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Annual Asian Computing Science Conference

ASIAN 1996: Coordination Technology for Collaborative Applications pp 99–119Cite as

Coordination in workflow management systems — A rule-based approach

  • Workflow and Coordination
  • Conference paper
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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1364))

Abstract

Coordination is a key requirement of software systems where different parts have to be adjusted in order to reach a common goal. A prominent example thereof are workflow management systems (WFMS). They in particular require flexible mechanisms to realize different kinds of coordination, which are called coordination policies. This need for flexibility emerges from the fact that coordination policies in WFMS are subject to frequent changes caused by the business environment. Flexibility is required in different directions, ranging from a dynamic evolution of existing policies to proper reactions to unpredictable situations. Active object-oriented database systems (AOODBS) along with their basic mechanism in terms of Event/Condition/Action (ECA) rules seem to be a promising technology in order to cope with these requirements. ECA rules allow for an event-driven realization of context- and time-dependent behavior which constitutes a major property of coordination policies. By encapsulating coordination policies within ECA rules, general knowledge can be represented independently from specific business processes. This both eases modification of coordination policies and enhances their reusability. To demonstrate the power of this approach, the paper identifies various coordination policies required within different areas of WFMS and outlines their mapping to ECA rules.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Systems, University of Linz, A-4040, Linz, Austria

    G. Kappel, S. Rausch-Schott & W. Retschitzegger

Authors
  1. G. Kappel
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  2. S. Rausch-Schott
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  3. W. Retschitzegger
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Editor information

Wolfram Conen Gustaf Neumann

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Kappel, G., Rausch-Schott, S., Retschitzegger, W. (1998). Coordination in workflow management systems — A rule-based approach. In: Conen, W., Neumann, G. (eds) Coordination Technology for Collaborative Applications. ASIAN 1996. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1364. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0027102

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0027102

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-64170-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69699-5

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