Research And Implementation Of Workflow Management System Based On J2EE Architecture

With the development of computer technology and economic globalization,workflow technology is used by more and more organizations to improve theircompetition and adaptability. As system software of creating, executing andmanaging workflows, the workflow management system has a broad marketprospect and wide application fields. While the demands of complex distributedenvironment can not be satisfied by the centralized development way and productpattern, researches on workflow management systems based on distributedtechnology become inevitable tendency.On the basis of a thorough study of workflow theories and standards, processdefinition meta-model given by the Workflow Management Coalition is improvedand extended in the dissertation by introducing the element of control connectorwhich separated process routing definition from activity definition in workflows.Based on this, the simple direct graph modeling method and eXPDL descriptionlanguage are proposed. The method of model confirmation by mapping eXPDL toPetri net semantic identically is given as well.Based on the extended workflow model, analysises have been made in thisdissertation for the three central parts of workflow management system: processdefinition, runtime service and runtime interaction. As the result, functionalrequirements of WfMS's main components are obtained. According to theserequirements, applying currently advanced and mature J2EE technology, theoverall frame of the workflow management system based on J2EE architecture ispresented. The data design and the detailed design and realization of mainfunctional modules of workflow engine, which is the core of WfMS, are carriedout as well. It is shown by the development and running effect that the workflowmanagement system based on J2EE has good flexibility, interoperability andexpansibility, and can satisfy the demands of more complex workflows.