Semantic Annotation for Process Models: - Department of Computer ...
Semantic Annotation for Process Models: - Department of Computer ... Semantic Annotation for Process Models: - Department of Computer ...
24 CHAPTER 2. PROBLEM SETTING In [70], semantic annotation is used to establish links from the entities in the text to their semantic descriptions so that a number of basic prerequisite for representation of semantic annotations are identified: • Ontology (or at least taxonomy) defining the entity classes. It should be possible to refer to those classes; • Entity identifiers which allow those to be distinguished and linked to their semantic descriptions; • Knowledge base with entity descriptions. Semantic annotation of Web services has emerged under the hypothesis that semantics can improve software reuse and discovery, significantly facilitate composition of Web services and enable integrating legacy applications as part of business process integration [203]. Semantic annotation of Web services is also called semantic markup of Web services, for which numbers of semantic markup languages and approaches are proposed such as WSMO [209], METEOR-S [187], OWL-S [198], SWSA/SWSL [181], WSDL-S [203]. They can be categorized into: a) annotating information in WSDL with ontologies (METEOR-S, WSDL-S); b) formalizing ontologies of Web service as a Semantic Web services representation language (WSMO, OWL-S and SWSA/SWSL). In [206], semantic annotation of process models is concerned as a prerequisite of the vision of Semantic Business Process Management, which is very close to our proposal. It will enable (or enhance) additional functionalities, namely the discovery and autocompletion of process fragments, which lead to more effective modeling with respect to the reuse of existing process artifacts at the conceptual level. The executable process models can be partly generated from the conceptual business process models, which indicates there are underlying links between business process models and executable Web services. Semantic annotation of business process models could therefore enable more automation in the implementation phase because the corresponding Semantic Web services can be discovered automatically [206]. Although the work has just initiated and it is still an ongoing project, it shares the same vision with ours, i.e. semantic annotation can be also concerned as an alternative approach to achieve the semantic interoperability of semi-structured sources such as business process models, in spite of semantic annotations of unstructured sources (e.g. textual documents) and structured sources (e.g. WSDL described Web services). Efforts on the semantic enrichment of enterprise models by semantic annotations are also put by TG4 (Task Group 4: Semantic Enrichment of Enterprise Modeling, Architectures and Platforms) in EU project INTEROP (Interopreability Research for Networked Enterprise Applications and Software, FP6 508011) [62], in which the main achievable targets are the semantic interoperability for model exchange, model transformation and model traceability. As the contemporary work, our research shares some similar objectives and available technologies. Since we participated in the INTEROP project, our contributions are also devoted as part of the results in the project.
2.5. BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL 25 2.5 Business Process Model A business process is defined in [23] as a set of coordinated tasks and activities, conducted by both people and equipments, that will lead to accomplishing a specific organizational goal. A process model describes a way of working at the type level according to the abstraction levels for processes in [155], which is corresponding to OMG’s M1 layer. A process is an instantiation of the process model, corresponding to the M0 layer. The same process model is used repeatedly for the development of many applications and thus, has many instantiations. A process meta-model is at the meta-type level with respect to a process (see Figure 2.5). Figure 2.5: Abstraction levels of processes [155] There are four types of coverage where the term process model has been defined differently in [27]: • Activity-oriented: related set of activities conducted for the specific purpose of product definition; a set of partially ordered steps intended to reach a goal [34]. • Product-oriented: series of activities that cause successive product transformations to reach the desired product. • Decision-oriented: set of related decisions conducted for the specific purpose of product definition. • Context-oriented: sequence of contexts causing successive product transformations under the influence of a decision taken in a context. Therefore a business process model defines the details of a business process flow and modeling all the data, resources, and other elements that the flow uses. As described in [9], a business process is usually composed of process steps that are normally connected through control flows, and these control flows connect activities with decision nodes. A decision node holds the business rules (transition conditions) that are evaluated to decide what path in the process should be followed. Modeling includes decomposition of a business process into sub-processes and adding required process elements to the model. A business process model is initially constructed based on certain business requirements. The usage of a process model could be for the analysis of the process (i.e. descriptive, prescriptive and explanatory) or the creation of new process models by
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2.5. BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL 25<br />
2.5 Business <strong>Process</strong> Model<br />
A business process is defined in [23] as a set <strong>of</strong> coordinated tasks and activities, conducted<br />
by both people and equipments, that will lead to accomplishing a specific organizational<br />
goal. A process model describes a way <strong>of</strong> working at the type level according<br />
to the abstraction levels <strong>for</strong> processes in [155], which is corresponding to OMG’s M1<br />
layer. A process is an instantiation <strong>of</strong> the process model, corresponding to the M0 layer.<br />
The same process model is used repeatedly <strong>for</strong> the development <strong>of</strong> many applications<br />
and thus, has many instantiations. A process meta-model is at the meta-type level<br />
with respect to a process (see Figure 2.5).<br />
Figure 2.5: Abstraction levels <strong>of</strong> processes [155]<br />
There are four types <strong>of</strong> coverage where the term process model has been defined<br />
differently in [27]:<br />
• Activity-oriented: related set <strong>of</strong> activities conducted <strong>for</strong> the specific purpose <strong>of</strong><br />
product definition; a set <strong>of</strong> partially ordered steps intended to reach a goal [34].<br />
• Product-oriented: series <strong>of</strong> activities that cause successive product trans<strong>for</strong>mations<br />
to reach the desired product.<br />
• Decision-oriented: set <strong>of</strong> related decisions conducted <strong>for</strong> the specific purpose <strong>of</strong><br />
product definition.<br />
• Context-oriented: sequence <strong>of</strong> contexts causing successive product trans<strong>for</strong>mations<br />
under the influence <strong>of</strong> a decision taken in a context.<br />
There<strong>for</strong>e a business process model defines the details <strong>of</strong> a business process flow and<br />
modeling all the data, resources, and other elements that the flow uses. As described in<br />
[9], a business process is usually composed <strong>of</strong> process steps that are normally connected<br />
through control flows, and these control flows connect activities with decision nodes.<br />
A decision node holds the business rules (transition conditions) that are evaluated to<br />
decide what path in the process should be followed. Modeling includes decomposition<br />
<strong>of</strong> a business process into sub-processes and adding required process elements to the<br />
model.<br />
A business process model is initially constructed based on certain business requirements.<br />
The usage <strong>of</strong> a process model could be <strong>for</strong> the analysis <strong>of</strong> the process (i.e.<br />
descriptive, prescriptive and explanatory) or the creation <strong>of</strong> new process models by
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