Business Process Modeling Notation Models Research Articles

A higher-order transformation approach to the formalization and analysis of BPMN using graph transformation systems

The Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is a widely used standard notation for defining intra- and inter-organizational workflows. However, the informal description of the BPMN execution semantics leads to different interpretations of BPMN elements and difficulties in checking behavioral properties. In this article, we propose a formalization of the execution semantics of BPMN that, compared to existing approaches, covers more BPMN elements while also facilitating property checking. Our approach is based on a higher-order transformation from BPMN models to graph transformation systems. To show the capabilities of our approach, we implemented it as an open-source web-based tool.

A business process re-engineering approach to transform business process simulation to BPMN model.

Software reverse engineering and reengineering are becoming common in the field of games and website development. Simulation and modeling play an important role in understanding the flow of the overall system. Business process modeling notation (BPMN) is used to show the overall architecture of the business process. Simulated business process re-engineering is essential for implementing change or creating new processes. The simulation model explains whether a change will be successful or not prior to adopting any new business processes or other changes. Some available tools help convert the BPMN to a simulating BPMN model but converting the discrete event simulation model build in commercial off the shelf simulation packages like Simul8 to the BPMN to help generate business process simulation to BPMN is also a key challenge. This framework is introduced to convert the simulation model to BPMN using the reverse engineering concept to understand how the converting tools convert the BPMN model to the simulation model. After understanding this process, the concept of reengineering will be used to build a BPMN from the simulation model. The framework is divided into three main parts model translation, model mapping, and model formation. For model building, two simulation tools Simul8 and BPSimulator are used. It is then tested on two case studies bank and product manufacturing. The output shows the BPMN model is generated from the simulation model within less time on a single click saving time and resources for developing BPMN model first and then making simulation model for testing purpose.

Exploring Natural Language Processing in Model-To-Model Transformations

In this paper, we explore the possibility to apply natural language processing in visual model-to-model (M2M) transformations. Therefore, we present our research results on information extraction from text labels in process models modeled using Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) and use case models depicted in Unified Modeling Language (UML) using the most recent developments in natural language processing (NLP). In this paper, we focus on three relevant tasks, namely, the extraction of verb/noun phrases that would be used to form relations, parsing of conjunctive/disjunctive statements, and the detection of abbreviations and acronyms. Relation extraction was attempted to solve by implementing techniques that combine state-of-the-art NLP language models with formal regular expressions grammar-based structure detection. In this paper, we perform thorough testing of the most recent state-of-the-art NLP tools (CoreNLP, Stanford Stanza, Flair, Spacy, AllenNLP, BERT, ELECTRA), as well as custom BERT-BiLSTM-CRF and ELMo-BiLSTM-CRF implementations, trained with certain data augmentations to improve performance on the most ambiguous cases; these tools are used as a foundation for building tools to extract noun and verb phrases from short text labels generally used in UML and BPMN models. Furthermore, we describe our attempts to improve these extractors by solving the abbreviation/acronym detection problem using machine learning-based detection, as well as process conjunctive and disjunctive statements, due to their relevance to performing advanced text normalization. The obtained results show that the best phrase extraction and conjunctive phrase processing performance was obtained using Stanza based implementation, yet, our trained BERT-BiLSTM-CRF outperformed it for the verb phrase detection task. Our acronym detection approach resulted in the precision of 0.78 and F1-Score of 0.73 which may also be considered quite positive. While this work was inspired by our ongoing research on partial model-to-model transformations, we believe it to be applicable in other areas requiring similar text processing capabilities as well.

Towards Automated Surgical Documentation using automatically generated checklists from BPMN models

Abstract The documentation of surgeries is usually created from memory only after the operation, which is an additional effort for the surgeon and afflicted with the possibility of imprecisely, shortend reports.The display of process steps in the form of checklists and the automatic creation of surgical documentation from the completed process steps could serve as a reminder, standardize the surgical procedure and save time for the surgeon. Based on two works from Reutlingen University, which implemented the creation of dynamic checklists from Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) models and the storage of times at which a process step was completed, a prototype was developed for an android tablet, to expand the dynamic checklists by functions such as uploading photos and files, manual user entries, the interception of foreseeable deviations from the normal course of operations and the automatic creation of OR documentation.

Unraveling Iterative Control Structures from Business Processes

Iterative control structures allow the repeated execution of tasks, activities or sub-processes according to the given conditions in a process model. Iterative control structures can significantly increase the risk of triggering temporal exceptions since activities within the scope of these control structures could be repeatedly executed until a predefined condition is met. In this paper, we propose two approaches to unravel iterative control structures from process models. The first approach unravels loops based on zero-one principle. The second approach unravels loops based on branching probabilities assigned at split gateways. The proposed methods can be used to unfold structured loops, nested loops and crossing loops. Since the unfolded model does not contain any iterative control structures, it can be used for further analysis by process designers during the modeling phase. The proposed methods are implemented based on workflow graphs, and therefore they are compatible with modeling languages such as Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN). In the experiments, the execution behavior of unfolded process models is compared against the original models based on the concept of runs. Experimental results reveal that runs generated from the original models can be correctly executed in the unfolded BPMN models that do not contain any loops.

Research on Smart Contract Optimization Method on Blockchain

The smart contract on the blockchain allows credible transactions without a third party. These transactions are traceable and irreversible. The deployment and implementation of smart contracts in Ethernet will consume some gas, which will directly affect the cost of smart contracts. In order to reduce the consumption of gas during the execution of smart contracts, this article proposes an optimization algorithm for generating business process smart contracts. First, business process modeling notation (BPMN) models are extended to Petri nets. Second, Petri nets are simplified to find nodes in BPMN models that can be considered fusion tasks. Using new mapping rules from the BPMN model to solidity language, BPMN model is generated into Ethereum Smart contract model. In the BPMN models with multilayer fusion task, experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can save 15% gas on average for business processes with multiple fusion tasks.

Formal semantics and transformation of BPMN models

Business process modelling notation (BPMN) represents an industrial standard created in order to provide a graphical semi-formal notation that is readily understandable by all business users, from the business analyst to the technical developers, and, finally, to the business people who will manage those processes. However, BPMN models are expressed in a semi-formal modelling language and need a well-defined formal semantics base for their notations. This formalisation enables analysis and verification tasks. Some efforts have been made to transform BPMN models into formal representations including Petri nets, but, to the best of our knowledge, no work has been done for transforming BPMN models into a language that supports a true concurrency semantics, DD-LOTOS. The DD-LOTOS language is defined for the formal specification of distributed real-time systems and has been defined on a semantic model of true concurrency. The main goal of this paper is to propose a formal semantics for a subset of BPMN, defined in terms of DD-LOTOS code. The paper also proposes a model transformation approach to generate DD-LOTOS code from BPMN models. This approach has been implemented using Eclipse Sirius and Eclipse Acceleo. Two well-known case studies are given to illustrate the transformation.

Transformation and Visualization of BPMN Models to Petri Nets

The Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is a language for capturing business processes. It is able to model the complex concepts of systems such as: choice, parallel, and synchronization. However it suffers from the lack of an unambiguous definition, so we may produces models with semantic errors. On the other hand, Petri nets are a formal tool with solid mathematical principles [4]. Moreover, it offers a number of analytical techniques. So Petri nets and BPMN have complementary abilities: BPMN can handle the modeling and Petri nets can handle the analysis. In this paper, we propose an approach for transforming BPMN models to Petri nets models, then assign coordinates of Petri nets elements and control the path of every arc. Finally, we get a valid and neat Petri net model which is both convenient and practical for human analysts and other Petri nets analysis techniques.

Formal verification of complex business processes based on high-level Petri nets

The Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) has been widely used as a tool for business process modeling. However, BPMN suffers from a lack of standard formal semantics. This weakness can lead to inconsistencies, ambiguities, and incompletenesses within the developed models. In this paper, we propose a formal semantics of BPMN using recursive ECATNets. Owing to this formalism, a large set of BPMN features such as cancellation, multiple instantiation of subprocesses and exception handling can be covered while taking into account the data flow aspect. The benefits and usefulness of this modelling are illustrated through three examples. Moreover, since recursive ECATNets semantics is defined in terms of conditional rewriting logic, one can use the Maude LTL model checker to verify several behavioral properties related to BPMN models. The work presented in this document has been automated through the development of a first prototype.

Bidirectional transformation between BPMN and BPEL with graph grammar

A graph grammar is a formal tool for providing rigorous but intuitive ways to define visual languages. Based on an existing graph grammar, this paper proposes new context-sensitive graph grammar formalism called the Extension of Edge-based Graph Grammar, or E-EGG. The E-EGG introduces new mechanisms into grammatical specifications, productions, operations and so on in order to conveniently treat the bidirectional transformation between the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) and the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). Besides formal definitions of the E-EGG are provided, steps and algorithms to achieve the bidirectional transformation and to check the correctness of BPMN models’ structure are presented. Finally, a case study on transformation from BPMN models to BPEL codes is provided to show how the parsing algorithm of the E-EGG works.

An Agent-Mediated Platform for Business Processes

Business processes have been widely becoming crucial assets of organisations across various industries and domains. The flexibility in dealing with changes when business processes are executed has significant impact on the success of an organisation's business operations, especially in the current ever-changing business environment. In this context, agent-based systems offer a promisingly powerful platform for business process execution. In this paper, the authors propose an agent-mediated platform for business processes with the aim to contribute to bridge the gap between business process management and agent-oriented development. They present a conceptual mapping method for a seamless transition from business process models in Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) to agent-oriented models in the Prometheus methodology, which is implemented using the ATLAS Transformation Language. The authors also developed an Eclipse-based plug-in which allows the designer to import BPMN models into the Eclipse-based Prometheus Design Tool.

Foundation for Equivalences of BPMN Models

Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) is a visual specification language without well-defined concepts for equivalences. This necessitates the establishment of fundamental notions that underpin the equivalences of BPMN processes. The main body of the paper is centered around the principle of substitutibility in which different types of equivalences of BPMN processes are formally described. Additionally, these results provide a basis for defining the behavioural equivalence of BPMN models. Our research investigation contributes to the field of business process management by developing a tight connection between BPMN and its associated equivalence notions.

FORMAL ANALYSIS OF BPMN MODELS: A NuSMV-BASED APPROACH

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) plays a significant role in the specification of business processes. To ascertain the validity of BPMN models, a disciplined approach to analyze their behavior is of particular interest to the field of business process management. This paper advocates a semantics-preserving method for transforming BPMN models into New Symbolic Model Verifier (NuSMV) language as a means to verify the models. A subset of BPMN is specified rigorously in the form of a mathematical model. With this foundation in place, the translation for the subset of BPMN notational elements is then driven by a set of formally defined rules. The practicality of our approach is exemplified using an on-line flight reservation service.

Property specifications for workflow modelling

Previously we provided two formal behavioural semantics for the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) in the process algebra CSP. By exploiting CSP’s refinement orderings, developers may formally compare their BPMN models. However, BPMN is not a specification language, and it is difficult and sometimes impossible to use it to construct behavioural properties against which other BPMN models may be verified. This paper considers a pattern-based approach to expressing behavioural properties. We describe a property specification language P L for capturing a generalisation of Dwyer et al.’s Property Specification Patterns, and present a translation from P L into a bounded, positive fragment of linear temporal logic, which can then be automatically translated into CSP for simple refinement checking. We present a detailed example studying the behavioural properties of an airline ticket reservation business process. Using the same example we also describe some recent results on expressing behavioural compatibility within our semantic models. These results lead to a compositional approach for ensuring deadlock freedom of interacting business processes.

Transformation of BPMN Diagrams to YAWL Nets

Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is the de facto standard for modeling business processes on a conceptual level. However, BPMN lacks a formal semantics and many of its features need to be further interpret, Consequently that hinders BPMN as a standard to statically check the semantic correctness of models. YAWL (Yet Another Workflow Language) allows the specification of executable workflow models. A transformation between these two languages enables the integration of different levels of abstraction in process modeling. This paper discusses how to transform BPMN diagrams to YAWL nets. The benefits of the transformation are threefold. Firstly, it clarifies the semantics of BPMN via a mapping to YAWL. Secondly, the deployment of BPMN business process models is simplified. Thirdly, BPMN models can be analyzed with YAWL verification tools.

Towards the Mapping of Multidimensional BPMN Models to Process Definition Standards

Business Process Management (BPM) community has accepted Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) as de facto business process modeling standard. In this research BPMN is chosen as the notation for representation of multidimensional business processes, as it uses the set of graphical elements that can be refined with specific attributes, allowing to describe every important aspect of the business process, which can be regarded as the modeling dimension. However, BPMN is only graphical notation and does not support the essence of BPM – full business process lifecycle support: from documenting and modeling to execution and monitoring. To accelerate the adoption of BPM, industry has come forward with two BPMN complementing standards – Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) and XML Process Definition Language (XPDL). These two standards are used for different purposes – BPEL is process execution language and XPDL is process exchange language. The problem of mapping BPMN models to BPEL and XPDL is covered in various sources. This paper addresses the issue of mapping BPMN process models in different dimensions to BPEL and XPDL and explores how the structure of BPEL and XPDL is affected after the process is transformed to another dimension. The findings during experiments accomplished in this research can contribute to the creation of the guidelines of how BPMN model in different dimensions can be executed using BPEL or interchanged between different modelling tools.

From business process models to process-oriented software systems

Several methods for enterprise systems analysis rely on flow-oriented representations of business operations, otherwise known as business process models. The Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is a standard for capturing such models. BPMN models facilitate communication between domain experts and analysts and provide input to software development projects. Meanwhile, there is an emergence of methods for enterprise software development that rely on detailed process definitions that are executed by process engines. These process definitions refine their counterpart BPMN models by introducing data manipulation, application binding, and other implementation details. The de facto standard for defining executable processes is the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). Accordingly, a standards-based method for developing process-oriented systems is to start with BPMN models and to translate these models into BPEL definitions for subsequent refinement. However, instrumenting this method is challenging because BPMN models and BPEL definitions are structurally very different. Existing techniques for translating BPMN to BPEL only work for limited classes of BPMN models. This article proposes a translation technique that does not impose structural restrictions on the source BPMN model. At the same time, the technique emphasizes the generation of readable (block-structured) BPEL code. An empirical evaluation conducted over a large collection of process models shows that the resulting BPEL definitions are largely block-structured. Beyond its direct relevance in the context of BPMN and BPEL, the technique presented in this article addresses issues that arise when translating from graph-oriented to block-structure flow definition languages.

Semantics and analysis of business process models in BPMN

The Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) is a standard for capturing business processes in the early phases of systems development. The mix of constructs found in BPMN makes it possible to create models with semantic errors. Such errors are especially serious, because errors in the early phases of systems development are among the most costly and hardest to correct. The ability to statically check the semantic correctness of models is thus a desirable feature for modelling tools based on BPMN. Accordingly, this paper proposes a mapping from BPMN to a formal language, namely Petri nets, for which efficient analysis techniques are available. The proposed mapping has been implemented as a tool that, in conjunction with existing Petri net-based tools, enables the static analysis of BPMN models. The formalisation also led to the identification of deficiencies in the BPMN standard specification.

Pattern-Based Translation of BPMN Process Models to BPEL Web Services

The business process modeling notation (BPMN) is a graph-oriented language primarily targeted at domain analysts and supported by many modeling tools. The business process execution language for Web services (BPEL) on the other hand is a mainly block-structured language targeted at software developers and supported by several execution platforms. Translating BPMN models into BPEL code is a necessary step towards standards-based business process development environments. This translation is challenging since BPMN and BPEL represent two fundamentally different classes of languages. Existing BPMN-to-BPEL translations rely on the identification of block-structured patterns in BPMN models that are mapped onto structured BPEL constructs. This article advances the state of the art in BPMN-to-BPEL translation by defining methods for identifying not only perfectly block-structured fragments in BPMN models, but quasi-structured fragments that can be turned into perfectly structured ones and flow-based acyclic fragments that can be mapped onto a combination of structured constructs and control links. Beyond its direct relevance in the context of BPMN and BPEL, this article addresses issues that arise generally when translating between graph-oriented and block-structured flow definition languages.