Workflow management is an important aspect in CSCW at present. The elementary knowledge of workflow process is introduced, the Petri nets based process modeling methodology and basic definitions are provided, and the ...Workflow management is an important aspect in CSCW at present. The elementary knowledge of workflow process is introduced, the Petri nets based process modeling methodology and basic definitions are provided, and the analysis and verification of structural and behavioral correctness of workflow process are discussed. Finally, the algorithm of verification of process definitions is proposed.展开更多
Along with the extensive use of workflow, analysis methods to verify the correctness of the workflow are becoming more and more important. In the paper, we exploit the verification method based on Petri net for workfl...Along with the extensive use of workflow, analysis methods to verify the correctness of the workflow are becoming more and more important. In the paper, we exploit the verification method based on Petri net for workflow process models which deals with the verification of workflow and finds the potential errors in the process design. Additionally, an efficient verification algorithm is given.展开更多
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 ...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 suitable 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.展开更多
A dynamic hierarchical description method for workflow is presented. The method provides a dynamic hierarchical way to define a workflow with non-determinate or dynamic factors. With this method, the main process defi...A dynamic hierarchical description method for workflow is presented. The method provides a dynamic hierarchical way to define a workflow with non-determinate or dynamic factors. With this method, the main process defined at build-time can be reified and extended by the principle of the sub-organizations at either the build-time or the run-time. To ensure the consistency and integrity of the description, a series of constraint rules are also discussed to realize seamless integration between a decomposed process and its original one. This approach supports the description of unpredictable uncertainties, the dynamic hierarchy of business process, and the dynamic modification of enterprise organizations, and all of these improve the flexibility and extendability of workflow management systems dramatically.展开更多
As a variant of process algebra, π calculus can describe the interactions between evolving processes. By modeling activity as a process interacting with other processes through ports, this paper presents a new appro...As a variant of process algebra, π calculus can describe the interactions between evolving processes. By modeling activity as a process interacting with other processes through ports, this paper presents a new approach: representing workflow models using π calculus. As a result, the model can characterize the dynamic behaviors of the workflow process in terms of the LTS (Labeled Transition Semantics) semantics of π calculus. The main advantage of the workflow model's formal semantic is that it allows for verification of the model's properties, such as deadlock free and normal termination. Moreover, the equivalence of workflow models can be checked through weak bisimulation theorem in the π calculus, thus facilitating the optimization of business processes.展开更多
Consistency degree calculation is established on the basis of known correspondence, but in real life, the correspondence is generally unknown, so how to calculate consistency of two models under unknown correspondence...Consistency degree calculation is established on the basis of known correspondence, but in real life, the correspondence is generally unknown, so how to calculate consistency of two models under unknown correspondence has become a problem. For this condition, we should analyze unknown correspondence due to the influence of different correspondences.In this paper we obtain the relations of transitions based on event relations using branching processes, and build a behavioral matrix of relations. Based on the permutation of behavioral matrix, we express different correspondences, and define a new formula to compute the maximal consistency degree of two workflow nets. Additionally, this paper utilizes an example to show these definitions, computation as well as the advantages.展开更多
Data-centric modeling approach for workflow specification and design has received considerable attention from research and development communities.An architecture for a workflow management system named EZFLOWS was out...Data-centric modeling approach for workflow specification and design has received considerable attention from research and development communities.An architecture for a workflow management system named EZFLOWS was outlined.Key components and research issues associated with the development of EZFLOWS were discussed.展开更多
The correctness of workflow models is one of the major challenges in context of workflow analysis. The aim of this paper is to provide an improved Petri net-based reduction approach for verifying the correctness of wo...The correctness of workflow models is one of the major challenges in context of workflow analysis. The aim of this paper is to provide an improved Petri net-based reduction approach for verifying the correctness of workflow models. To the end, how to represent well-behaved building blocks and control structures of business processes by Petri nets is given at first, and then how to build well-structured process nets is presented. According to the structural characteristics of well-structured process nets, a set of legacy reduction rules are improved and extended, and then a complete Petri-net-based verification approach is proposed. The sound ness and the complexity with polynomial time for the improved re duction method are also proven.展开更多
The issue of document management has been raised for a long time, especially with the appearance of office automation in the 1980s, which led to dematerialization and Electronic Document Management (EDM). In the same ...The issue of document management has been raised for a long time, especially with the appearance of office automation in the 1980s, which led to dematerialization and Electronic Document Management (EDM). In the same period, workflow management has experienced significant development, but has become more focused on the industry. However, it seems to us that document workflows have not had the same interest for the scientific community. But nowadays, the emergence and supremacy of the Internet in electronic exchanges are leading to a massive dematerialization of documents;which requires a conceptual reconsideration of the organizational framework for the processing of said documents in both public and private administrations. This problem seems open to us and deserves the interest of the scientific community. Indeed, EDM has mainly focused on the storage (referencing) and circulation of documents (traceability). It paid little attention to the overall behavior of the system in processing documents. The purpose of our researches is to model document processing systems. In the previous works, we proposed a general model and its specialization in the case of small documents (any document processed by a single person at a time during its processing life cycle), which represent 70% of documents processed by administrations, according to our study. In this contribution, we extend the model for processing small documents to the case where they are managed in a system comprising document classes organized in subclasses;which is the case for most administrations. We have thus observed that this model is a Markovian <i>M<sup>L×K</sup>/M<sup>L×K</sup>/</i>1 queues network. We have analyzed the constraints of this model and deduced certain characteristics and metrics. <span style="white-space:normal;"><i></i></span><i>In fine<span style="white-space:normal;"></span></i>, the ultimate objective of our work is to design a document workflow management system, integrating a component of global behavior prediction.展开更多
WS-BPEL (Web Service Business Process Execution Language), as an emerging workflow standard, provides a simple and effective way to construct Web Services-oriented workflows. However, to the best of our knowledge, f...WS-BPEL (Web Service Business Process Execution Language), as an emerging workflow standard, provides a simple and effective way to construct Web Services-oriented workflows. However, to the best of our knowledge, few effort from the industry and academia has addressed the dynamic change problems of BPEL process. This paper proposes a reflective approach to solve this problem. In this paper, a formal meta-object model of process instance is defined; the behavioral consistency criterion based on this model is proposed; a set of modification primitives are given to modify the meta-object while keeping the change atomic and consistent; and in addition, the MOP is offered to provide the programming interfaces for dynamic BPEL process change.展开更多
文摘Workflow management is an important aspect in CSCW at present. The elementary knowledge of workflow process is introduced, the Petri nets based process modeling methodology and basic definitions are provided, and the analysis and verification of structural and behavioral correctness of workflow process are discussed. Finally, the algorithm of verification of process definitions is proposed.
文摘Along with the extensive use of workflow, analysis methods to verify the correctness of the workflow are becoming more and more important. In the paper, we exploit the verification method based on Petri net for workflow process models which deals with the verification of workflow and finds the potential errors in the process design. Additionally, an efficient verification algorithm is given.
文摘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 suitable 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.
文摘A dynamic hierarchical description method for workflow is presented. The method provides a dynamic hierarchical way to define a workflow with non-determinate or dynamic factors. With this method, the main process defined at build-time can be reified and extended by the principle of the sub-organizations at either the build-time or the run-time. To ensure the consistency and integrity of the description, a series of constraint rules are also discussed to realize seamless integration between a decomposed process and its original one. This approach supports the description of unpredictable uncertainties, the dynamic hierarchy of business process, and the dynamic modification of enterprise organizations, and all of these improve the flexibility and extendability of workflow management systems dramatically.
文摘As a variant of process algebra, π calculus can describe the interactions between evolving processes. By modeling activity as a process interacting with other processes through ports, this paper presents a new approach: representing workflow models using π calculus. As a result, the model can characterize the dynamic behaviors of the workflow process in terms of the LTS (Labeled Transition Semantics) semantics of π calculus. The main advantage of the workflow model's formal semantic is that it allows for verification of the model's properties, such as deadlock free and normal termination. Moreover, the equivalence of workflow models can be checked through weak bisimulation theorem in the π calculus, thus facilitating the optimization of business processes.
基金supported in part by the National Key R&D Program of China(2017YFB1001804)Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan Project(16511100900)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61572360)
文摘Consistency degree calculation is established on the basis of known correspondence, but in real life, the correspondence is generally unknown, so how to calculate consistency of two models under unknown correspondence has become a problem. For this condition, we should analyze unknown correspondence due to the influence of different correspondences.In this paper we obtain the relations of transitions based on event relations using branching processes, and build a behavioral matrix of relations. Based on the permutation of behavioral matrix, we express different correspondences, and define a new formula to compute the maximal consistency degree of two workflow nets. Additionally, this paper utilizes an example to show these definitions, computation as well as the advantages.
基金Project supported by the NSF(No.IIS-0812578),the Grant from IBM to UCSB,and the Grant from China Scholarship Council
文摘Data-centric modeling approach for workflow specification and design has received considerable attention from research and development communities.An architecture for a workflow management system named EZFLOWS was outlined.Key components and research issues associated with the development of EZFLOWS were discussed.
基金Supported by the Scientific Research Foundation of Edu-cation Agency of Liaoning Province (20040088) and Scientific ResearchFoundation of Dalian Nationalities University (20046202)
文摘The correctness of workflow models is one of the major challenges in context of workflow analysis. The aim of this paper is to provide an improved Petri net-based reduction approach for verifying the correctness of workflow models. To the end, how to represent well-behaved building blocks and control structures of business processes by Petri nets is given at first, and then how to build well-structured process nets is presented. According to the structural characteristics of well-structured process nets, a set of legacy reduction rules are improved and extended, and then a complete Petri-net-based verification approach is proposed. The sound ness and the complexity with polynomial time for the improved re duction method are also proven.
文摘The issue of document management has been raised for a long time, especially with the appearance of office automation in the 1980s, which led to dematerialization and Electronic Document Management (EDM). In the same period, workflow management has experienced significant development, but has become more focused on the industry. However, it seems to us that document workflows have not had the same interest for the scientific community. But nowadays, the emergence and supremacy of the Internet in electronic exchanges are leading to a massive dematerialization of documents;which requires a conceptual reconsideration of the organizational framework for the processing of said documents in both public and private administrations. This problem seems open to us and deserves the interest of the scientific community. Indeed, EDM has mainly focused on the storage (referencing) and circulation of documents (traceability). It paid little attention to the overall behavior of the system in processing documents. The purpose of our researches is to model document processing systems. In the previous works, we proposed a general model and its specialization in the case of small documents (any document processed by a single person at a time during its processing life cycle), which represent 70% of documents processed by administrations, according to our study. In this contribution, we extend the model for processing small documents to the case where they are managed in a system comprising document classes organized in subclasses;which is the case for most administrations. We have thus observed that this model is a Markovian <i>M<sup>L×K</sup>/M<sup>L×K</sup>/</i>1 queues network. We have analyzed the constraints of this model and deduced certain characteristics and metrics. <span style="white-space:normal;"><i></i></span><i>In fine<span style="white-space:normal;"></span></i>, the ultimate objective of our work is to design a document workflow management system, integrating a component of global behavior prediction.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(60473066, 60773006)the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program)(2006AA012168)
文摘WS-BPEL (Web Service Business Process Execution Language), as an emerging workflow standard, provides a simple and effective way to construct Web Services-oriented workflows. However, to the best of our knowledge, few effort from the industry and academia has addressed the dynamic change problems of BPEL process. This paper proposes a reflective approach to solve this problem. In this paper, a formal meta-object model of process instance is defined; the behavioral consistency criterion based on this model is proposed; a set of modification primitives are given to modify the meta-object while keeping the change atomic and consistent; and in addition, the MOP is offered to provide the programming interfaces for dynamic BPEL process change.