The BPEL structure

A BPEL process definition is written as an XML document using the <process> root element. Within the <process> element, a BPEL process will usually have the top-level <sequence> or <flow> element. Within the sequence, the process will first wait for the incoming message to start the process. This wait is modeled with the <receive> construct. Then, the process will perform some activities and return a response. This is shown in the following code excerpt:

<process ...>
   ...
  <sequence>

    <!-- Wait for the incoming request to start the process -->
    <receive ... />

    <!-- Perform some activities -->
    ...

    <!-- Return the response -->
    <reply ... />
  </sequence>
</process>

To provide an idea of a BPEL process structure, let's look more closely ...

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