---
title: "Create a Perspective"
url: "https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/create-a-perspective"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2026-10-23T09:35:46.818Z"
---

# Create a Perspective

How to create a perspective on an imported entity: the expected order with activities and relationships, the case ID, start and end activities, shortcuts and backjumps, filters for analysts, context for Minerva, the summary, and the import.

A perspective is a view on a process, built on an entity: which activities belong to it, in which order they are expected to happen, and what counts as one case. Process analysts create perspectives; they don't need to know the tables behind the entity. Once a perspective is imported, it can be analysed in the Analyzer, on dashboards and with Minerva. This page walks you through creating one. The ideas behind the expected order are explained in [The Expected Order: Perspective Hypothesis, Shortcuts and Backjumps](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/the-expected-order-perspective-hypothesis-shortcuts-and-backjumps).

> **Permissions:** feature **Builder**: **Create** to create perspectives, **Edit** (or an Edit share) to configure and import them, **Delete** to delete and reset them. Feature **Context**: **Read** to see the perspective's context on the summary page, **Create** to add it. See [Create and Edit Roles](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/create-and-edit-roles).

### Before You Start

-   The entity exists and has been imported. Only imported entities can be chosen. See [Entities Explained](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/entities-explained) and [Create an Entity, Manually or with Suggestions](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/create-an-entity-manually-or-with-suggestions).

-   You need a role that allows creating in the Builder.

-   Know the process: which activities matter, in which order they should happen, and what one case is, for example one purchase order.

One entity can carry several perspectives. Each uses only the activities it needs, so you can, for example, build one perspective on the whole purchasing process and another on invoice processing only, on the same entity.

### 1\. Create the Perspective

-   Open **Builder** and choose **Perspective**.

-   Click **Add perspective**.

-   Enter the **Perspective name**, for example "Purchase-to-Pay". Analysts see this name in the Analyzer and on dashboards. It can have up to 70 characters.

-   Choose the **Entity**. It can't be changed later. With the palette icon next to it, choose the colour that marks the perspective's tabs.

-   Choose **Private**, or **Share** to share the perspective with all users, single users or user groups.

-   Click **Create and configure**.

![The panel for a new perspective: Perspective name Docs test perspective, Entity Purchase-to-Pay with the palette icon for the colour, Private selected, and the buttons Cancel, Create and Create and configure](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/577029c8-c5c4-4e7d-b94d-9be642f6fd17)

### 2\. Build the Expected Order

The builder has three steps. The first, **Perspective hypothesis**, is the expected order of the process. Every change is saved immediately.

-   **Add activities**: drag them from **Available activities** onto the canvas, or click the arrow next to one (**Add activity**). These are the objects of the entity; each can be added once. Add only the activities the process needs.

-   **Draw relationships**: switch from **Move activities** to **Add paths** and drag from one activity to the one expected next. Switch back to **Move activities** to arrange them. An activity without any relationship shows a red exclamation mark.

-   **Set the case ID**: right-click the activity that stands for the case, for example "Bestellung erstellt" for purchase orders, and choose **Case ID**. Its unique identifier becomes the case ID; every other activity is assigned to the cases through the data connections of the entity. A perspective has exactly one case ID; choosing another activity moves it.

-   **Mark start and end**: right-click an activity and choose **Start activity** or **End activity** where cases are expected to begin or finish.

-   **Mark shortcuts and backjumps**: a new relationship is a normal one. Right-click a relationship and choose **Shortcut** for an allowed skip or **Backjump** for an allowed jump back; choose it again to make it normal. Mark all of them; see [The Expected Order: Perspective Hypothesis, Shortcuts and Backjumps](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/the-expected-order-perspective-hypothesis-shortcuts-and-backjumps).

Adding two activities, drawing the relationship between them and setting the case ID:

![Animation: Bestellung erstellt is dragged from Available activities onto the canvas, the arrow next to bestellposition angelegt (HW) adds a second activity, a click on Add paths and a drag from Bestellung erstellt to bestellposition angelegt (HW) draw a relationship, a click on Move activities, and in the right-click menu of Bestellung erstellt the entry Case ID is chosen](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/13631386-8e2f-49d8-9c99-5673e61f7e47)

A perspective with three activities, two relationships, the case ID and the start and end marks:

![The step Perspective hypothesis: Available activities on the left, and on the canvas Bestellung erstellt with the fingerprint symbol of the case ID and the start marker, a relationship to bestellposition angelegt (HW), and a relationship to rechnung erfassung with the end marker](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/0ada71fc-fed9-4c99-bef7-d1351a645a78)

The fingerprint marks the case ID, the dot on the left the start, the dot on the right the end.

-   **Edit case ID**: if the identifier of the case activity has several columns, this entry in its menu lets you choose which of them define a case (**Select case ID columns**). Choosing fewer columns merges events that share these values into one case, so choose with care.

-   **Suggest perspective (AI)**: lets Minerva put all activities of the entity in a likely order. It replaces what is on the canvas without asking and doesn't set the case ID, start or end activities. Use it on an empty canvas and check the result.

-   **Show violations**: becomes available after the first import. It shows the steps cases actually took that the expected order doesn't contain, and lets you add them to it. See step 6 below.

Click **Next**.

### 3\. Set Up Filters (Optional)

In **Filter settings** you decide which properties analysts can filter by in the Analyzer and on dashboards, in addition to the standard filters. Each filter belongs to one activity and one property.

-   Click **Add filter**.

-   Choose the **Activity** and the **Property**. Properties from joined tables are listed under **Joined tables**; see [Use Joined Properties](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/use-joined-properties).

-   Choose the **Type**. Which types are offered depends on the property; see the table below.

-   Give the filter a **Filter name** analysts understand, for example "Order value" instead of the column name. Names must be unique.

-   Click **Confirm**.

![The dialog Add filter: Activity Bestellung erstellt, Property bestellwert (numeric), Type Range, Filter name Order value](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/3447d96a-6d65-4193-90b4-23085131846e)

| Property | Types |
| --- | --- |
| Text | Multi-select |
| Number | Comparison operators, Range, Size range (S/M/L), Number list |
| Date or date and time | Date range |
| Yes/no | Toggle |
| Duration | Duration, Size range (S/M/L) |

How analysts use the filters is described in [Filter Cases in the Analyzer and Dashboards](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/filter-cases-in-the-analyzer-and-dashboards). If you delete a filter later, Noreja lists the analyzer tabs and dashboards that use it; it's removed from them.

### 4\. Check the Summary and Add Context

The **Summary page** shows the start and end activities, the expected order (currently titled *Causal hypothesis*), the context and the filters. A warning appears if the case ID is missing: *No Case ID set. The import will fail.*

![The Summary page: under Start & end activities, Bestellung erstellt as start and rechnung erfassung as end, below the expected order as a graph, and the buttons Back, Exit & import and Exit](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/504920ab-60ff-44cd-87b3-75c2393c7e81)

The context section (currently titled *Dimension Context*) holds what Minerva should know about this perspective as a whole and that the data doesn't show, for example the purchasing guideline or the approval limits that apply. Minerva uses it when it answers questions about the perspective.

-   **Add context**: opens the same form as in the Context Hub, already attached to this perspective. Choose **Text** or **File**, enter the text or add the file, choose who may see it and whether it must stay away from public AI models, and click **Save**. Minerva writes the title and summary.

-   **Context Hub**: opens the Context Hub in a new browser tab, filtered to this perspective, so the builder keeps your unsaved changes. The context appears there under **Perspective context**.

-   **Context search**, sort and refresh: find context in a long list.

![The context section of the summary page, titled Dimension Context: the link Context Hub, Context search, the sort and refresh icons, the button Add context, and the message No context added](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/b5e10c1b-ddc1-4c14-a968-41713fe9530b)

If the perspective hasn't been imported yet, its context is attached with the first import. See [Context Hub: Knowledge for Minerva](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/context-hub-knowledge-for-minerva). Context for single activities is added in the entity; see [Configure Objects and Relationships](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/configure-objects-and-relationships).

### 5\. Import

Click **Exit & import** to start the import, or **Exit** to import later with **Import** in the list. The import runs in the background; the column **Last import** shows its progress and result.

-   While a new import runs, the Analyzer and dashboards keep showing the result of the last successful import. If the import fails, that result stays.

-   The import fails, among other reasons, if the case ID is missing, if the expected order isn't connected, or if you have marked relationships as **Shortcut** or **Backjump** and a loop has no relationship marked as **Backjump**. The import details then show the reason. See [Import Entities and Perspectives: Status and Errors](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/import-entities-and-perspectives-status-and-errors).

### 6\. Complete the Expected Order from the Violations

After the first import, the builder shows where the cases deviate from the expected order. This is the quickest way to find relationships you forgot and steps that are allowed in practice.

-   Click **Configure** in the list to open the builder again.

-   Click **Show violations**. Red dashed curves appear between the activities. Each one is a step that cases actually took but that the expected order doesn't contain: a Disarray, Negligence or Rework. The label shows how many executions of the first activity took this step and their share, for example *1145 (26.3%)*.

-   With the slider next to the button, hide the rare or the frequent violations. 100% stands for the most frequent violation, so 5% to 100% hides everything that happened less than a twentieth as often.

-   Right-click a curve and choose how this step counts from now on (the entries are listed below the steps). The curve turns into a relationship of the expected order at once, and the change is saved immediately.

-   Click **Hide violations** and import the perspective again. The cases are checked against the changed expected order only with the next import.

The entries in the menu on a curve:

-   **Causal**: the step is part of the expected order and becomes a normal relationship.

-   **Shortcut**: an allowed skip; it becomes a relationship marked as **Shortcut**.

-   **Reorder**: an allowed jump back; it becomes a relationship marked as **Backjump**.

![The step Perspective hypothesis with Hide violations and the slider set to 5% to 100%: red dashed curves with labels such as 1145 (26.3%) run between the activities of the Purchase-to-Pay perspective](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/ec2689ff-b38f-4c00-b1d2-daf2b183c2db)

![The menu on a violation curve with the entries Causal, Reorder and Shortcut](https://cdn-assets.productfruits.com/2bfdc303-4af1-4eef-9ed5-bf78aefe8308)

-   Only violations between activities on the canvas are shown, and none where the two activities are already connected by a relationship in that direction.

-   The curves come from the last successful import. Relationships you add or change afterwards don't change them until the next import.

-   For a curve that leads back to an earlier activity, choose **Reorder**: as a normal relationship it creates a loop, and the import fails if a loop has no relationship marked as **Backjump** (see step 5).

-   Mark only what is really expected or allowed: a marked step no longer counts as a violation in the Analyzer, on dashboards and for Minerva. See [Process Patterns: Disarray, Negligence, Rework and Allowed Deviations](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/process-patterns-disarray-negligence-rework-and-allowed-deviations).

-   If nothing is found, Noreja says *No violation patterns found*. Before the first import, the button is greyed out with the hint *Import required*.

### Change a Perspective Later

-   **Configure**: opens the builder again. Changes reach the Analyzer and dashboards with the next import.

-   **Reset**: discards all changes since the last import.

-   **Blocked actions**: while the entity is being imported or has changes that aren't imported yet, the perspective's actions are blocked.

-   **Copy**: creates a copy, also on another entity that has activities with the same names; filters whose property is missing there are left out. **Export** and **Import configuration** move a perspective to another Noreja installation; see [Export, Import and Copy Perspectives and Entities](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/export-import-and-copy-perspectives-and-entities).

-   **Delete**: deletes the perspective together with its analyzer tabs and dashboards.

### Related

-   [The Expected Order: Perspective Hypothesis, Shortcuts and Backjumps](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/the-expected-order-perspective-hypothesis-shortcuts-and-backjumps)

-   [Perspective Modelling Best Practices](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/perspective-modelling-best-practices)

-   [Import Entities and Perspectives: Status and Errors](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/import-entities-and-perspectives-status-and-errors)

-   [Process Models and Levels: Case, Variant, Process Model](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/process-models-and-levels-case-variant-process-model)

-   [Context Hub: Knowledge for Minerva](https://docs.noreja.com/en/article/context-hub-knowledge-for-minerva)