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Element Templates
The tool that powers declarative, domain specific modeling at bpmn.io.
About
Element templates allow you to define re-usable, domain specific building blocks to supported bpmn.io toolkits. Through a set of utilities they deeply integrate into the modeling experience.
Features
Through a JSON document you define different aspects of a re-usable building block.
General Configuration
- Name and description
- Icon
- BPMN element type
- Category
- Documentation references
- Versioning + deprecation information
Property Configuration
- Type of control
- Technical binding
- Labels, description
- Validation
- Grouping
- Conditional activation criteria
Editor Integration
Through a set of utilities element templates get deeply integrated into our editor tooling.
Create/Append Anything
Provided through an extension.
- Palette and context pads have a
...
entry to create / append any element - Building blocks can be discovered via search
- Replace menu is enhanced to work using the same pattern
Configuration
Provided through the properties panel and a template chooser component.
- Allows to set an applicable template as well as unlinking and removing it
- Renders configured template controls
- Validates inputs according to defined validation rules
- Shows basic template meta-data
Upgrading/Migration/Replacement
Provided through the properties panel as well as an extension.
Templates come with two built-in ways of migration: Upgrading to a newer (compatible) version or deprecation (with the ability to display a custom message).
- Upgrading works alongside the built-in versioning feature
- Migration happens using the built-in replace feature
- Upgrade and replace will preserve defined properties on a best effort basis
The user can trigger the actual upgrade/migration/replacement operation in two ways:
- In the properties panel, using provided upgrade controls
- Through the extended replace menu by re-applying the template or switching to a different template
To learn more about element template evolution checkout the life-cycle documentation.
Basic Setup
The basic setup requires a BPMN modeler as well as properties panel and element template provider modules:
import BpmnModeler from 'bpmn-js/lib/Modeler';
import {
BpmnPropertiesPanelModule,
BpmnPropertiesProviderModule,
ZeebePropertiesProviderModule,
CloudElementTemplatesPropertiesProviderModule
} from 'bpmn-js-properties-panel';
It allows you to pass element templates to the modeler during instantiation via the elementTemplate
configuration:
const elementTemplates = [ ... ];
const modeler = new BpmnModeler({
container: '#canvas',
additionalModules: [
BpmnPropertiesPanelModule,
BpmnPropertiesProviderModule,
ZeebePropertiesProviderModule,
CloudElementTemplatesPropertiesProviderModule
],
elementTemplates
});
Checkout API for advanced use-cases driven via additional APIs.
Supported Toolkits
Right now element templates are supported in bpmn-js.
Creating an Element Template Provider
Refer to the create a provider guide.
Related Utilities
- bpmn-js-properties-panel - Provides the
ElementTemplate
core and ships with two implementation for technical property binding of Camunda properties. - element-template-icon-renderer - Renders embedded element template icons on the modeling canvas.
- element-template-chooser - A simple element template chooser that plugs into the properties panel
- element-template-json-schema - The schema definition for template descriptors
- bpmn-js-create-append-anything - A deep integration into the core modeling experience, featuring create + append anything and replacing with template tasks