Toward a Formal Semantics for Control-Flow Process Models

A number of information systems have been developed to automate business processes. For process modeling, verification, and automation in information systems, a formal semantics of control-flow process models is needed. Usually process modeling languages (e.g., BPMN, EPC, IDEF3, UML, and WfMC standa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of database management 2012-04, Vol.23 (2), p.72-97
Main Authors: Bi, Henry H, Nolt, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automation
Business
Information systems
Languages
Mathematical models
Modelling
Process management (Computers)
Programming languages
Semantics
Specifications
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Summary:A number of information systems have been developed to automate business processes. For process modeling, verification, and automation in information systems, a formal semantics of control-flow process models is needed. Usually process modeling languages (e.g., BPMN, EPC, IDEF3, UML, and WfMC standards) are used to represent control-flow process models. When these process modeling languages are developed, their informal semantics are typically described using examples, but their formal semantics are not defined. Although many different semantics for control-flow process models have been proposed, the existing semantics specifications have limitations because they do not support certain desirable features. In this paper, we propose a new formal semantics for control-flow process models. We show that it is more accurate, complete, and applicable than the existing semantics specifications.
ISSN:1063-8016
1533-8010
DOI:10.4018/jdm.2012040104