About Registration
Chapter 5 Managing Registrations 143
About Aliases
An alias is a reference to a process definition registered with an engine. It is used
by developers when defining a Subprocess activity in a process definition so they
do not have to hard code the process name and host engine represented by the
Subprocess activity. Aliases provide the flexibility to move subprocess execution to
different engines at runtime.
An alias is a logical name that is evaluated by the engine during process execution.
It references a particular process definition executed by a particular engine. An
alias must be registered with every engine executing a process definition
containing the alias (that is, containing a Subprocess activity referencing the alias).
For example, suppose engine1 is executing a process1 that includes a Subprocess
activity1, as shown in Figure 5-2.
Figure 5-2 Subprocess Activity References
The Subprocess activity1 is actually a process3 that executes on engine 3. Suppose
also that engine2 is executing a process2 that includes a Subprocess activity2. The
Subprocess activity2 is also process3, which executes on engine3.
Engine 1
Engine 2
Process 1
Process 2
Subprocess
activity 1
Subprocess
activity 2
Engine 3
Process 3