Deploy Business Process Objects

This page applies to developers. It provides detailed information on how to manage business process objects in Appian Designer.

About business process objects

A business process object is a design object that represents a process created in Process HQ. Business process objects let developers include these processes in applications so they can be packaged and deployed across environments.

When a process is created in Process HQ, it automatically appears as a business process object in Appian Designer. From there, developers can add the business process object to an application and follow the standard deployment workflow.

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A business process object contains the process configuration: case data, event data, custom attributes, filters, attribute mapping, process properties, and object security. Process artifacts, such as views and KPIs, are not part of the business process object and are not deployable.

When to deploy business process objects

You can deploy business process objects when you want to:

• Share a process configuration from one environment to another.
• Include process definitions as part of a standard application delivery.

How to deploy business process objects

Any new business process created in Process HQ is automatically available as an object in Appian Designer. You must be a data steward to add a new process.

To deploy a business process object:

1. Add a process in Process HQ.
2. Review the object security.
3. Add the object to the appropriate application(s).
4. Deploy the object.

Security

Object security for business process objects is configured through role maps.

The role map for a business process object allows the following permission levels:

• No Access: The business process object is not visible to the user or group.
• Viewer: The business process object is visible to the user or group, but the actions they can take on the object are limited.
• Editor: The business process object is visible to the user or group, and they can take all actions except editing the object role map and deleting the object.
• Administrator: The business process object is visible to the user or group, and they can take all actions including editing the object role map and deleting the object.

The following table describes the actions users can take based on permission level:

Action
	Administrator	Editor	Viewer	No Access
See a business process object in the Objects view.	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Add a business process object to an application.	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
View security for a business process object.	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Edit security for a business process object.	Yes	No	No	No
View dependencies and precedents for a business process object.	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Deploy a business process object.	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Delete a business process object.	Yes	No	No	No

Manage business process objects

This section explains how to add business process objects to applications and edit their properties.

Common object options

There are a few common options available across different design objects. The following options are available in business process objects.

Option	Available?
Versioning	No
Renaming	Process HQ
Viewing Appian Design Guidance	No
Duplicating	No
Viewing Performance Details	No
Object overwrite protection	No

Add business process objects to an application

To add business process objects to an application, you must have:

• Editor permissions for the application.
• Viewer permissions for the business process objects.

To add a business process object to an application:

1. Go to the Build view of the application.
2. Go to the ALL OBJECTS tab, if it's not already active.
3. In the toolbar, click ADD EXISTING.
4. Select Existing Objects.
5. In the Other box, select one or more business processes.
6. (Optional) To check the added objects for missing precedents, select Check for missing precedents after adding objects to this application.
7. Click ADD TO APPLICATION.

Edit the object properties

You must have Editor permissions to edit properties for a business process object.

To edit properties for a business process object:

1. In the Build view of your application, click the object in the objects grid. The business process opens in Process HQ in another tab.
2. Click the edit icon next to the business process name.
3. In the Edit Business Process Properties dialog:
   • For Name, enter a name for the business process.
   • For Description, enter a brief description of the business process.
4. Click UPDATE. The dialog closes.
5. In the business process header, click SAVE.

See also

• Add a Process: Learn how to create and configure processes in Process HQ.
• Deploy to Process HQ: Learn how to deploy business process objects to Process HQ.

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