Skip to main content

Making Workflow Models Sound Using Petri Net Controller Synthesis

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 3290))

Abstract

More and more companies use ”process aware” information systems to make their business processes more efficient. To do this, workflow definitions must be formulated in a formal specification language, as they represent executable derivates of business process descriptions. Both for the less formal descriptions of business processes as well as the workflow definitions, Petri-net based approaches are used successfully. In the literature the business process descriptions are required to be well-structured, leading to a sound workflow definition. We argue that in many cases well-structuredness is too restrictive for practitioners. Relaxed soundness has been introduced previously as a more suitable requirement. The paper presents how methods from controller synthesis for Petri nets can be used to automatically make this type of models sound. For this reason we adopt the idea of controllability for Petri net workflow models.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. van der Aalst, W.M.P.: The Application of Petri Nets to Workflow Management. The Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers 8(1), 21–66 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Workflow Verification: Finding Control-Flow Errors using Petri-net based Techniques. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., Desel, J., Oberweis, A. (eds.) Business Process Management. LNCS, vol. 1806, pp. 161–183. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Agostini, A., de Michelis, G.: A Light Workflow Management System Using Simple Process Models. Computer Supported Cooperative Work 9(3/4), 335–363 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. BEA Systems, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, SAP AG, Siebel Systems. Business Process Execution Language for Web Services Version 1.1 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Cortadella, J., Kishinevsky, M., Lavagno, L., Yakovlev, A.: Deriving Petri Nets from Finite Transition Systems. IEEE Transactions on Computers 47(8), 859–882 (1998)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  6. Chrzastowski-Wachtel, P., Benatallah, B., Hamadi, R., O’Dell, M., Susanto, A.: A top-down petri net-based approach for dynamic workflow modeling. In: van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Weske, M. (eds.) BPM 2003. LNCS, vol. 2678, pp. 336–353. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  7. Dehnert, J.: Non-controllable choice robustness: Expressing the controllability of workflow processes. In: Esparza, J., Lakos, C. (eds.) ICATPN 2002. LNCS, vol. 2360, pp. 121–141. Springer, Heidelberg (2002)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Dehnert, J.: A Methodology for Workflow Modeling - From business process modeling towards sound workflow specification. PhD thesis, TU Berlin (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Dehnert, J., Rittgen, P.: Relaxed Soundness of Business Processes. In: Dittrich, K.L., Geppert, A., Norrie, M.C. (eds.) CAiSE 2001. LNCS, vol. 2068, pp. 157–170. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. Dehnert, J., van der Aalst, W.: Bridging the Gap Between Business Models and Workflow Specifications. International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems (IJCIS) 3(3) (2004) (to appear)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Esparza, J., Nielsen, M.: Decidability Issues for Petri Nets: A Survey. Journal of Information Processing and Cybernetics 30, 143–160 (1994)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  12. Esparza, J., Silva, M.: Circuits, Handles, Bridges and Nets. In: Rozenberg, G. (ed.) APN 1990. LNCS, vol. 483, pp. 210–242. Springer, Heidelberg (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Giua, A., DiCesare, F., Silva, M.: Generalized mutual exclusion constraints on nets with uncontrollable transitions. In: Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Chicago, IL, pp. 974–979 (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Ghaffari, A., Rezg, N., Xie, X.: Design of a live and maximally permissive petri net controller using the theory of regions. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation 19(1), 137–142 (2003)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  15. Langner, P., Schneider, C., Wehler, J.: Petri Net Based Certification of Event-driven Process Chains. In: Desel, J., Silva, M. (eds.) ICATPN 1998. LNCS, vol. 1420, pp. 286–305. Springer, Heidelberg (1998)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Moldt, D., Rodenhagen, J.: Ereignisgesteuerte Prozessketten und Petrinetze zur Modellierung von Workflows. In: Visuelle Verhaltensmodellierung verteilter und nebenläufiger Software-Systeme, Fachberichte Informatik, vol. 24/00-I, pp. 57–63 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Nielsen, M., Rozenberg, G., Thiagarajan, P.S.: Elementary transition systems. Theoretical Computer Science 96(1), 3–33 (1992)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  18. Reichert, M., Dadam, P.: ADEPTflex: Supporting Dynamic Changes ofWorkflow without Loosing Control. Journal of Intelligent Information Systems 10(2), 93–129 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Schmidt, K., LoL, A.: A Low Level Analyser. In: Nielsen, M., Simpson, D. (eds.) ICATPN 2000. LNCS, vol. 1825, pp. 465–474. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  20. Software-Ley. COSA 3.0 User Manual. Software-Ley GmbH, Pullheim, Germany (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Unified Modeling Language: version 1.4.2, ISO (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Verbeek, H.M.W., Basten, T., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Diagnosing Workflow Processes using Woflan. The Computer Journal 44(4), 246–279 (2001)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  23. Yamalidou, K., Moody, J., Lemmon, M., Antsakli, P.: Feedback control of Petri nets based on place invariants. Automatica 32(1), 15–28 (1996)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Dehnert, J., Zimmermann, A. (2004). Making Workflow Models Sound Using Petri Net Controller Synthesis. In: Meersman, R., Tari, Z. (eds) On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2004: CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE. OTM 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3290. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-30468-5_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-30468-5_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-23663-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-30468-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics