The analysis of workflows in terms of structural correctness is important for ensuring the quality of workflow models. Typically, this analysis is only one step in a larger development process, followed by further transformation steps that lead from highlevel models to more refined models until the workflow can finally be deployed on the underlying workflow engine of the production system. For practical and scalable applications, both analysis and transformation of workflows must be integrated to allow incremental changes of larger workflows. In this paper, we introduce the concept of a region tree (RT) for workflow models that can be used as the central data structure for both workflow analysis and workflow transformation. An RT is similar to a program structure tree and imposes a hierarchy of regions as an overlay structure onto the workflow model. It allows an incremental approach to the analysis and transformation of workflows, and thereby, significantly reduces the overhead because individual regions can be dealt with separately. The RT is built using a set of region-growing rules. The set of rules presented here is shown to be correct and complete in the sense that a workflow is region-reducible as defined through these rules if and only if it is semantically sound.
Business process integration and automation are among the most significant factors driving the information technology industry today. In addressing the manifold technology challenges of integration and automation, new standardization efforts aim at improving the interoperability of businesses by moving toward a declarative specification of business processes, that is, one which describes what a business process does and not how it is implemented. At the same time, Model Driven Architecturet focuses on improving the software-engineering methods with which business process solutions are implemented by separating the business or application logic from the underlying platform technology and representing this logic with precise semantic models. In this paper, we present an approach to the model-driven generation of programs in the Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS), which transforms a graphically represented control-flow model into executable code by using techniques that originated in compiler theory. We discuss the underlying algorithms as well as general questions concerning the representation and analysis of model transformations. We study a declarative representation of transformation rules, where preconditions and postconditions are represented in the Object Constraint Language. By adopting a declarative approach, we pave the way for future automatic consistency checking of transformation rules and bidirectional reconciliation of evolving models.Model Driven Architecture** (MDA**) has been proposed by the Object Management Group (OMG) to enhance the efficiency and quality of software development and to reinforce the use of an enterprise architecture strategy. Models can be specified from different views, such as that of a business analyst or an information technology (IT) architect, and can be represented at different levels of abstraction. MDA separates the business or application logic from the underlying platform technology and represents this logic with precise semantic models. In particular, MDA distinguishes between Ó
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