Dual Workflow Nets: Mixed Control/Data-Flow Representation for Workflow Modeling and Verification

摘要

A WFMS(workflow management system) contains two basic elements: the workflow model and the workflow engine. It is important to verify workflow models before they are put to execution. Traditional workflow models mainly describe workflows either from the control perspective or from the data perspective. In fact, the control flow and the data flow are two important aspects for workflow modeling and they are not independent from each other. A new workflow modeling technique, named Dual Workflow Nets (DWF-nets), is proposed to explicitly model the control flow and data flow of workflow processes. Besides, the control/data flow interactions can be captured in DWF-nets. Moreover, the control/data inconsistency, which is neglected by traditional modeling techniques, can be detected by verification of DWF-nets.