Temporal Workflow Modeling and Its Application

Time-information management in workflow has been recognized as one of the most significant tasks in workflow management. The uncertainties in time and time-related constraints in workflow models should be taken into consideration. This chapter first presents the meta-model of Temporal Workflow by extending and modifying the WfMC’s Basic Process Definition Meta-model. The temporal attributes of elements and their relations in the model are analyzed in detail. Based on the introduction of time constraints on elements in Fuzzy-timing Petri Nets, this chapter proposes a new workflow model named Fuzzy Temporal Workflow Nets (FTWF-nets). The calculation of temporal elements in FTWF-nets is given. Subsequently, time modeling and time possibility analysis of temporal phenomena in FTWF-Nets are investigated. Finally, an example is given to illustrate how to use these methods.

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