ROUNDTRIP MERGE OF BPEL PROCESSES AND BPMN MODELS

• US 20100057482A1
• Filed: 08/28/2008
• Published: 03/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Liu, Lili, Aggarwal, Anurag, Saxena, Vishal, Radhakrishnan, Ganesh
• Granted Patent: US 9,015,648 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method of performing a merge operation can include: mapping a business process modeling notation (BPMN) model to a business process execution language (BPEL) model; modifying the BPMN model to form a modified BPMN model; modifying the BPEL model to form a modified BPEL model; when the merge operation is a forward merge operation: exporting the modified BPMN model to an exported BPEL model; performing an activity level outline merge for added information technology (IT) scopes and branches from the modified BPEL model; performing an activity level detail merge for added IT details from the modified BPEL model; and performing an attribute level merge for updated branch conditions in the merged BPEL model; and when the merge operation is a reverse merge operation, adding scopes and branches from the modified BPEL model to the BPMN model.

Claims

1. A method of performing a merge operation, the method comprising:

mapping a business process modeling notation (BPMN) model to a business process execution language (BPEL) model;

modifying the BPMN model to form a modified BPMN model;

modifying the BPEL model to form a modified BPEL model;

when the merge operation is a forward merge operation;

exporting the modified BPMN model to an exported BPEL model;

copying the exported BPEL model to a merged BPEL model;

performing an activity level outline merge for added information technology (IT) scopes and branches from the modified BPEL model to the merged BPEL model;

performing an activity level detail merge for added IT details from the modified BPEL model to the merged BPEL model; and

performing an attribute level merge for updated branch conditions in the merged BPEL model; and

when the merge operation is a reverse merge operation;

adding scopes and branches from the modified BPEL model to the BPMN model.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the activity level outline merge comprises anchoring an IT scope found in the modified BPEL model to a selected activity in the merged BPEL model.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selected activity is a previous activity when the previous activity is available in the merged BPEL model.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the selected activity is a next activity when the previous activity is not available in the merged BPEL model.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the activity level outline merge comprises adding a found branch in the modified BPEL model to a switch in the merged BPEL model.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the activity level detail merge comprises:

traversing the exported BPEL model to find a scope, the found scope having an identification; and

searching for the found scope identification in the modified BPEL model.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

when the found scope identification matches, comparing a timestamp of the matched scope in the exported BPEL model against a timestamp of a corresponding scope in the modified BPEL model.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

when the timestamp from the modified BPEL model is greater than or equal to the timestamp from the exported BPEL model, adding details of the found scope from the modified BPEL model to that of the merged BPEL model.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

when the timestamp from the modified BPEL model is less than the timestamp from the exported BPEL model, adding the scope from the exported BPEL model to the merged BPEL model.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the attribute level merge comprises:

comparing conditions of each switch branch in the exported BPEL model with those of the modified BPEL model.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

using a condition from the exported BPEL model in the merged BPEL model when the compared conditions are different.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

replacing a condition in the exported BPEL model with a corresponding condition from the modified BPEL model in the merged BPEL model when the compared conditions are the same.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the comparing the conditions comprises comparing code segments.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the comparing the conditions comprises comparing attribute level timestamps.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising merging human task attributes into the merged BPEL model.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request for the forward merge operation from an IT user.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request for the reverse merge operation from a business user.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors; and

logic encoded in one or more tangible media for execution by the one or more processors, and when executed operable to;

map a business process modeling notation (BPMN) model to a business process execution language (BPEL) model;

modify the BPMN model to form a modified BPMN model;

modify the BPEL model to form a modified BPEL model;

when the merge operation is a forward merge operation;

export the modified BPMN model to an exported BPEL model;

perform an activity level outline merge for added information technology (IT) scopes and branches from the modified BPEL model;

perform an activity level detail merge for added IT details from the modified BPEL model; and

perform an attribute level merge for updated branch conditions in the merged BPEL model; and

when the merge operation is a reverse merge operation;

add scopes and branches from the modified BPEL model to the BPMN model.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the logic when executed operable to perform the activity level outline merge comprises logic when executed operable to anchor an IT scope found in the modified BPEL model to a selected activity in the exported BPEL model.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the logic when executed operable to perform the activity level detail merge comprises logic when executed operable to:

traverse the exported BPEL model to find a scope, the found scope having an identification;

search for the found scope identification in the modified BPEL model;

when the found scope identification matches, compare a timestamp of the matched scope in the exported BPEL model against a timestamp of a corresponding scope in the modified BPEL model;

when the timestamp from the modified BPEL model is greater than or equal to the timestamp from the exported BPEL model, add details of the found scope from the modified BPEL model to that of the merged BPEL model; and

when the timestamp from the modified BPEL model is lesser than the timestamp from the exported BPEL model, add the scope from the exported BPEL model to the merged BPEL model.

21. A computer-readable storage device, comprising:

one or more instructions for determining a merge operation to perform;

one or more instructions for mapping a business process modeling notation (BPMN) model to a business process execution language (BPEL) model;

one or more instructions for receiving a modified BPMN model;

one or more instructions for receiving a modified BPEL model;

when the determined merge operation is a forward merge operation;

one or more instructions for exporting the modified BPMN model to an exported BPEL model;

one or more instructions for performing an activity level outline merge for added information technology (IT) scopes and branches from the modified BPEL model;

one or more instructions for performing an activity level detail merge for added IT details from the modified BPEL model; and

one or more instructions for performing an attribute level merge for updated branch conditions in the merged BPEL model; and

when the determined merge operation is a reverse merge operation;

one or more instructions for adding scopes and branches from the modified BPEL model to the BPMN model.