Modelling in WebSphere Lombardi: parallel paths and tokens

When modelling a process in the Lombardi authoring environment, it is possible that different paths are executed in parallel.
You can implement this using a gateway, as done here:

Running this process, will result in three process threads. In Lombardi they call these threads "tokens".
Using the inspector, the different tokens are visualized with red markers:

  (there is a bug here, activity 3 has no red marker, while it should have).

And you can see the different tokens in the execution state view:

 A process will end, when all tokens have finished an End Event, or when one token reaches a Terminate Event.

There are other ways to create and finish tokens. Using Intermediate Message Events you can start a new token somewhere else in your process, while releasing or not releasing previous tokens.

In this next example, an Intermediate Message Event will create an extra thread. If the "Close Attached Activity" property is not checked, the token in activity 1 will not move to activity 2 when the message arrives, but a second token will be created. This second token will move along the wire to activity 2.

If the "Close Attached Activity" is checked, the token will move along the wire. No new tokens will be created.

This is the result when testing this process in the Inspector:

When in activity 1, the message was sent. A new token moved to activity 2, the token that was at activity one stayed there. Again, there should be another red marker for the token in activity 1.

Install IBM Installation Manager without internet connection or connection with proxy

When you try to install the IBM Installation Manager, and you have no internet connection, or there is a proxy standing in your way, it is possible that you cannot enter any repositories, because the installer does not get launched. It seems to get stuck at trying to connect to public.dhe.ibm.com.

We encountered this when  we tried to install WebSphere Business Monitor. After installing WebSphere Application Server 7, the installer tries to merge the was7 it just installed into a new installation manager installation (if it was not yet installed). 

This IBM document describes the problem : http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21420545#NoInternet , here in combination with Process Server 7. The suggested workaround (pre-installing the ibm installation manager with the -input parameter after editing the install.xml file) did not work. Somehow, he still had a reference to the online repository.

Luckily we found a workaround (by accident). When giving an invalid -input parameter (that is, to a file that does not exist), the installation manager installer gets launched without trying to connect to a repository! Now you can unflag the online repositories using the gui, add the repository.config file of the installation manager disk, and install the installation manager.