Dynamic Workflow-Engine

We present and assess the novel thesis that a language commonly accepted for requirement elicitation is worth using for configuration of business process automation systems. We suggest that Cockburn's well accepted requirements elicitation language - the written use case language, with a few extensions, ought to be used as a workflow modelling language. We evaluate our thesis by studying in detail an industrial implementation of a workflow engine whose workflow modelling language is our extended written use case language; by surveying the variety of business processes that can be expressed by our extended written use case language; and by empirically assessing the readability of our extended written use case language. Our contribution is sixfold: (i) an architecture with which a workflow engine whose workflow modelling language is an extended written use case language can be built, configured, used and monitored; (ii) a detailed study of an industrial implementation of use case oriented workflow engine; (iii) assessment of the expressive power of the extended written use case language which is based on a known pattern catalogue; (iv) another assessments of the expressive power of the extended written use case language which is based on an equivalence to a formal model that is known to be expressive; (v) an empirical evaluation in industrial context of the readability of our extended written use case language in comparison to the readability of the incumbent graphical languages; and (vi) reflections upon the state of the art, methodologies, our results, and opportunities for further research. Our conclusions are that a workflow engine whose workflow modelling language is an extended written use case language can be built, configured, used and monitored; that in an environment that calls upon an extended written use case language as a workflow modelling language, the transition between the modelling and verification state, enactment state, and monitoring state is dynamic; that a use case oriented workflow engine was implemented in industrial settings and that the approach was well accepted by management, workflow configuration officers and workflow participants alike; that the extended written use case language is quite expressive, as much as the incumbent graphical languages; and that in industrial context an extended written use case language is an efficient communication device amongst stakeholders

Dynamic Workflow Extension for Jenkins

Cílem diplomové práce bylo implementovat zásuvný modul pro Jenkins, který umožní řízení spouštění Jenkins úloh pomocí podnikových procesů. Pro podnikové procesy byl použit projekt jBPM 5, který je založen na standardu Business Process Model and Notation 2.0. Pro demonstraci funkčnosti byly navrženy a úspěšně otestovány dva ukázkové podnikové procesy. Výsledkem práce je jBPM zásuvný modul pro Jenkins zveřejněný pod svobodnou licencí.The main of the master's thesis has been to implement a plugin for Jenkins, which enables flow control of launching Jenkins jobs by using business processes. Project jBPM 5, which is based on Business Process Model and Notation 2.0, has been used for business processes. Two sample business processes have been drafted and successfully tested to demonstrate functionality. The main output of this thesis is the jBPM plugin for Jenkins released under free license.

A Dynamic Workflow Simulation Platform

International audienceAbstract--In numeric optimization algorithms errors at application level considerably affect the performance of their execution on distributed infrastructures. Hours of execution can be lost only due to bad parameter configurations. Though current grid workflow systems have facilitated the deployment of complex scientific applications on distributed environments, the error handling mechanisms remain mostly those provided by the middleware. In this paper, we propose a collaborative platform for the execution of scientific experiments in which we integrate a new approach for treating application errors, using the dynamicity and exception handling mechanisms of the YAWL workflow management system. Thus, application errors are correctly detected and appropriate handling procedures are triggered in order to save as much as possible of the work already executed

Dynamic workflow management for large scale scientific applications

The increasing computational and data requirements of scientific applications have made the usage of large clustered systems as well as distributed resources inevitable. Although executing large applications in these environments brings increased performance, the automation of the process becomes more and more challenging. The use of complex workflow management systems has been a viable solution for this automation process. In this thesis, we study a broad range of workflow management tools and compare their capabilities especially in terms of dynamic and conditional structures they support, which are crucial for the automation of complex applications. We then apply some of these tools to two real-life scientific applications: i) simulation of DNA folding, and ii) reservoir uncertainty analysis. Our implementation is based on Pegasus workflow planning tool, DAGMan workflow execution system, Condor-G computational scheduler, and Stork data scheduler. The designed abstract workflows are converted to concrete workflows using Pegasus where jobs are matched to resources; DAGMan makes sure these jobs execute reliably and in the correct order on the remote resources; Condor-G performs the scheduling for the computational tasks and Stork optimizes the data movement between different components. Integrated solution with these tools allows automation of large scale applications, as well as providing complete reliability and efficiency in executing complex workflows. We have also developed a new site selection mechanism on top of these systems, which can choose the most available computing resources for the submission of the tasks. The details of our design and implementation, as well as experimental results are presented

Evaluation of Correctness Criteria for Dynamic Workflow Changes

The capability to dynamically adapt in-progress workflows (WF) is an essential requirement for any workflow management system (WfMS). This fact has been recognized by the WF community for a long time and different approaches in the area of adaptive workflows have been developed so far. They either enable WF type changes and their propagation to in-progress WF instances or (ad-hoc) changes of single WF instances. Thus, at first glance, many of the major problems related to dynamic WF changes seem to be solved. However, this picture changes when digging deeper into the approaches and considering implementation and usability issues as well. This paper presents important criteria for the correct adaptation of runningw orkflows and analyzes how actual approaches satisfy them. At this, we demonstrate the strengths of the different approaches and provide additional solutions to overcome current limitations. These solutions comprise comprehensive correctness criteria as well as migration rules for change realization

Service oriented model driven architecture for dynamic workflow changes

Collaborative workflow management systems in logistic companies require strong information systems and computer support. These IT integration requirements have expanded considerably with the advent of e-business; utilizing web services for B2B (Business to Business) and P2P (Partner to Partner) e-commerce. This paper proposes service oriented model driven architecture for dynamic workflow changes and strategy for implementation of these changes by isolation of services and business processes where by existing workflow systems can easily incorporate and integrate the changes following a step by step process replacement synchronization in workflow. This paper will also describe conceptual framework for prototype implementation resulting in dynamic collaborative workflow management

Data Flow Correctness in Adaptive Workflow Systems

Enterprises must be able to quickly adapt their business processes to react to changes in their environment. Needed business agility is often hindered by the lacking flexibility of contemporary workflow systems. In response to this inflexibility, adaptive workflow systems have emerged, which enable the dynamic adaptation of running workflows. One of the most important challenges in this context is to avoid inconsistencies and errors. So far, approaches providing respective correctness criteria for dynamic workflow change have mainly focused on control flow correctness (e.g., avoidance of deadlocks). However, little attention has been paid to data flow correctness even though this is crucial for any application of dynamic workflow change in practice. Specifically, missing or inconsistent input data of workflow activities, for example, can lead to blocking or breakdown of the underlying workflow system. This paper deals with fundamental challenges related to data flow correctness. We revisit and discuss data flow correctness at different phases of the workflow life cycle (i.e., buildtime and runtime), and show how data flow correctness can be ensured in an efficient way when dynamically changing a workflow