International Business Machines Corporation

Frank Leymann

Dieter Helmut Roller

Matthias Kloppmann

Thomas Schaeck

Rakesh Agrawal

Charles Daniel Wolfson

Albert Maier

Juergen Schaeck

Friedemann Schwenkreis

Markus Reichart

Robert Junghuber

Gerd Breiter

Andreas Arning

Carsten Leue

Simon D Moser

Gerhard Pfau

Bernhard Mitschang

Dimitrios Gunopulos

Andreas Schmitz

Claudia Zentner

Berhard Mitschang

Method and system for serializing access to datasets, suitable for use in a workflow management system which executes multiple business processes, wherein a single process instance is enabled to invoke web services which may update datasets of different storages holding redundant information. Business Process Execution Language for Web Services allows defining business processes that make use of web services and business processes that externalize their functionality as web services. As the business process has no knowledge about data that is accessed by invoked web services, concurrent process instances may update the same pieces of information within a database. Unless access to the data is carried out as a transaction, parallel execution of the process instances may cause data inconsistencies, which may be avoided by serializing the execution of process instances based on correlation information associated with messages consumed by the process instances.

Apparatus and method for serializing process instance access to information stored redundantly in at least two datastores

In a Workflow Management System with a workflow having a sequence of activities of an underlying business process, logical wait situations occur when a given activity depends upon completion of a prerequisite preparation activity. A method for decreasing the resulting run-time delays includes: identifying a primary activity and an associated preparation activity required to be done before executing the primary activity; navigating through the process template of the underlying workflow and calculating the probability at a node of the process template that the primary activity will be reached for a current process instance; and pre-executing the preparation activity in parallel to the activity sequence if the probability exceeds a predetermined threshold.

Pre-executing workflow preparation activities based on activity probabilities and system load and capacity threshold requirements

The present invention relates to a technique for controlling the creation of process instances within an execution environment such as a Workflow Management System. Upon receiving a request to create a process instance and corresponding input data to be processed by the process instance, a process instance identifier is first constructed for the process instance to be created based on the provided input. Next, the create request is executed, but only if no process instance exists or existed with the same process instance identifier. In the case where a process instance already exists or existed with the same process instance identifier, the present invention permits a user-defined action to be carried out to avoid an identifier conflict.

Controlling the creation of process instances in workflow management systems

Method and system for serializing access to datasets, suitable for use in a workflow management system which executes multiple business processes, wherein a single process instance is enabled to invoke web services which may update datasets of different storages holding redundant information. Business Process Execution Language for Web Services allows defining business processes that make use of web services and business processes that externalize their functionality as web services. As the business process has no knowledge about data that is accessed by invoked web services, concurrent process instances may update the same pieces of information within a database. Unless access to the data is carried out as a transaction, parallel execution of the process instances may cause data inconsistencies, which may be avoided by serializing the execution of process in stances based on correlation information associated with messages consumed by the process instances.

Process instance serialization

Activities within a workflow are either data management activities (DMAs) or non-DMAs. A workflow is typically carried out by a system by executing one activity after the other. This can, however, be very time consuming. A method and system are provided for optimizing a group of activities (GOA) comprising a DMA, whereby the GOA is comprised in the workflow to improve the overall performance. The method determines the DMAs, and for each DMA, a data level statement (DLS). The GOA is determined and a process graph model (PGM) is determined from the GOA so that the DLS is comprised in the PGM and the semantics of the PGM are identical to those of the GOA. The PGM is optimized for which an optimized GOA is determined. The semantics of the optimized GOA are identical to those of the GOA. In the workflow, the GOA is replaced by the optimized GOA.

Method and apparatus for optimization in workflow management systems

The present invention relates to managing the administration of electronic resources accessible in an electronic network. Grid resources or services are enhanced with a presentation interface that provides an administration user-interface for configuring them. Resource-located logic configures the resource according to user inputs and actions imparted on user controls, which are sent from a respective resource to a portal server. On the portal server, a second user-interface software is implemented, able to aggregate the fragments or controls of different resources, to display such multiple controls to a user, to process user inputs imparted on those controls, and to send user control data entered via the user-interface fragments to a resource configuration interface of a respective one of the resources to perform the configuration of a respective resource via the respective resource configuration-interface.

Managing resources through user-facing web services aggregated in portals

For a software component to be installed on a target computer system a product dependency graph is determined which identifies additional software components required by the to-be-installed software component as prerequisite or corequisite software components. For each of these software components a corresponding installation facility is determined. Then a process model is generated being executable by a Workflow Management System (WFMS). The WFMS process model comprises a directed graph of activities, wherein each software component of the product dependency graph is associated with an activity such that when the activity is executed the installation facility corresponding to each of the software components is performed. Moreover, the WFMS process model is generated in a way that the sequence of activities in the directed graph is not violating the dependencies of the software components in the product dependency graph. Finally the WFMS process model is inserted in the WFMS as the provisioning process.

Provisioning of software components via workflow management systems

The present invention provides a Dynamic Portal Assembly for Portals which provides the function to manipulate whole topology tree of a Portal at runtime. Topology Fragments, that are partial topology trees, are computed by software components called Adapters and are merged with existing trees at run time. The Adapters themselves can base the computation on the states of External Systems, e.g. Workflow Systems. The introduction of an Independent Adapter Interface allows for easy deployment of new Adapters into the Portal. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the Dynamic Portal Assembly is adapted to integrate Workflow into Portal without giving awareness to the Portal user.

Dynamic portal assembly

A system for improved scheduling of resources within a Workflow-Management-System or a computer system with comparable functionality (WFMS). Based on a new resource specification comprised within a process model and associated with an activity, the WFMS determines the resources required for execution of said activity. The invention further schedules a request for allocation of said resources on behalf and in advance of starting execution of said activity. This approach reduces the execution time of the activity as all resources required by the activity will be available when execution of the activity begins; the activity does not have to wait for these resources. Moreover, a WFMS knowing the required resources of the activities it is administrating is able to schedule resource requests to avoid resource conflicts between the activities.

Resource scheduling in workflow management systems

A Dynamic Portal Assembly for Portals for manipulating a topology tree of a Portal at runtime. Topology Fragments, that are partial topology trees, are computed by Adapters and are merged with existing trees at run time. The Adapters base the computation on the states of External Systems, e.g., Workflow Systems. An Independent Adapter Interface allows for easy deployment of new Adapters into the Portal. The Dynamic Portal Assembly is adapted to integrate workflow into a Portal without giving awareness to a Portal user.

A technique for improving staff queries within a process model of a workflow is provided. A workflow management system selects a set of individuals of a staff or resources to perform an activity of the process model based on a staff query. The members of the set act as candidates for executing the activity. The staff query takes into account the requirements needed to successfully execute the particular activity. The particular activity is then executed by one or more resources from the selected set or execution fails. Execution failure means that the assignment to the individual or resource was incorrect due to deficiencies in the staff query. Success or failure of execution is logged in an audit trail. Following execution failure, an improved staff query is generated for the given activity based on the information logged in the audit trail. This avoids subsequent suboptimal assignments of the activity to the individuals or resources. Improving the staff query makes explicit use of data mining techniques on the data maintained in the audit trail.

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Aidlingen, Germany

Frank Leymann