Free preview
Edit a business process as a flow again
The Graphical Process Modeler is gone from newer Sterling releases. Loft lets you open a business process, see it as a flow, and change it there: add, move and delete activities, edit rules, cases, services and assigns. The BPML updates as you go, with your comments and layout kept, and you download it when you're done.
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored, not even between visits, and the page's security policy blocks every network request. Download your work before you close the tab.
Click a box to select it, then edit it in the panel next to the flow. The XML follows every edit, coloured by role (operations teal, choices and rules blue, fault handlers red, XPath in violet) with the selected box highlighted and problem lines marked; you can also type in it, and clicking in it selects the matching box. Keyboard: Delete removes, Alt+↑/↓ moves, Ctrl+Z undoes. Drop a .bpml file anywhere on this card to open it.
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This is a free preview of Loft
The full editor is in development. It works against your own Sterling installation: open any business process and its versions directly, know the services you have installed and their parameters, and check changes in with a comment. Tell us what you need most and we'll let you know when it's ready.
Questions
Will my BPML still look like mine afterwards?
Yes. Loft edits the XML itself rather than regenerating it, so comments, attribute order and indentation you didn't touch stay as they were. A process you open and download without changes comes back byte for byte. New activities follow the indentation your file already uses. The one thing the browser normalises is entity spelling, for example ' becomes a plain quote.
What can I edit in the preview?
Insert operations, assigns, sequences, choices, parallel blocks, repeats and spawns; move and delete them; edit names, services, messages and assigns; add and rename rules and their conditions; add branches and cases to a choice; add fault handlers. Renaming an activity or a rule also updates the cases and repeats that point at it. Everything is checked as you go against the grammar Sterling validates at check-in, plus the reference and XPath checks of the BPML viewer. New sequences, branches and fault handlers start with a placeholder step, because Sterling rejects empty ones.
Does it know which services exist on my system?
Not in the preview. It only sees the BPML, so service names and their parameters are free text. Knowing your installed services and adapters is part of the full version.
How do I get the BPML into Sterling?
Download it, then check it in as a new version of the business process in the dashboard, or put it through your usual source control and deployment. Compare the old and new versions first with the BPML diff if you want a second look.
Who makes this?
Loft is built in the Netherlands by Munetris, an integration consultancy with 30 years of integration, B2B and EDI work for banks and enterprises. It is one of the free Munetris tools for teams running B2B gateways.