Workflow dynamic change and instance migration approach based on polychromatic sets theory

Abstract

Dynamic changes refer to the modifications of workflow model in which some running instances are executing. When the dynamic changes occur, how to migrate the running instances from old workflow model to new workflow model is one of current research hotspots of workflow management technology. Based on polychromatic sets theory, this article proposes a new workflow dynamic change and instance migration approach for workflow management system. The frequent workflow dynamic changes are modelled and described formally. The workflow region is defined and its recognition algorithm is presented. The current running region and the dynamic change region are recognised and sorted in compound workflow model. According to the position sorting results, the selection of migration policies is implemented. A case study on order processing in manufacturing enterprise is provided to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the workflow dynamic change and instance migration approach. With a formal mathematical foundation, the proposed approach reduces the problem size of workflow dynamic changes, decreases the computing complexity of workflow regions recognition, and has flexibility to take the different migration policies corresponding to the different workflow running instances dynamically.

Information modeling and system realization for supporting engineering education accreditation process based on polychromatic graph

“…It mainly includes polychromatic set (PS) and polychromatic graph (PG) (Pavlov, 2002). In PG, the node set, the edge set and their elements can be pigmented with different colors to represent the various properties of the complex network system and its components (Gao et al, 2016). Compared with the traditional set, PG has more strong simulation capability to model the complex network system and its components.…”

“…Theoretically, this paper proposes a PG-based network modeling method, in which the nodes, the edges and their properties are not distinguished in graphic symbol and the place nodes of complex systems model based on Petri nets are eliminated (Gao et al, 2016). Therefore, the problem size of EEA process is diminished about a half.…”

“…The most work of EEA process at many education institutions in China is accomplished manually and still lacks the support of computer and information technology. PS and PG correct the shortcomings of traditional set theory and are widely applied to the complex system modeling and information processing in many fields, such as product conceptual design (Gao and Li, 2007), assembly sequence planning (Du et al, 2011), business process reengineering (Gao and Li, 2006), multitype data model (Jiang et al, 2015), resource configuration method (Liu et al, 2018) and workflow dynamic change and instance migration (Gao et al, 2016). These research studies all made use of the strong simulation capability of PS and PG to model the complex system with the characteristic of hierarchical structure.…”

“…where A is the node set and C is the edge set. PS A is the PS of nodes and can be described as follows (Gao et al, 2016).…”

Model-driven engineering of mediation information system for enterprise interoperability

“…Lundgren, Hedlind and Kjellberg (2016) present model-based approach for integrated process planning and quality assurance, which enables new functionalities and provides more efficient support to production engineering processes. Gao et al (2016) reduce the problem size of workflow dynamic changes, decrease the computing complexity of workflow regions recognition and have flexibility to take the different migration policies corresponding to the different workflow running instances dynamically.…”