The Application of Petri Nets to Workflow Management

Aalst, Wil M. P. van der

doi:10.1142/s0218126698000043

Cited by 1,980 publications

(1,065 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In this paper we use a specific class of Petri nets, named WorkFlow nets (WF-nets) [1][2][3], as a source language to be mapped onto the target language BPEL. There are several reasons for selecting Petri nets as a source language.…”

Section: Wf-netsmentioning

confidence: 99%

WorkflowNet2BPEL4WS: A Tool for Translating Unstructured Workflow Processes to Readable BPEL

Lassen

Aalst

2006

On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2006: CoopIS, DOA, GADA, and ODBASE

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Abstract. This paper presents WorkflowNet2BPEL4WS a tool to automatically map a graphical workflow model expressed in terms of Workflow Nets (WF-nets) onto BPEL. The Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL) has emerged as the de-facto standard for implementing processes and is supported by an increasing number of systems (cf. the IBM WebSphere Choreographer and the Oracle BPEL Process Manager). While being a powerful language, BPEL is difficult to use. Its XML representation is very verbose and only readable for the trained eye. It offers many constructs and typically things can be implemented in many ways, e.g., using links and the flow construct or using sequences and switches. As a result only experienced users are able to select the right construct. Some vendors offer a graphical interface that generates BPEL code. However, the graphical representations are a direct reflection of the BPEL code and not easy to use by end-users. Therefore, we provide a mapping from WF-nets to BPEL. This mapping builds on the rich theory of Petri nets and can also be used to map other languages (e.g., UML, EPC, BPMN, etc.) onto BPEL. To evaluate WorkflowNet2BPEL4WS we used more than 100 processes modeled using Protos (the most widely used business process modeling tool in the Netherlands), automatically converted these into CPN Tools, and applied our mapping. The results of these evaluation are very encouraging and show the applicability of our approach.

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Section: Wf-netsmentioning

confidence: 99%

WorkflowNet2BPEL4WS: A Tool for Translating Unstructured Workflow Processes to Readable BPEL

Lassen

Aalst

2006

On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2006: CoopIS, DOA, GADA, and ODBASE

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“…Our work is based on Petri net, WF-net to be more precise. We assumed that readers are familiar with the basic concepts of WF-net [1]- [2] and Petri nets [13]- [18]. Some of the essential terminologies and notations are listed as follows.…”

Section: Modeling Approaches Based Wfio-netmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A workflow is a representation of a given process that is made up of well-defined collection of activities, also referred to as tasks. In recent days, workflow structural correctness verification (also refers to as control-flow perspective) [1]- [2] has received much more attention than the other aspects. However, a complete workflow description requires to characteristic the other perspectives, including time, resource, data and etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned by Aalst [1] there are at least three reasons for using Petri nets to model and analyze workflows: (1) Graphical nature and formal semantics have been defined for Petri nets; (2) Petri nets are state-based instead of event-based, so the state of the case can be modeled explicitly in Petri nets; and (3) Petri nets are characterized by the availability of many analysis techniques. In this paper, we formulate the data-flow modeling and verification for workflows based on a kind of extended Petri net with data elements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Formulating the Data-Flow Modeling and Verification for Workflow: A Petri Net based Approach

Liu¹,

Zeng²,

Duan³

2014

IJSEA

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Abstract:Control-flow and data-flow modeling and verification are two important challenges for traditional workflow management. To formulate the data-flow modeling and verification, a Petri Net based approach is proposed in this paper. More specifically, the WFIO-net, which is a kind of WF-net by extending each activity with its read and write data sets, is first presented to model both the control-flow and data-flow information in a workflow process. Moreover, the firing rule of WFIO-net which is different from traditional Petri net is discussed in detail. Then the formal definitions of three basic types of data-flow errors, including missing data, redundant data and conflicting data are formulated using WFIO-net. Next, a polynomial complexity algorithm which is capable of detecting the above-mentioned three kinds of basic data-flow anomalies is proposed based on the activity-data incidence matrix of the WFIO-net. A running case of a property loan approval business process is given to validate the proposed method.

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“…The workflow model used in this paper is an extension of the WF-net [5] proposed by Van der Aalst. WF-net is a special class of Petri net, which prevails in workflow modeling field because of its graphic nature and theoretical foundation.…”

Section: Centralized Workflow Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model Fragmentation for Distributed Workflow Execution: A Petri Net Approach

Tan

Fan

2005

Advanced Distributed Systems

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Abstract. Workflow is the key technology for business process automation, while distributed workflow is the solution to deal with the decentralized nature of workflow applications and the performance requirements of the whole system. In this paper the architecture of distributed workflow execution is given, and the centralized model called CWF-net, which is based on colored Petri net, is presented. Based on the centralized model, a novel model fragmentation algorithm is proposed. This algorithm partitioned the centralized model into fragments by duplicating the places shared by transitions which are executed in different sites. The behavioral equivalence between the CWF-net and resulted fragments are guaranteed by the extended firing rules. Then the correctness of the fragmentation algorithm is discussed, the correctness criteria comprises completeness of the fragmentation, completeness of each fragment, and the behavioral equivalence after fragmentation. Finally the future research work is pointed out.

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The Application of Petri Nets to Workflow Management

Cited by 1,980 publications

References 15 publications

WorkflowNet2BPEL4WS: A Tool for Translating Unstructured Workflow Processes to Readable BPEL

WorkflowNet2BPEL4WS: A Tool for Translating Unstructured Workflow Processes to Readable BPEL

Formulating the Data-Flow Modeling and Verification for Workflow: A Petri Net based Approach

Model Fragmentation for Distributed Workflow Execution: A Petri Net Approach

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