From BPEL to SRML: A Formal Transformational Approach

Abstract

Abstract. The SENSORIA Reference Modelling Language (SRML) provides primitives for modelling business processes in a technology agnostic way. At the core of SRML is the notion of module as a composition of tightly coupled components and loosely coupled, dynamically discovered services. This paper presents an encoding of BPEL processes into SRML modules using model transformation techniques. The encoding provides the means to create highlevel declarative descriptions of BPEL processes that can be used for building more complex modules, possibly including components implemented in other languages. The composition can be modelled and analysed as an ensemble, relying on the rich formal framework that is being developed within SENSORIA.

From StPowla processes to SRML models

“…However, the primitives of SRML are general enough to support process based modelling. For example, [BHLF07] presents an encoding from the process-base style of modelling of WS-BPEL to SRML. Another example is the encoding presented in this paper where STPOWLA provides SRML with a means to define, at a higher level of abstraction, a process-based behaviour (i.e.…”

“…The outcome of this phase is a StPowla model of the business process that, by using the encoding to SRML, can provide each of the SRML module structures resulting from the previous phase with an the internal orchestration. Service-Oriented Modelling The SRML modules obtained in the previous phase can be extended to include the behavioural specifications for the external interfaces, modified to include other components in the internal structure (for example component extracted from implementations in BPEL [BHLF07] or any other language for which an encoding into SRML has been provided), and analyzed with the formal framework provided by SRML.…”

“…Business processes modelled in STPOWLA can be then represented as SRML models and either being analysed alone or as part of more complex modules, where they are composed with other SRML models with heterogeneous implementations (e.g. SRML models extracted from existing BPEL processes [BHLF07]). …”

A Use-Case Driven Approach to Formal Service-Oriented Modelling

“…Another advantage is that is provides us a formal framework to which we can map specifications in other notations such as the ones available in workflow languages like BPEL [5]. More details and examples can be found in [9] …”

What Do Semantics Matter When the Meat Is Overcooked?

“…Both the language and the associated logic are 'technology agnostic' in the sense that they are based on a semantic model that abstracts away from the languages in which services are programmed and the middleware that supports the coordination of interactions [1,13]. They are also expressive enough to accommodate orchestrations programmed in languages such as BPEL [7].…”