基于XML的轻量级科学工作流系统的建模研究

A Study on Modeling of a Lightweight Scientific Workflow System Using the XML Schema

科学工作流技术应用中一个首要的问题就是如何针对科研活动工作流程进行建模。以虚拟天文台技术研究为背景,从面向用户和面向计算机两个角度综合分析了工作流内部结构,以及基于管道工作流建模过程的缺点,在此基础上提出了一种针对天文应用的工作流描述语言(Scientific Process Description Language,SPDL),SPDL基于可扩展标记语言(eXtensible Markup Language,XML)描述,逻辑关系简明,可以定义当前天文研究中所需要的信息处理过程,对SPDL的设计与实现进行了论述,同时对各种不规范建模表现形式进行了讨论。

Modeling of the processes of scientific research activities is a fundamental problem that confronts scientific-workflow applications. This paper analyzes the internal structure of a data-oriented scientific workflow in both user operation form and computer processing aimed toward the Chinese Virtual Observatory. Based on the analysis modelings using the pipe technique and XML are studyed separately. To overcome the flaws of the pipe-based modeling, we propose a Scientific Workflow Description Language （SPDL） based on the XML schema. The SPDL has characteristics of high-level abstraction and high representing capability to support a lightweight scientific workflow system. Results from analysis and experiments show that the language can describe coarse-grained scientific research activities and satisfy the requirement of dataflow-oriented modeling.