UrbaHive Guide
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Business processes

Decisions, branches and loops

On this page

Most processes are a straight line of steps. A decision lets the flow go up to three ways, for example "Approved" and "Refused". This page shows how to add branches, merge them, loop back to an earlier step, and hand work over to another process. Owners, Editors and Members can do all of this; changes are saved as you make them.

Linear or Graph

A chip at the top left of the canvas says how the process is held: Linear or Graph. "The mode is not a setting: it follows what the process holds."

  • Linear. Each step is followed by the next one in order. You can drag cards and list rows to reorder them, and the Snake reading is available.
  • Graph. Every arrow is written down, so a decision can send the flow three ways, and a branch can merge back or loop to an earlier step. Cards are placed by the flow.

Click the (i) button next to the chip, What do these modes mean?, for the same explanation. On a Graph process, the window also lists the steps that branch, with their outputs. Click one to go to that step. Close the window with Got it.

The window that explains the linear and graph modes and lists the steps that make the process branch.

The explanation window of a Graph process lists the decisions that make it branch.

  1. The mode this process is in
  2. The steps that branch
  3. Got it

Add a branch

  1. Click the decision card. Its Edit step panel opens, with an Outputs section that shows where the decision leads now.
  2. Under the outputs, click New step to create a new destination, or Existing step to pick a step already in the process. A later step merges the branch back; an earlier step makes a loop.
  3. In the condition field of each output, type the condition, such as "Yes" or "Amount > 10k". It is saved when you leave the field or press Enter.
  4. To change where an output leads, pick another step in its target list. + New step in that list creates one.

A decision has up to three outputs. Giving a decision its second output switches the whole process to Graph.

The Outputs of the decision Evidence complete?: two outputs, Complete and Missing documents, each with its target step and condition, and the New step and Existing step buttons that add a third.

The outputs of a decision in the example: "Complete" leads on to the next check, "Missing documents" to a request for documents. A third output can still be added.

  1. Where this output leads
  2. Condition shown on the arrow
  3. Remove this output
  4. New step: a new destination
  5. Existing step: merge or loop back

Tip

Only a decision can branch. To make an ordinary step branch, change its Type to Decision first.

Read a branched process

Each condition is a small label on its arrow. An arrow that goes back to an earlier step is dashed, with an amber label. The first output of a decision stays on the main line; the others open their own track until they merge into a common step.

Anatomy of a process A process starts and ends with events. Step cards show their duration, execution mode, RACI and applications. A decision can have up to three outputs, each with a condition. Branches merge into a common step, an arrow can loop back to an earlier step, and a sub-process step delegates to another process. Graph A decision with a second output makes the process Graph. A plain chain is Linear. Claim received Claim closed 30 min Check the claim R · Alex CRM 15 min Ask for documents R · Sam 5 min Refund the customer R · Lee ERP 10 min Explain the refusal R · Alex 10 min Close the claim R · Alex CRM Sub-process Send a replacement Ship an order Complete? Decide the outcome No Yes Refund Replacement Rejected Documents received 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Event a start or an end 2 Step duration, execution mode (red Manual, amber Semi, green Auto), RACI, applications 3 Decision up to three outputs 4 Condition the label of an output 5 Merge branches join a common step 6 Loop back dashed, with an amber label 7 Sub-process points to another process; double-click opens it

Events, steps, decisions, conditions, a merge, a loop back and a sub-process in one drawing.

Here is the same thing on a real screen.

The process Handle a customer claim in graph mode, with decisions, conditions, a loop back and a merge.

In the example, Handle a customer claim loops back while documents are missing, then splits three ways and merges again.

  1. Graph mode
  2. Condition on an arrow
  3. Loop back
  4. A decision with three outputs
  5. The branches merge

Next step

In Graph mode, every step that is not a decision shows a Next step field in its panel: the single step that follows it. Change it to move the step's arrow. It has no condition.

Back to Linear

On a Graph process, each output has a Remove this output button (X). When you remove the last branch and the process is a plain chain again, with no condition on any arrow, it returns to Linear.

Sub-process steps

A step of type Sub-process hands the work over to another process, for example a shared "Authenticate the user" used by several processes.

  1. Add a step with SubProcess in the palette, or change the Type of an existing step to Sub-process.
  2. In Delegates to, pick the process it hands over to.

The card then shows "↳" and the name of that process. Double-click the card to open it. The link also shows in the impact analysis of both processes.

Limits on a branched process

  • The Snake reading is greyed out: "Snake flow is not available: this process is no longer linear."
  • Cards cannot be dragged: "Order comes from the flow — edit the outputs of a step to change it".
  • A new step is wired in after the step you select. With nothing selected, the palette stays greyed out: "Select the step to add after — on a branched process, a new step has to be wired into the flow".