Semantic Workflow Representation and Samples

Journal of Information Processing Systems

Service-oriented computing offers efficient solutions for executing complex applications in an acceptable amount of time. These solutions provide important computing and storage resources, but they are too difficult for individual users to handle. In fact, Service-oriented architectures are usually sophisticated in terms of design, specifications, and deployment. On the other hand, workflow management systems provide frameworks that help users to manage cooperative and interdependent processes in a convivial manner. In this paper, we propose a workflow-based approach to fully take advantage of new service-oriented architectures that take the users' skills and the internal complexity of their applications into account. To get to this point, we defined a novel framework named JASMIN, which is responsible for managing service-oriented workflows on distributed systems. JASMIN has two main components: unified modeling language (UML) to specify workflow models and business process execution language (BPEL) to generate and compose Web services. In order to cover both workflow and service concepts, we describe in this paper a refinement of UML activity diagrams and present a set of rules for mapping UML activity diagrams into BPEL specifications.

2001

This paper introduces definition and enactment models to characterize workflows. The proposed knowledge model provides concepts for modeling activities, data used by such activities, agents, and ordering operators and synchronization modes used for specifying activities dependencies. The behavior model provides dimensions that characterize workflow enactment. Both models are currently implemented in our workflow management system called AFLOWS.

Journal of Software Engineering and Applications

Workflow-based systems are typically said to lead to better use of staff and better management and productivity. The first phase in building a workflow-based system is capturing the real-world process in a conceptual representation suit-able for the following phases of formalization and implementation. The specification may be in text or diagram form or written in a formal language. This paper proposes a flow-based diagrammatic methodology as a tool for workflow specification. The expressiveness of the method is appraised though its ability to capture a workflow-based application. Here we show that the proposed conceptual diagrams are able to express situations arising in practice as an alternative to tools currently used in workflow systems. This is demonstrated by using the proposed methodology to partial build demo systems for two government agencies.

2004

Abstract. The maturity of infrastructures that support e-services allows organizations to incorporate Web services as part of their business processes. One prominent solution to manage, coordinate, and orchestrate Web services is the use of workflow technology. While workflow management systems architectures, language specifications, and workflow analysis techniques have been extensively studied there is a lack of tools and methods to assist process development.

1999

Abstract Meta-Languages for the definition of processes serve several purposes. They can be employed as an integration platform for the exchange of process models that are specified in proprietary languages, their expressiveness can serve as a benchmark for the selection of a application specific modeling language and they can be used for the application-independent specification of process models that can then be transformed into the language relevant for the domain-specific context.

Doctoral Consortium, 2004

Workflow management systems received considerable attention lately, motivated by their wide spectrum of applications. Requirements for workflow management systems comprise a long list, among which one may highlight distributed execution, cooperation and coordination, and synchronization, that model the way user communities work cooperatively to perform a given task. This doctoral dissertation addresses a complementary family of requirements, collectively called flexible execution. Briefly, workflow management systems usually interpret a workflow definition rigidly. However, there are real life situations where users should be allowed to deviate from the prescribed sequence of actions for various reasons, including the unavailability of required resources. To cope with situations such as this, mechanisms to flexibilize workflow execution are proposed, that allow execution to proceed in the presence of incomplete information, by adopting presuppositions, and in the presence of negative information, by suggesting execution alternatives. An implementation of the mechanisms, that extends known Web service frameworks, is also outlined.

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 2010

PurposeThe increase in business process management projects in the past decade has seen an increase in demand for business process modelling (BPM) techniques. A rapidly growing aspect of BPM is the use of workflow management systems to automate routine and sequential processes. Workflows tend to move away from traditional definitions of business processes that can often be forced to fit a model that does not suit its nature. Existing process modelling tools tend to be biased to either the informational, behavioural or object‐oriented aspect of the workflow. Because of this, models can often miss important aspects of a workflow. As well as managing the relationship between the types of model it is important to consider who will be using it, as process models are useful in various ways. The paper aims to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports on a case study in a manufacturing company, where users were surveyed to see which are the notations that are most c...

1998

Abstract Workflow management systems (WFMS) support the modeling and coordinated execution of processes within an organization. To coordinate the execution of the various activities (or tasks) in a workflow, task dependencies are specified among them. Often, the workflow application domains are such that the workflow is a long-running activity and the various tasks that constitute the workflow need to be executed by systems that are distributed and autonomous in nature, possibly owned by different organizations.

Conceptual Modeling — ER 2001, 2001

Workflow technology is currently being deployed in quite diverse domains. However, the element of change is present in some degree and form in almost all domains. A workflow implementation that does not support the process of change will not benefit the organization in the long run. Change can be manifested in different forms in workflow processes. In this paper, we first present a categorization of workflow change characteristics and divide workflow processes into dynamic, adaptive and flexible processes. We define flexibility as the ability of the workflow process to execute on the basis of a loosely, or partially specified model, where the full specification of the model is made at runtime, and may be unique to each instance. To provide a modeling framework that offers true flexibility, we need to consider the factors, which influence the paths of (unique) instances together with the process definition. We advocate an approach that aims at making the process of change part of the workflow process itself. We introduce the notion of an open instance that consists of a core process and several pockets of flexibility, and present a framework based on this notion, which makes use of special build activities that provide the functionality to integrate the process of defining a change, into the open workflow instance.

Lectures on Concurrency and Petri Nets, 2004

Over the last decade there has been a shift from "data-aware" information systems to "process-aware" information systems. To support business processes an enterprise information system needs to be aware of these processes and their organizational context. Business Process Management (BPM) includes methods, techniques, and tools to support the design, enactment, management, and analysis of such operational business processes. BPM can be considered as an extension of classical Workflow Management (WFM) systems and approaches. This tutorial introduces models, systems, and standards for the design, analysis, and enactment of workflow processes. Petri nets are used for the modeling and analysis of workflows. Using Petri nets as a formal basis, contemporary systems, languages, and standards for BPM and WFM are discussed. Although it is clear that Petri nets can serve as a solid foundation for BPM/WFM technology, in reality systems, languages, and standards are developed in an ad-hoc fashion. To illustrate this XPDL, the "Lingua Franca" proposed by the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC), is analyzed using a set of 20 basic workflow patterns. This analysis exposes some of the typical semantic problems restricting the application of BPM/WFM technology.