Logic-based Modeling Analysis, and Implementation of Workflow Management Systems

工作流是一组协作、协调的活动，旨在执行定义良好的复杂流程，如旅行计划、研究生注册程序或大型企业中的业务流程。人、设备或程序可以执行工作流中的活动。工作流管理系统（WfMS）提供了一个框架，用于捕获工作流中的活动之间的交互，并被认为是一个新的范例，集成不同的系统，包括遗留系统。自动化工作流管理正变得越来越重要，因为它是企业对企业电子商务的支持技术之一。理想情况下，工作流管理系统应该能够帮助用户分析和推理复杂的业务流程。不幸的是，目前的系统不提供足够的支持，这一活动和虚拟缺乏分析和推理设施，在目前的工作流管理系统被认为是一个严重的问题。为了解决这个问题，一个正式的规格说明模型与定义良好的语义是必要的。该项目的目标是进行工作流管理的研究，并为动态工作流开发一个鲁棒的和有表现力的模型（即，任务及其相互关系随时间变化的工作流程）以及用于实施可验证的工作流程管理系统的技术基础设施（原型）。这些技术将与行业伙伴合作，在供应链管理领域得到验证。预计这项研究将导致开发和分发一个用于构建和管理动态工作流程的开源工具。相关链接：http://xsb.sourceforge.net/http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~lmc/http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~workflow/

A workflow is a collection of cooperating, coordinated activities designed to carry out a well-defined complex process, such as trip planning, graduate student registration procedure, or a business process in a large enterprise. A human, a device, or a program might perform an activity in a workflow. Workflow management systems (WfMS) provide a framework for capturing the interaction among the activities in a workflow and are recognized as a new paradigm for integrating disparate systems, including legacy systems. Automated workflow management is becoming increasingly important, as it is one of the enabling technologies for business-to-business e-commerce. Ideally, a WfMS should be able to help the user in analyzing and reasoning about complex business processes. Unfortunately, present-day systems do not provide sufficient support for this activity and the virtual lack of analysis and reasoning facilities in current workflow management systems is considered a serious problem. To tackle this problem, a formal specification model with a well-defined semantics is needed. The objective of this project is to conduct research in workflow management and to develop a robust and expressive model for dynamic workflows (i.e., workflows where tasks and their interrelationships change over time) as well as a technological infrastructure (prototypes) for implementing verifiable workflow management systems. The techniques will be validated in the area of supply chain management in collaboration with industry partners. The research is expected to result in the development and distribution of an open source tool for building and managing dynamic workflows. Relevant links:http://xsb.sourceforge.net/http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~lmc/http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~workflow/