Exclusive gateway to divide the flow
The exclusive gateway is a BPM element that allows you to divide the flow into exclusive paths according to the conditions that you define. This means that when the process instance reaches that point in the workflow, the defined conditions will be evaluated and, according to that result, the process instance will continue by one path or another.
An exclusive gateway does not perform any task or modify any form field. It simply determines by which path should the process instance continue.
To set an exclusive gateway you must place the icon (rhombus with an X inside) and add as many exit arrows as possible pathways the flow could continue to.
Then you must set a condition for each path that determines in which case the flow will continue through each one. To do this, you must double click on the arrow of the corresponding path or click on it and then select the button ‘Edit element’.
The conditions may be defined according to:
form field values
last decision taken on the immediately previous user task
a combination of both
You may add as many conditions as you like on each pathway. If you add more than one, you can choose whether all conditions must be met simultaneously or at least one.
To set up correctly the conditions on an exclusive gateway, the following must happen:
1) The conditions must be simultaneously exclusive. A process instance must never comply with two or more conditions.
2) All possibilities should be taken into account. It should never happen that the system can’t comply with any of the conditions.
Scroll down on the pop-up window that opens up you’re when setting a condition. You will see the form fields under the title ‘Form fields’.
The following fields can’t be used to set up a condition:
Title/Header
Table
Attachment
Signature
Rich Text Editor
Confidential fields can’t be used either to set up a condition.
To set up a condition based on a Yes/No field, you must write the values ‘true’ or ‘false’ (which correspond to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ respectively).
It is possible to determine the path based on the last decision taken on the immediately previous user task. Example:
In the preceding flow, the Review document’ task has the following decisions: ‘Approve document’, ‘Reject document’. If, on a certain instance, the decision ‘Approve document’ is chosen, this instance will follow the pathway ‘Yes’. This happens because, when the flow reaches the exclusive gateway, the system evaluates which decision was taken on the immediately previous user task and, according to that decision, it determines the pathway to follow.
Keep in mind that if you delete a field that was currently being used in a condition, the system will show an error message. You won't be allowed to continue until you validate the condition again.
An exclusive gateway does not perform any task or modify any form field. It simply determines by which path should the process instance continue.
To set an exclusive gateway you must place the icon (rhombus with an X inside) and add as many exit arrows as possible pathways the flow could continue to.
Then you must set a condition for each path that determines in which case the flow will continue through each one. To do this, you must double click on the arrow of the corresponding path or click on it and then select the button ‘Edit element’.
The conditions may be defined according to:
form field values
last decision taken on the immediately previous user task
a combination of both
You may add as many conditions as you like on each pathway. If you add more than one, you can choose whether all conditions must be met simultaneously or at least one.
To set up correctly the conditions on an exclusive gateway, the following must happen:
1) The conditions must be simultaneously exclusive. A process instance must never comply with two or more conditions.
2) All possibilities should be taken into account. It should never happen that the system can’t comply with any of the conditions.
Conditions based on fields
Scroll down on the pop-up window that opens up you’re when setting a condition. You will see the form fields under the title ‘Form fields’.
The following fields can’t be used to set up a condition:
Title/Header
Table
Attachment
Signature
Rich Text Editor
Confidential fields can’t be used either to set up a condition.
To set up a condition based on a Yes/No field, you must write the values ‘true’ or ‘false’ (which correspond to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ respectively).
Conditions based on your last decision
It is possible to determine the path based on the last decision taken on the immediately previous user task. Example:
In the preceding flow, the Review document’ task has the following decisions: ‘Approve document’, ‘Reject document’. If, on a certain instance, the decision ‘Approve document’ is chosen, this instance will follow the pathway ‘Yes’. This happens because, when the flow reaches the exclusive gateway, the system evaluates which decision was taken on the immediately previous user task and, according to that decision, it determines the pathway to follow.
Keep in mind that if you delete a field that was currently being used in a condition, the system will show an error message. You won't be allowed to continue until you validate the condition again.
Updated on: 24/10/2018
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