BPEL4WS 1.1 was contributed to the OASIS WS-BPEL Technical Committee, where it was advanced through an open process. The following list summarizes the major changes the Committee incorporated in WS-BPEL 2.0.

Data Access

• Variables can be declared using XML schema complex types
• XPath expressions are simplified by using the ‘$’ notation for variable access, for example, $myMsgVar.part1/po:poLine[@lineNo=3]
• Access to WSDL messages has been simplified by mapping directly mapping WSDL message parts to XML schema element/type variables
• Several clarifications have been added to the description of the <assign> activity’s <copy> semantics
• The keepSrcElementName option has been added to <copy> in order to support XSD substitution groups or choices
• The ignoreMissingFromData has been added to automatically some of <copy> operation, when the from data is missing.
• An extension operation has been added to the <assign> activity
• A standardized XSLT 1.0 function has been added to XPath expressions
• The ability to validate XML data has been added, both as an option of the <assign> activity and as a new <validate> activity
• Variable initialization as part the of variable declaration has been added

Scope Model

• New scope snapshot semantics have been defined
• Fault handling during compensation has been clarified
• The interaction between scope isolation and control links have been clarified
• Enrichment of fault catching model
• A <rethrow> activity has been added to fault handlers
• The <terminationHandler> has been added to scopes
• The exitOnStandardFault option has been added to processes and scopes

Message Operations

• The join option has been added to correlation sets in order to allow multiple participants to rendezvous at the same process with a deterministic order
• Partner link can now be declared local to a scope
• The initializePartnerRole option has been added to specify whether an endpoint reference must be bound to a partner link during deployment
• The messageExchange construct has been added to pair up concurrent <receive> and <reply> activities

New Activities

• Added serial and parallel <forEach> with optional completion condition
• Added <repeatUntil>
• Added new extension activity
• Changed <switch> to <if>-<elseif>-<else>
• Changed <terminate> to <exit>
• Differentiate different cases of <compensate> by renaming them to <compensate> and <compensateScope>

Miscellaneous Changes

• Added repeatEvery alarm feature to event handlers
• Clarified resources resolution (e.g. variable, partner link) for event handlers
• Added formal <documentation> support
• Added extension namespace declarations in order to specify what extension must be understood
• Add <import> support to import WSDL and XSD formally

Abstract Processes

• Clarified Abstract Process usage patterns
• Introduced Abstract Profiles to address different needs in Abstract Processes, and two profiles “Observable Behavior” and “Process Template” listed in the specification

See also:

- Design Goals of the BPEL4WS Specification