Chapter 2. Business Process Management API

2.1. The API

The JBoss BRMS Platform knowledge API is used to load and execute processes, business rules, and complex event processing.
This image shows the transitions within the API regarding the Knowledge Session and Knowledge Base. The Knowledge Base contains process definitions and the Knowledge Session executes process instances.

Figure 2.1. Knowledge Base and Knowledge Session

The API is intended for the following:
  1. Creating a knowledge base that contains the process definitions
  2. Creating a session to start new process instances, signal existing process instances, and register listeners
A knowledge base provides the application's process definitions. Definitions are either contained in the knowledge base or referenced by the knowledge base and loaded from different resources, such as, the classpath and file system.
A session which has access to the knowledge base must be instantiated to communicate with the process engine and execute the processes. Whenever a process is started, a new instance of that process definition is created and is used to maintain the state of the specific instance of the process.