Exception

Intro

An exception is an event during process execution that diverts flow from the normal path. It matters because planned exception handling reduces failures and customer impact.

Key points:

• Triggered by boundary or intermediate events (e.g., time, error, message).
• Directs processing to alternate handling steps.
• Common use cases: timeouts (BPM), error handling (Apps/Tech), compensation triggers.
• Pitfall: unhandled exceptions causing process dead ends.

Examples:

• Payment error redirects to retry or manual resolution.
• Timeout triggers cancellation and notification.
• Message event cancels a shipment before dispatch.

In practice:

Enumerate likely exceptions and define consistent, testable handling paths for each.

Related terms: exception-flow; error-event; compensation-flow

FAQs:

Q: Are all exceptions errors?
A: No; some are cancellations or time‑based events.

Q: How do exceptions affect SLAs?
A: Define and measure exception paths to manage SLA impacts.

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