Components for Decentralized Process-Centered Environments

过程是在开发软件系统时要遵循的部分有序的一组步骤。过程可能因组织和系统的不同而不同。以过程为中心的环境为一系列特定于项目的过程提供计算机辅助支持。在以过程为中心的环境中进行研究的一般目标是设计用于指定过程的有用符号，并研究环境可以帮助用户执行过程的方法。Marvel以流程为中心的环境是由基于规则的流程模型定制的，其中每个规则定义一个流程步骤，并声明启动该步骤的条件和完成该步骤的结果。步骤之间允许的顺序隐含在它们的条件和结果中。环境强制执行指定的过程，并帮助用户满足步骤的条件。最近的工作集中于用户团队的并发控制，以及正在进行中的流程的演化。两者都是扩展以流程为中心的环境的先决条件。这个项目解决了四个问题；(1)将更高层次的过程建模形式化转化为执行规则；(2)协调建模的形式化符号以及相应的并发控制算法与过程辅助机制的交互；(3)过程和协调对环境框架提出的要求，以及将过程和协调组件与一系列现有框架类接口的可能协议。(4)分散的环境体系结构，允许一定程度的站点自治，以满足不同的过程和协调需求。

A process is a partially ordered set of steps to be followed in developing a software system. Processes may vary across organizations and systems. A process-centered environment provides computer-aided support for a range of project-specific processes. The general goals of research in process-centered environments are to devise useful notations for specifying processes and to investigate ways in which environments may assist users in carrying out processes. The Marvel process-centered environment is tailored by a rule-based process model, where each rule defines a process step and states the condition for initiating the step and the result of finishing the step. The permitted sequencing among steps is implicit in their conditions and results. The environment enforces the specified process and assists users in satisfying the conditions of steps. Recent work has concentrated on concurrency control for teams of users, and on evolution of processes while they are in progress. Both are prerequisites for scaling up process-centered environments. This project addresses four problems; (1) translation of higher-level process modeling formalisms into rules for execution, (2) formal notations for coordination modeling and the interaction of corresponding concurrency control algorithms with process assistance mechanisms, (3) requirements placed on environment frameworks by process and coordination, and possible protocols for interfacing process and coordination components to a range of existing classes of frameworks, and (4) decentralized environment architectures that permits a degree of site autonomy for different process and coordination needs.