Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Comparison of Soundness Results Obtained by Different Approaches

  • Conference paper
Business Process Management Workshops (BPM 2009)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 43))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Business processes are often modelled using a language for which no semantics is standardized in a formal way. Examples for such languages are BPMN or Event-Driven Process Chains. The common way for reasoning about the soundness of such models is to define a formal semantics first by translating the model into a well-founded formalism (for example Petri-nets). Afterwards, formal reasoning methods can be applied on the obtained formal model. In the past years, several such semantics that give a formal meaning to BPMN or EPC models have been published.

In this paper, we used a repository of almost 1,000 real-world EPC models and computed their soundness using three different tools. Those tools build on different semantics definitions: Kindler’s fixed-point semantics, Mendling’s state/context semantics and the YAWL semantics. While the soundness results for the majority of models were the same for all three tools, we identified a few interesting cases where the results differ. The results of our comparative study can lead to a better understanding of the differences between the semantics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. van der Aalst, W.M.P., Desel, J., Kindler, E.: On the semantics of EPCs: A vicious circle. In: EPK 2004, Geschäftsprozessmanagement mit Ereignisgesteuerten Prozessketten, pp. 71–79 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  2. van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Kiepuszewski, B., Barros, A.: Workflow patterns. Distributed and Parallel Databases 14(3) (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Kindler, E.: On the Semantics of EPCs: A Framework for Resolving the Vicious Circle. In: Desel, J., Pernici, B., Weske, M. (eds.) BPM 2004. LNCS, vol. 3080, pp. 82–97. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  4. Cuntz, N., Kindler, E.: On the semantics of EPCs: Efficient calculation and simulation. In: Proceedings of EPK 2004: Geschäftsprozessmanagement mit Ereignisgesteuerten Prozessketten, pp. 7–26 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Cuntz, N., Freiheit, J., Kindler, E.: On the Semantics of EPCs: Faster calculation for EPCs with small state spaces. In: EPK 2005, Geschäftsprozessmanagement mit Ereignisgesteuerten Prozessketten, pp. 7–23 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Wynn, M.T., Edmond, D., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Achieving a General, Formal and Decidable Approach to the OR-Join in Workflow Using Reset Nets. In: Ciardo, G., Darondeau, P. (eds.) ICATPN 2005. LNCS, vol. 3536, pp. 423–443. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  7. Dumas, M., Großkopf, A., Hettel, T., Wynn, M.T.: Semantics of standard process models with or-joins. In: Meersman, R., Tari, Z. (eds.) OTM 2007, Part I. LNCS, vol. 4803, pp. 41–58. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. van Hee, K.M., Oanea, O., Serebrenik, A., Sidorova, N., Voorhoeve, M.: History-based joins: Semantics, soundness and implementation. In: Dustdar, S., Fiadeiro, J.L., Sheth, A.P. (eds.) BPM 2006. LNCS, vol. 4102, pp. 225–240. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. Mendling, J.: Detection and Prediction of Errors in EPC Business Process Models. PhD thesis, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Börger, E., Sörensen, O., Thalheim, B.: On defining the behavior of OR-joins in business process models. J. Universal Computer Science 14, 1–22 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Rittgen, P.: Quo vadis EPK in ARIS? Wirtschaftsinformatik 42(1), 27–35 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Wehler, J.: Boolean and free-choice semantics of event-driven process chains. In: EPK 2007, Geschäftsprozessmanagement mit Ereignisgesteuerten Prozessketten, pp. 77–96 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  13. van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Formalization and verification of event-driven process chains. Information & Software Technology 41(10), 639–650 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Langner, P., Schneider, C., Wehler, J.: Relating event-driven process chains to Boolean Petri nets. Technical Report 9707, München (December 1997)

    Google Scholar 

  15. van Dongen, B.F., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Verbeek, E.: Verification of EPCs: Using reduction rules and Petri nets. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Advanced Information Systems 2005, pp. 372–386 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Barborka, P., Helm, L., Köldorfer, G., Mendling, J., Neumann, G., van Dongen, B.F., Verbeek, E., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Integration of EPC-related tools with ProM. In: EPK 2006, Geschäftsprozessmanagement mit Ereignisgesteuerten Prozessketten. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, vol. 224, pp. 105–120 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Wynn, M.T.: Semantics, Verification, and Implementation of Workflows with Cancellation Regions and OR-joins. PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Wynn, M.T., Verbeek, E., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Edmond, D.: Business process verification - finally a reality! Business Process Management Journal 15(1), 74–92 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Decker, G., Mendling, J.: Instantiation semantics for process models. In: Dumas, M., Reichert, M., Shan, M.-C. (eds.) BPM 2008. LNCS, vol. 5240, pp. 164–179. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  20. van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Verification of workflow nets. In: Azéma, P., Balbo, G. (eds.) ICATPN 1997. LNCS, vol. 1248, pp. 407–426. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  21. van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Structural characterizations of sound workflow nets. Computing Science Reports/23 (96) (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Verbeek, E., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Verifying workflows with cancellation regions and or-joins: An approach based on relaxed soundness and invariants. Comput. J. 50(3), 294–314 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Gruhn, V., Laue, R.: Good and bad excuses for unstructured business process models. In: Proceedings of 12th European Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs, EuroPLoP 2007 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair of Applied Telematics / e-Business Computer Science Faculty, University of Leipzig, Germany

    Volker Gruhn & Ralf Laue

Authors
  1. Volker Gruhn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ralf Laue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ulm University, Germany and University of Vienna, Austria

    Stefanie Rinderle-Ma

  2. University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, Australia

    Shazia Sadiq

  3. IAAS, University of Stuttgart, Germany

    Frank Leymann

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Gruhn, V., Laue, R. (2010). A Comparison of Soundness Results Obtained by Different Approaches. In: Rinderle-Ma, S., Sadiq, S., Leymann, F. (eds) Business Process Management Workshops. BPM 2009. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 43. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12186-9_47

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12186-9_47

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-12185-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-12186-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation