Meta-Modelling Support for a General Process Modelling Tool

1
Meta-Modelling Support for a General Process
Modelling Tool

• 5th OOPSLA Workshop on Domain-Specific Modeling

2
Need for a General Process Modelling Tool
BPEL4WS
D
XPDL
D
Common Features
D
BPML
D
D
Petri Nets

3
Where it Began ECOMOD

• ECOMOD E-Commerce Modelling
• Support for developping e-commerce related
  applications
• Basing on a companys strategy
• Supported by business process models

Strategy
E-Commerce Application
4
Developping Applications on the Basis of Process
Models

• Programming environment
• Implementation is done by programmers
• Business logic is implemented using a programming
  language
• Components, frameworks or class libraries may be
  reused
• Process-oriented systems
• Examples
• Workflow Management System
• BPEL4WS-Engine (Business Process Execution
  Language for Web Services)
• Provide similar concepts like business process
  models
• Control flow
• (Special) Resources

5
From Strategy to Application
MEMO-OrgML
Selection
Strategic Options
Configuration
Reference Process Model
Generation
XPDL
E-Commerce Application
Workflow Model
6
Process Models and Workflow Schemata

• Process and workflow are similar abstractions
• Focus on control flow
• Process models
• Provide the notion of
• Resources
• Information Objects
• Language used in our context MEMO-OrgML
• MEMO Multiperspective Enterprise Modelling
• OrgML Organisation Modelling Language
• Workflow
• Focusses on tasks executed by IT-resources
  (especially a Workflow Management System)
• Standardised specification Language XPDL
• XML Process Definition Language

7
OrgML and XPDL Process Types (Excerpt)
Process Types in MEMO-OrgML
XPDL Workflow Type
manual
?

• Parameters
• Participant
• Resouce
• Startmode
• Stopmode

semi-automated
automated
8
Open Research Questions

• Identification of common features of (business)
  process modelling languages
• Classes of similar process modelling languages
  (sharing common features)
• Kinds of deltas, e.g.
• Adding syntactic features
• Defining semantics, e.g.
• Operational semantics
• Are current meta-modelling tools capable of
  providing all necessary features?