2. select the Heading Orientation tab

3. deselect the Vertical column headings check box, and click OK.

The column headings now display horizontally. Note: as you probably noticed on the Heading Orientation pane, you can also change the orientation of the row headings.

20.63.1.2. Intersection cells

Most of the matrix cells are blank, but six cells show the number 0. You should see 0 in the cell where the Process row Record Order and the Organization column Sales meet. Note: the Organization objects in this model are interpreted as company departments.

1. double-click on the cell to open its properties.

What you see are the properties of the intersection object (for this association type the object is called Reason for Involvement). The Number of Resources property represents how many resources (for example: people, computers) from the Sales department are allocated to recording sales orders

2. change the 0 to 2. Then click OK.

On your matrix the 0 has changed to 2.

3. double-click on the blank cell where the row Monitor Advertising meets the column Marketing. The Reason for Involvement properties dialog opens. Click OK.

On your matrix the cell now appears shaded and contains the value 0. You have just created an association between the Monitor Advertising Process and the Marketing department.

4. right-click on the same cell (where Monitor Advertising meets Marketing) and select Delete.

Now the cell is blank again. You have just deleted the association you created in the previous step

5. double-click again on the cell where the Process row Record Order and the Organization column Sales meet

6. in the Name field, enter the text "Sales order book". Click OK to save your change and exit the properties dialog

7. right-click on the cell at the extreme top left of your matrix (this is the cell where you see the name of the matrix: "My First Matrix") and select Options...

The Matrix Options dialog opens.

8. on the Specify intersection cell values pane:9.

1. click Add. You should see Name appear below the existing Property Type (Number of Resources)

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2. in the Rule column, ensure that Show value only is selected for both Number of Resources and Name

3. click OK

The cell now contains both of the property values you specified - 2 and Sales order book, separated by a hyphen.

9. open the Matrix Options dialog once more (right-click on the cell at the top left hand corner and select Options...)

10. on the Specify intersection cell values pane, click the cell beneath the Rule column which corresponds to the Property Type Name - the option Show value only is currently selected

11. select Use on/off switch from the drop-down list.

12. click the cell beneath the Display value column which corresponds to the Property Type Name and replace the existing value with the letter "X".

13. for the Property Type Number of Resources, select Use on/off switch for the Rule but blank out the cell for Display value. Click OK.

You will now see the value X in the cell where where the Process row Record Order and the Organization column Sales meet.

Note: the other cells where associations exist (shaded gray) do not contain the value X because none of them has data in the Property Types Name or Number of Resources

Now close the matrix:

select File > Close

Summary

The Matrix Options dialog is where you configure the appearance of your matrix cells:

you can change the orientation of the cell headings. They can be: horizontal

vertical

cells are shaded gray if an association exists between the objects in the row and column headings

you can display one or more of the Property Type values in the cells by selecting the option Show value only under the Rule column on the Specify intersection cell values pane

instead of displaying the Property Type values, you can display a character (for example, "X") to signify that an association exists

if your Property Type values are all NULL (you have not entered any values) then an association is shown as a gray cell containing no data

You remove an association by selecting a cell and using the delete function (either press the Delete key or right-click on the cell and select Delete).

20.64. POPULATING YOUR MATRIX WITH SELECTED OBJECTS

In the section entitled Populating your matrix, you used the Flood command to add all objects of a particular type to your matrix. Often you will not want to add all objects.

Adding selected objects

20.64.1.1. By category1. Create a new matrix as described in the section Creating a new matrix, but call it "My Second

Matrix"

2. Once the matrix has opened, select Insert > Row (Process). The Select Objects dialog opens

3. In the Category drop-down list, select Derived Logical Process

4. In the Name fields, leave the default value Starts with in the drop-down box and enter the letter D in the text box.

Note: Starts with is only one of several different criteria you can use for finding the objects you need

5. Click Find Now. One process object called Deliver Order will be listed6. Click Select All

7. Click OK

You should now see the process object Deliver Order displayed as a row heading.

20.64.1.2. Associated objects only1. On the same matrix, select Insert > Flood Columns (Organization). The Flooding dialog opens

2. In the Selection Criteria drop-down box, select Associated Organizations and click OK

Only one organization object is added: Transport. You can conclude that Transport is the only organization in the model that is associated to the process Deliver Order

3. Now remove the two objects you have just added:4.

i. select Deliver Order, right click on it and select Clear

ii. select Transport, right click on it and select Clear

4. Repeat the first two steps above (Flooding Columns with Associated Organizations).

You should notice this time that four organization objects are added instead of one. The matrix adds all objects of the type selected which are associated to objects of the other type, provided that you have not yet added any objects of the other type.

Once you have populated the rows of a matrix, then flooding the columns with associated objects will only add objects that are associated to the objects in the rows. Similarly, if you firstly populate the columns, then the same restriction applies to the rows.

5. Now remove all objects from the matrix using the Clear command

20.64.1.3. On a diagram1. On the same matrix (which should now have no rows or columns), select Insert > Flood Rows

(Process). The Flooding dialog opens

2. In the Selection Criteria drop-down box, select Processes on Diagram...

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3. In the diagram drop-down box, select Module 02 - Diagram 01 - Definition of a Business Process diagram

4. Click OK. Three process objects are added to your matrix: Pick goods, Wrap goods and Post goods. If you open the diagram (Module 02 - Diagram 01 - Definition of a Business Process diagram), you can verify that these three processes exist on it

5. Now remove all objects from the matrix using the Clear command. Leave My Second Matrix open

20.64.1.4. Not on a matrix1. Open the matrix you have already created called My First Matrix (do this in Matrix Manager by

selecting File > Open).

You now have both matrices open in two separate windows

2. On My First Matrix remove the process Drive Back, which is one of the row headings (it should be the last row)

3. Select File > Close

4. On My Second Matrix select Insert > Flood Rows (Process). The Flooding dialog opens

5. In the Selection Criteria drop-down box, select Processes not on a Matrix.

6. Click OK.

Since Drive Back is the only process in your model not on any matrix, it is now added to your matrix

7. Select File > Close

Summary

As well as adding all objects of a particular type, the Flood command can be used to add objects to a matrix in the following ways:

by category if they are associated to objects on the other matrix dimension

by diagram

if they are not already on any matrices in your model

21. NON-HIERARCHY DRILL-DOWN ORDERING

When using Corporate Publisher you often see listings of diagrams; for example:

In the Wizard's 'Choose Diagrams' screen. In the 'Diagram Hierarchy' page (indexdiagram.htm) of a HTML output.

In the contents of a Word output (this obviously reflects the ordering of the sections in the output).

The 'Diagram List' option in this folder allows you to choose a 'Hierarchy' structure for these listings. In this hierarchy (or 'tree') structure, an entry for a diagram has its child diagrams listed underneath it (a diagram's child diagrams are the diagrams that detail (are explosions of) the objects that are on it).

This Non-Hierarchy Drill-Down Ordering option determines, for non-hierarchy diagrams (i.e. all other Corporate Modeler diagrams), the ordering of the child diagrams listings, based on the objects that the child diagrams detail:

Top Down, Left Right Ordering is based on the position of detailed objects in the diagram. Order runs from left to right along each row of objects, starting with the top row.

Left Right, Top Down Ordering is based on the position of detailed objects in the diagram. Order runs from top to bottom down columns of objects, starting with the left hand column.

Alphabetical Detailed objects are sorted alphabetically.

22. RELATIONSHIP

A relationship represents the association between two objects in a system. That is, how those two objects interact with each other, or what relationship they have in the real world.

Although associations and relationships are similarly defined, they have distinct property types.

How are relationships implemented?

In the Corporate Modeler Suite a relationship describes how two instances of type Entity are related. The two Entities typically represent items in the real world whose relationship you need to understand and model.

The relationship terminology adopted in the Corporate Modeler Suite formalizes what you know to be true about how the two Entities are related. By convention one of the Entities in the relationship is deemed the parent and the other is the child.

For example: in a sales order system there are several relationships between various Entities. One such relationship is between the parent Entity customer and the child Entity customer order. We can say that:

a customer places zero or more customer orders.

Strictly speaking a customer is someone who actually buys something, but in a sales order system you could include customers who have been given quotes but who have not yet placed an order.

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The word "places" describes how the customer interacts with the customer order

a customer order is placed by one customer.

A customer order has a unique reference number which refers to one customer only. The customer order cannot belong to more than one customer.

The phrase "is placed by" describes how the customer order interacts with the customer

You can view the properties of a relationship and represent them graphically on a diagram. The table below shows for each type of relationship:

how the relationship and Entities appear on the diagram canvas how the relationship appears on the diagram palette

a textual description of how the parent Entity is related to the child Entity

a textual description of how the child Entity is related to the child parent

How the relationship and Entities appear on the canvas

How the relationship appears on the diagram palette

How the parent Entity is related to the child

How the child Entity is related to the parent

For each parent Entity 1A there are zero or more child Entities 1B.

Example: A customer places zero or more customer orders

For each child Entity 1B there can only be at most one parent Entity 1A.

Example: Each sales person can only have at most one sales manager

For each parent Entity 2A there are one or more child Entities 2B

Example: A customer order consists of one or more order lines

For each child Entity 2B there can only be at most one parent Entity 2A

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For each parent Entity 3A there are one or more child Entities 3B

For each child Entity 3B there must only be one parent Entity 3A

Example: each order line belongs to just one customer order

For each parent Entity 4A there are zero or more child Entities 4B

For each child Entity 4B there must only be one parent Entity 4A

LINKS

23. ASSOCIATE A SINGLE OBJECT WITH OTHER OBJECTSUse this method when you want to create associations between just one source object and one or more target objects of the same type.

Associations created in this way are not visually represented on diagrams.

To associate a single object with one or more other objects:

1. In Corporate Modeler, select the object you want to associate with another object or objects

2. Go to Edit > Properties

Alternatively, right-click the object and select Properties

3. On the Properties dialog, select Associations > [Object Type].

The [Association Type Display Name] dialog opensIf any objects of the selected type are already associated to the selected object, they are listed

4. Click New Link...

The Select objects dialog opens.

5. Use the Filter objects controls to find an object or objects to associate to6. Select one or more objects to associate to

7. Click OK.

The Select objects dialog closes.

If you only selected one object to associate to, an association properties dialog opens. You can use this dialog to enter some properties for the association, but you can equally leave it blank.The association is created and the associated object is listed in the [Association Type Display Name] dialog.

8. Click Close

The [Association Type Display Name] dialog closes9. Click OK

The Properties dialog closes.

Add objects to a diagram

23.1. ADD LINKS FROM YOUR DIAGRAMS TO OTHER OBJECTS, PROGRAMS OR DIAGRAMS

This functionality enables you to create objects on your diagram that act as links to other diagrams, or links to external files - such as Microsoft Word documents or Microsoft Excel spreadsheets


To create an object on your diagram that links to another diagram in your model, see:

Create an object that links to another Corporate Modeler diagram .

1. Open the diagram you want the link to point to (the target diagram for the link).

2. Click Edit > Copy Diagram Link.

3. Open the diagram you want the object link to appear on (the diagram that you are linking from, or the source diagram).

4. Click Insert > Object Link....

5. Type a name for the link.

6. In the Command line box, click Ctrl + V.

The Diagram Link that was copied to the clipboard in step 2 is copied into the field.

7. Click Select and select a picture from the Gallery.

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8. When you have completed the Gallery dialog and returned to the Object Link Properties dialog, click OK.

9. Click to place the object link on the diagram.

To create an object on your diagram that links to any file (for example, a word document, an excel spreadsheet, etc.), see:

Create an object that links to a third party document .

1. Click Insert > Object Link....2. Type a name for the link (this name appears on the diagram).

3. Click Browse ...

A standard Windows Open dialog opens.

4. Browse to the document you wish to link to.

5. Click Select and select a picture from the Gallery.

6. When you have completed the Gallery dialog and returned to the Object Link Properties dialog, click OK.

Your cursor turns to a cross-hairs shape.

7. Click to place the object link on the diagram.

Important: If all users do not have access to the location of the linked file (for example, if the file is on your local - private - machine) then the link will appear to be broken when they try to access the file.

Note that this functionality can also be used to create a link to an application. The user simply needs to copy the location and filename of the application into the Command Line field on the Diagram Link dialog.


Once a link has been created on the diagram, the file is accessed in the same manner as a detail diagram is accessed from its parent, see:

Open a diagram or document from an Object Link .

1. Right-click the Object.

2. Click Explode.

The diagram, application or document opens.

Instead of using 'Copy Diagram Link' to get the link to paste in to the Diagram Link dialog, you can type a link to another diagram using the format described in:

Create links from HTML pages to your own diagrams.

Create User-Defined Help | Set up and manage a multi-user installation

23.2. CREATE INFORMATION PAGES

System managers can add Information pages to each of the three Views in Model Explorer, which their users can then access from the Outlook bar.

In a multi-user set up, the files or URLs that the system manager specifies will be available to all users so long as those pages are on a shared drive and all users are connected to the network.

System managers can specify different pages for each of the three views. In this way, you can implement easy access to different resources tailored to different types of user.

23.2.1.1.1. To add information pages:1. In the Outlook bar, right-click Add Information Page.

2. Type the name of your pages.

3. Type the full path and filename or the URL that you want to be available from this link.

4. Click OK.


Any information page that is set up by a system manager is available to all users. It is also possible to set up user-specific "favorites" pages. This involves creating a link to a page on a designated local folder so that each user can customize this as they want.

An example might be to set up a page that allows users to add links to specific diagrams they are working on. For further information, see:

Manage models with Object Explorer

24. CREATE, EDIT AND DELETE ASSOCIATIONS

Object Explorer makes it easy to create new associations between objects - and then locate those associations for editing purposes.

The instructions on this page explain how to create, edit and delete associations using Object Explorer.

For information on locating associations and associated objects, see:

Browse your models, objects and associations.

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To Create a new association to an existing object, see:

Create an association to an existing object

To Create an association to an existing object:

1. Browse to the object you want to create an association from in the normal way so that it is listed in the Objects window

2. Select the object in the list

3. Go to File > New > Association >

The menu lists all the Object Types you can create an association to

4. From the menu, select the type of object you want to associate to

The Create Associations dialog opens

5. Select the object that you want to associate to

You can select more than one object if you want to create multiple associations

6. Click OK

The association is created and appears at the top of the list in the Associated Objects window

Note: You can only create associations to objects where an Association Type between the Source and Target Object Types already exists.

To Create an association to a new object, see:

Create an association to a new object

To Create an association to a new object:

1. Browse to the object you want to create an association from in the normal way so that it is listed in the Objects window

2. Select the object in the list

3. Go to File > New > Association >

The menu lists all the Object Types you can create an association to

4. From the menu, select the type of object you want to associate to

The Create Associations dialog opens

5. Click Create Object

The New Object dialog opens

6. Enter the details for your new object7. Click OK

The New Object dialog closes and the new object is selected and highlighted in the Create Associations dialog

9. Click OK

The association is created and appears at the top of the list in the Associated Objects window

Note: You can only create associations to objects where an Association Type between the Source and Target Object Types already exists.

25. OBJECT LINK CASE

The case used ('Upper' or 'Lower') in both the HREF tag text, and the hot text, for Object Link links.

This is important if the HTML output is to be used in a case sensitive environment such as UNIX.

Can be:

Lower All lower case, overriding the capitalization of the original object link. For example: <A HREF="HTTP://www.casewise.com">HTTP://www.casewise.com</A>.

Upper All upper case, overriding the capitalization of the original object link. For example: <A HREF="HTTP://WWW.CASEWISE.COM">HTTP://WWW.CASEWISE.COM</A>.

Preserve Link Case The capitalization is as originally specified in the object link. For example: <A HREF="http://WWW.CASEwise.COM">http://WWW.CASEwise.COM</A>

WHAT ARE ASSOCIATION TYPES?

An Association Type is a design object, used in the Corporate Modeler Suite as the "template" from which associations can be created. As the Object Type 'Process' is used to create objects like 'Record Order' and 'Despatch Goods', so an Association Type which associates Processes to Organizations can be used to create associations between the Process 'Record Order' and the Location 'ACME Corp.'

Association Types can be either predefined or user-defined and can be added (as a line) to the New objects palette.

What is a predefined Association Type?

A predefined association type already exists in your model.

For example, a predefined Association Type exists between Processes and Organizations with a "reason for involvement" as its "intersection object" (see What is an intersection object?). This allows you to associate any Process with any Organization and to define (via the properties of the intersection object) why those two objects have a relationship with one another.

What is a user-defined Association Type?

If you want to associate a user-defined object (an object which does not come as standard with the Corporate Modeler Suite, such as a 'Class' object created for your own UML diagrams) to another object (such as a Process), then you must create a user-defined Association Type which enables these two object types to be associated.

The reason for this is that all Association Types MUST associate two objects, and those objects MUST themselves be of a specific type. If you have a user-defined object type it follows that there will be no predefined Association Types which specify the new object as one of the specific types it connects to.

26. DEPENDENT OBJECTS

When you export objects from the Corporate Modeler Suite or run a spell-check or find and replace, certain objects are included in the action in addition to the explicitly selected objects. These are known as "Dependent objects".

The following table shows the selected object, and those objects that are dependent on that object (i.e. it shows the object you have selected, and those objects that are included in that selection automatically).

Select Includes

Diagram All objects on that diagram including any styles that are assigned to objects on the diagram.

Detail diagram Parent object.

Object with association to other object

Reasons for Involvement and Data Usages.

Note that associated objects are not included unless explicitly selected. So if a process is associated to an organization and you select the process, only the process is spell-checked or exported.

If, however, you select both the process and the organization, then both objects along with the reason for involvement are exported or spell-checked.

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Entity Attributes, keys, relationships, domains and all other entity modeling objects.

Objects that reference Time Periods, Calendars, and Distributions

All referenced objects.

Example: If a Process's Throughput specifies a Special calendar, then that Calendar's Name is included in the spell-check.

27. FAQS: WHAT DOES THE PROPERTY CONTEXT DIAGRAM DO?

When publishing, selecting Context diagram affects output from Corporate Publisher.

This flag signifies that any object shown on the diagram outside of the parent object (when shown on the child diagram) should not appear in the diagram tree as it is outside of the scope of the diagram.

So in this case, an object on the parent diagram is exploded, the user then adds a copy of the parent object to the child diagram (the large yellow process).

The child diagram is flagged as a context diagram, thus meaning that only those objects that appear inside the large process are shown in the diagram tree. That means objects: 1, 2, and 3 on this diagram and not the red external entity objects.

28. SET UP AND MAINTAIN SUBJECT AREAS

A sub-model is created from a subject area. You create a subject area in the Administration view of Model Explorer and then populate it with diagrams and objects in the Object view. Not all users can create subject areas (see the Notes and Tips section below).

A subject area also contains objects that you did not explicitly add to it. You can find out what these objects are when you analyze a subject area.


Create a new subject area .

In the administration view:

1. On the left-hand pane, click Subject Area.2. Click File > New Subject Area

3. Type a name for the subject area.

Add objects to a subject area .

From the Object view:

1. In the left-hand pane, select the required model.2. Click Action > Select Subject Area.

3. Click the subject area to which you want to add objects.

4. In the left-hand pane, select the required Object Type (e.g. Diagram).

5. In the right-hand pane, select the objects you want to add to the subject area.

Tip: Use the Ctrl or Shift keys for multiple selection.

6. Click Action > Add to Subject Area.

Tips:

When you click Action > Add to subject area the selected object is added to the subject area currently associated with this model.

When you click Action > Add to subject area the selected object is added to the subject area currently associated with this model.

To change the Subject Area that's currently associated with this model, see:

Change the currently associated Subject Area .

1. In Model Explorer, select Action > Select Subject Area …

The Subject Area lister opens.

2. Click the name of the Subject Area that you want to use.3. Click Select.

The Subject Area is now associated with this model, and each time you add an object it will be added to this subject area.

Tip:

You can also create new Subject Area objects in this dialog, by clicking the New button.

Advanced Tasks - Which objects will your Subject Area contain?

To create a list of Objects that are in your currently selected subject area (and will therefore be in the sub-model you are creating), see:

Analyze Subject Areas .

1. In the left-hand pane, select the required model.

2. Click Action > Analyze Subject Area.

After the Subject Area has been analyzed, some objects might be marked as Derived. Derived objects are objects that you did not add to the Subject Area, but which are required in the sub-model to maintain model integrity.

29. CREATE SUB-MODELS

Before you can create a sub-model, you must first create and populate a subject area (see Set up and maintain subject areas).

From the Administration view:

1. In the left-hand pane, select Model.2. From the right-hand pane, select the master model (i.e. the model from which you want to

create the sub-model).

3. Click Action > Lock Model.

4. In the right-hand pane, right-click Create sub-model.

5. Follow the wizard steps using the help button for more information where necessary.


For a detailed explanation of the relationship between subject areas and sub-models, see:

Relationship between subject areas and sub-models.

Note also that to create a sub-model, you must have the access rights to Create Models and Create Subject Areas. System and project managers (as well as single users) automatically have these rights. Normal users, however, must have them explicitly granted, see:

Create your own Object, Property, and Association Types

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29.1. CREATE NEW OBJECT TYPES

If you want to create a new object on your diagram which is not represented by any of the predefined Corporate Modeler Object Types (i.e. it cannot easily be described as being a Process, an Entity, etc.), you must define your own design object to use as the basis of these new modeling objects on your diagrams.


Tip: Before you create a new Object Type, check that an appropriate Object Type does not already exist. The presence of multiple, inconsistently named Object Types will confuse your users.

See an illustration of Object Types in the Design view .

The illustration below shows the Design view in Model Explorer. The red area represents the New Object Type menu item, which allows you to create a new Object Type.

Create a User-defined Object Type .

1. In the left-hand pane, select the model to which you want to add a new Object Type.

Note: do not select "Models"; select an actual model beneath this. Also, make sure you do not select any of the Object Types within the model.

2. Click File > New Object Type.

3. Type a Name for the Object Type (the Name is what users will see in the model).

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4. Type a Plural Name for the Object Type.

Note: as soon as you select this field, the plural name defaults to the same as the display name (step 3). If you want make sure that the plural is a true plural, then edit this field with the appropriate plural form (e.g. Process would become Processes).

5. Type a Script Name for the Object Type. This what is used to identify the Object Type internally and cannot be subsequently edited.

Note: as soon as you select this field, the script name defaults to the same as the display name (step 3). You can, however, edit this name. It must be a unique and use only alphanumeric characters.

6. If you want to use this Object Type on diagrams, then choose the Display on diagram box.

7. To add your own help for this Object Type, choose the Help tab and enter your text.

The help text you enter is what the users will see when they click the Help button on the properties dialog of any instances of the Object Type.

8. For more information about creating your own help, see:

Create custom help

30. WHAT ARE ASSOCIATION TYPES?

An Association Type is a design object, used in the Corporate Modeler Suite as the "template" from which associations can be created. As the Object Type 'Process' is used to create objects like 'Record Order' and 'Despatch Goods', so an Association Type which associates Processes to Organizations can be used to create associations between the Process 'Record Order' and the Location 'ACME Corp.'

Association Types can be either predefined or user-defined and can be added (as a line) to the New objects palette.

30.1.1.1.1. What is a predefined Association Type?

A predefined association type already exists in your model.

For example, a predefined Association Type exists between Processes and Organizations with a "reason for involvement" as its "intersection object" (see What is an intersection object?). This allows you to associate any Process with any Organization and to define (via the properties of the intersection object) why those two objects have a relationship with one another.

30.1.1.1.2. What is a user-defined Association Type?


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If you want to associate a user-defined object (an object which does not come as standard with the Corporate Modeler Suite, such as a 'Class' object created for your own UML diagrams) to another object (such as a Process), then you must create a user-defined Association Type which enables these two object types to be associated.

The reason for this is that all Association Types MUST associate two objects, and those objects MUST themselves be of a specific type. If you have a user-defined object type it follows that there will be no predefined Association Types which specify the new object as one of the specific types it connects to.

30.2. ASSOCIATE OBJECTS

How you create an association is dependent upon how you wish to display your associations on your diagram.


If you want your association to be invisible on the diagram (i.e. if you want to associate the objects using the Object Properties dialog), see:

Associate objects .

1. Right-click the object you wish to associate with another object.

2. Select Associations > [Object Type].

The [Association Type Display Name] dialog opens. If any objects of the selected type are already associated to the selected object, they are listed.

3. Click New link...

The Select objects dialog opens.

4. Use the Filter objects controls to find an object or objects to associate to.

5. Select an object to associate to.

Click the Help button on the dialog for more information about the using Filter objects controls.

6. Click OK.

The Select objects dialog closes and an Intersection Object properties dialog opens.

7. Optionally, define properties about the intersection object.

The associated object appears in the dialog.

You can select multiple objects to associate with the source object - simply select more than one object at step 5. If you do this, the Intersection Object properties dialog does not immediately open.


To enter details about a specific association, select the object in the dialog and click Edit link.

If you want to create

31. CREATE ASSOCIATIONS USING DRAG AND DROP (SWIMLANES)

You can create associations by dragging and dropping an object onto any other object on your diagram. Objects treated in this way are called Swimlanes. However, before you can do this, the following pre-requisites must be in place:

There must be an Association Type between the two Object Types concerned.

See Create New Association Types The Allow Automatic Creation checkbox be set on the properties of the

Association Type. The two options are:

o Source to Target - Use this setting to allow associations to be created automatically when the an object of the source object type is placed on top of an object of the target object type on a diagram.

o Target to Source - Use this setting to allow associations to be created automatically when the an object of the target object type is placed on top of an object of the source object type on a diagram.

If you want to be able to automatically delete associations when you separate the two objects on the diagram, you must have Allow Automatic Deletion set on the association object. This is set by default when associations are created using drag and drop, but can be edited manually by viewing the properties of any association.

To create an association using drag and drop

1. Select an object on the diagram canvas2. While holding down the left-mouse button, drag

the object over another existing object

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3. Release the mouse button to drop the object

The association is created.The smaller object must be in the foreground compared to the larger (Swimlane) object you want to associate it with. To change an object's position in the z-order, use the Move to front and Move to back functions on the Draw menu.

You can also create associations in this way by dragging and dropping new objects from the New Objects palette, or by dragging and dropping objects from the Existing Objects palette

32. SWIMLANE

The term Swimlane is used by Business Analysts to describe how Process mapping often appears on diagrams. Processes are placed inside Location or Organization objects to show that they either occur at the Location they lie within, or are the responsibility of the Organization they lie within.

So in the following diagram, Object A is an Organization that is responsible for performing Process C. Object B is a Location where processes D and E occur.

The term swimlane is used because the objects are elongated, like the lanes in a pool.

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