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Late binding and retroactive modeling with BPM

Quick Answer

A BPM is a view over Log Events. Nothing in your integrations refers to a BPM, so Nodinite binds events to the process when you look, not when you design. That is late binding:

Question Answer
Do I need BPMs before I deploy my integrations? No. Log first, draw the BPM when you need it.
Can I draw a BPM over events that are already logged? Yes. Those events show on the new BPM.
Does changing or deleting a BPM lose log data? No. The events stay in the Log Databases.
Can I add a Search Field later and search old events? Yes. Re-index the Message Types that need it.

Understanding Late Binding

flowchart LR LE[fa:fa-database Log Events
in Log Databases] --> LV[fa:fa-layer-group Log View
groups by interchange id] LV --> B1[fa:fa-arrow-progress BPM drawn
after go-live] LV --> B2[fa:fa-arrow-progress BPM changed
or added later] SF[fa:fa-magnifying-glass Search Field
added later + re-index] --> LV style LE fill:#2678BD style LV fill:#E47528 style SF fill:#E47528 style B1 fill:#93d16d style B2 fill:#93d16d

Log Events are stored once (blue). Log Views and Search Fields (orange) find them; every BPM (green) is a view you can add or change at any time.

Piece Bound when
Log Event, in the Log Databases At logging time; a BPM never changes it
Service, whose Transport Contracts place events in a BPM cell When you view the BPM
Log View group by, such as Application interchange id When you search
Search Field, one expression per Message Type At logging time, or later through re-index

More in How does BPM correlate events?.

Do I need BPMs before deploying?

No. Deploy, log, and draw later. The Order-to-Cash demo logs 100 orders through the Log API without ever naming the INT1337 - Order-to-Cash Flow BPM; draw it in the BPM Designer the same day or months later.

Can I draw a BPM over events already logged?

Yes. Matching runs when you look, so a new BPM shows events already logged that are bound to the Services in its cells. Add a Ready for Transport step with the WMS Service, and orders that already passed it show it in their Log Status Code color. Two limits:

  • Only events still kept show; retention is set per Log Database.
  • A step stays gray when no logged event matches its Service.

You can place a Service in a cell before it has any Transport Contracts, and add or revise its Transport Contracts at any time. Because the binding is resolved when the BPM is displayed, events logged earlier appear on the step as soon as the Transport Contract that matches them exists.

A step with no match stays gray; a step with a match takes the Log Status Code color of its events, green for OK. If later steps of an order are colored but an earlier one is gray, something changed at run time, such as a new Endpoint or Message Type: inspect the events and adjust the Transport Contracts.

Does changing or deleting a BPM lose log data?

No, there's no data loss. Renaming a BPM, moving Services between Domains, or adding and removing steps only changes how events are drawn. Deleting a BPM doesn't touch the underlying Services, Resources, or log data, and you can restore it later; see Add or manage BPM and Show deleted records. You can also keep several BPMs over the same events.

Can I add a Search Field later and search old events?

Yes. An administrator adds a Search Field with an expression per Message Type, tests it on real events, and then re-indexes the historical events. No re-logging, no integration changes.

  • Re-index only the Message Types that need it; it takes time on large databases.
  • A started re-index can't be aborted, so test the expressions first. Read-only Log Databases are skipped.

Late Binding Compared

Capability Nodinite BPM Design-time binding
Define the process before tracking Not needed Required
Draw a process over events already logged Yes Not supported
Change the process without losing visibility Yes Changes can break processes or lose visibility
Search old events on a new field Yes, re-index Not supported

Azure Business Process Tracking and Kovai Atomic Scope both require the process (or templates and mappings) up front and lack retroactive modeling.

Next Steps