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Attribute Variables

Attribute Variables

Where to use attribute variables?

Attribute variables may be used in Microsoft Word templates, in Doclets or as an argument in the sort parameter of a Document Pattern. Within a Word template, only the attributes of the Diagram may be used. For example:

%%Bpmn.Diagram.Name%%

There are three different types of attributes that may be used within a Process Documentation: BPMN, System Defined and User Defined Attributes.

A variable referring to an attribute always has the following syntax:

[AttributeType].[ElementType].[AttributeName][(;parameter)*]

AttributeType is one of

  • Bpmn
  • System
  • User

ElementType is one of:

  • *
  • Diagram
  • StartEvent
  • IntermediateEvent
  • EndEvent
  • Task
  • SubProcessCollapsed
  • SubProcessExpanded
  • Gateway
  • SequenceFlow
  • MessageFlow
  • TextAnnotation
  • Assocation
  • DataObject
  • Group
  • Pool
  • Lane
  • DataObjectReference
  • DataStore
  • CallActivity
  • DataAssociation
  • DataInputAssociation
  • DataOutputAssociation
  • DataInput
  • DataOutput
  • Message
  • BoundaryEvent

The wildcard asterisk (*) indicates that an attribute variable is not depending on its Element Type.

Note: If a Doclet is only used for one Element Type (e.g. Task), it is good practice to set the ElementType to Task. If a Doclet is shared by several Element Types, the wildcard asterisk (*) may be used as ElementType.

For example:

%%Bpmn.*.Name%%

%%System.*.Hyperlinks%%

 

AttributeName is the name displayed in the Attribute Explorer for an attribute. Subsequent attributes are separated by a dot (.). The AttributeName can also be an empty string or an asterisk (*). For this case, all User Defined Attributes are processed.

Examples:

User.*.A.B refers to the User Defined Attribute B within the User Defined Attribute A.

User.*.* refers to all User Defined Attributes of a BPMN element.

Hidden attributes:

  • Graphics[;ignoretext|ignoreoutertext][;expand][;ignorenumber] (this attribute can be used to insert a graphical representation of an element. To ignore the text of the graphic, use on of the optional parameter; ignoretext ignores the text for all element types and ignoreoutertext ignores the text only for Event, Sequence Flow, Message Flow, Gateway and DataObject). The parameter expand only affects Sub-Processes. For an Expanded Sub-Process, the whole content is included in the graphic too and for a Collapsed Sub-Process, the referenced Process Level will be inserted as graphic instead of the Collapsed Sub-Process itself. The optional parameter ignorenumber indicates to ignore the element number on the graphic)
  • ElementType (this attribute can be used to insert the type of an element (e.g. Task))

Example:

Bpmn.Task.Graphics;ignoretext;ignorenumber refers to the graphical representation of the BPMN element without the description text and without the element number.

Bpmn.*.ElementType refers to the element type of a BPMN element.

 

Parameters

A parameter has the following syntax:

<parameter> := [;{name|type|description|recursive}][;showborder][;hyperlinks][;default="default-value"]

The following table shows all parameters that are usable for attribute variables. Those parameters never have a value.

Parameter name Description, parameter values and samples
name This optional parameter indicates that the attribute variable will be replaced with the name (not the value!) of the attribute. This parameter may not be used in combination with other parameters.
type This optional parameter indicates that the attribute variable will be replaced with the type (not the value!) of the attribute. This parameter may not be used in combination with other parameters.
description This optional parameter indicates that the attribute variable will be replaced with the description (not the value!) of the attribute. This parameter may not be used in combination with other parameters.
hyperlinks This optional parameter indicates that all attached hyperlinks of an attribute were also documented (aside the value of the attribute). This optional parameter may only be used for User Defined Attributes.
recursive If this optional parameter is set, the child User Defined Attributes are also processed. The results are stored in a table. This optional parameter may only be used for User Defined Attributes.
showborder If the value of an attribute is shown in a table, this optional parameter, draws a surrounding border. By default, tables don’t have visible borders.
insertcontent By default, external documents of all types that are attached to User Defined Attributes will be inserted as icons. If this optional parameter is set, the content of MS Word documents will be inserted instead of an icon.
default=”…” This optional parameter is used to define a default value, if the value for the attribute is empty or does not exist.

Examples:

%%Bpmn.*.Name;name%%

%%User.StartEvent.A.B;recursive;showborder%%

%%System.*.number;showborder%%

%%Bpmn.Diagram.CreationDate;type%%

%%User.*.*;hyperlinks;default=”<value is empty>”%%