Hello
am I right that there is no default message flow in Lucidchart available? There is no default shape in the collection and it is not possible to configure a dashed line with a circle at the start and an arrow at the end. What’s the reason for that and how can I draw valid message flows in Lucidchart?
Thank you!
Best answer by Micah
Hi all thanks for posting in this thread! I'm hoping to clarify Lucidchart's BPMN functionality with this post and provide resources for making BPMN diagramming in Lucidchart more efficient.
First to clarify default line styles such as Message Flow are not part of the BPMN 2.0 shape library. As with other Lucidchart shape libraries lines are not included among the other shapes As such you will not find a dropdown menu to choose the type of line connector or flow as you do with Tasks Data Objects Events etc.
However it is still possible to style these lines to represent proper BPMN semantics using the line styling tools. Simply choose the correct line style and endpoints from the line menu to apply to any line you've manually created. Please see the GIF below for an illustration of this method:
You can also set this to be your default line style by making the line style and endpoint choices when you do not have any other object selected. Then any lines created after will be made with this default style applied.
For ease of use and to avoid having to apply or change line styles with each line creation you can save your frequently used line style as a custom shape which will then be easily accessible from a shape library and can be dragged and dropped onto the canvas just like other shapes. For instructions on how to create a custom shape please view the GIF below and review our Add and customize shapes in Lucidchart article.
Finally if you would prefer that line creation and styling would be automated please continue to share feedback in our Product Feedback space as this is the best way to help our development team prioritize improvements to the product. Thanks!
I have the same problem.
Is there no support for typed relationships? The documentation mentions 3 different types of connections (sequence message and associations) but the only one I can seemingly draw is the sequence.
Is the trick to draw a sequence and then fix the formatting of the connector manually?
It would be nice if you could provide this in the BPMN 2 template as well to show how it works.
+3Hi everyone
I am not 100% sure what you are looking for. Clarification might be needed. You can draw a circle with a dotted line on one end and an arrow on the other. Is this not what you are looking for. You could also make this shape a custom shape so you do not have to recreate it. 
Hi
I'm looking for the three "Connecting Objects" mentioned here: https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/bpmn-symbols-explained
In other modeling tools different types of relationships (lines) are supported directly just as different types of shapes are. So after drawing a line you would be able to select it and select the type just like you can select the type of an event.
I found no way of creating a line mimicking message flow "connecting object" in the UI precisely either. There is no open circle option for the line end just an open square. Is there a way to create a custom connecting object?
Once you add the BPMN shape library you will get those three connecting objects you are looking for and the line types will also appear.
Hi
Can you go into more detail on how? I'm not finding it.
Hi Thor! Once you add the BPMN shape library you can customize your line shape using the line shape edits on the top bar:
OK so this is what I've been doing.
Other tools have predefined types of lines in the library with type checking to automate that part of the process. Similar to how shapes work.
Hi there
I would like to add a message flow in too but am not able to see the circle arrow starting head. I can only see the following heads. I have the BPMN 2.0 Library added too so am not sure what I am doing wrong. Would be great if someone could assist.
Thanks
Roshni
How do I create BPMN 2.0 Message Flow in Lucidchart?
Hi Roshni sorry for the delay! You'll also need to add the UML library to get further arrow shapes as we had to distinguish the difference between the two libraries.
Hi Patrick. Unfortunately I won't be of much help in creating diagrams for you as that's outside the scope of my knowledge. If you come across any issues while using our BPMN shape library or any issues in relation to Lucidchart I will be happy to assist there.
i do not have a problem with creating diagrams. I am a qualified OCEB 2 practitioner. I am referring to the message flow that has a small circle attached to the boundary of the process or lane. Is it available in Lucidchart or not or are you working on making it available in later releases?
+3We do not have a specific line type for a message flow at the moment. You can work around the issue by placing an open circle where you want the message flow to happen and then drawing a dotted line to your next shape. If this is something you would like to see in the product please post in our Product Feedback space.
There isn't an open circle endpoint available in the BPMN library that is typically used for message flows I'd just draw the message flow as a dashed line with an open arrow and not worry about the open circle as it doesn't have any significance to interpreting the diagram (that I'm aware of).
If you really want to incorporate the open circle endpoint then you could use a start event and shrink it to the correct size then place that at the start of your message flow.
Has this missing feature been added yet? When clients are expecting to receive semantically correct BPMN 2.0 models the "doesn't have any significance" argument doesn't always work.
+7Hi Andrew! Thanks for reaching out in the community. We do have an open circle line start/endpoint available and then you have the option of making the line dashed. If you add the UML shape library the endpoint becomes available in the drop down menu. Hope this helps!
Why is the message flow feature not available within the BPMN library? Your documentation https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/bpmn-symbols-explained suggest that you do. So why do you advertise when it is not available?
Thor already wrote and asked: "Other tools have predefined types of lines in the library with type checking to automate that part of the process". That is a serious drawback. Why is this not implemented?
Hi Manuel thanks for the post! We offer every standard BPMN shape so you can quickly and easily represent business flows. However while we do not have the message flow feature at this time these shapes can be manually made in Lucidchart. I understand this workaround may not be ideal at this time so I apologize for the inconvenience.
Hi!
Has missing feature been added yet? Have the same problem.
I need to have message flow that have small letter sign.
+20Hi all thanks for posting in this thread! I'm hoping to clarify Lucidchart's BPMN functionality with this post and provide resources for making BPMN diagramming in Lucidchart more efficient.
First to clarify default line styles such as Message Flow are not part of the BPMN 2.0 shape library. As with other Lucidchart shape libraries lines are not included among the other shapes As such you will not find a dropdown menu to choose the type of line connector or flow as you do with Tasks Data Objects Events etc.
However it is still possible to style these lines to represent proper BPMN semantics using the line styling tools. Simply choose the correct line style and endpoints from the line menu to apply to any line you've manually created. Please see the GIF below for an illustration of this method:
You can also set this to be your default line style by making the line style and endpoint choices when you do not have any other object selected. Then any lines created after will be made with this default style applied.
For ease of use and to avoid having to apply or change line styles with each line creation you can save your frequently used line style as a custom shape which will then be easily accessible from a shape library and can be dragged and dropped onto the canvas just like other shapes. For instructions on how to create a custom shape please view the GIF below and review our Add and customize shapes in Lucidchart article.
Finally if you would prefer that line creation and styling would be automated please continue to share feedback in our Product Feedback space as this is the best way to help our development team prioritize improvements to the product. Thanks!
+1See several mentions in this thread about need to “add BPMN shape library”, but dont see any guidance on HOW to go about adding that. Any pointer greatly appreciated!
+20Hi
Next, check the box next to the BPMN 2.0 shape library, then click Use selected shapes.
This will add the shape library to your shapes panel, and from there you can reposition it and add it to your favorites.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have additional questions.
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