101,367 research outputs found
Service agents based collaborative workflow management implementation
Workflow management systems in collaborative logistic companies require strong information systems to support in a distributed environment. These IT integration requirements have expanded considerably with the advent of collaborative e-business; utilizing B2B (Business to Business) and P2P (Partner to Partner) e-commerce. This paper deals with adaptation management of collaborative workflow changes in such consortia and proposes architecture for implementation of these changes through the process of component integration and agent based workflow management system where by existing workflow systems adapt to the changes. This paper describes conceptual framework required for prototype implementation resulting in new collaborative workflow adaptation
Patterns-based Evaluation of Open Source BPM Systems: The Cases of jBPM, OpenWFE, and Enhydra Shark
In keeping with the proliferation of free software development initiatives and the increased interest in the business process management domain, many open source workflow and business process management systems have appeared during the last few years and are now under active development. This upsurge gives rise to two important questions: what are the capabilities of these systems? and how do they compare to each other and to their closed source counterparts? i.e. in other words what is the state-of-the-art in the area?. To gain an insight into the area, we have conducted an in-depth analysis of three of the major open source workflow management systems - jBPM, OpenWFE and Enhydra Shark, the results of which are reported here. This analysis is based on the workflow patterns framework and provides a continuation of the series of evaluations performed using the same framework on closed source systems, business process modeling languages and web-service composition standards. The results from evaluations of the three open source systems are compared with each other and also with the results from evaluations of three representative closed source systems - Staffware, WebSphere MQ and Oracle BPEL PM, documented in earlier works. The overall conclusion is that open source systems are targeted more toward developers rather than business analysts. They generally provide less support for the patterns than closed source systems, particularly with respect to the resource perspective which describes the various ways in which work is distributed amongst business users and managed through to completion
E-Transcript Web Services System Supporting Dynamic Conversion Between XML and EDI
As XML becomes a standard for communications between distributed heterogeneous machines, many schools plan to implement Web Services systems using the XML e-transcript (electronic transcript) standard. We propose a framework that supports both XML e-transcript Web Services and existing EDI e-transcript systems. The framework uses the workflow engine to exploit the benefits of workflow management mechanisms. The workflow engine manages the e-transcript business process by enacting and completing the tasks and sub-processes within the main business process. We implemented the proposed framework by using various open source projects including Java, Eclipse, and Apache Software Foundation’s Web Services projects. Compared with traditional EDI systems, our proposed system was evaluated to have higher reusability and scalability and save developers time and cost. It also provides users with rich look and feel user interfaces
E-Transcript Web Services System Supporting Dynamic Conversion Between XML and EDI
As XML becomes a standard for communications between distributed heterogeneous machines, many schools plan to implement Web Services systems using the XML e-transcript (electronic transcript) standard. We propose a framework that supports both XML e-transcript Web Services and existing EDI e-transcript systems. The framework uses the workflow engine to exploit the benefits of workflow management mechanisms. The workflow engine manages the e-transcript business process by enacting and completing the tasks and sub-processes within the main business process. We implemented the proposed framework by using various open source projects including Java, Eclipse, and Apache Software Foundation’s Web Services projects. Compared with traditional EDI systems, our proposed system was evaluated to have higher reusability and scalability and save developers time and cost. It also provides users with rich look and feel user interfaces
Modular Workflow Engine for Distributed Services using Lightweight Java Clients
In this article we introduce the concept and the first implementation of a
lightweight client-server-framework as middleware for distributed computing. On
the client side an installation without administrative rights or privileged
ports can turn any computer into a worker node. Only a Java runtime environment
and the JAR files comprising the workflow client are needed. To connect all
clients to the engine one open server port is sufficient. The engine submits
data to the clients and orchestrates their work by workflow descriptions from a
central database. Clients request new task descriptions periodically, thus the
system is robust against network failures. In the basic set-up, data up- and
downloads are handled via HTTP communication with the server. The performance
of the modular system could additionally be improved using dedicated file
servers or distributed network file systems.
We demonstrate the design features of the proposed engine in real-world
applications from mechanical engineering. We have used this system on a compute
cluster in design-of-experiment studies, parameter optimisations and robustness
validations of finite element structures.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure
Distributed task management by means of workflow atoms
In this paper we describe Wf-ATOMS, a framework for the specification and management of workflows, whose engine is integrated in a multi user and distributed task management
system. The process models include features standard in other workflow management systems, concerning the form in which the activities forming the processes interact, and other features usually managed by user-task management systems that model the different activities available in interactive applications. The conjunction of these two models provides
several benefits. On one hand, there is a simplification in the development of workflow-based applications. On the other hand, it allows the systematic development of training
applications for work teams that collaborate in the accomplishment of distributed processes. In this paper we describe both the framework from the point of view of the
specification of distributed processes and the underlying architecture of the process management system. Wf-ATOMS has been developed as an extension of ATOMS, a previous framework for the management of user tasks in interactive applicationsThis work has been partially supported by the Plan National de Investigación, projects TIC96-0723-C02-01/02 and TEL97-030
PaPaS: A Portable, Lightweight, and Generic Framework for Parallel Parameter Studies
The current landscape of scientific research is widely based on modeling and
simulation, typically with complexity in the simulation's flow of execution and
parameterization properties. Execution flows are not necessarily
straightforward since they may need multiple processing tasks and iterations.
Furthermore, parameter and performance studies are common approaches used to
characterize a simulation, often requiring traversal of a large parameter
space. High-performance computers offer practical resources at the expense of
users handling the setup, submission, and management of jobs. This work
presents the design of PaPaS, a portable, lightweight, and generic workflow
framework for conducting parallel parameter and performance studies. Workflows
are defined using parameter files based on keyword-value pairs syntax, thus
removing from the user the overhead of creating complex scripts to manage the
workflow. A parameter set consists of any combination of environment variables,
files, partial file contents, and command line arguments. PaPaS is being
developed in Python 3 with support for distributed parallelization using SSH,
batch systems, and C++ MPI. The PaPaS framework will run as user processes, and
can be used in single/multi-node and multi-tenant computing systems. An example
simulation using the BehaviorSpace tool from NetLogo and a matrix multiply
using OpenMP are presented as parameter and performance studies, respectively.
The results demonstrate that the PaPaS framework offers a simple method for
defining and managing parameter studies, while increasing resource utilization.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, PEARC '18: Practice and Experience in Advanced
Research Computing, July 22--26, 2018, Pittsburgh, PA, US
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