Workflow method, system, and data structure

• US 7,930,268 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2008
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Starkey, Michael, Xue, Jiang Bol
• Primary Examiner(s): Vital; Pierre M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Loan T
• Application Number:
  US12/108,711
• Publication Number:
  US 20080270477A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,090 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/608
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management

Abstract

A method, system, and data structure for implementing a workflow. The workflow divides a general work task of an enterprise into activities and associated relationships with respect to participating roles in the workflow. A checklist file is generated for each participating role. Each checklist file is stored in a first database. Each checklist file specifies activities of each participating role and at least one relationship element for each activity of each participating role. The at least one relationship element of a first activity in the checklist file of a first participating role of the participating roles includes a dependency relationship. A plurality of checklist instances is generated. Each checklist instance being stored in a second database. Each checklist instance corresponds to an associated checklist file and records a status of each activity and of each relationship element in the associated checklist.

Claims

1. A method for implementing a workflow, said workflow dividing a general work task of an enterprise into activities and associated relationships with respect to a plurality of participating roles in the workflow, said method comprising:

generating a checklist file for each participating role, each checklist file stored in a first database, each checklist file specifying activities of each participating role and at least one relationship element for each activity of each participating role, wherein the at least one relationship element of a first activity in the checklist file of a first participating role of the plurality of participating roles comprises a dependency relationship selected from the group consisting of a one to many relationship, a many to one relationship, and a many to many relationship;

generating a plurality of checklist instances, each checklist instance being stored in a second database, each checklist instance corresponding to an associated checklist file and recording a status of each activity and of each relationship element in the associated checklist;

receiving a request from the first participating role to participate in execution of the workflow;

responsive to the request, retrieving from the second database a first checklist instance corresponding to the checklist file of the first participating role and presenting the retrieved first checklist instance to the first participating role;

after detecting that the first participating user has indicated having completed execution of the first activity in response to said presenting, updating the first checklist instance in the second database; and

after said updating the first checklist instance, implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship,

wherein the dependency relationship is selected from the group consisting of a one to many relationship, a many to one relationship, and a many to many relationship.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the dependency relationship is the one to many relationship;

wherein the one to many relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the at least two other participating roles that the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least two other participating roles will be executed as a consequence of the first activity having been completed.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein the dependency relationship is the many to one relationship;

wherein the many to one relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least one other participating role of the plurality of participating roles and a second activity in the checklist file of a second participating role of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the second participating role that the second activity in the checklist file of the second participating role will be executed as a consequence of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role having been completed.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein the dependency relationship is the many to many relationship;

wherein the many to many relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles and an activity in the checklist file of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the at least two other participating roles that the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least two other participating roles will be executed as a consequence of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role having been completed.

5. A computer system comprising a processor and a computer readable memory unit coupled to the processor, said memory unit containing software that when executed by the processor perform a method for implementing a workflow, said workflow dividing a general work task of an enterprise into activities and associated relationships with respect to a plurality of participating roles in the workflow, said method comprising:

generating a checklist file for each participating role, each checklist file stored in a first database, each checklist file specifying activities of each participating role and at least one relationship element for each activity of each participating role, wherein the at least one relationship element of a first activity in the checklist file of a first participating role of the plurality of participating roles comprises a dependency relationship;

generating a plurality of checklist instances, each checklist instance being stored in a second database, each checklist instance corresponding to an associated checklist file and recording a status of each activity and of each relationship element in the associated checklist;

receiving a request from the first participating role to participate in execution of the workflow;

responsive to the request, retrieving from the second database a first checklist instance corresponding to the checklist file of the first participating role and presenting the retrieved first checklist instance to the first participating role;

after detecting that the first participating user has indicated having completed execution of the first activity in response to said presenting, updating the first checklist instance in the second database; and

after said updating the first checklist instance, implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship,

wherein the dependency relationship is selected from the group consisting of a one to many relationship, a many to one relationship, and a many to many relationship.

11. The computer system of claim 5,

wherein the dependency relationship is the one to many relationship;

wherein the one to many relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the at least two other participating roles that the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least two other participating roles will be executed as a consequence of the first activity having been completed.

12. The computer system of claim 5,

wherein the dependency relationship is the many to one relationship;

wherein the many to one relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least one other participating role of the plurality of participating roles and a second activity in the checklist file of a second participating role of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the second participating role that the second activity in the checklist file of the second participating role will be executed as a consequence of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role having been completed.

13. The computer system of claim 5,

wherein the dependency relationship is the many to many relationship;

wherein the many to many relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles and an activity in the checklist file of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the at least two other participating roles that the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least two other participating roles will be executed as a consequence of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role having been completed.

6. A computer program product, comprising a computer readable storage device having computer software that when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform a method for implementing a workflow, said workflow dividing a general work task of an enterprise into activities and associated relationships with respect to a plurality of participating roles in the workflow, said method comprising:

generating a checklist file for each participating role, each checklist file stored in a first database, each checklist file specifying activities of each participating role and at least one relationship element for each activity of each participating role, wherein the at least one relationship element of a first activity in the checklist file of a first participating role of the plurality of participating roles comprises a dependency relationship;

generating a plurality of checklist instances, each checklist instance being stored in a second database, each checklist instance corresponding to an associated checklist file and recording a status of each activity and of each relationship element in the associated checklist;

receiving a request from the first participating role to participate in execution of the workflow;

responsive to the request, retrieving from the second database a first checklist instance corresponding to the checklist file of the first participating role and presenting the retrieved first checklist instance to the first participating role;

after detecting that the first participating user has indicated having completed execution of the first activity in response to said presenting, updating the first checklist instance in the second database; and

after said updating the first checklist instance, implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship,

wherein the dependency relationship is selected from the group consisting of a one to many relationship, a many to one relationship, and a many to many relationship.

14. The computer program product of claim 6,

wherein the dependency relationship is the one to many relationship;

wherein the one to many relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the at least two other participating roles that the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least two other participating roles will be executed as a consequence of the first activity having been completed.

15. The computer program product of claim 6,

wherein the dependency relationship is the many to one relationship;

wherein the many to one relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least one other participating role of the plurality of participating roles and a second activity in the checklist file of a second participating role of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the second participating role that the second activity in the checklist file of the second participating role will be executed as a consequence of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role having been completed.

16. The computer program product of claim 6,

wherein the dependency relationship is the many to many relationship;

wherein the many to many relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles and an activity in the checklist file of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles;

wherein completion of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role triggers said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship; and

wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the wherein said implementing each requirement of the dependency relationship comprises notifying, after elapse of a specified time delay, the at least two other participating roles that the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least two other participating roles will be executed as a consequence of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role having been completed.

7. A workflow data structure for managing a plurality of participating roles and a status of each participating role in a workflow, said workflow dividing a general work task of an enterprise into activities and associated relationships with respect to the participating roles, said workflow data structure comprising:

a checklist file for each participating role, each checklist file stored in a first database, each checklist file specifying activities of each participating role and at least one relationship element for each activity of each participating role, wherein the at least one relationship element of a first activity in the checklist file of a first participating role of the plurality of participating roles comprises a dependency relationship; and

a plurality of checklist instances, each checklist instance being stored in a second database, each checklist instance corresponding to an associated checklist file and recording a status of each activity and of each relationship element in the associated checklist,

wherein the first database and the second database are in persistent storage of a computer readable storage device, and

wherein the dependency relationship is selected from the group consisting of a one to many relationship, a many to one relationship, and a many to many relationship.

8. The workflow data structure of claim 7,

wherein the dependency relationship is the one to many relationship;

wherein the one to many relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles; and

wherein completion of the first activity triggers notification, after elapse of a specified time delay, of the at least two other participating roles that the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least two other participating roles will be executed as a consequence of the first activity having been completed.

9. The workflow data structure of claim 7,

wherein the dependency relationship is a many to one relationship;

wherein the many to one relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least one other participating role of the plurality of participating roles and a second activity in the checklist file of a second participating role of the plurality of participating roles; and

wherein completion of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role triggers notification, after elapse of a specified time delay, of the second participating role that the second activity in the checklist file of the second participating role will be executed as a consequence of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role having been completed.

10. The workflow data structure of claim 7,

wherein the dependency relationship is a many to many relationship;

wherein the many to one relationship specifies an activity in the checklist file of each participating role of at least one other participating role of the plurality of participating roles and an activity in the checklist file of at least two other participating roles of the plurality of participating roles; and

wherein completion of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role triggers notification, after elapse of a specified time delay, of the at least two other participating roles that the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least two other participating roles will be executed as a consequence of the first activity and the activity in the checklist file of each participating role of the at least one other participating role having been completed.