An alternative way to analyze workflow graphs

W.M.P. Aalst, van der, A. Hirnschall, H.M.W. Verbeek

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

147 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

At the CAiSE conference in Heidelberg in 1999, Wasim Sadiq and Maria Orlowska presented an algorithm to verify workflow graphs [19]. The algorithm uses a set of reduction rules to detect structural conflicts. This paper shows that the set of reduction rules presented in [19] is not complete and proposes an alternative algorithm. The algorithm translates workflow graphs into so-called WF-nets. WF-nets are a class of Petri nets tailored towards workflow analysis. As a result, Petri-net theory and tools can be used to verify workflow graphs. In particular, our workflow verification tool Woflan [21] can be used to detect design errors. It is shown that the absence of structural conflicts, i.e., deadlocks and lack of synchronization, conforms to soundness of the corresponding WF-net [2]. In contrast to the algorithm presented in [19], the algorithm presented in this paper is complete. Moreover, the complexity of this alternative algorithm is given.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvanced Information Systems Engineering, 14th International Conference, CAiSE 2002, Toronto, Canada, May 27-31, 2002.
EditorsA. Banks Pidduck, J. Mylopoulos, C.C. Woo, M.T. Ozsu
Place of PublicationBerlin
PublisherSpringer
Pages535-552
ISBN (Print)3-540-43738-X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2002

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science
Volume2348
ISSN (Print)0302-9743

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