Workflow

About: Workflow is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 31996 publications have been published within this topic receiving 498339 citations.

Object-oriented workflow for multi-enterprise collaboration

Abstract: A computer implemented process is disclosed for enterprise collaboration. The process includes instantiating an object-oriented workflow where the object-oriented workflow comprises objects associated with activities to be performed within the workflow. The objects of the object-oriented workflow are then deployed across enterprise boundaries to nodes on which associated activities are to be performed. After deployment, the deployed objects are executed to provide multi-enterprise collaboration with the activities communicating data using objects that carry both data and behavior. Further, in one embodiment, the process further includes creating in-memory object models at nodes which objects executing at the nodes can access.

On Modeling and Verification of Temporal Constraints in Production Workflows

Abstract: The dynamic nature of events, in particular business processes, is a natural and accepted feature of today’s business environment. Therefore, workflow systems, if they are to successfully model portions of the real world, need to acknowledge the temporal aspect of business processes. This is particularly true for processes where any deviation from the prescribed model is either very expensive, dangerous or even illegal. Such processes include legal processes, airline maintenance or hazardous material handling. However, time modeling in workflows is still an open research problem. This paper proposes a framework for time modeling in production workflows. Relevant temporal constraints are presented, and rules for their verification are defined. Furthermore, to enable visualization of some temporal constraints, a concept of “duration space” is introduced. The duration algorithm which calculates the shortest/longest workflow instance is presented. It is a generalization of two categories of algorithms: the shortest-path partitioning algorithm and the Critical Path Method (CPM). Based on the duration algorithm, the verification algorithm is designed to check the consistency of introduced temporal constraints.

ASKALON: A Development and Grid Computing Environment for Scientific Workflows

Abstract: Most existing Grid application development environments provide the application developer with a nontransparent Grid Commonly, application developers are explicitly involved in tedious tasks such as selecting software components deployed on specific sites, mapping applications onto the Grid, or selecting appropriate computers for their applications Moreover, many programming interfaces are either implementation-technology-specific (eg, based on Web services [24]) or force the application developer to program at a low-level middleware abstraction (eg, start task, transfer data [22, 153]) While a variety of graphical workflow composition tools are currently being proposed, none of them is based on standard modeling techniques such as Unified Modeling Language (UML)

A Formal Approach to Workflow Analysis

Abstract: Agile manufacturing, fast-response micromarketing, and the rise of the virtual organization have led managers to focus on cross-functional business processes that link various divisions and organizations These processes may be realized as one or more workflows, each of which is an instantiation of a process under certain conditions Because an ability to adapt processes to workflow conditions is essential for organizational responsiveness, identifying and analyzing significant workflows is an important activity for managers, organization designers, and information systems specialists A variety of software systems have been developed to aid in the structuring and implementation of workflow systems, but they are mostly visualization tools with few analytical capabilities For example, they do not allow their users to easily determine which information elements are needed to compute other information elements, whether certain tasks depend on other tasks, and how resource availability affects information and tasks Analyses of this type can be performed by inspection, but this gives rise to the possibility of error, especially in large systems In this paper, we show how a mathematical construct called a metagraph can be used to represent workflows, so that such questions can be addressed through formal operations, leading to more effective design of organizational processes