Global transaction support for workflow management systems: from formal specification to practical implementation

  • Authors:

  • Paul Grefen;Jochem Vonk;Peter Apers

  • Affiliations:

  • Computer Science Department, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands/ E-mail: {grefen,vonk,apers}@cs.utwente.nl;Computer Science Department, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands/ E-mail: {grefen,vonk,apers}@cs.utwente.nl;Computer Science Department, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands/ E-mail: {grefen,vonk,apers}@cs.utwente.nl

  • Venue:
  • The VLDB Journal — The International Journal on Very Large Data Bases
  • Year:
  • 2001

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Abstract

In this paper, we present an approach to global transaction management in workflow environments. The transaction mechanism is based on the well-known notion of compensation, but extended to deal with both arbitrary process structures to allow cycles in processes and safepoints to allow partial compensation of processes. We present a formal specification of the transaction model and transaction management algorithms in set and graph theory, providing clear, unambiguous transaction semantics. The specification is straightforwardly mapped to a modular architecture, the implementation of which is first applied in a testing environment, then in the prototype of a commercial workflow management system. The modular nature of the resulting system allows easy distribution using middleware technology. The path from abstract semantics specification to concrete, real-world implementation of a workflow transaction mechanism is thus covered in a complete and coherent fashion. As such, this paper provides a complete framework for the application of well-founded transactional workflows.