Gateways and junctions

Gateways and junctions are two elements that help you control and tidy the flow of a process map. A gateway splits the flow into different paths; a junction brings several paths back together. They work alongside the Decision element described in Working with conditions.

1. Gateways – branching on AND / OR logic

A gateway is a branch point that decides which path the process follows. Unlike a Decision – where you spell out a condition like amount > 1000 – a gateway combines the results of the paths leading into or out of it using simple logic:

• OR – the flow continues if any incoming path is satisfied. Use it when there are several alternative ways to reach the next step.
• AND – the flow continues only when all incoming paths are satisfied. Use it when several things must all happen before the process may move on.

Because the logic lives on the gateway itself, you don't fill in a condition form – you just choose AND or OR. This keeps maps with several parallel paths easy to read.

1.1 Add a gateway

1. On the process map, open the Add panel and choose Gateway from the process elements.
2. Set its logic to OR or AND.
3. Connect the paths into and out of the gateway, the same way you connect any other element (see Working with Process maps).

2. Junctions – merging paths back together

A junction is a simple pass-through point that several connections can flow into, and a single connection flows out of. It carries no logic of its own – whichever incoming path arrives, the flow simply continues out the other side.

Junctions are about readability. Without one, several steps all pointing at the same next step produce a tangle of crossing arrows. Route them through a junction instead and the map stays clean, while the behaviour is unchanged.

2.1 Add a junction

1. Open the Add panel and choose Junction.
2. Connect the incoming paths to it, and draw one connection from it to the step that follows.

3. Gateway vs Decision vs Junction

• Decision – chooses a path based on a condition you define (TRUE / FALSE). See Working with conditions.
• Gateway – chooses a path based on AND / OR logic across paths, with no condition form to fill in.
• Junction – makes no choice at all; it just merges several paths into one for a tidy map.

Related articles

• Working with Process maps
• Working with conditions
• Error handling and Try-Catch