An Exclusive Decision indicates that the workflow can go through only one outgoing connector, while the typical Decision executes all connectors that meet specified conditions. To set the Decision gateway as an Exclusive Decision gateway, select the Exclusive checkbox. When you select the Exclusive checkbox, the Move Up and Move Down buttons are displayed, allowing you to establish the sequence of the outgoing connectors.
This ordering is important because connectors are evaluated in sequence, and the first connector that fulfills the specified condition is executed. The remaining connectors are not evaluated.
In an Exclusive Decision, there must be only one default connector (that is, a connector with no condition). This connector is executed when conditions on the other connectors are not fulfilled. If there is more than one default connector or if there is no default connector, an error is displayed.
Once you have defined the Decision as an Exclusive Decision gateway, it is displayed as a Decision gateway with an ‘X’ through it (
). According to BPMN conventions, the appearance of the Exclusive Decision icon is the same as that of the Exclusive Or-Join (XOR) icon. The Exclusive Decision differs in that it has a single predecessor workstep and multiple successor worksteps.
Note: The Exclusive Decision gateway is not available for Web applications.
). According to BPMN conventions, the appearance of the Exclusive Decision icon is the same as that of the Exclusive Or-Join (XOR) icon. The Exclusive Decision differs in that it has a single predecessor workstep and multiple successor worksteps.