Real time business process analysis method and apparatus

• US 6,763,353 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2001
• Issued: 07/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Vitria Technology Incorporated (Innovation Technology Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Vitria Technology Incorporated (Innovation Technology Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Li, Hui, Qian, Shelly Xiaolei
• Primary Examiner(s): Coby, Frantz
• Application Number:
  US09/984,975
• Publication Number:
  US 20020116362A1
• Time in Patent Office: 986 Days
• Field of Search: 707/2, 707/3, 707/4, 707/5, 707/102, 707/100, 707/1, 705/1, 705/7, 709/310, 718/101
• US Class Current: 719/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24568 Data stream processing; Continuous queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2474 Sequence data queries, e.g. querying versioned data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2477 Temporal data queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

A method for monitoring a business process model in which at least one business process object transitions between states. A query having at least one state for the business process object and at least one time-based condition is defined. The query is applied to the business process objects that have changed since a last query application step as a result of execution of the business process model. Events are published when the results of the query are different from previous results of the query. The time based conditions can include conditions compared to actual time and can aggregated values of attributes of plural business process objects and current time.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a business process model in which at least one business process object transitions between states, said method comprising:

(a) defining a process query having at least one state for the business process object and at least one time-based condition;

(b) executing the business process model to cause business process objects to change;

(c) applying the process query to business process objects that have changed;

(d) publishing events when the results of said step (c) are different from results of a previous step (c);

(e) sending the events to a target process; and

(f) repeating said steps (b) through (e).

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step (a) comprises defining a query based on a time-based query language syntax.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step (d) and said step (c) are executed periodically.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step (d) and said step (c) are executed continuously.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step (d) comprises publishing at least one of an add, change, and delete event to a channel.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein said step (e) comprises subscribing the target process to the channel.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the target process is a data display engine.

8. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the target process is a business process model.

9. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein said step (a) comprises generating a process query defining a violation of a service level agreement and the target process is a business process model for remedying the violation.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step (d) is accomplished through an event interface generated from the process query.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step (a) comprises generating a process query wherein the time-based condition is a time based aggregation condition in which a time based value is calculated from an attribute of a selected group of business process objects.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step (a) comprises generating a process query wherein the time-based condition compares time attributes of a business process object to a current time.

13. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the add event contains data to be added to a record of the target process.

14. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the delete event contains data to be removed from a record of the target process.

15. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the change event contains data indicating a change to a record of the target process.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

(g) applying the process query to an initial collection of business process objects; and

wherein, upon initialization, said step (b) is not executed until said step (g) is completed.

17. A computer architecture for monitoring a business process model in which at least one business process object transitions between states, said architecture comprising:

an execution engine configured to execute business process models; and

an analyzer engine configured to monitor state changes of business process models and to apply one or more queries to business process objects that have changed and to output events based on time-based conditions of the queries.

18. The architecture as recited in claim 17, further comprising means for defining the queries based on a time-based query language syntax.

19. The architecture as recited in claim 17, wherein said analyzer is configured to output the events by publishing at least one of an add, change, and delete event to a channel.

20. The architecture as recited in claim 19, further comprising a target process subscribing to the channel to thereby receive the events.

21. The architecture as recited in claim 20, wherein said target process is a data display engine.

22. The architecture as recited in claim 20, wherein said target process is a business process model.

23. The architecture as recited in claim 18, wherein said means for defining comprises means for generating a process query defining a violation of a service level agreement and wherein said target process is a business process model for remedying the violation.

24. The architecture as recited in claim 18, wherein said means for defining comprises means for generating a process query wherein the time-based condition is a time based aggregation condition in which a time based quantity is calculated from a selected group of business process objects.

25. The architecture as recited in claim 18, wherein said means for defining comprises means for generating a process query wherein the time-based condition compares time attributes of a business process to a current time.

26. The architecture as recited in claim 19, wherein the add event contains data to be added to a record of the target process.

27. The architecture as recited in claim 19, wherein the delete event contains data to be removed from a record of the target process.

28. The architecture as recited in claim 19, wherein the change event contains data indicating change to a record of the target process.

29. A computer readable media containing instructions for operation of a computer, said instructions comprising:

instructions for monitoring a business process model in which at least one business process object transitions between states;

instructions for defining a process query having at least one state for the business process object and at least one time-based condition;

instructions for applying the process query to the business process objects that have changed; and

instructions for publishing events when the results of executing the instructions for applying the process query are different from results of a previous execution of the instructions for applying the process query.

30. A computer readable media as recited in claim 29, further comprising instructions for defining the query based on a time-based query language syntax.

31. The computer readable media as recited in claim 29, wherein said instructions for publishing comprise publishing at least one of an add, change, and delete event to a channel.

32. The computer readable media as recited in claim 30, wherein said instructions for defining the query comprise instruction for generating a process query defining a violation of a service level agreement.

33. The computer readable media as recited in claim 30, further comprising instructions for generating an event interface from the process query.

34. The computer readable media as recited in claim 30, wherein said instructions for defining the query include instructions for defining the time-based condition as a time based aggregation condition in which a time based quantity is calculated from a selected group of business process objects.

35. The computer readable media as recited in claim 30, wherein said instructions for defining the query include instructions for defining a process query wherein the time-based condition compares time attributes of a business process object to a current time.