1. Development of a user interface generator for a workflow information system Supervisor : Prof. Jean Vanderdonckt Unité de Systèmes d’Information Mémoire présenté en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maître en Informatique par: Miguel Moreno Roldán

2. Introduction (1) Commercial software offers an editor and an engine to execute the processes that run well together There are other editors which allow us to detail better the business processes The most common commercial workflow management systems do not support, for the most part, the behaviour of workflow resource patterns

3. Introduction (2) FlowiXML editorAtoms Petri nets workflow definitionLimited UML state charts workflow definition XML workflow definition splitted in modelsSingle own XML workflow definition Resources information can be exportedUser management can not be managed from its external environment Workflow resource patterns definition allowed in task definition No workflow resource patterns support FlowiXML editor is the editor chosen because it fits the requirements of the workflow resource patterns Atoms is the commercial software chosen because…

4. Introduction (3) Problems to solve:  From Petri nets to state charts Split problem Atoms does not allow the synchronization bar definition  Representation of the workflow resource patterns Atoms does not allow the definition of patterns Atoms features does not allow the representation of the entire set of workflow resource patterns Methodology:  Edit a workflow process in FlowiXML editor and generate the output  Transform the processModel output of FlowiXML editor into an equivalent of Atoms  Transform the mappingModel output of FlowiXML editor into user interfaces which work as if the pattern was applied  Inform the workflow manager about everything impossible to represent to revise it before its execution  Execution of the process

5. Workflow resource patterns CreationPushPullDetourAuto-start Direct allocationDistribution by offer single-resource Resource-initiated allocation DelegationCommencement on creation Deferred allocationDistribution by offer multiple-resources Resource-initiated execution-allocated task EscalationCommencement on allocation Authorization basedDistribution by allocation single-resource Resource-initiate execution-offered task DeallocationPiled execution Separation of dutiesRandom allocationSystem determined agenda content Stateful reallocationChained execution Case handlingRound robin allocationResource determined agenda content Stateless reallocation Retain familiarShortest queueSelection autonomySuspension / resumption Capability-based allocation Early distributionSkip History-based allocationDistribution on enablement Redo Hierarchy level basedLate distributionPre-Do

6. Pattern transformation Delegation pattern  The ability for a resource to allocate a task previously allocated to it to another resource Transformation

7. Technology used This transformation has been developed using the next technologies:  XML to define all information about the processes in both source and target application  XSL (XML Stylesheet Language) to read the output form FlowiXML editor and transform it to be used in Atoms  Java support to execute the XSL transformation

8. Four transformation sets (1) Delegation / Reallocation Stateful reallocation pattern  The ability of a resource to allocate a task to another resource without loss of state data  No possibility to change the resource allocated when the task execution has been started

9. Four transformation sets (2) Redo Redo pattern  The ability for a resource to redo a task that has previously been completed in a case  This representation makes it possible

10. Four transformation sets (3) Skip Skip pattern  The ability for a resource to skip a task allocated to it and to mark the task with a finished status  This representation makes it possible

11. Four transformation sets (4) Direct allocation Round robin allocation pattern  The ability to allocate a task to available resources on a cyclic basis  There are no features in Atoms that allows this kind of allocation

12. Case study - Definition

13. Case study – Transformation

14. Contribution Conceptual contribution:  Workflow resource patterns  Pattern description and exemplification  User interface modeling for each workflow resource pattern Methodological contribution:  Define a process using FlowiXML editor  Export the process information  Transform it using UIGenerator.xsl  Import to Atoms Proof-of-concept:  A XSL transformation file called UIGenerator.xsl which reads the process information defined in FlowiXML editor and transforms it to be used in Atoms

15. Future work Implement the resource management in Atoms  Provide it with different groups of users, making possible the allocation to different resources using the user interfaces generated automatically Study the patterns whose behaviour have not been possible to represent  Study which patterns are; most popular, useful in the business world Redo the transformation using a different target application  Using a petri nets based workflow definition system, trying to find the support of the majority of the workflow resource patterns The transformation of the FlowiXML editor output to be used in a YAWL- supported system  This would allow for perfect behavioural representation of the different patterns