Comparing workflow specification languages: a matter of views

  • Authors:
  • Serge Abiteboul;Pierre Bourhis;Victor Vianu

  • Affiliations:
  • INRIA Saclay, ENS Cachan & U. Paris Sud;INRIA Saclay, ENS Cachan & U. Paris Sud;U.C. San Diego

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Database Theory
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

We address the problem of comparing the expressiveness of workflow specification formalisms using a notion of view of a workflow. Views allow to compare widely different workflow systems by mapping them to a common representation capturing the observables relevant to the comparison. Using this framework, we compare the expressiveness of several workflow specification mechanisms, including automata, temporal constraints, and pre-and-post conditions, with XML and relational databases as underlying data models. One surprising result shows the considerable power of static constraints to simulate apparently much richer workflow control mechanisms.