Higher-order process modeling: Product-lining, variability modeling and beyond

Johannes Neubauer, Bernhard Steffen, Tiziana Margaria

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

We present a graphical and dynamic framework for binding and execution of (business) process models. It is tailored to integrate 1) ad hoc processes modeled graphically, 2) third party services discovered in the (Inter)net, and 3) (dynamically) synthesized process chains that solve situationspecific tasks, with the synthesis taking place not only at design time, but also at runtime. Key to our approach is the introduction of type-safe stacked second-order execution contexts that allow for higher-order process modeling. Tamed by our underlying strict service-oriented notion of abstraction, this approach is tailored also to be used by application experts with little technical knowledge: users can select, modify, construct and then pass (component) processes during process execution as if they were data. We illustrate the impact and essence of our framework along a concrete, realistic (business) process modeling scenario: the development of Springer's browser-based Online Conference Service (OCS). The most advanced feature of our new framework allows one to combine online synthesis with the integration of the synthesized process into the running application. This ability leads to a particularly flexible way of implementing self-adaption, and to a particularly concise and powerful way of achieving variability not only at design time, but also at runtime.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)259-283
Number of pages25
JournalElectronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science, EPTCS
Volume129
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes
EventSemantics, Abstract Interpretation, and Reasoning About Programs: Essays Dedicated to David A. Schmidt on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday - Manhattan, KS, United States
Duration: 19 Sep 201320 Sep 2013

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