Abstract
Most workflow tools support structured workflows despite the fact that unstructured workflows can be more expressive. The reason for this is that unstructured workflows are more prone to errors. In this paper, we describe a taxonomy that serves as a framework for analyzing unstructured workflows. The taxonomy organizes unstructured workflows in terms of two considerations: improper nesting and mismatched split-join pairs. Based on this taxonomy we characterize situations that are well-behaved and others that are not. We also discuss well-behaved unstructured workflows that have equivalent structured mappings. Finally, we also introduce a relaxed notion of correctness called quasi-equivalence that is based on one-directional bisimulation. The results of our research will be useful for researchers investigating expressiveness and correctness issues in unstructured workflows.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 268-284 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Lecture Notes in Computer Science |
| Volume | 3649 |
| State | Published - Oct 31 2005 |
| Event | 3rd Internaional Conference on Business Process Management,BPM 2005 - Nancy, France Duration: Sep 5 2005 → Sep 8 2005 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Theoretical Computer Science
- Computer Science(all)
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An analysis and taxonomy of unstructured workflows. / Liu, Rong; Kumar, Akhil.
In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 3649, 31.10.2005, p. 268-284.Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article
TY - JOUR
T1 - An analysis and taxonomy of unstructured workflows
AU - Liu, Rong
AU - Kumar, Akhil
PY - 2005/10/31
Y1 - 2005/10/31
N2 - Most workflow tools support structured workflows despite the fact that unstructured workflows can be more expressive. The reason for this is that unstructured workflows are more prone to errors. In this paper, we describe a taxonomy that serves as a framework for analyzing unstructured workflows. The taxonomy organizes unstructured workflows in terms of two considerations: improper nesting and mismatched split-join pairs. Based on this taxonomy we characterize situations that are well-behaved and others that are not. We also discuss well-behaved unstructured workflows that have equivalent structured mappings. Finally, we also introduce a relaxed notion of correctness called quasi-equivalence that is based on one-directional bisimulation. The results of our research will be useful for researchers investigating expressiveness and correctness issues in unstructured workflows.
AB - Most workflow tools support structured workflows despite the fact that unstructured workflows can be more expressive. The reason for this is that unstructured workflows are more prone to errors. In this paper, we describe a taxonomy that serves as a framework for analyzing unstructured workflows. The taxonomy organizes unstructured workflows in terms of two considerations: improper nesting and mismatched split-join pairs. Based on this taxonomy we characterize situations that are well-behaved and others that are not. We also discuss well-behaved unstructured workflows that have equivalent structured mappings. Finally, we also introduce a relaxed notion of correctness called quasi-equivalence that is based on one-directional bisimulation. The results of our research will be useful for researchers investigating expressiveness and correctness issues in unstructured workflows.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=27144463739&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:27144463739
VL - 3649
SP - 268
EP - 284
JO - Lecture Notes in Computer Science
JF - Lecture Notes in Computer Science
SN - 0302-9743
ER -