Decomposing a process model in an enterprise intelligence (‘EI’) framework

• US 9,646,278 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2011
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Reddington, Francis X., Sahota, Neil
• Primary Examiner(s): MANSFIELD, THOMAS L
• Application Number:
  US13/182,730
• Publication Number:
  US 20130018815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,126 Days
• Field of Search: 705348
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Decomposing a process model in an Enterprise Intelligence (‘EI’) framework, including: receiving, by a process model decomposer, a process model for an EI assembly; identifying, by the process model decomposer in dependence upon an EI framework metamodel, component parts of the process model; and generating, in dependence upon the identified component parts, a taxonomy breakdown comprising a definition of a process classification.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of decomposing a process model in an Enterprise Intelligence (‘

EI’

) framework, the method comprising;

receiving, by a process model decomposer of a first computer of a plurality of computers of the EI framework, a process model for an EI assembly;

identifying, by the process model decomposer, in dependence upon an EI framework metamodel, component parts of the process model, including

identifying one or more tasks comprising the process, and

identifying, for each task, one or more steps that comprise the task;

generating, by the process model decomposer, in dependence upon the identified component parts, a taxonomy breakdown comprising a definition of a process classification;

storing, by the process model decomposer, the taxonomy breakdown in an EI assembly taxonomy repository;

tracking, by a process state transition manager of a second computer of the plurality of computers of the EI framework, the present state of the EI assembly while the EI assembly is executing on a computer processor, wherein tracking the present state of the EI assembly comprises;

identifying at least one process that comprises the EI assembly by searching the taxonomy breakdown stored in the EI assembly taxonomy repository;

identifying an execution order for the at least one process by searching the EI assembly taxonomy repository that identifies each process that is part of the EI assembly and an order in which each process is executed; and

identifying a value of an execution parameter used by the at least one process of the executing EI assembly by checking an address in memory that corresponds to the location in memory of the execution parameter and reporting a change in the value of the execution parameter;

identifying a value of an input to the at least one process by storing values of all input parameters passed to the at least one process in a table before the at least one process is executed; and

analyzing, by the process state transition manager, the present state of the EI assembly by examining the value of the execution parameter and the value of the input of the executing EI assembly to verify that the values are valid.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a process model for an EI assembly further comprises receiving a markup document specifying the process model.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying component parts of the process model further comprises identifying one or more inputs to each component part of the process model and identifying one or more outputs of each component part of the process model.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein tracking the present state of the EI assembly further comprises identifying an executing task including identifying an executing step by each process, each step, and each task of the EI assembly and the EI assembly registering prior to executing.

4. An apparatus for decomposing a process model in an Enterprise Intelligence (‘

EI’

) framework, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it non-transitory computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of;

receiving, by a process model decomposer of a first computer of a plurality of computers of the EI framework, a process model for an EI assembly;

identifying, by the process model decomposer, in dependence upon an EI framework metamodel, component parts of the process model, including

identifying one or more tasks comprising the process, and

identifying, for each task, one or more steps that comprise the task;

generating, by the process model decomposer, in dependence upon the identified component parts, a taxonomy breakdown comprising a definition of a process classification;

storing, by the process model decomposer, the taxonomy breakdown in an EI assembly taxonomy repository;

tracking, by a process state transition manager of a second computer of the plurality of computers of the EI framework, the present state of the EI assembly while the EI assembly is executing on a computer processor, wherein tracking the present state of the EI assembly comprises;

identifying at least one process that comprises the EI assembly by searching the taxonomy breakdown stored in the EI assembly taxonomy repository;

identifying an execution order for the at least one process by searching the EI assembly taxonomy repository that identifies each process that is part of the EI assembly and an order in which each process is executed; and

identifying a value of an execution parameter used by the at least one process of the executing EI assembly by checking an address in memory that corresponds to the location in memory of the execution parameter and reporting a change in the value of the execution parameter;

identifying a value of an input to the at least one process by storing values of all input parameters passed to the at least one process in a table before the at least one process is executed; and

analyzing, by the process state transition manager, the present state of the EI assembly by examining the value of the execution parameter and the value of the input of the executing EI assembly to verify that the values are valid.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein receiving a process model for an EI assembly further comprises receiving a markup document specifying the process model.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein identifying component parts of the process model further comprises identifying one or more inputs to each component part of the process model and identifying one or more outputs of each component part of the process model.

7. A non-transitory computer program product for decomposing a process model in an Enterprise Intelligence (‘

EI’

) framework, the computer program product disposed upon a computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a signal, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of;

receiving, by a process model decomposer of a first computer of a plurality of computers of the EI framework, a process model for an EI assembly;

identifying, by the process model decomposer, in dependence upon an EI framework metamodel, component parts of the process model, including

identifying one or more tasks comprising the process, and

identifying, for each task, one or more steps that comprise the task;

generating, by the process model decomposer, in dependence upon the identified component parts, a taxonomy breakdown comprising a definition of a process classification;

storing, by the process model decomposer, the taxonomy breakdown in an EI assembly taxonomy repository;

tracking, by a process state transition manager of a second computer of the plurality of computers of the EI framework, the present state of the EI assembly while the EI assembly is executing on a computer processor, wherein tracking the present state of the EI assembly comprises;

identifying at least one process that comprises the EI assembly by searching the taxonomy breakdown stored in the EI assembly taxonomy repository;

identifying an execution order for the at least one process by searching the EI assembly taxonomy repository that identifies each process that is part of the EI assembly and an order in which each process is executed; and

identifying a value of an execution parameter used by the at least one process of the executing EI assembly by checking an address in memory that corresponds to the location in memory of the execution parameter and reporting a change in the value of the execution parameter;

identifying a value of an input to the at least one process by storing values of all input parameters passed to the at least one process in a table before the at least one process is executed; and

analyzing, by the process state transition manager, the present state of the EI assembly by examining the value of the execution parameter and the value of the input of the executing EI assembly to verify that the values are valid.

8. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 7 wherein receiving a process model for an EI assembly further comprises receiving a markup document specifying the process model.

9. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 7 wherein identifying component parts of the process model further comprises identifying one or more inputs to each component part of the process model and identifying one or more outputs of each component part of the process model.