Process Hierarchy Diagrams (Analysis)

A process hierarchy diagram (or functional decomposition diagram) provides a graphical view of the functions of a system and helps you decompose them into a tree of sub-processes.

Note: To create a process hierarchy diagram in an existing BPM, right-click the model in the Browser and select New > Process Hierarchy Diagram. To create a new model, select File > New Model, choose Business Process Model as the model type and Process Hierarchy Diagram as the first diagram, and then click OK.

The PHD is commonly used during the analysis phase of a project to identify all the processes in a system by name, and decompose them into multiple levels of sub-processes.

In the following example, the root process, Marketing, is decomposed into three sub-processes, Paper Advertising, Email Campaign, and Corporate Web Site. The latter is in turn decomposed into two sub-processes, and so on:

You can create processes with the Process tool from the diagram Toolbox:

To create a ...	Click...	Cursor	Example
Root process	Any empty space in the diagram window.
Sub-process	A root process symbol or the bottom part of any other process.
Sibling process	The left or right part of any process symbol, except the root process.

You can modify your hierarchy in the following ways:

Expand and collapse children under a process by clicking the + or - sign on the base of the symbol. Alternatively, right-click a process and select Expand to show one level of children, Expand All to show all levels, or Collapse to hide all children.
Change the parent of a subprocess by dragging and dropping it from one process to another.
Evenly distribute the sub-processes beneath a process in harmonious lines by right-clicking it and selecting Arrange Symbols, or selecting Symbol > Auto-Layout.
By default, a process hierarchy displays from top-to-bottom. To display it from left-to-right, select Tools > Display Preferences > General, and select Horizontal in the Orientation group box.
Hide a process and its children in the hierarchy without deleting it in the model by right-clicking it and selecting Edit > Hide Symbols. To display any hidden sub-processes underneath a process, right-click it and select Complete or Complete All.

Each of these processes can be analyzed in its own business process diagram (see Business Process Diagrams (Analysis)). You can create a default business process diagram for any of the processes by right-clicking it and selecting Build Default Flows between Processes. The default flow links subprocesses in the first level beneath the process between a start and an end. You can further refine the control flow by creating other objects in the diagram.