I use ARIS Express tool to create a simple .adf file and see that it can be extracted with 7z. However, there are some files (data, model) is just binary files and I want to understand deeper its structure. Do we have any document (word, pdf...) describe the format of .adf file?
Thanks
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by Runé Becker
Posted on Fri, 02/23/2018 - 10:13
Dear Kto,
The ADF files of ARIS Express are not meant to be extracted or changed.
What do you want to do with the content of an ARIS Express model file?
See Rune's response above. ADF is a proprietary format. Just guessing: It is encrypted, zipped XML. ARIS can import it. ARIS Express can read and write it. That's all there is to know about it.
Writing converters BPMN -> EPC is a lot easier, when you use the well documented JavaScript-API the commercial ARIS product provides. Otherwise good luck with your effort. BPMN is much less restricted in its syntax than EPC is. Also the concept of "Event" does not match 1:1 between the two languages. Message flows potentially have to be mapped to process interfaces and EPC events have to be constructed around them.
EDIT: BTW: Commercial ARIS can import BPMN 2.0 format. Then you get access to the modelled objects directly via the ARIS Javascript API.
Regarding "Commercial ARIS can import BPMN 2.0 format": is it possible to import a process in BPMN-format and then save it as EPK (I understood that there are some semantic issues but however) ?
No. "Save as" does not work, since the two notations do not serve the same purpose. BPMN (potentially) has got a lot of detail, which does not exist in EPC. (Vice versa the same statement would apply.) It's not like one is semantically the same as the other just with different pictograms. So you always have to make decisions on what is important to be translated and how the mapping should be made.
For example ARIS comes with a transformation EPC -> BPMN for the purpose of kick-starting a solution design for an IT supported process from a business process. This transformation is focused on what is needed by webmethods Designer for implementation in webmethods. ARIS can remember the links between the generated model and the original, even when the BPMN solution design is refined towards the actual solution. Thus you can validate the alignment between business process and implemented process.
