2008/26/09: Bonita-v4.0 (aka NovaBonita)

Changes:
This 4.0 version adds minor features enhancements to the runtime (deploy of single xpdl files, activities
multi-instantiation clean up, log levels harmonization, iterations and subprocesses refactoring, versioning
at both package and process levels...) and adds major improvements and new features to both Designer and
Console applications.

Nova Bonita also benefit from the QA activity: code cleaning, validation, stress tests,
unit tests coverage and performance improvements. Together with that some new examples (WebSale,
Approval Workflow web application and Multi Instantiation of activities samples) has been added and
synchronized with graphical tools (Designer and Console) allowing to deploy and execute them via a java
application or through the Console.

This final version also includes an improved documentation: in addition to the reference and development
guides, this version comes with two new documents: the Quick Start and Console guides

Features:

- Powerful workflow API covering deployment, definition, runtime and history workflow data
- QuereyAPsI vs RuntimeAPIs for advanced resources (hooks, mappers and performer assignments)
- Standard (J2SE) vs Enterprise (J2EE) deployment
- JEE deployment includes support for both 1.4 and 1.5 standards
- Support for XPDL 1.0 activities : Join, Split, Activity (Route, implementation no and subFlow) in both
automatic and manual execution modes
- Support of main XPDL 1.0 elements : Datafield, DataType, Participant, Transition, RedefinableHeader,
Transition Restriction, Package...
- Support of advanced entities/resources: Hooks, mappers, performer assignments and activities multiinstantiators
(via XPDL extended attributes)
- Persistent execution (through a configurable persistence service, hibernate by default)
- Subprocesses support
- Activities multi-instantiation support
- Iterations/cycles support
- Activities deadlines support through the Process Virtual Machine generic and configurable Timer service
- Configurable journal and history workflow modules: history db vs history xml implementations
- Advanced process deployment capabilities including ".bar" file deployment and local vs global
resources (hooks, mappers, performer assignments and instantiators)
- Processes and package versioning
- Standard security service based on JAAS LoginModules: Test, standard and J2EE login modules are included in the package
- Tasks (aka manual activities )assign and re-assign capabilities
- Unified life cycle for workflow activities (XPDL activities types) execution handling synchronization
with Tasks, also known as manual activities, life cycle.
- Task Management module handling init, ready, executing, finished, dead, suspend and resume states
- Transitions conditions advanced support based on BeanShell scripting language and multiple variables types
- Workflow data: both process and activity level variables support
- Integer, String, Float, Boolean, Date and Enumerated types are supported as variable types
- Default mapper implementation: Initiator Mapper
- Process Virtual Machine technology based
- BPM Designer (ProEd):
	* Eclipse and Desktop versions
	* "Easy workflow project" creation wizard available in Eclipse version
	* Graphical support for advanced Nova Bonita entities: hooks, mappers, performers and instantiators
	* Support for multiple variables types
	* "Smart" conditions editor: graphical definition of complex conditions based on multiple operators and variables types
	* Automatic generation of start and end BPM steps

- BPM Console
	* Web 2.0 console supporting both desktop and traditional portal layout modes
	* Monitoring vs Worklist applications (portlets)
	* Internal user repository handling access rights to applications
	* Automatic generation of forms vs customized forms
	* Console customization capabilities: on the fly page creation, add/remove applications and widgets, look and feel...
	* Applications (portlets) and widgets support

Limitations:
- Block activities
- Process definition and process modifications via Java APIs (process changes on the fly)
- Hooks: processes hook (onInstantiate) as well as activity onCancelled hook are not yet supported

Bug Fixed:

311292	Postgres fails during stress tests	  
311172	Documentation of the initialization of the database
310522	RuntimeAPI.startTask throws a TaskNotFoundException when task is FINISHED
311221	AutoDetect doesn't work in ApprovalWorkflow.war application deployed in Tomcat
311137	Authentification on EasyBeans ClassNotFoundException BonitaPrincipal
311188	Deadlock during deployment of approval bar with Postgres and Oracle DB
310401	Target deployBarEb : Subject has not been set up using setSubject()
310405	Problem while deploying example ApprovalWorkflow
308962	In the User Guide, missing information about how to configure hibernate specially for Oracle
308970	The user guide must be completed: missing information about configuration
308977	Concurrent acces problem on MySQL: Deadlock found when trying to get lock
308785	concurrent acces problem: deadlock detected by Oracle jdbc driver
308960	org.hibernate.HibernateException: Wrong column type: DOUBLEVAL_, expected: double precision (for the table NOVA_DESCRIPTOR)
311202	output variable values are allways type String

Have fun !
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Author: Miguel Valdes Faura
BULL R&D
mail: bonita@ow2.org
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