Gateways are essential in BPMN workflows—they control the flow of execution based on conditions, events, or parallelism. But when used incorrectly, they can cause unexpected behavior, failed executions, or confusing process models.
If you’re building business workflows in Flowable, here are some common mistakes to avoid when using gateways:
1. ✅ Misunderstanding Gateway Types
Flowable supports several types of gateways:
* Exclusive (XOR): Only one path is taken.
* Inclusive (OR): One or more paths can be taken.
* Parallel (AND): All outgoing paths are taken.
* Event-based: Waits for an event to decide.
👉 Mistake: Using a parallel gateway when you meant to make a decision.
Fix: Use an exclusive gateway when only one condition should be true.
2. ⚠️ Missing Conditions on Outgoing Flows
It’s easy to forget assigning expressions to outgoing flows in exclusive or inclusive gateways.
👉 Mistake: Flowable throws an error or takes the default path unpredictably.
Fix: Always assign clear conditions and define a default flow.
3. 🔁 Creating Deadlocks with Parallel Gateways
Parallel gateways split and join flows. If a join doesn’t receive all expected tokens, the process gets stuck.
👉 Mistake: Mismatched parallel splits and joins.
Fix: Ensure each split has a corresponding join and all paths are reachable.
4. 🔄 Not Handling Default Paths
When no condition matches in an exclusive or inclusive gateway, Flowable may throw an error unless a default path is defined.
👉 Fix: Use the default flow option in the Flowable modeler to ensure fallback behavior.
5. ❓ Confusing Gateways with Tasks
Beginners sometimes use service tasks to handle logic that belongs in gateways.
👉 Fix: Keep business logic (conditions) in gateways and actions (work) in tasks. Keep your models clean and readable.
🔍 Pro Tip:
Use the Flowable Modeler’s validation feature before deploying. It can catch some of these issues early.
🚀 Wrapping Up
Mastering gateways is crucial for robust workflow design. A well-configured gateway ensures your process behaves exactly as intended—no surprises in production.
💡 Have you faced gateway issues in Flowable? Share your experience below!
#BPMN #Flowable #ProcessAutomation #WorkflowDesign #BPM #DigitalTransformation #AKITIINSTITUTE
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