A free, open source tool to view, print and programmatically create and edit business process diagrams in the BPMN 2.0 format.
- Full conformance to the BPMN 2.0.2 specification by OMG
- Imports models from all major BPM vendors
- Validated against the official BPMN MIWG test suite
- Arbitrary scaling and zooming of complex diagrams
- Raster (PNG, BMP) and vector image output
- Batch processing of multiple BPMN files
- Programmatic API to create, edit and normalise BPMN models (BPMN.Sharp NuGet)
- 100% Microsoft .NET managed solution
- MIT licence — free for private and commercial use
- Download the one-click setup for Windows
- Download the pre-built binary package
- Or clone this repository and build with Visual Studio
dotnet add package BPMN.Sharp# Visual Studio Package Manager Console
Install-Package BPMN.SharpRead any BPMN 2.0 file and save it as a PNG image in three lines:
using BPMN;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
Model model = Model.Read("B.2.0.bpmn");
Image img = model.GetImage(0, 2.0f);
img.Save("B.2.0.png", ImageFormat.Png);Result:
The Editor class provides a complete API for creating and modifying BPMN 2.0 models. Every method maps directly to elements defined in the BPMN 2.0.2 specification.
using BPMN;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Drawing;
Editor editor = new Editor();
editor.Create("My Process", "Author");
// Semantic layer — add process elements, each returning an auto-generated ID
string start = editor.AddEvent(null, null, "Start Event",
EventType.Start, EventTrigger.None, EventRole.None);
string task1 = editor.AddActivity(null, "Task 1",
ActivityType.Task, ActivityMarker.None, TaskType.User, null);
string task2 = editor.AddActivity(null, "Task 2",
ActivityType.Task, ActivityMarker.None, TaskType.Manual, null);
string task3 = editor.AddActivity(null, "Task 3",
ActivityType.Task, ActivityMarker.None, TaskType.Service, null);
string end = editor.AddEvent(null, null, "End Event",
EventType.End, EventTrigger.None, EventRole.None);
string f1 = editor.AddFlow(null, null, start, task1, null, FlowType.Sequence, null, false, FlowDirection.None);
string f2 = editor.AddFlow(null, null, task1, task2, null, FlowType.Sequence, null, false, FlowDirection.None);
string f3 = editor.AddFlow(null, null, task2, task3, null, FlowType.Sequence, null, false, FlowDirection.None);
string f4 = editor.AddFlow(null, null, task3, end, null, FlowType.Sequence, null, false, FlowDirection.None);
// Diagram layer — add visual positions (Shape.Bounds uses integer Rectangle)
string diag = editor.AddDiagram("Diagram 1", 96f);
Shape shape = new Shape();
shape.Bounds = new List<Rectangle>();
shape.ElementRef = start;
shape.Bounds = new List<Rectangle> { new Rectangle(10, 10, 30, 30) };
editor.AddShape(diag, shape);
shape.ElementRef = task1;
shape.Bounds = new List<Rectangle> { new Rectangle(70, 10, 70, 30) };
editor.AddShape(diag, shape);
shape.ElementRef = task2;
shape.Bounds = new List<Rectangle> { new Rectangle(170, 10, 70, 30) };
editor.AddShape(diag, shape);
shape.ElementRef = task3;
shape.Bounds = new List<Rectangle> { new Rectangle(270, 10, 70, 30) };
editor.AddShape(diag, shape);
shape.ElementRef = end;
shape.Bounds = new List<Rectangle> { new Rectangle(370, 10, 30, 30) };
editor.AddShape(diag, shape);
Edge edge = new Edge();
edge.Points = new List<Point> { new Point(40, 25), new Point(70, 25) };
edge.ElementRef = f1; editor.AddEdge(diag, edge);
edge.Points = new List<Point> { new Point(140, 25), new Point(170, 25) };
edge.ElementRef = f2; editor.AddEdge(diag, edge);
edge.Points = new List<Point> { new Point(240, 25), new Point(270, 25) };
edge.ElementRef = f3; editor.AddEdge(diag, edge);
edge.Points = new List<Point> { new Point(340, 25), new Point(370, 25) };
edge.ElementRef = f4; editor.AddEdge(diag, edge);
editor.Save("MyProcess.bpmn");Result:
Complete documentation for the Editor class is in the Docs folder:
| Article | Topics |
|---|---|
| 01 – Getting Started | Create, Load, Parse, Save, Serialize, Refresh, Normalize |
| 02 – Events | AddEvent — all types, triggers and roles |
| 03 – Activities | AddActivity — tasks, sub-processes, markers |
| 04 – Gateways | AddGateway — all five gateway types |
| 05 – Flows | AddFlow — sequence, message, association, conditional, default |
| 06 – Pools and Lanes | AddCollaboration, AddProcess, AddPool, AddLane, AddToLane |
| 07 – Data and Artifacts | AddAnnotation, AddDataObject, AddDataStore, AddGroup, AddMessage |
| 08 – Diagram Layout | AddDiagram, AddShape, AddEdge, labels, waypoints, positions |
| 09 – Element Manipulation | CountElements, UpdateElement, RemoveElement |
| 10 – Complete Examples | Full MIWG-aligned examples A.1.0 through C series |
The Examples folder contains a ready-to-run Visual Studio solution targeting .NET Framework 4.7.2. It demonstrates every Editor method with realistic, complete BPMN models based on the official BPMN MIWG reference test suite.
| File | BPMN Concepts | MIWG Reference |
|---|---|---|
GettingStarted.cs |
Create, Load, Save, Normalize, Parse, Serialize | A.1.0 |
Events.cs |
All event types, triggers and boundary events | A.2.0, A.4.1 |
Activities.cs |
Tasks, sub-processes, loop, compensation | A.3.0, C.1.0 |
Gateways.cs |
Exclusive, Inclusive, Parallel, Event-Based | A.4.0, C.6.0 |
Flows.cs |
Sequence, Message, Association flows | B.1.0 |
PoolsAndLanes.cs |
Collaboration, pools, lanes | B.2.0 |
DataAndArtifacts.cs |
Data objects, annotations, groups, messages | C.2.0 |
DiagramLayout.cs |
Shapes, edges, labels, waypoints | C.3.0 |
ElementManipulation.cs |
Update, remove and count elements | — |
Build and run the solution — all examples write .bpmn and .png files to the Output/ folder.
This project is maintained by a member of the BPMN Model Interchange Working Group (BPMN MIWG) at the OMG, active since its foundation in 2013. The MIWG reference test suite is used as the authoritative source of BPMN 2.0 conformance models throughout this project's documentation and examples.
BPMN View was created with support from CaseAgile LLC, specialising in integration of platforms and environments for enterprise modeling.
MIT — free for private and commercial use.
