Simplified Computation and Generalization of the Refined Process Structure Tree

Abstract

A business process is often modeled using some kind of a directed flow graph, which we call a workflow graph. The Refined Process Structure Tree (RPST) is a technique for workflow graph parsing, i.e., for discovering the structure of a workflow graph, which has various applications. In this paper, we provide two improvements to the RPST. First, we propose an alternative way to compute the RPST that is simpler than the one developed originally. In particular, the computation reduces to constructing the tree of the triconnected components of a workflow graph in the special case when every node has at most one incoming or at most one outgoing edge. Such graphs occur frequently in applications. Secondly, we extend the applicability of the RPST. Originally, the RPST was applicable only to graphs with a single source and single sink such that the completed version of the graph is biconnected. We lift both restrictions. Therefore, the RPST is then applicable to arbitrary directed graphs such that every node is on a path from some source to some sink. This includes graphs with multiple sources and/or sinks and disconnected graphs.

Event-Based Real-Time Decomposed Conformance Analysis

“…subgraphs in the work ow graph de ned over a system net having single entry and exit boundary nodes [14]. The decomposition of the work ow graph of a Petri net into SESE-components is well-studied and provides a valid means to perform process model decomposition.…”

Creating and Updating Personalized and Verbalized Business Process Descriptions

“…In particular, we compute an RPST, which is a parse tree containing a hierarchy of sub-graphs derived from the process view [22]. The resulting hierarchy can be visualized as a tree whose root captures the entire tree and whose leaves contain the connections between two elements of the process.…”

Efficient Computation of Causal Behavioural Profiles Using Structural Decomposition

“…The RPST [20,21] is a technique for detecting the structure of a workflow graph. A workflow graph can be parsed into a hierarchy of fragments with a single entry and a single exit, such that the RPST is a containment hierarchy of canonical fragments of the graph.…”

“…A workflow graph can be parsed into a hierarchy of fragments with a single entry and a single exit, such that the RPST is a containment hierarchy of canonical fragments of the graph. The RPST is unique for a given workflow graph and can be computed in linear time [20,21]. Although the RPST has been introduced for workflow graphs, the technique can be applied to other graph based behavioural models such as WF-systems in a straight-forward manner.…”

“…For instance, fragment B1 has two boundary transitions: entry A and exit K, is contained in fragment P 1, and contains fragments P 2 and P 3. If the RPST is computed for a normalized workflow graph, i.e., a workflow graph that does not contain nodes with multiple incoming and multiple outgoing edges, each canonical fragment can be classified to one out of four structural classes [21,22]: A trivial (T ) fragment consists of a single edge. A polygon (P ) represents a sequence of nodes (fragments).…”