Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Swimlanes
to lay out a process according to different
participants.
Workflow relevant data that are used in each workflow instance
at run-time.
Interface 2: Workflow Client Application
Interface 2 is the way to deal with manual activities in a workflow. The
client application interface allows participants to retrieve the tasks
together with the related data, finish the task, and submit the execution
results.
Interface 3: Invoked Applications
Interface 3 is the way to deal with an automated activity in a workflow.
This interface allows the engine to invoke an application when a
workflow instance reaches an automated activity. There are various
protocols to invoke a remote application and a Web service interface is
becoming a predominant one among them.
Interface 4: Other Workflow Enactment Services
Workflows in different systems may need to communicate with one
another. For example, an order processing workflow of an online
merchant like Amazon, may need to talk to a payment workflow of a
payment provider like PayPal. Therefore there is a need to define an
interface for multiple workflow enactment services to collaborate.
Interface 4 defines how two enactment services can set up communica-
tion, transfer a process definition, delegate the execution of a subprocess,
and transfer data between them.
Interface 5: Administration and Monitoring Tools
Interface 5 defines the administration and monitoring interfaces such as
user management, auditing, and resource control.
There exist other standards in workflow and BPM. However, BPEL,
BPMN, and XPDL represent the most influential ones. For a more
comprehensive discussion about workflow-related standards, please
refer to [7,39].
