| description |
Graph oriented models are at the core of most business process
management systems. In recent years, algebraic business process
modeling languages based on different process calculi have been
proposed. The semantics of these algebraic process languages are
quite different, and seemingly incompatible, with those of graph
oriented approaches. In this paper we study how the BPEL4WS
exception handling mechanism is used to integrate the algebraic and
graph process models. Unlike other approaches to exception handling
in business processes, the BPEL4WS model does not require that the
process topology be constrained by the exception handling hierarchy,
thus allowing both highly structured and graph based processes to
benefit from it. Based on this exception handling model, we explain
dead path elimination (the runtime mechanism by which process
termination is ensured) as a form of exception processing. The
integration of dead path elimination with the exception handling
mechanism provides the semantic base for the integration of the
graph and algebraic processes models in BPEL4WS.
|