A Comparison of Visual Modeling Notations for Web Services Choreography

The Web Services Choreography Description Language (WS-CDL) is an XML-based language for specifying business protocols for \emph{web services enabled} collaborative processes. The use of visual notations in modeling web services choreography has so far been done in an ad hoc fashion as seen in the literature. This paper presents a choreography example in four different visual modeling notations and compares them with regard to the semantics of WS-CDL. The results are useful for establishing a reliable visual approach to modeling web services choreography

Distribution pattern-driven development of service architectures

Distributed systems are being constructed by composing a number of discrete components. This practice is particularly prevalent within the Web service domain in the form of service process orchestration and choreography. Often, enterprise systems are built from many existing discrete applications such as legacy applications exposed using Web service interfaces. There are a number of architectural configurations or distribution patterns, which express how a composed system is to be deployed in a distributed environment. However, the amount of code required to realise these distribution patterns is considerable. In this paper, we propose a distribution pattern-driven approach to service composition and architecting. We develop, based on a catalog of patterns, a UML-compliant framework, which takes existing Web service interfaces as its input and generates executable Web service compositions based on a distribution pattern chosen by the software architect

Semantic model-driven development of service-centric software architectures

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a recent architectural paradigm that has received much attention. The prevalent focus on platforms such as Web services, however, needs to be complemented by appropriate software engineering methods. We propose the model-driven development of service-centric software systems. We present in particular an investigation into the role of enriched semantic modelling for a modeldriven development framework for service-centric software systems. Ontologies as the foundations of semantic modelling and its enhancement through architectural pattern modelling are at the core of the proposed approach. We introduce foundations and discuss the benefits and also the challenges in this context

Quality-aware model-driven service engineering

Service engineering and service-oriented architecture as an integration and platform technology is a recent approach to software systems integration. Quality aspects ranging from interoperability to maintainability to performance are of central importance for the integration of heterogeneous, distributed service-based systems. Architecture models can substantially influence quality attributes of the implemented software systems. Besides the benefits of explicit architectures on maintainability and reuse, architectural constraints such as styles, reference architectures and architectural patterns can influence observable software properties such as performance. Empirical performance evaluation is a process of measuring and evaluating the performance of implemented software. We present an approach for addressing the quality of services and service-based systems at the model-level in the context of model-driven service engineering. The focus on architecture-level models is a consequence of the black-box character of services

Web service composition: A survey of techniques and tools

Web services are a consolidated reality of the modern Web with tremendous, increasing impact on everyday computing tasks. They turned the Web into the largest, most accepted, and most vivid distributed computing platform ever. Yet, the use and integration of Web services into composite services or applications, which is a highly sensible and conceptually non-trivial task, is still not unleashing its full magnitude of power. A consolidated analysis framework that advances the fundamental understanding of Web service composition building blocks in terms of concepts, models, languages, productivity support techniques, and tools is required. This framework is necessary to enable effective exploration, understanding, assessing, comparing, and selecting service composition models, languages, techniques, platforms, and tools. This article establishes such a framework and reviews the state of the art in service composition from an unprecedented, holistic perspective

Investigations into the model driven design of distribution patterns for web service compositions

Increasingly, distributed systems are being used to provide enterprise level solutions with high scalability and fault tolerance These solutins are often built using Web servces that are composed to perform useful business functions Acceptance of these composed systems is often constrained by a number of non-functional properties of the system such as availability, scalability and performance There are a number of drstribution patterns that each exhibit different non-functional charactmstics These patterns are re-occuring distribution schemes that express how a system is to be assembled and subsequently deployed. Traditional approaches to development of Web service compositions exhibit a number of Issues Firstly, Web service composition development is often ad-hoc and requires considerable low level coding effort for realisatlon Such systems often exhibit fixed architectures, making maintenance difficult and error prone Additionally, a number of the non-funchonal reqwements cannot be easily assessed by exammng low level code. In this thesis we explicitly model the compositional aspects of Web service compositions usmg UML Activity diagrams Ths approach uses a modehng and transformation framework, based on Model Dnven Software Development (MDSD), going from high level models to an executable system The framework is guided by a methodological framework whose primary artifact is a distribution pattern model, chosen from the supplied catalog. Our modelling and transfomation framework improves the development process of Web service compositions, with respect to a number of criteria, when compared to the traditional handcrafted approach Specifically, we negate the coding effort traditionally associated with Web service composition development Maintenance overheads of the solution are also slgnificantly reduced, while improved mutability 1s achieved through a flexible architecture when compared with existing tools We also improve the product output from the development process by exposing the non-functional runtime properties of Web service compositlons using distribution patterns

Semantic model-driven development of web service architectures.

Building service-based architectures has become a major area of interest since the advent of Web services. Modelling these architectures is a central activity. Model-driven development is a recent approach to developing software systems based on the idea of making models the central artefacts for design representation, analysis, and code generation. We propose an ontology-based engineering methodology for semantic model-driven composition and transformation of Web service architectures. Ontology technology as a logic-based knowledge representation and reasoning framework can provide answers to the needs of sharable and reusable semantic models and descriptions needed for service engineering. Based on modelling, composition and code generation techniques for service architectures, our approach provides a methodological framework for ontology-based semantic service architecture

Ontology-based patterns for the integration of business processes and enterprise application architectures

Increasingly, enterprises are using Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) as an approach to Enterprise Application Integration (EAI). SOA has the potential to bridge the gap between business and technology and to improve the reuse of existing applications and the interoperability with new ones. In addition to service architecture descriptions, architecture abstractions like patterns and styles capture design knowledge and allow the reuse of successfully applied designs, thus improving the quality of software. Knowledge gained from integration projects can be captured to build a repository of semantically enriched, experience-based solutions. Business patterns identify the interaction and structure between users, business processes, and data. Specific integration and composition patterns at a more technical level address enterprise application integration and capture reliable architecture solutions. We use an ontology-based approach to capture architecture and process patterns. Ontology techniques for pattern definition, extension and composition are developed and their applicability in business process-driven application integration is demonstrated

Modelling Business Processes on a Blockchain Eco-System (BPMN)

Plokiahela tehnoloogiat on järjest enam vaadeldud kui paljutõotavat tehnoloogiat äriprotsesside muutmiseks. Selle potentsiaal on äratanud paljude ettevõtete tähelepanu uurimaks, kuidas plokiahel saab ettevõtetele kasuks olla. Sellist kasu saab siiski saavutada ainult äriprotsesse uuendades, mitte lihtsalt olemasolevat tehnoloogiat asendades. Protsessimudelid mängivad olulist rolli äriprotsesside uuendamisel, kuna nad analüüsivad neid protsesse ja vajadusel kujundavad ümber. Selles lõputöös uuritakse, kuidas plokiahelale orienteeritud protsesse saab modelleerida BPMN tegevuskeskse modelleerimise paradigma abil. Selle saavutamiseks viiakse läbi uurimistöö mittetulundusühingute auditeerimisprotsesside ümberkujundamise kohta. Äriprotsesse modelleeritakse praeguses vormis ja kujundatakse BPMN abil ümber. Lõputöös uuritakse BPMN sobivust, võttes arvesse harjumuspäraselt esinevaid plokiahela spetsiifilisi mustreid. Lõputöö näitab, et plokiahelale orienteeritud protsesse saab BPMN-iga piisavalt modelleerida. Siiski, BPMN-il puuduvad teatud elemendid, mis võiksid täpsemini kajastada korduma kippuvaid mustreid.Blockchain technology is more and more positioned as a promising technology for changing business processes. This potential has attracted companies to investigate how blockchain can be enable significant benefit gains for companies. However, such gains can only be realized by innovating business processes and not by merely replacing existing technology. Process models play an important role when engaged in innovating business processes because of process analysis and process redesign. This thesis investigates how blockchain-oriented processes can be modelled with the activity-centric modeling paradigm of BPMN. To achieve this, a case study on redesigning the auditing process of a non-profit organization is conducted. The business process is modelled as-is and redesigned by using BPMN. The thesis examines the suitability of BPMN by considering commonly occurring blockchain specific patterns. The thesis shows that blockchain-oriented processes can sufficiently be modeled with BPMN. However, BPMN lack certain elements that could represent commonly occurring patterns more accurately