Abstract
This paper describes a generic approach for building object-oriented workflow management systems in a distributed environment. It is based on business objects that encapsulate resources and basic business processes. They are accessible via CORBA interfaces. As opposed to more conventional work-flow approaches, control is fully decentralised, arbitrary workflow control structures can be modelled, and involved resources maintain autonomy. Moreover, the approach is not limited to one specific implementation of a workflow management system but can be applied on a more generic basis.
The concepts are validated by an implementation on top of Orbix and are illustrated by concrete examples of workflows. All distributed interactions are based on CORBA object communication. Selected CORBA services such as naming, events, persistence and externalisation are utilised, and experiences with their integration into our environment are reported, too.
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Schill, A., Mittasch, C. (1998). A Generic Workflow Environment based on CORBA Business Objects. In: Davies, N., Jochen, S., Raymond, K. (eds) Middleware’98. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1283-9_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1283-9_2
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