Description
Issue #5469 adds the full set of asynchronous execution flags — async, asyncLeave, exclusive, asyncLeaveExclusive — to the modeler, but only for elements whose properties panel already exposes the async flag (service task, script task, business rule task, send email/notification task, entity data task, call activity, sub-process).
Flowable supports asynchronous execution on any activity, gateway, or event, yet several async-capable elements in the modeler expose no asynchronous options at all. The most notable gap is gateways, which currently have no properties panel, so their execution cannot be configured in the modeler even though the parallel-gateway join is the primary scenario that motivates the exclusive flag in the first place.
Current coverage of async-capable elements:
| Element |
Async options today |
Has properties panel |
Priority to add |
| Service / Script / Business Rule Task |
✅ |
✅ |
— (covered by #5469) |
| Send Email / Notification / Entity Data Task |
✅ |
✅ |
— (covered by #5469) |
| Call Activity, Sub-Process |
✅ |
✅ |
— (covered by #5469) |
| User Task |
❌ |
✅ |
High |
| Parallel Gateway |
❌ |
❌ |
High |
| Inclusive Gateway |
❌ |
❌ |
Medium |
| Exclusive / Event-based Gateway |
❌ |
❌ |
Low |
| Timer / Message / Signal / Error / Escalation Event |
❌ |
✅ |
Low |
| Start / Terminate End Event |
❌ |
✅ |
Low |
Sequence flows, pools, and lanes are not async-capable and are out of scope.
Use case
- A modeler wants a user task to run asynchronously (for example, to commit the current transaction before the task is created, or to offload its completion to a background job).
- A process forks into parallel branches through a parallel gateway and joins them again. To run the branches concurrently and control locking behavior at the join, the async and exclusive flags must be configurable on the gateway — which is impossible today because gateways have no properties panel.
Expected behavior
The same asynchronous execution flags introduced in #5469 should be available on the remaining async-capable elements, prioritized as in the table above. User tasks already have a properties panel and can reuse it directly. Gateways need a properties panel before the flags can be exposed.
Impact
Modelers gain full control over asynchronous execution and job-locking behavior across the process, instead of only on a subset of tasks. This unblocks the parallel-gateway concurrency and optimistic-locking scenarios that the flags are primarily intended for.
Description
Issue #5469 adds the full set of asynchronous execution flags —
async,asyncLeave,exclusive,asyncLeaveExclusive— to the modeler, but only for elements whose properties panel already exposes theasyncflag (service task, script task, business rule task, send email/notification task, entity data task, call activity, sub-process).Flowable supports asynchronous execution on any activity, gateway, or event, yet several async-capable elements in the modeler expose no asynchronous options at all. The most notable gap is gateways, which currently have no properties panel, so their execution cannot be configured in the modeler even though the parallel-gateway join is the primary scenario that motivates the
exclusiveflag in the first place.Current coverage of async-capable elements:
Sequence flows, pools, and lanes are not async-capable and are out of scope.
Use case
Expected behavior
The same asynchronous execution flags introduced in #5469 should be available on the remaining async-capable elements, prioritized as in the table above. User tasks already have a properties panel and can reuse it directly. Gateways need a properties panel before the flags can be exposed.
Impact
Modelers gain full control over asynchronous execution and job-locking behavior across the process, instead of only on a subset of tasks. This unblocks the parallel-gateway concurrency and optimistic-locking scenarios that the flags are primarily intended for.