Barbara Gallina, Nicolas Guelfi, Amel Mammar

1
Structuring Business Nested Processes Using UML
2.0 Activity Diagrams and Translating into
XPDL

• Barbara Gallina, Nicolas Guelfi, Amel Mammar
• University of Luxembourg
• Faculty of Sciences, Technologies and
  Communication
• Laboratory of Advanced Software Systems
• 6, rue Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi
• L-1359 Luxembourg-Kirchberg LUXEMBOURG
• barbara.gallina,nicolas.guelfi,amel.mammar_at_un
  i.lu

2
Table of Contents

• The issue
• Context The Efficient project
• State of the Art
• Starting point
• Steps to reach a solution
• Proposed solution UML2.0 AD?XPDL
• Conclusion and future work
• Bibliography

3
The issue

• Engineering complex distributed business
  processes necessitates an integrated use of
  techniques for
• modeling
• verification
• validation
• Modelling of
• Behaviour of e-Business transactions in a
  business analysts understandable manner
• Nested transactions for reusability and
  structuring purposes
• Exception handling (alternatives) for
  dependability purposes
• Distributed validation through transactions
  animation
• Use of a Workflow Engine
• Verification through model checking

4
The E-fficient project

• Tools set (called Animator) for eBusiness
  Transactions
• Three layered approach
• Business layer transactions identification
• Specification layer
• UML Activity diagram business process
• UML Class diagram specification of messages
• Technical layer execution of the transaction,
  translated into, XPDL using an animator

5
State of the art building blocks

• Transaction models
• Advanced transaction models
• Exception handling
• In a distributed context
• Combined with (nested) transactions
• Design notations
• User level UML 2.0
• Class Diagrams for business domain data
• Activity Diagrams for business transactions
• Engine level XMLSchema and XPDL

6
State of the art zoom into XPDL

• A standard XML based language proposed by WfMC
• An exchange language to be used at the interface
  between the tools to design workflows and the
  Enactment Service to execute workflows

7
Starting point

• FTT-UML, a profile proposal based on UML 1.5 that
  aimed at integrating fault tolerance ref CGR04
• Some transformation rules between UML 1.5 to XPDL
  ref Esh03

8
Steps to reach a solution

• Expressivness power comparison UML2.0 AD vs XPDL
  using W. van der Aalst criteria
• Workflow Patterns directly supported (exclusive
  choice for example)
• Workflow Patterns that need a workaround solution
  (deferred choice in XPDL)
• ?
• Adoption of some solutions and propositions of
  new ones

9
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Process

• Automatic routing of documents to the users
  responsible for working on them
• Exchange of a set of information to achieve a
  business goal
• Modeled using
• an ActivityDiagram in UML2.0
• a WorkflowProcess definition in XPDL

10
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Roles

• Roles (business partners) cooperate in order to
  reach the transaction goal (in normal and
  exceptional cases)
• Modeled using
• a swimlane in UML 2.0
• a default-value inside the datafileds in XPDL

lt/DataTypegt ltInitialValuegt Swimlane lt/InitialVa
luegt lt/DataFieldgt
11
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Simple tasks

• Action node Activity with no implementation

ltActivity Id"ActivityID" Name"ActivityName"gt ltIm
plementationgt ltNo/gtlt/Implementationgt... lt/Activity
gt
ActivityName
12
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Complex Tasks

• Nested tasks
• Application or procedure call
• Nested transactions

ltActivity Id"ID" Name"Name"gt ltImplementationgtltSu
bFlowExecution"SYNCH" Id"RelatedWPID"gt...lt/SubFl
owgt lt/Implementationgtlt/Activitygt
Name
ltActivity Id"ID"Name"Operation" ltImplementationgt
ltTool Id"IDTool" Type"APPLICATION"gt ltActualParam
etersgt...lt/ActualParametersgt lt/Toolgtlt/Implementati
ongt...lt/Activitygt
Operation
ltDescriptiongt Transaction lt/Descriptiongt
ltltTransactiongtgt
XPDL 2.0 significant changes
13
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Process starting/ending point

• The starting point ?
• Initial node Route Activity
• The ending point ?
• Final Activity Node Route Activity

ltActivity Id"initialID" Name"initial"gt ltRoute/gt.
..
ltActivity IdfinalID" Name"initial"gt ltRoute/gt...
14
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Control nodes

• Control nodes root activities
• Fork
• Decision

ltActivity Id"ID" Name"fork"gt ltRoute/gt ...ltTransi
tionRestrictionsgt ltTransitionRestrictiongt ltSplitTy
pe"AND"/gt lt/TransitionRestrictiongt lt/TransitionRe
strictionsgtlt/Activitygt
ltTransitionRestrictiongt ltSplit Type"XOR"/gt lt/Tran
sitionRestrictiongt
15
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Inputs/outputs

• Represent administrative documents on which
  operation related to process tasks are executed
• Modeled using
• Object nodes in UML 2.0
• Data Fields in XPDL and also as Formal/Actual
  Parameter if inputs or outputs of SubFlow or Tool
  Activity

ltDataField Id"o_schema" IsArray"FALSE"Name"obje
ct"gt ltDataTypegt
16
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Transition

• Edge Transition

ltTransition From"A-ID" IdtransID"
To"B-ID"gt... lt/Transitiongt
17
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Exceptions

• Circumstances that diverge from the normal ones
• Modeled using
• Accept Event Action with an outgoing Interrupting
  Edge inside an Interruptible Region in UML 2.0
• Deadline specification inside an activity and
  transition condition of type Exception in XPDL1.0
• in XPDL 2.0 Event concept will be supported

ltDeadline Execution"ASYNCHR"gt ltDeadlineConditiongt
date lt/DeadlineConditiongt ltExceptionNamegtExName lt/
ExceptionNamegtlt/Deadlinegt ltTransition From"Ax"
Id"Trans" Name"XFailure" To"Ay"gt ltCondition
Type"EXCEPTION"gt lt/Conditiongt...lt/Transitiongt
18
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Exception Handling

• Backward or Forward Error Recovery
• Modeled using
• A CallBehaviorAction stereotyped
• FER named by the exception in case there is a
  way to go
• BER named by the exception in case the only
  possible way is roll-back
• Sub-Process Definition (synchronous) with
  stereotype nature indicated in description element

ltDescriptiongt FER or BER lt/Descriptiongt
19
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Concurrent Exception

• Exception resolution in case of concurrency
• Modeled using
• a class diagram containing the resolution tree in
  UML 2.0
• XMLSchema

20
UML2.0 AD?XPDL Exceptional Outcome

• Final ActivityNode Route Activity with
  name
• with the stereotype Exception
• Exception and name
• of the exception
• signalled to the
• enclosing context

ltDescriptiongt Exception lt/Descriptiongt
ltltExceptiongtgt
21
Conclusion and future work

• Partial implementation of the solution
• plugin development inside Magic Draw
• plugin integration inside Animator tools set
• Update to the latest MagicDraw version
• Formalisation of the proposed solution
• Investigate concurrent exceptions deeply
• Take into deeply consideration XPDL 2.0
• support for ACID properties
• support for exception handling

22
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