Using XSL to Coordinate Workflows

Abstract

Web-based workflow management can greatly benefit from Internet technologies, as these offer required functionalities to support distributed and cross-organizational workflows. It is, however, vital for any successful Internet application to deliver its services via a standard protocol in a standard format. The Workspaces architecture combines workflow management with standard Internet technology, namely the Extensible Markup Language XML and the Extensible Stylesheet Language XSL, with coordination technology. It is based on the notion of steps as the basic kinds of activity. Several kinds of steps describe activities or their coordination. A workflow definition is compiled into a set of steps that can be distributed individually. The implementation of Workspaces uses XSL processing for the generation and execution of steps.

The Workspaces architecture and its implementation with standard Internet technologies is described. We report on the experiences made and draw conclusiond on the adequacy of XSL as a platform indepent and standardized component to build a Web-based workflow system.