Automated Attribute Inference in Complex Service Workflows Based on Sharing Analysis

Abstract

Abstract-The properties of data and activities in business processes can be used to greatly facilitate several relevant tasks performed at design-and run-time, such as fragmentation, compliance checking, or top-down design. Business processes are often described using workflows. We present an approach for mechanically inferring business domain-specific attributes of workflow components (including data items, activities, and elements of sub-workflows), taking as starting point known attributes of workflow inputs and the structure of the workflow. We achieve this by modeling these components as concepts and applying sharing analysis to a Horn clause-based representation of the workflow. The analysis is applicable to workflows featuring complex control and data dependencies, embedded control constructs, such as loops and branches, and embedded component services.

A sharing-based approach to supporting adaptation in service compositions

“…3.2. We extend our earlier work on automatic attribute inference and fragment identification based on sharing [18,19].…”

“…This paper builds on the previous publications by the authors that focused on fragmentation and attribute inference for service compositions [ 18,19]. In this paper we expand the approach by providing a common, logic-based foundation for both representing and reasoning about functional dependencies as well as data attributes in service compositions, with the goal of supporting adaptation.…”

“…Alternatively, the buyer can pay by debiting his or her bank account (a 18 ). Finally, the buyer may request a loan from a bank that the buyer uses for financing his sales (a 19 ). Depending on whether or not the buyer is a client of the bank and other circumstances, the bank may request one or more documents to be presented (a 20 ) before approving the loan (a 25 ).…”

“…For instance, in Fig. 1, a loan request activity (a 19 ) can be started without waiting for a 14 to finish (although a 25 needs to wait for a 20 ). -How can we automatically fragment the composition for distributed enactment, while enforcing information flow constraints?…”

“…Using our prototype implementation, in our previous work [19] we have evaluated the sharing-based approach to fragmentation using an E-Health case study collected within the S-Cube project [12]. Figure 13 depicts a drug prescription workflow in BPMN notation, annotated with data dependencies.…”