EMS – A Workflow Programming Language and Environment (original) (raw)
Related papers
Valmont: a language for workflow programming
Proceedings of the Thirty-First Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 1998
The workflow paradigm is advancing the scope of process modelling by supporting complex control flows, rich process structures, and the integration of heterogeneous and legacy systems. However, studies of the paradigm have been seriously hindered by the lack of a concrete framework. In order to improve understanding of the paradigm, enable studying of interaction between different features, and facilitate the development of more advanced features, this paper presents a framework in the form of a workflow language called Valmont. Unlike many other proposals, Valmont captures all the fundamental elements of the workflow paradigm at an abstraction level that is suitable for workflow application designers. More specifically, it provides a rich organisation model that can capture distribution using domains, an information model that also records presentation details, as well as a sophisticated process model that supports active rules and workflow transactions. This paper presents an overview of Valmont by providing a solution to the ISPW-6 Software Process Example. It also serves to provide an insight into the needs of novel application domains some of which remain to be addressed by the next generation of workflow management systems.
Handbook of Research on Business Process Modeling
Due to the absence of commonly accepted conceptual and formal foundations for workflow management, and more generally Business Process Management (BPM), a plethora of approaches to process modelling and execution exists both in academia and in industry. The introduction of workflow patterns provided a deep and language independent understanding of modelling issues and requirements encountered in business process specification. They provide a comparative insight into various approaches to process specification and serve as guidance for language and tool development. YAWL (Yet Another Workflow Language) is a novel and formally defined workflow language based on workflow patterns and Petri nets, thus leveraging off both practical and theoretical insights in the field of BPM. This chapter provides an overview of this language and its corresponding open source support environment.
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.
Specification of Workflow Processes Using the Action Description Language C
We propose the use of the action description language C to formally specify workf]ow l processes. The Workf]ow Management Coalition (WfMC) describes a set of all possible transitions among the activities in a workflow. We show how these transitions can be specified within the language of C. CCALC, the causal calculator, is used to run the examples and to generate the execution plans. In addition we also show how agents, duration and the cost of the workflow activities can be incorporated to the current framework.
Specification of Workflow Process Using the Action Description Language C
2001
We propose the use of the action description language C to formally specify workflow processes. The Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) describes a set of all possible transitions among the activities in a workflow. We show how these transitions can be specified within the language of C. CCALC, the causal calculator, is used to run the examples and to generate the execution plans. In addition we also show how agents, duration and the cost of the workflow activities can be incorporated to the current framework.
OBJECTFLOW : A Modular Workflow Management System * Experience Report
1996
Workflow Management (WM) is an emerging area that involves cross-disciplinary fields as Database, Software Engineering, Business Management, Human Coordination. A Workflow Management System (WMS) is a software tool to automate Business Processes (BPs) and coordinate people of an organization. BPs are a set of linked procedures concentrated on reaching a business goal, normally following a set of procedural rules. This work presents the OBJECTFLOW project, result of the cooperation between an industrial partner, the Centro de Cálculo de Sabadell (CCS, a software company located near Barcelona), and the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC). The main aim of OBJECTFLOW project is constructing a flexible WMS to automate BPs of the medium and big enterprise, allowing the integration to existing software systems.
A proposed design for a workflow engine
Proceedings of IEEE Region 10 International Conference on Electrical and Electronic Technology. TENCON 2001 (Cat. No.01CH37239), 2001
This paper discusses the proposed design for a workflow engine. Workflow is the automation of procedures where documents, information or work is passed between several processing entities. Work contains activities, which are done to achieve certain aims. Usually any work can be divided into smaller subworks. When the subworks have been executed, the original work is done. Each processing entity executes its own part before the work is passed onto the next processing entity. The paper focuses on the work database and two main engine modules. The modules are the work administrator and the user interface. Work administrator enables the engine to process the workflows. User interface provides two-way communication between the engine and the processing entities. Engine does the execution and the scheduIing of work by ensuring that the work is conveyed to the appropriate entity during a suitable interval. Work database stores the-work processing information. The initial results show that the prototype based on the design is capable of processing production-based workflow.
Automatic control of workflow processes using ECA rules
IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 2004
Changes in recent business environments have created the necessity for a more efficient and effective business process management. The workflow management system is software that assists in defining business processes as well as automatically controlling the execution of the processes. This paper proposes a new approach to the automatic execution of business processes using Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules that can be automatically triggered by an active database. First of all, we propose the concept of blocks that can classify process flows into several patterns. A block is a minimal unit that can specify the behaviors represented in a process model. An algorithm is developed to detect blocks from a process definition network and transform it into a hierarchical tree model. The behaviors in each block type are modeled using ACTA formalism. This provides a theoretical basis from which ECA rules are identified. The proposed ECA rule-based approach shows that it is possible to execute the workflow using the active capability of database without users' intervention. The operation of the proposed methods is illustrated through an example process.
JXPL: An XML-based Scripting Language for Workflow Execution in a Grid Environment
Proceedings. IEEE SoutheastCon, 2005., 2000
JXPL is a new functional scripting language that uses XML syntax. JXPL is intended to be a workflow language that easily interacts with web and grid services. There are built in web and grid clients that can communicate with a variety of services. This facilitates the creation of workflow editors and other applications designed for grid environments and leaves application developers free to concentrate on the implementation of the user interface. In this paper we give our motivation for JXPL and describe JXPL so that others may use the language. To aid our discussion, we introduce the grammar for JXPL using Extended Backus Naur Form (EBNF). We also include examples and detail predefined functions. We conclude with current and future work.