flowable/flowable-engine · warning

Invalid reference in diagram interchange definition

Error message

Invalid reference in diagram interchange definition: {} does not reference a sequence flow

What it means

BPMN parsing failure for diagram interchange information: a DI reference points at a model element that is not a sequence flow (nor an allowed artifact/pool/lane), indicating malformed DI in the BPMN XML.

Solutions

  1. Change the entry to a BPMNShape for that node id, or fix bpmnElement to reference the intended sequenceFlow
  2. Regenerate the DI section from the modeling tool
  3. Validate that every BPMNEdge targets a sequenceFlow id

Example fix

// before
<bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="userTask1" ...>
// after
<bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="flowToUserTask1" ...>
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Edges must reference SequenceFlows
for (String ref : bpmnModel.getFlowLocationMap().keySet()) {
    FlowElement fe = bpmnModel.getFlowElement(ref);
    if (fe != null && !(fe instanceof SequenceFlow))
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("BPMNEdge must reference a SequenceFlow: " + ref);
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: A bpmndi:BPMNEdge's bpmnElement attribute points to a FlowNode (task, gateway, event) instead of a SequenceFlow; logged in BpmnParse.processDI().

Common situations: Swapped shape/edge DI entries from manual edits; modeler export anomalies where an edge wraps a node id.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of flowable/flowable-engine@d6d39ce1c6 (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f379402347faf523. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at modules/flowable5-engine/src/main/java/org/activiti/engine/impl/bpmn/parser/BpmnParse.java:368

                    // ACT-1625: don't warn when artifacts are referenced from DI
                    if (bpmnModel.getArtifact(bpmnReference) == null) {
                        // check if it's a Pool or Lane, then DI is ok
                        if (bpmnModel.getPool(bpmnReference) == null && bpmnModel.getLane(bpmnReference) == null) {
                            LOGGER.warn("Invalid reference in diagram interchange definition: could not find {}", bpmnReference);
                        }
                    }
                } else if (!(bpmnModel.getFlowElement(bpmnReference) instanceof FlowNode)) {
                    LOGGER.warn("Invalid reference in diagram interchange definition: {} does not reference a flow node", bpmnReference);
                }
            }
            for (String bpmnReference : bpmnModel.getFlowLocationMap().keySet()) {
                if (bpmnModel.getFlowElement(bpmnReference) == null) {
                    // ACT-1625: don't warn when artifacts are referenced from DI
                    if (bpmnModel.getArtifact(bpmnReference) == null) {
                        LOGGER.warn("Invalid reference in diagram interchange definition: could not find {}", bpmnReference);
                    }
                } else if (!(bpmnModel.getFlowElement(bpmnReference) instanceof SequenceFlow)) {
                    LOGGER.warn("Invalid reference in diagram interchange definition: {} does not reference a sequence flow", bpmnReference);
                }
            }

            for (Process process : bpmnModel.getProcesses()) {
                if (!process.isExecutable()) {
                    continue;
                }

                // Parse diagram interchange information
                ProcessDefinitionEntity processDefinition = getProcessDefinition(process.getId());
                if (processDefinition != null) {
                    processDefinition.setGraphicalNotationDefined(true);
                    for (String shapeId : bpmnModel.getLocationMap().keySet()) {
                        if (processDefinition.findActivity(shapeId) != null) {
                            createBPMNShape(shapeId, bpmnModel.getGraphicInfo(shapeId), processDefinition);
                        }
                    }

View on GitHub (pinned to d6d39ce1c6)