Verifying workflow processes: a transformation-based approach

Abstract

Workflow modeling is a challenging activity and designers are likely to introduce errors, especially in complex industrial processes. Effective process verification is essential at design time because the cost of fixing errors during runtime is substantially higher. However, most user-oriented workflow modeling languages lack formal semantics that hinders such verification. In this paper, we propose a generic approach based on the model transformation to verify workflow processes. The model transformation includes two steps: first, it formalizes the desirable semantics of each modeling element; secondly, it translates a workflow process with clear semantics to an equivalent Petri net. Thus, we can verify the original workflow process using existing Communicated by Prof. Robert France.Petri net theory and analysis tools. As a comprehensive case study, verifying workflow processes in an industrial modeling language (TiPLM) is presented. Experimental evaluations on verifying real-world business processes validate our approach.

A system for deduction-based formal verification of workflow-oriented software models

“…Another important direction of research is verifying business processes using Petri nets [1]. In [51], a translation of workflows to Petri nets is proposed to perform analysis using existing tools. An interesting direction of the analysis is π-calculus, that enables efficient reasoning, e.g.…”

A Product Design Process Modeling Methodology Based on Petri Net

“…Petri nets-based workflow analysis techniques can be used to support the verification of modified business processes in polynomial time [9]. Reference [10] proposed an approach to verify workflow processes based on transforming to Petri nets. The approach is a language-independent framework for specific implementation in the context of different modeling languages.…”

How to guarantee compliance between workflows and product lifecycles?

“…The Petri net semantics for the four kinds of routing nodes are shown in Figure 12(d). The detailed mapping semantics from a TiWorkflow to a WF-net can be found in [54] Fig. 12.…”

“…We developed a TiWorkflow convertor to translate a TiWorkflow model into a WF-net based on the translation algorithm provided by Zha et.al [54]. This convertor is deployed into TiPLM system as a plug-in.…”