6th International ICST Conference on Collaborative Computing: Networking, Applications, Worksharing

Research Article

Using LOTOS for rigorous specifications of workflow patterns

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  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/icst.collaboratecom.2010.57,
        author={Pedro L. Takecian and Jo\"{a}o E. Ferreira and Simon Malkowski and Calton Pu},
        title={Using LOTOS for rigorous specifications of workflow patterns},
        proceedings={6th International ICST Conference on Collaborative Computing: Networking, Applications, Worksharing},
        publisher={IEEE},
        proceedings_a={COLLABORATECOM},
        year={2011},
        month={5},
        keywords={Algebra Communication systems Context Logic gates Runtime Semantics Synchronization},
        doi={10.4108/icst.collaboratecom.2010.57}
    }
    
  • Pedro L. Takecian
    João E. Ferreira
    Simon Malkowski
    Calton Pu
    Year: 2011
    Using LOTOS for rigorous specifications of workflow patterns
    COLLABORATECOM
    ICST
    DOI: 10.4108/icst.collaboratecom.2010.57
Pedro L. Takecian1,*, João E. Ferreira1,*, Simon Malkowski2,*, Calton Pu2,*
  • 1: IME, University of São Paulo, Rua do Matão 1010, 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2: CERCS, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, USA
*Contact email: plt@ime.usp.br, jef@ime.usp.br, zmon@cc.gatech.edu, calton@cc.gatech.edu

Abstract

Collaborative applications require understanding of the theoretical foundations. In case of workflow systems, one possibility to achieve this is an accurate description of workflow functionalities. Despite its growing popularity and success, it has not yet been evaluated whether Language of Temporal Ordering Specification (LOTOS) is actually suitable for representing comprehensive workflow functionality in real-world workflow systems describing the behavioral perspective of control-flow. Our primary contribution is the complete mapping of a collection of workflow patterns to LOTOS notation. We further discuss suitability and expressiveness of LOTOS in the context of workflow patterns. This study can be used for pattern-based workflow execution, reasoning, and simulation as well as for future research on theoretical aspects of workflows for collaborative applications.