from a decision or activity with conditional flows. Message Flow A Message Flow is represented with a dashed line, an open circle at the start, and an open arrowhead at the end. It tells us what messages flow across organizational boundaries (i.e., between pools). A message flow can never be used to connect activities or events within the same pool. Association An Association is represented with a dotted line. It is used to associate an Artifact or text to a Flow Object, and can indicate some directionality using an open arrowhead (toward the artifact to represent a result, from the artifact to represent an input, and both to indicate it is read and updated). No directionality is used when the Artifact or text is associated with a sequence or message flow (as that flow already shows the direction). Pools, Lanes, and artifacts Swim lanes are a visual mechanism of organising and categorising activities, based on cross functional flowcharting, and in BPMN consist of two types: Pool Represents major participants in a process, typically separating different organisations. A pool contains one or more lanes (like a real swimming pool). A pool can be open (i.e., showing internal detail) when it is depicted as a large rectangle showing one or more lanes, or collapsed (i.e., hiding internal detail) when it is depicted as an empty rectangle stretching the width or height of the diagram. Lane Used to organise and categorise activities within a pool according to function or role, and depicted as a rectangle stretching the width or height of the pool. A lane contains the flow objects, connecting objects and artifacts. Artifacts allow developers to bring some more information into the model/diagram. In this way the model/diagram becomes more readable. There are three pre-defined Artefacts and they are: Data objects: Data objects show the reader which data is required or produced in an activity. Group: A Group is represented with a rounded-corner rectangle and dashed lines. The group is used to group different activities but does not affect the flow in the diagram. Annotation: An annotation is used to give the reader of the model/diagram an understandable impression. Examples of business process diagrams BPMN 2.0.2 The vision of BPMN 2.0.2 is to have one single specification for a new Business Process Model and Notation that defines the notation, metamodel and interchange format but with a modified name that still preserves the