JP2005149332A - Workflow management system and program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To give a scope function of a web service flow definition language to an existing work flow management technology by adding the function. <P>SOLUTION: A work flow management system is so configured that status information is stored in an activity information table 180 with respect to each activity. Status information is stored in a scope information table 190 with respect to each scope. When performance of an activity is completed, a scope monitor part 130 sets the status of a scope to which the activity belongs to completion in response to completion of all other activities belonging to the same scope which the activity belongs to. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a workflow management technique for executing a workflow composed of activities as a plurality of work steps according to a definition.

  Web service technology that uses services via the Internet has been developed by SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). Initially, the pattern of using Web services in the RPC (Remote Procedure Call) type was mainstream. However, in recent years, a pattern has emerged in which a plurality of Web services are continuously executed to realize one workflow, and a language for flow definition (hereinafter referred to as Web service flow definition language) has been developed one after another. Yes. As a Web service flow definition language, http: // www-106. ibm. BPEL4WS (Business Process Language for Web Services) proposed by Microsoft, IBM, and BEA, introduced at com / developerworks / library / ws-bpel /, is attracting attention.

  On the other hand, the engine based on the existing workflow technology is considered promising as an engine for executing a flow described in a Web service flow definition language.

  As an existing workflow technique, a technique disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 can be cited.

Hitachi WorkCoordinator (Funabashi et al., “NetCom Library-Net-based Application” Yukabo, pp. 114-118)

  The workflow described in the Web service flow definition language can be realized to some extent by the flow definition / control capability of the existing workflow technology. Taking the above-mentioned BPEL4WS and Non-Patent Document 1 as an example, structured activities that are flow description elements of BPEL4WS represented by “Switch” (conditional branch), “Flow” (parallel execution), etc. are branch nodes of WorkCoordinator. / A first-come-first-served node, a division of labor node / a waiting node, and the like can be supported.

  However, when the existing workflow technology is used for the Web service flow definition language, there are the following problems. Web service flow definition languages such as BPEL4WS have a “scope” function for grouping parts of a workflow. The scope is a function for defining / controlling the variable used in the flow and the effective range of the handler executed at the time of failure or compensation, and has a user merit that the control content of the workflow can be specified more finely. In addition, the control of the workflow is affected, such as determining the execution of the handler depending on the state of the scope. On the other hand, the existing workflow technology has a problem that it does not have this scope function.

  The present invention for solving the above problems uses an activity information table that stores state information for each of the activities that make up a business process, and a scope information table that stores state information for each of the scopes. It is characterized by a workflow management technology that sets the status of the scope to which the activity belongs to complete when all other activities that belong to the same scope to which the activity belongs are completed when the status is completed.

  According to the present invention, the scope function of the Web service flow definition language can be realized by adding a function to the existing workflow management system.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. A workflow engine 110 performs flow control such as transition between activities. Reference numeral 140 denotes a business process definition that defines a flow controlled by the workflow engine 110. The business process definition 140 includes a plurality of activities 150 that are work steps and a control node 160 that performs flow branching / first arrival. Reference numeral 170 denotes a scope, which groups one or more activities 150 constituting a part of the workflow.

  A state monitoring unit 120 detects a state change of the activity 150. Reference numeral 130 denotes a scope monitoring unit, which is activated by the state monitoring unit 120 and monitors a change in the state of the scope that occurs in response to a change in the state of the activity.

  Reference numeral 180 denotes an activity information table that stores information related to the activity 150. The activity information table 180 has three storage areas: an activity identifier 181, state information 182, and scope information 183. The state information 182 indicates the execution state of the activity. The activity execution state is classified by one of “not executed”, “running”, “completed”, “abnormal end”, and “forced end”. The scope information 183 stores the identifier of the scope 170 to which the activity 150 identified by the activity identifier 181 belongs.

  Reference numeral 190 denotes a scope information table that stores information related to the scope 160. The scope information table 190 has three storage areas: a scope identifier 191, state information 192, and parent scope information 193. The status information 192 indicates the execution status of the scope. The execution state of the scope is classified by one of “active”, “completed”, and “abnormal end”. “Active” indicates that the processing of the scope is not completed. The parent scope information 193 stores an identifier of an upper scope 170 to which the scope 170 identified by the scope identifier 191 belongs.

  Instead of providing the scope information 183 in the activity information table 180, an activity identifier 181 is repeatedly provided in the scope information table 190, and the scope information 183, the scope identifier 191, the state information 192, and the parent scope information 193 are associated with the activity identifier 181. The data format of the scope information table 190 may be such that data items are provided.

  The hardware of the workflow system is realized by a computer (computer) including a CPU, a memory, a storage device, an input device, and an output device. The workflow engine 110, the state monitoring unit 120, and the scope monitoring unit 130 are program modules that are stored in the memory of the computer and executed by the CPU. Although not shown, there are other application programs that perform business-dependent processing. The application program communicates with the workflow engine 110 via an API (Application Program Interface). The business process definition 140, the activity information table 180, and the scope information table 190 are stored in the storage device of this computer. The activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 are managed for each case, that is, for each process instance. In the present embodiment, description of existing workflow technology such as a table for managing process instances is omitted. The workflow system can also be implemented in the form of a server / client system. In this case, the client computer is provided with a user interface program and is mainly responsible for the input / output portion for the user. The present invention can also be applied to a distributed environment based on the Web.

  FIG. 2 shows a part of a description example of the flow definition by BPEL4WS. In the figure, <sequence> defines the appearing activities or scopes to be executed in order. <Flow> defines an appearing activity or scope to be executed in parallel. When this flow definition is implemented by a conventional workflow management system, it can be defined by a business process definition 140 when the two control nodes 160 shown in FIG.

  When the business process definition 140 shown in FIG. 1 is registered in the workflow management system, the system performs initial setting of the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190. The system writes information about each activity 150 existing in the business process definition 140 in the activity information table 180. That is, the identifier 181, state information 182, and scope information 183 of each activity 150 are stored. In the scope information 183, the identifier of the upper scope to which the activity 150 belongs is written. The system writes information about each scope 170 existing in the business process definition 140 in the scope information table 190. That is, the scope identifier 191, state information 192, and parent scope information 193 of each scope 170 are stored. If there is a parent scope 170 to which the scope 170 belongs, the parent scope identifier is written in the parent scope information 193.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 that are initially set for the business process definition 140 shown in FIG. In the activity state information 182 indicated by each activity identifier 181 in the activity information table 180, “unexecuted” indicating that the execution of the activity has not started is set. The status information 192 of the scope indicated by each scope identifier 191 in the scope information table 190 is set to “active” indicating that the scope processing is not completed. The initial setting of the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 may be performed using a definition tool, or may be performed manually by a user.

  4 to 6 are diagrams illustrating a processing procedure of the scope monitoring unit 130. As shown in the figure, this procedure includes processing steps 41 to 45, 51 to 54, and 61 to 65.

  Hereinafter, a processing procedure of the scope monitoring unit 130 will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 together with operations of other program modules shown in FIG. The example shown in FIG. 1 is used as the business process definition 140. In the following description, the end state of the activity state information 182 refers to “complete” indicating that the execution of the activity has ended normally, “abnormal end” indicating that an error has occurred, or application, etc. Indicates either “forced termination” that was forcibly terminated by an instruction. Similarly, the end state of the scope state information 192 is “complete” indicating that the processing in the scope has ended normally, and that the processing has ended due to an error during the processing of the activity or control node in the scope. Indicates either “abnormal end”.

  When the execution of the workflow defined by the business process definition 140 starts, the workflow engine 110 sets the status information 182 of the activity “A” to “being executed”. Alternatively, the state monitoring unit 120 may detect the state of the activity “A” from the workflow engine 110 and set the state information 182 of the activity to “being executed”. The state monitoring unit 120 detects the state change of the activity “A”, and activates and notifies the scope monitoring unit 130 (step 41). The scope monitoring unit 130 acquires the status information 182 of the activity “A” from the activity information table 180, but since it is “in execution” (step 42: other), the process ends. When the activity status information 182 is “executing”, the status monitoring unit 120 may not activate the scope monitoring unit 130. Then, there is no case of branching to Step 42: others.

  When the process of the activity “A” is normally completed, the workflow engine 110 changes the status information 182 of the activity “A” to “completed”. Alternatively, the state monitoring unit 120 may detect the state of the activity “A” from the workflow engine 110 and change the state information 182 of the activity to “completed”. The state monitoring unit 120 detects a change in the state of the activity “A”, and activates and notifies the scope monitoring unit 130 (step 41). The scope monitoring unit 130 acquires the status information 182 of the activity “A” from the activity information table 180. Since the status information 182 is “completed” (step 42: completed), the scope monitoring unit 130 sets another activity belonging to the scope “S2” belonging to the scope “S2” set in the scope information 183 of the activity “A” or “ The activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 are searched for the presence / absence of a lower scope having S2 ″ as the parent scope (step 43). Since there is another activity “D” belonging to the same scope “S2” (step 43: Yes), the process proceeds to step 44. If the status information 182 and 192 of all activities or scopes belonging to the same scope “S2” is acquired and all the status information 182 and 192 are in an end state (step 44: Yes), the process proceeds to step 45. Otherwise (step 44: No), the process is terminated. Here, since the status information 182 of the activity “D” is “unexecuted” (step 44: No), the processing is terminated.

  In the workflow being executed, the activities “B” and “C” are changed to “execution” by the division node which is the control node 160 next. The state monitoring unit 120 detects the state change of the activities “B” and “C”, and activates and notifies the scope monitoring unit 130 (step 41). The scope monitoring unit 130 acquires the status information 182 of the activities “B” and “C” from the activity information table 180, but ends the processing because it is “executing” (step 42: other).

  Next, it is assumed that the processing of “B” among the activities “B” and “C” that are “being executed” normally ends first, and the status information 182 changes to “completed”. The operations of the state monitoring unit 120 and the scope monitoring unit 130 in this case are the same as those at the normal end of the activity “A” described above.

  An example of the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 at this time is shown in FIG.

  Next, it is assumed that the processing of the activity “C” is normally completed and the status information 182 is changed to “completed”. The state monitoring unit 120 detects the state change of the activity “C”, and activates and notifies the scope monitoring unit 130 (step 41). The scope monitoring unit 130 acquires the status information 182 of the activity “C” from the activity information table 180, but since it is “completed” (step 42: completed), the affiliation set in the scope information 183 of the activity “C” The activity information table 180 is searched for the presence or absence of other activities belonging to the scope “S1” or the lower scope having “S1” as the parent scope (step 43). Since there is another activity “B” belonging to the same scope “S1” (step 43: Yes), the process proceeds to step 44. If the state information 182 and 192 of all activities or scopes belonging to the same scope “S1” is acquired and all the state information 182 and 192 are in the end state (step 44: Yes), the process proceeds to step 45. Otherwise (step 44: No), the process is terminated. Here, since the status information 182 of the activity “B” is “completed” (step 44: Yes), the process proceeds to step 45. In step 45, the scope monitoring unit 130 sets the status information 192 of the scope whose scope identifier 191 is the scope to “completed”. Here, the status information 192 of the scope “S1” is set to “completed”, and the process proceeds to step 61.

  In step 61, the scope monitoring unit 130 searches the scope information table 190 to determine whether there is a parent scope of the scope. If the parent scope exists (step 61: Yes), the process proceeds to step 62, and if it does not exist (step 61: No), the process ends. Here, since the parent scope “S2” exists in the scope “S1” (step 61: Yes), the processing proceeds to step 62. In step 62, the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 are searched for the scope belonging to the same parent scope as this parent scope or the presence / absence of an activity whose belonging scope is the parent scope. If such a scope or activity exists (step 62: Yes), the process proceeds to step 63, and if it does not exist (step 62: No), the process ends. Here, there are activities “A” and “D” with the scope to which they belong “S2” (step 62: Yes), so the process proceeds to step 63. In step 63, if all the status information 192 or 182 of all the scopes or activities acquired in step 62 are in an end state (step 63: Yes), the process proceeds to step 64. Otherwise (step 63: No), the process is terminated. Here, the status information 182 of the activity “A” is “completed”, but the status information 182 of the “D” is “unexecuted”, so the processing ends.

  An example of the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 at this time is shown in FIG.

  In the workflow being executed, the activity “D” becomes “executed” by the waiting node which is the control node 160 next. The state monitoring unit 120 detects the state change of the activity “D”, and activates and notifies the scope monitoring unit 130 (step 41). The scope monitoring unit 130 acquires the status information 182 of the activity “D” from the activity information table 180, but since it is “in execution” (step 42: other), the process ends.

  It is assumed that the process of activity “D” is normally completed and the status information 182 is changed to “completed”. The state monitoring unit 120 detects a change in the state of the activity “D” and activates and notifies the scope monitoring unit 1030 (step 41). The scope monitoring unit 130 acquires the status information 182 of the activity “D” from the activity information table 180, but since it is “completed” (step 42: completed), the scope monitoring unit 130 proceeds to step 43. Since there is another activity “A” and scope “S1” belonging to the scope “S2” belonging to the scope information 183 set in the scope information 183 of the activity “D” (step 43: Yes), the process proceeds to step 44. Since the status information 182 of the activity “A” and the status information 192 of the scope “S1” are “completed” (step 44: Yes), the processing proceeds to step 45. Next, the scope monitoring unit 130 sets the status information 192 of the scope “S2” to “completed” and proceeds to step 61. Since there is no parent scope of the scope “S2” (step 61: No), the process is terminated.

  An example of the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 at this time is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, it can be seen that the execution of the workflow in the range shown in FIG. 1 of the business process definition 140 is completed.

  In step 43, if there is no other activity belonging to the scope to which the activity belongs or a lower scope having the scope as a parent scope (step 43: No), only the activity belongs to the scope. Therefore, the scope monitoring unit 130 immediately sets the status information 192 of the scope to “completed” (step 45).

  Similarly, in step 62, if there is no activity that belongs to the same parent scope as the parent scope or an activity in which the scope belongs to the parent scope (step 62: No), the parent scope includes the activity. Since only the scope belongs, the scope monitoring unit 130 immediately sets the status information 192 of the parent scope to “completed” (step 64).

  Further, after rewriting the state of the parent scope to “completed” at step 64, the scope monitoring unit 130 repeats the processing after step 61 for the scope whose scope identifier 191 is the parent scope (step 65). As a result, the specification of BPEL4WS that the parent scope is “completed” when all the scopes or activities belonging to the parent scope are completed can be realized.

  The operation of each program module shown in FIG. 1 when the workflow is normally executed has been described above.

  Next, the operation of each program module shown in FIG. 1 when the activity 150 ends abnormally during workflow execution will be described.

  Assume that the execution of the workflow defined in the business process definition 140 is started, and the state of the activity “A” changes to “not executed”, “being executed”, and “completed”. In the workflow being executed, the activities “B” and “C” are changed to “execution” by the division node which is the control node 160 next. The operations of the state monitoring unit 120 and the scope monitoring unit 130 in this case are the same as the processing procedure at the time of normal completion of the workflow.

  Next, it is assumed that an error occurs in the activity “B” that is “being executed” and the activity “B” is “abnormally ended”. At this time, the workflow engine 110 or the state monitoring unit 120 changes the state information 182 of the activity “B” to “abnormal end”. The state monitoring unit 120 detects a change in the state of the activity “B”, and activates and notifies the scope monitoring unit 130 (step 41). The scope monitoring unit 130 acquires the status information 182 of the activity “B” from the activity information table 180. Since this status information 182 is “abnormal end” (step 42: abnormal), the scope monitoring unit 130 sets other activities belonging to the scope “S1” to which the scope “S1” belonging to the activity “B” is set. The activity information table 180 is searched for presence / absence (step 51). Since the activity “C” belonging to the same scope “S1” exists (step 51: Yes), the process proceeds to step 52, and the activity whose status information 182 of the acquired activity is not in the end state is set to “forced end”. Here, the scope monitoring unit 130 sets the activity “C” to “forced termination”, and proceeds to step 53. In step 53, the status information 192 of the scope identifier 191 is set to “abnormal end” for the scope whose scope identifier 191 is indicated by the scope information 183. Here, the status information 192 of the scope “S1” is set to “abnormal end”, and the process proceeds to step. In step 54, the scope monitoring unit 130 instructs the workflow engine 110 to execute the failure handler of the scope “S 1” via the state monitoring unit 120. The processing content of the failure handler is defined in advance by the business process definition 140. The application that receives the failure notification from the workflow engine 110 dynamically generates a processing step, and the workflow engine 110 executes the failure handler. The scope monitoring unit 130 is notified of the execution end of the failure handler from the workflow engine 110 via the state monitoring unit 120, and proceeds to step 61.

  In step 61, since the parent scope exists in the scope “S1” (step 61: Yes), the process proceeds to step 62, and activities “A” and “D” belonging to the parent scope exist (step 62: Yes). ), The process proceeds to step 63. Here, the status information 182 of the activity “A” is “completed”, but the processing is ended because the status of “D” is “unexecuted”.

  An example of the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 at this time is shown in FIG.

  In the workflow being executed, the activity “D” becomes “executed” by the waiting node which is the control node 160 next. Thereafter, the processing procedure of the state monitoring unit 120 and the scope monitoring unit 130 until the activity “D” is “completed” is the same as the processing procedure when the workflow is normally completed.

  An example of the activity information table 180 and the scope information table 190 when the activity “D” is “completed” is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, it can be seen that the execution of the workflow in the range shown in FIG. 1 of the business process definition 140 is completed.

  In step 51, when there is no other activity belonging to the scope to which the activity belongs (step 51: No), since only the activity belongs to the scope, the scope monitoring unit 130 displays the status of the scope. Immediately, "abnormal end" is set (step 53).

  The operation of each program module shown in FIG. 1 when the workflow is executed normally and when the activity in the scope ends abnormally during the workflow execution has been described above.

  According to the above embodiment, when an error occurs in a scope, only the activities belonging to the same scope can be immediately terminated, and the process defined by the failure handler of the scope can be executed.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, since the end state of the scope is “completed” or “abnormal end”, it is stored. If the scope is “complete”, the compensation handler is executed, and if it is “abnormal end”, control such as not being executed can be performed.

  Furthermore, according to the above embodiment, since the scope range can be known from the scope information table, the workflow variable to be used can be validated only within the scope as defined by the specification of BPEL4WS.

It is a block diagram of the workflow management system of an Example. It is a figure which shows a part of example of a flow description by BPEL4WS. It is a figure which shows the example of the initial setting of an activity information table and a scope information table. It is a figure explaining the implementation procedure of a scope monitoring part. It is a figure explaining the implementation procedure of a scope monitoring part (continuation). It is a figure explaining the implementation procedure of a scope monitoring part (continuation). It is a figure which shows the example of the activity information table and scope information table at the time of completing activity "A" and "B". It is a figure which shows the example of the activity information table and scope information table at the time of completing activity "A", "B", and "C". It is a figure which shows the example of the activity information table and scope information table at the time of completing activity "A", "B", "C", "D". FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an activity information table and a scope information table at the time when an activity “A” is completed and “B” is abnormally terminated. It is a figure which shows the example of an activity information table and a scope information table at the time of completing "D" after activity "A" was completed and "B" ended abnormally.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 ... Workflow engine 120 ... State monitoring part 130 ... Scope monitoring part 140 ... Business process definition 150 ... Activity 170 ... Scope 180 ... Activity information table 190 ... Scope information table

Claims (10)

A storage device for storing a business process definition in which an execution procedure of a plurality of activities and an execution procedure of a scope for grouping the activities are defined;
An activity information table storing status information for each of the activities and an identifier of a scope to which the activity belongs;
A scope information table for storing state information for each of the scopes;
A workflow engine that executes the activity according to the business process definition and changes an execution state of the activity;
A state monitoring unit for monitoring the state of the activity;
Fired when the activity status changes, and when the activity is completed, sets all the other activities belonging to the same scope to which the activity belongs to the completion status of the scope to which the activity belongs A workflow management system comprising a scope monitoring unit having means. The scope information table stores state information and an identifier of a parent scope to which each scope belongs.
The scope monitoring unit is activated when the state of the activity changes, and when the activity is completed, the other activity or scope belonging to the same scope to which the activity belongs is completed when the activity belongs to the activity Means for setting the status of the scope to complete, and means for setting the status of the parent scope to complete when the scope belonging to the parent scope to which the scope to which the activity belongs belongs or all other activities are completed. The workflow management system according to claim 1, further comprising:   2. The workflow according to claim 1, wherein the status information of the scope includes “active” indicating that the processing of the scope is not completed, “completed” indicating that the scope is normally completed, and “abnormal termination”. Management system.   The activity information table stores state information for each of the activities, and the scope information table stores an identifier of a scope to which each of the activities belongs and state information of the scope to which the activity belongs. Item 3. The workflow management system according to item 1 or 2.   The scope monitoring unit further includes means for setting the status of other uncompleted activities belonging to the same scope to which the activity belongs to forced termination when the activity is abnormally terminated, and the status of the scope to which the activity belongs. The workflow management system according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit configured to set abnormal termination. On the computer,
A workflow engine function for executing the activity according to a business process definition in which an execution procedure of a plurality of activities and an execution procedure of a scope for grouping the activities are defined, and changing an execution state of the activity;
A state monitoring function that monitors the state of the activity, and an activity that is activated when the state of the activity changes, and stores state information and an identifier of a scope to which the activity belongs for each of the activities when the activity is completed Referring to the information table and the scope information table that stores state information for each of the scopes, when all other activities belonging to the same scope to which the activity belongs are completed, the status of the scope to which the activity belongs A workflow program for realizing the scope monitoring function that sets the status to complete. The scope information table stores state information and an identifier of a parent scope to which each scope belongs.
As the scope monitoring function, the activity is started when all other activities or scopes belonging to the same scope to which the activity belongs are completed when the activity is completed on the computer and the activity is completed. A function that sets the status of the scope to which the activity belongs, and the status of the parent scope to completion when all the scopes or other activities that belong to the parent scope to which the activity belongs belong to the parent scope. The workflow program according to claim 6 for realizing the function to perform.   7. The workflow according to claim 6, wherein the status information of the scope includes “active” indicating that the processing of the scope is not completed, “completed” indicating that the scope is normally completed, and “abnormal termination”. program.   The activity information table stores state information for each of the activities, and the scope information table stores an identifier of a scope to which each of the activities belongs and state information of the scope to which the activity belongs. Item 8. The workflow program according to item 6 or 7.   As the scope monitoring function, when the activity is abnormally terminated, a function for setting the status of other uncompleted activities belonging to the same scope to which the activity belongs to forced termination to the computer, and the activity belongs The workflow program according to claim 6, which realizes a function of setting a state of a scope to be abnormally ended.

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