JP2009230289A - Business process definition conversion device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To add activity to the front and bark parts only of a specific activity column without changing the set of activity columns suitable to business process definition. <P>SOLUTION: Business process definition, a first activity column constituted of two or more activities included in an activity column executable by the business process definition and a second activity column configured of all the elements or partial elements of the first activity column are input, and whether or not the business process definition satisfies such conditions that activity nodes in the activity node column as all elements (activity node column set) which execute all the elements of the first activity column among the activity node columns executable by the business process definition: the activity nodes which execute the elements of the second activity column, are not executed by the activity node column which is not included in the activity node column set is decided, and when the decision is positive, the activity nodes in the activity node column as the elements of the activity node column set: the activity nodes which execute the elements of the second activity column, are output. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is directed to a business process definition including an activity branch / join that constitutes a business, an order relation (sequence flow) of the activity / branch / join execution, and a restriction on an order relation of execution of each activity constituting the business process definition Management technology, especially when changing business process definitions, helping to transform business process definitions to enable changes that meet their objectives and to ensure that the changes meet the above constraints The present invention relates to a business process definition conversion device and a program.

  It is widely performed to create a business process definition for a business performed in a company or the like, and sequentially execute activities constituting the business based on the order described in the definition. An example of a business process definition is shown in FIG. The business process definition in FIG. 1 has activities (displayed as squares), exclusive branches (displayed as diamonds), and exclusive connections (displayed as diamonds) as nodes, and the context (sequence flow) of activity / branch / join execution. It is expressed as a directed graph with arcs. Each activity is given a name for identification (such as “a”). An example of the correspondence between the name of the activity and the work to be performed is shown in the table. A business conforming to this business process definition is realized as one of the following.

(1) Activity a, activity b, activity d, and activity f are sequentially executed.
(2) Activity a, activity b, activity e, and activity f are sequentially executed.
(3) Activity a, activity c, activity d, and activity f are sequentially executed.
(4) Activity a, activity c, activity e, and activity f are sequentially executed.

  In the business process definition as shown in FIG. 1, the same activity or branch / join may be arranged at a plurality of positions. In the following, when focusing only on the contents of an activity or branch / join regardless of the position of the activity or branch / join in the business process definition, for example, describe as activity a, When it is desired to clearly indicate the difference in position, for example, the activity node a is described instead of the activity a. In particular, when a number is assigned to the sequence flow of the business process definition, for example, the activity node a ({1}, {2}) is used to clearly indicate the position of the activity node using the sequence number. Describe. Here, the first element in the parenthesis is a set of sequence flows starting from the active node a, and the second element in the parenthesis is a set of sequence flows starting from the active node a.

  In the business process definition targeted in this manual, it is assumed that the node cannot reach the node again by following the sequence flow or other nodes from any node.

  An example of a data structure when the business process definition of FIG. 1 is used in a computer program is shown in FIG. 2A. The data structure in FIG. 2 includes information about nodes and information about arcs. FIG. 2B shows another example of the data structure when the business process definition of FIG. 1 is used in a computer program. The data structure of FIG. 2B includes information on activity, branching / joining, node information, and information on arcs. In the data structure of FIG. 2B, even when activities, branches, and joins having the same name appear in a plurality of positions on the business process definition as in the business process definition of FIG. There is an advantage that the information about can be held centrally.

  Another example of the business process definition is shown in FIG. In the business process definition of FIG. 1, for all exclusive branches (for example, exclusive branch node A), all the active node columns that pass through the branch go through, and the other active node columns do not go through the exclusive join (E.g., exclusive binding node B) exists. In addition, for every exclusive join, there is an exclusive branch that passes through all the active node sequences that pass through the join and does not pass through any other active node sequence (that is, through the exclusive branch node A). All active nodes only go through exclusive binding node B). However, in the business process definition of FIG. 3, for example, there is no exclusive connection through which all the activity node sequences pass through the exclusive branch node C and no other activity node columns pass through. Further, there is no exclusive branch through which all the active node sequences that pass through the exclusive connection node E pass, and through which no other active node sequence passes.

  FIG. 4 shows another example of the business process definition. In the business process definition of FIG. 4, in addition to the activities, exclusive branch, exclusive join, and sequence flow used in the business process definition of FIG. 1, fork branch (displayed with hatched diamonds) and fork join (hatched diamonds) Is used). A business conforming to this business process definition is realized as one of the following.

(1) Activity a and activity b are sequentially executed, then activity f and activity h are executed in parallel, and thereafter activity i is executed.
(2) Activity a and activity b are sequentially executed, then activity g and activity h are executed in parallel, and thereafter activity i is executed.
(3) Activity a and activity c are sequentially executed, then activity f and activity h are executed in parallel, and thereafter activity i is executed.
(4) Activity a and activity c are sequentially executed, then activity g and activity h are executed in parallel, and thereafter activity i is executed.

  A branch in the business process definition may use information (for example, information generated by the activity) regarding an activity executed before the branch. An example of such a business process definition is shown in FIG. In the business process definition of FIG. 5, the branch E of the business process definition of FIG. 4 is changed to a conditional branch (shown as a dashed diamond), and the result of the activity b or activity c is used when the branch destination is determined. Shown in a speech bubble. In a business process definition including such a branch, an activity for generating information used in the branch must be executed before the branch.

  In addition, there may be a restriction regarding the order relationship between the activities constituting the definition for the business process definition. For example, in a business process definition used for internal control related to financial reporting, the following information is generally set for each activity.

(1) Errors (risks) that can occur when performing activities
(2) Actions to prevent the occurrence of errors described in risks (preventive control)
(3) The act of detecting the error described in the risk and appropriately responding to it (heuristic control)

  In connection with the setting of these pieces of information, an example of a business process definition, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. A business that conforms to the business process definition shown in FIG. 6 is realized as one of the following.

(1) Activity a, activity b, and activity e are sequentially executed.
(2) Activity a, activity c, activity d, and activity e are sequentially executed.

  Here, in the business process definition of FIG. 6, for all exclusive branches (for example, exclusive branch node A), all the activity node columns that pass through the branch pass, and no other activity node columns pass. There is an exclusive join (eg, exclusive join node B). Further, for every exclusive connection, there is an exclusive branch that passes through all the active node sequences that pass through the branch and does not pass through any other active node sequence. On the other hand, in the business process definition of FIG. 7, for example, there is no exclusive connection through which all the activity node sequences pass through the exclusive branch node B and no other activity node columns pass through. Further, there is no exclusive branch through which all the active node sequences that pass through the exclusive connection node C pass, and no other active node sequence passes through.

  In the business process definition of FIG. 8, in addition to the activities and sequence flow used in the business process definition of FIG. 6, fork branches (denoted as dashed rhombuses) and fork combinations (denoted as dashed rhombuses) are used. The business conforming to this business process definition is realized as follows.

  (1) After the activity a is executed, the activity b, the activity sequence including the activities c and d are executed in parallel, and then the activity e is executed.

  FIG. 9A shows an example of a data structure when the business process definition of FIG. 6 is used in a computer program. The data structure of FIG. 9A includes information about nodes and information about arcs. FIG. 9B shows another example of the data structure when the business process definition of FIG. 6 is used in a computer program. The data structure shown in FIG. 9B includes activity, branch / join information, node information, and arc information. In the data structure of FIG. 9B, even when activities or branches / joins with the same name appear at a plurality of positions on the business process definition, information regarding these activities, branches / joins can be centrally held.

  Next, let us consider a case where constraints on the order relationship between the activities constituting the definition are set for the business process definition as shown in FIGS.

  Examples of business process definitions in which such constraint information is set are shown in FIGS. In the business process definition of FIG. 10, a risk R1 of “wrong payment method” is set for the activity a, and a heuristic control C1 “confirms whether the payment method is correct before settlement” as the heuristic control for this risk. However, heuristic control C2 “confirm whether payment processing is completed before starting work” is set for activity e. As can be seen from this example, it is possible to associate a plurality of controls with a single risk. Conversely, a single control can be associated with multiple risks. FIG. 13 shows an example of a data structure when these pieces of information are used in a computer program. As shown in FIG. 13, these pieces of information can be expressed as a set of information related to each piece of information and a set of information related to the execution order of the information.

  Preventive controls to prevent risks that may occur in an activity will only be effective if the activity is performed before the activity is performed. Similarly, heuristic controls to deal with the risks that can occur on an activity will only be effective if the activity is performed later than the activity is performed. From these facts, the correspondence between risk and control can be regarded as a restriction on the order relation between the activities to which each is associated.

  Such correspondence between risk and control is set by experts with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the target business so that appropriate controls can be associated with the risks that may occur for each possible sequence of activities. It is common. When changing the business process definition created in this way, it is important to minimize the impact of the change and to continue to use more activity sequences.

  The business process definition as described so far needs to be changed as needed due to business needs. As a method for supporting such a change, “Business Process Definition Optimization Support Device and Method” described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-228647 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-195892 (Patent Document 2). “A flow processing program, an apparatus, and a flow order changing method” are disclosed.

  The former detects conditional branches and activities that are considered unnecessary based on the structural analysis result of the business process definition, and supports the improvement of the business process definition. The latter is a processing program, apparatus, and activity sequence that can change the processing order of each activity that constitutes a business according to the contents of the business process definition, thereby facilitating measures such as shortening the overall processing time and error recovery. It provides a change method.

JP 2003-228647 A JP 2006-195892 A

  By the way, there is a case where an activity is added to only a part of the activity sequence that can be executed in the business process definition and it is not desired to change the other activity sequence. For example, the activity x (“remaining battery level is necessary and necessary only after the activity d that is a part of the activity sequence {a, b, d, f}” that can be executed in the business process definition shown in FIG. In this case, the user searches for AC power and charges the notebook PC "), and does not want to add activity x to other activity columns. For example, if activity x is added immediately after activity d in FIG. 1, not only activity sequence {a, b, d, f} but also activity d immediately after activity d in activity sequence {a, c, d, f}. Since x is added, the purpose cannot be achieved. As described above, in a business process definition including a branch or connection, it may not be possible to add an activity only to a specific activity sequence.

  In addition, there is a case where it is desired to change the order relationship of activities without impairing the conformity to the business process definition with the constraints as described above. For example, in the operation of a business process definition in internal control related to financial reporting, if the activities that make up the business process definition remain unchanged, the constraints based on the above risk / control correspondences may not need to be changed. It is conceivable to change the order of activities in the process of creation and operation.

  However, with the conventional technology shown above, activities are added only before or after some or all of some activity sequences that can be executed in the business process definition, and other activity sequences need not be changed. It does not show how to convert business process definitions.

  In addition, the technique described above does not show a method for dealing with a case where it is desired to change the order relation of activities without impairing the conformity to the constraints for the business process definition. For example, the “business process definition optimization support apparatus and method” is for the purpose of optimizing the business process definition and does not support the free change of the order relationship of activities. The “flow processing program, apparatus, and flow order changing method” is for uniquely changing a business process definition based on constraints, and does not support a free change in the order relation of activities.

The present invention has been made in view of such a background. The purpose of the present invention is to define the activities that make up the business, the branching and combining of the execution of the activities, and the description of the order relationship of the activities / branching / joining execution (sequence flow). ), And converting it so that it is possible to add activities before and after a specific activity sequence without changing the set of activity sequences that conform to that definition. It is to provide an apparatus and a method for supporting a change in business process definition.
Another object of the present invention is to restrict execution order on an activity sequence such as a constraint between a risk and its control when an activity is added before and after only a specific activity sequence on the business process definition. Is to ensure that the suitability of the product is not impaired.

  The invention according to claim 1 is included in an activity sequence that can be executed in the business process definition including the business flow definition including a sequence flow indicating an activity, a branch / join, an activity, and a sequence flow indicating a branch / join execution. Means for inputting a first activity sequence consisting of two or more activities and a second activity sequence consisting of all or part of the first activity sequence, and the input business process definition comprises: An activity node in an activity node sequence that is each element of an activity node sequence set defined as all activity node sequences that can be executed in the business process definition and that executes all elements of the first activity sequence, Means for determining whether or not an element that executes an element of the second activity sequence satisfies a condition that it is not executed on an activity node sequence that is not included in the activity node sequence set; and satisfaction And a means for outputting an activity node in the activity node sequence that is an element of the activity node sequence set and executing the element of the second activity sequence. It is.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the business process definition conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the input business process definition is satisfied when the input business process definition does not satisfy the condition according to claim 1. (1) The converted business process definition satisfies the conditions of claim 1 and (2) the set of activity sequences that can be executed in the converted business process definition is the input It is the same as the set of activity sequences that can be executed in the business process definition. (3) Branches and combinations executed in the activity sequence that can be executed in the input business process definition are the same activity columns as the activity column. Even if it can be executed in the business process definition after conversion, it will be executed, but no other branching or joining will be executed. (4) Execute in the activity sequence that can be executed in the input business process definition When the branch to be used uses the result of the executed activity, the branch in the business process definition after conversion corresponding to the branch is executed after the same activity as the activity using the result of the branch is executed. Converting the input business process definition so as to satisfy all of the conditions (1) to (4), and the activity node sequence executable by the converted business process definition, the first activity sequence The activity node included in the element that executes all the elements of the above, further comprising: an element that executes the element of the second activity sequence; and means for outputting the converted business process definition To do.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the business process definition conversion device according to claim 2, wherein all branches and connections constituting the input business process definition are exclusive branches and exclusive connections. A second activity node for executing an activity included in the second activity column in the input business process definition, and an activity node including a second activity node among the activities included in the first activity column Means for determining the front and back positions of the first activity node and the second activity node in an activity node sequence with a first activity node executing what is executed only in a part of the sequence as an argument; In the determination, if the first activity node appears after the second activity node in the activity node column, (1) the first activity node from the second activity node in the business process definition to be processed. Part of the sequence flow starting from that branch cannot reach the first active node, and between that node sequence and the second active node. Specify the operation target branch with the smallest number of nodes located, (2) specify the subgraph consisting of nodes from the second activity node to the operation target branch as the operation target graph, and (3) select the operation target branch. A copy of the operation target graph is generated for each sequence flow as the start end, the start end of the sequence flow is changed to the end node of the operation target graph copy, and (4) the node in the operation target graph is set as the end end. For each original sequence flow, a copy of the operation target branch is generated, the end of the original sequence flow is changed to the operation target branch copy, and the operation target branch copy is started. A sequence flow to be generated, and the end of the sequence flow is set as a node in the operation target graph copy generated by copying the node in the original operation target graph that was the end end of the original sequence flow, and (5) The original operation target branch, the original operation target graph, and the sequence flow that connects the two are deleted, and each operation (1) to (5) is sequentially executed. When the activity node appears before the second activity node, (6) an exclusive combination included in the node sequence from the first activity node to the second activity node in the business process definition to be processed; A part of the sequence flow whose end is that connection cannot be reached from the first active node, and the one with the smallest number of nodes located between the second active node in the node sequence is operated. Specify as an operation target combination, (7) Specify a subgraph consisting of nodes from the operation target combination to the second activity node as an operation target graph, and (8) For each sequence flow with the operation target combination as the end point, Generate a copy of the operation target graph, change the end of the sequence flow to the first node of the operation target graph copy, and (9) for each original sequence flow starting from the node in the operation target graph Generate a copy of the combination, change the start end of the original sequence flow to the operation target combined copy, generate a sequence flow with the operation target combined copy as the end, and use the start end as the start end of the original sequence flow The node in the operation target graph that was generated by copying the node in the original operation target graph that was Delete object graph, and the sequence flow for connecting the two, characterized by comprising sequentially and means for executing each operation (6) to (10).

  The invention according to claim 4 is the business process definition conversion device according to claim 1, 2, or 3, and is a means for outputting a set of business process definitions and activity nodes, and (1) a business to be processed The process definition is the input business process definition. (2) Among the activity nodes that execute the activities constituting the second activity sequence in the business process definition to be processed, those that have already been output in this process, and (3) The second activity node, which is defined as excluding those excluded from processing in, includes all activity node columns that include the second activity node in the entered business process definition. It is determined whether or not the condition that all activities are executed is satisfied, and all the activity nodes that satisfy the conditions are output. If there is no second activity node that does not satisfy the conditions in (3) and (2), the business process to be processed is output. If there is a second activity node that does not satisfy the condition in (2), the activity node includes any second activity node that includes the second activity node in the input business process definition. The activity node column also determines whether or not the condition that all activities included in the first activity column are not executed is satisfied, and all the activity nodes that satisfy the condition are excluded from the processing targets, and the conditions in (4) and (3) are satisfied. If there is no second activity node, the business process definition to be processed is output and the process is terminated. If there is a second activity node that does not satisfy the condition in (3), the activity node is targeted, (4-1) An activity that specifies an activity that is executed only in a part of an activity node sequence including the second activity node among activities that constitute the first activity sequence, and executes the activity in the activity node sequence (4-2) If the first activity node appears after the second activity node in the activity node column, the business process definition to be processed is identified. The operations (1) to (5) according to claim 3 are executed, and (4-3) if the first activity node appears before the second activity node in the activity node sequence, The operations (6) to (10) according to claim 3 are executed for the process definition, each process is executed sequentially, and (5) the business process definition to be processed is converted into a business process definition after conversion (2) And a means for outputting a set of business process definitions and activity nodes by executing a series of processes.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the business process definition conversion device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the second activity node among the first activity nodes identified corresponding to the second activity node The operations (1) to (5) or the operations (6) to (10) according to claim 3 are executed in order from the node having a smaller number of nodes positioned between them.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the business process definition conversion device according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the operation target graph in the operations (1) to (5) according to claim 3 is In addition to the nodes constituting the defined operation target graph, zero or more nodes satisfying the condition that the end ends of all sequence flows starting from that node are nodes included in the operation target graph, and The operation target graph in the operations (6) to (10) according to claim 3 is composed of a sequence flow starting from that node, in addition to the nodes constituting the operation target graph defined in claim 3, Zero or more nodes satisfying the condition that the start end of all sequence flows whose end ends are nodes included in the operation target graph, and the end of the nodes It consists Sequence Flow to an end, and wherein the.

  The invention described in claim 7 is the business process definition conversion device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, and is a means for inputting a business process definition, and the business process is ( 1) For all branches, there is a connection through which only all the active node sequences that pass through the branch, and (2) For all connections, only all the active node sequences through that connection pass through. A means for satisfying the condition that a branch exists, and a means for converting a business process definition including an input fork branch into a business process definition not including a fork branch, and (3) a fork branch not including an exclusive branch area The operation of substituting an area with an active node is executed one or more times, and (4) a fork branch area including an exclusive branch area is set as an exclusive branch area within that fork branch area. And means for satisfying a condition that an operation of replacing each branch destination subgraph in the region with an exclusive branch region as each branch destination subgraph is executed zero or more times an arbitrary number of times. After executing the processing described in 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, (5) replace the active node replacing the fork branch area with the corresponding fork branch area, and (6) fork the output active node. If an activity node that replaces the branch area is included, the activity node that replaces the fork branch area is replaced with one that executes the activity included in the second activity column entered in the activity node in the corresponding fork branch area. And means for carrying out the above.

  Here, the “exclusive branch area” is defined as a subgraph consisting of all nodes and sequence flows on all paths from the exclusive branch to the corresponding exclusive connection, and the “fork branch area” is a fork. It is defined as a subgraph consisting of all nodes and sequence flows on all paths from the branch to the corresponding fork join.

  The invention according to claim 8 is a business process definition including a sequence flow indicating an activity constituting a business and a direct execution order relationship of the activity, a constraint on an order relationship of activities constituting the business process definition, and Of the sequence flow included in the input business process definition and the means for inputting the activity to be repositioned, when the input activity is moved on the sequence flow, the business process definition after the movement is A business process definition conversion device comprising: means for outputting all of the input constraints that are relevant to the input activity.

  The invention according to claim 9 is a business process definition including an activity constituting a business and a sequence flow indicating a direct execution order relation of the activity, a restriction on an order relation of activities constituting the business process definition, and Means for inputting an activity to be repositioned, and, for each sequence flow column from the business start activity to the business end activity included in the input business process definition, out of the sequence flows included in the sequence Means for specifying a sequence flow that matches all of the input constraints related to the input activity when the input activity is moved on the flow, and the specification Specified sequence flow sequence that includes that sequence flow. And means for outputting a business process definition conversion device characterized by comprising a.

  A tenth aspect of the present invention is the business process definition conversion apparatus according to the eighth or ninth aspect, wherein the restriction on the order relation of the activities is a risk of an error that may occur in an activity and an error as a part of the activity. Expressed as a constraint on an order relationship between a heuristic control that is a description of an action that discovers and addresses or a preventive control that is a description of an action that prevents an error in advance, and the risk and the heuristic and / or It is characterized in that it is identified from constraints on the order relationship of preventive controls and the correspondence between risk controls and the activities.

  The invention described in claim 11 is included in an activity sequence that can be executed in the business process definition including a sequence flow indicating an order relationship of activities, branch / join, activities and branch / join executions constituting the business. Inputting a first activity sequence consisting of two or more activities, and a second activity sequence consisting of all or part of the first activity sequence; and the input business process definition comprises: An activity node in an activity node sequence that is each element of an activity node sequence set defined as all activity node sequences that can be executed in the business process definition and that executes all elements of the first activity sequence, Determining whether or not the element executing the second activity sequence element satisfies the condition that it is not executed on an activity node sequence not included in the activity node sequence set; And a step of outputting, when the condition is satisfied, an activity node in the activity node sequence which is an element of the activity node sequence set, which executes the element of the second activity sequence, It is a process definition conversion program.

  The invention according to claim 12 is a business process definition including a sequence flow indicating an activity constituting a business and a direct execution order relationship of the activity, a constraint on an order relationship of activities constituting the business process definition, and Of the sequence flow included in the step of inputting the position change target activity and the input business process definition, when the input activity is moved on the sequence flow, the business process definition after the movement is A business process definition conversion program comprising: a step of outputting all of the input constraints that are relevant to the input activity.

As is clear from the above description, according to the business process definition conversion apparatus of the present invention, an activity is applied only to an activity sequence including a specific activity group without changing the set of activity sequences that conform to the business process definition. Since the business process definition can be converted so that it can be added, changes to the business process definition such as adding an activity only to an activity column that includes a specific activity group among the activity columns that can be executed in the business process definition. Can support.
Further, according to the present invention, when an activity is added before and after only a specific activity sequence on the business process definition, a branch that is included in the definition uses information on another activity. Since it is guaranteed to be executed after the activity, the conformity to the constraint of the execution order on the activity sequence can be prevented from being impaired.

  Details of the business process definition conversion apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
14 to 44 relate to the first embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment provides a business process definition conversion apparatus that performs conversion so that an activity can be added before and after only a specific activity included in an activity sequence in the business process definition.

(Overview of conversion results)
First, an outline of a result of processing by the business process definition conversion apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, a case is considered where an activity sequence consisting of activity b and activity f is input as the first activity sequence and the business process definition of FIG. 14 to the business process definition conversion apparatus. Note that conditions using information generated by other activities are not described in each branch included in the business process definition of FIG.

  At this time, the activity sequence for executing activity b and the activity sequence for executing activity f are as follows.

[Activity sequence for executing activity b]
{A, b, d, f, i}, {a, b, d, g, i}, {a, b, d, h, i}, {a, b, e, f, i}, {a , B, e, g, i}, {a, b, e, h, i}
[Activity sequence for executing activity f]
{A, b, d, f, i}, {a, b, e, f, i}, {a, c, d, f, i}, {a, c, e, f, i}

  Here, out of the six activity sequences that execute the activity b, two also execute the activity f, and the other four do not execute the activity f. Of the four activity sequences that execute activity f, only two also execute activity b, and the other two do not execute activity b. Therefore, even if an attempt is made to add an activity only to an activity sequence including both activity b and activity f, the purpose cannot be achieved with the business process definition shown in FIG. By converting the business process definition of FIG. 14 into any of the business process definitions of FIG. 15 to FIG. 17, it becomes possible to add an activity only to an activity sequence including the activity b and the activity f.

  First, the business process definition in FIG. 15 is a conversion result when an activity sequence including only the activity f is input as the second activity sequence. In the business process definition of FIG. 15, there are two activity sequences {a, b, d, f, i} and {a, b, e, f, i} for executing the activity node f solidified by solid circles. Yes, both include activity b. Therefore, if an activity is added immediately before or immediately after the activity node f (on the sequence flow indicated by a thick arrow), the activity is executed only in the activity sequence including both the activity b and the activity f.

  The business process definition in FIG. 16 is a conversion result when an activity sequence consisting only of activity b is input as the second activity sequence. In the business process definition of FIG. 16, there are two activity sequences {a, b, d, f, i} and {a, b, e, f, i} for executing the activity node b solidified by a solid circle. Yes, both include activity f. Therefore, if an activity is added immediately before or immediately after the activity node b (on the sequence flow indicated by a thick arrow), the activity is executed only in the activity sequence including both the activity b and the activity f.

  The business process definition in FIG. 17 is a conversion result when an activity sequence composed of activity b and activity f is input as the second activity sequence. In the business process definition of FIG. 17, the activity sequence for executing the activity node b solidified by a solid circle and the activity sequence for executing the activity node f solidified by a solid circle are both {a, b, d, f, i}, {a, b, e, f, i}, both of which include activity b and activity f. For this reason, even if an activity is added on any sequence flow indicated by a thick arrow, the activity is executed only in an activity sequence including both activity b and activity f.

  Next, let us consider a case where a condition for determining the next activity is described in the branch E of the business process definition in FIG. 14, and the condition uses the result of the activity executed in advance. FIG. 5 shows such a business process definition. When the business process definition of FIG. 5 and the activity sequence consisting of activity b and activity f are input as the first activity sequence to the first business process definition conversion apparatus of the present invention, the business process definition of FIG. Is output.

(Configuration of the first embodiment)
Next, the configuration of the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram of the business process definition editing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 19, the system 120 includes a business process definition editing unit 121 and a business process definition conversion unit 122. The business process definition editing unit 121 displays a graphic representation of the business process definition (for example, the representation shown in FIG. 1) in response to a user instruction. Then, the graphic representation is changed according to instructions such as addition / deletion of activity, branch, combination, sequence flow, connection / division of activity / branch / join and sequence flow, etc., and graphic representation according to the save instruction from the user Is reflected in the data expression (for example, the expression as shown in FIG. 2). In addition, from the user, an activity column consisting of an activity group included in the business process definition (first activity column, hereinafter referred to as “activity column 1”), an activity column consisting of a subset of the activity group (second activity column, "Activity column 2") and business process definition conversion instructions are accepted, and the graphic representation of the business process definition is reflected in the data representation, and then the data representation and two types of activity columns (activity column 1, activity column 2) Is input to the business process definition conversion unit 122. As a result, the following conversion is instructed to the business process definition conversion unit 122.

(1) Among activity columns that can be executed in the business process definition, an activity node that is executed only in an activity column that executes all activities included in activity column 1, and an activity column that includes an activity with that name Identify all of them.
(2) If such an activity node does not exist in the input business process definition, convert the business process definition to generate such an activity node and specify it.

  Then, the business process definition editing unit 121 receives the business process definition data representation and the set of activity nodes output from the business process definition conversion unit 122, updates the data representation with the data representation, and converts it into a graphic representation. To reflect. Each element of the accepted set of activity nodes is shown to the user so that it can be distinguished from other activity nodes on the graphic representation.

  An example of the basic processing flow of the business process definition conversion unit 122 is shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B. FIG. 21 shows an example of a detailed flow of processing for replacing a fork branch in the business process definition with a fork branch replacement activity (step S2002 in FIG. 20). Also, examples of detailed flows of operation 1 and operation 2 executed in the process of FIG. 20 are shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, respectively, and examples of detailed processes of operation 3 executed in the process of FIG. It shows in FIG.

  Note that, in some of the business process examples used in the following description, a number for identification is given to the sequence flow. However, the business process definition conversion unit 122 of the present embodiment is based on the correspondence between the sequence flow and the number. The same result can be obtained.

(Operation of the first embodiment)
(Business process definition conversion example 1)
Hereinafter, the conversion process of the business process definition when the following business process definition, activity column 1 and activity column 2 are input to the business process definition conversion unit 122 is shown.

(1) Business process definition: Business process definition in FIG. 14 (2) Activity sequence 1: {activity b, activity f}
(3) Activity column 2: {Activity b}

  In FIG. 20, when the business process definition conversion unit 122 is activated, the input business process definition is substituted into the variable A in step S2001, and then the fork branch in the business process definition that is the value of the variable A in step S2002. Is replaced with a fork branch substitution activity. An example of the detailed flow of this processing is shown in FIG. 21, but since the fork branch is not included in the business process definition of FIG. 14, description of the processing content is omitted here.

  After the variable group is initialized in step S2003 and step S2004, in step S2005, the activity in the input second activity sequence at the activity node in the business process definition of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 14). Among the activity nodes that execute (here, activity b), those not included in variable B (empty at this time) and variable C (empty at this time) are identified and substituted into variable D. Here, the activity node b in FIG.

  Next, in step S2006, it is determined whether or not the activity node (activity node b) in the variable D satisfies the following condition, and all the activity nodes that satisfy the condition are substituted for the variable B, and all the activity nodes that do not satisfy the condition are substituted for the variable E.

  (Condition) In the business process definition of the variable A (business process definition in FIG. 14), all the activity node columns including the activity node execute all the activities included in the first activity column.

  Here, the following six activity node strings are specified as the activity node string including the activity node b in the business process definition of FIG.

(1) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node d, activity node f, activity node i}
(2) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node d, activity node g, activity node i}
(3) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node d, activity node h, activity node i}
(4) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node e, activity node f, activity node i}
(5) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node e, activity node g, activity node i}
(6) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node e, activity node h, activity node i}

  Of these activity node columns, only the first activity node column and the fourth activity node column execute all the activities included in the first activity column (activity b, activity f). Therefore, the activity node b does not satisfy the above condition and is assigned to the variable E. In step S2007, it is determined whether or not the variable E is empty. However, since the activity node b is assigned to the variable E in step S2006 and is not empty, the process proceeds to step S2008.

  In step S2008, it is determined whether the activity node (activity node b) in the variable E satisfies the following conditions, and all the activity nodes that satisfy the condition are substituted for the variable C, and all the activity nodes that do not satisfy the condition are substituted for the variable F.

  (Condition) In the business process definition of the variable A (business process definition in FIG. 14), any activity node column including the activity node does not execute all the activities included in the first activity column.

  As already indicated, since there are two activity node sequences including the activity node b that execute all the activities included in the first activity column, the activity node b does not satisfy the above condition and the variable F Assigned. In step S2009, it is determined whether or not the variable F is empty. However, since the activity node b is assigned to the variable F in S2008 and is not empty, the process proceeds to step S2010.

  In step S2010, the leading element of the value of variable F is substituted for variable G. Here, the activity node b which is the only element of the variable F is substituted into the variable G. Next, in step S2011, among the activities constituting the first activity sequence, those executed only in a part of the activity node sequence including the activity node having the value of the variable G are substituted into the variable H. Here, among the activities (activity b, activity f) constituting the first activity sequence, the activity f executed only in a part of the 6 activity node sequences shown above is substituted into the variable H. The variable I is an activity node string including the value of the variable G (activity node b), and the activity node that executes the activity assigned to the variable H is the query of the value of the variable G (activity node b). A list arranged from the smallest number of nodes is substituted. Here, a list consisting only of the activity node f is substituted for the variable I. In step S2012, the leading element of variable I is substituted into variable J. Here, the activity node f which is the only element of the variable I is substituted into the variable J.

  In step S2013, it is determined whether the value of the variable J appears after the value of the variable G in the activity node sequence including the value of the variable G (activity node b) and the value of the variable J (activity node f). Here, since the activity node f appears after the activity node b, the process proceeds to step S2014.

  In step S2014, the operation 1 is executed on the business process definition (business process definition in FIG. 14) that is the value of the variable A using the set of (variable J value, variable G value) as an argument, and the result (in FIG. 28). Business process definition) is substituted into variable A.

  The detailed processing flow of operation 1 is shown in FIG. First, in step S2201, in the variable A, an exclusive branch included in a node sequence from the value of the variable G (activity node b) to the value of the variable J (activity node f) is a sequence flow starting from that branch. The part that cannot reach the first active node and has the smallest number of nodes located between the value of the variable G (active node b) in the node sequence is specified and substituted into the variable K. Here, of the three exclusive branches (branch node C, branch node E, branch node F) included in the node sequence from the active node b to the active node f, part of the sequence flow starting from that branch Are two that cannot reach the first active node (branch node E, branch node F), and the one with the smallest number of nodes located between the active node b is the branch node E. A branch node E is substituted for K. Next, in step S2202, in the business process definition of variable A, a subgraph (variable K) consisting of a node from the value of variable G (activity node b) to the value of variable K (branch node E) and a sequence flow starting from the node. And the sequence flow that ends with the value of the variable K) are substituted into the variable L. FIG. 25 shows a subgraph assigned to the variable L here.

  Next, in step S2203, a copy of the value of the variable L (subgraph of FIG. 25) is generated for each sequence flow starting from the value of the variable K (branch node E), and the starting end of the sequence flow is set to the variable L. Change to the end node of the copy. FIG. 26 shows the business process definition at the end of step S2203. In FIG. 26, the background of the copy of the value of the variable L is hatched.

  Further, in step S2204, a copy of the value of the variable K (branch node E) is generated for each sequence flow (original sequence flow) whose end is the node in the variable L, and the end of the original sequence flow is the variable K. Change to a copy of the value. In addition, a sequence flow starting from a copy of the value of the variable K is generated, and the end of the variable is generated by copying the node in the value of the variable L that is the end of the original sequence flow. Set to the node whose L value is being copied. FIG. 27 shows the business process definition at the end of step S2204. Finally, in step S2205, the value of the variable K and the value of the variable L, and the sequence flow connecting the value of the variable K and the value of the variable L are deleted, and the process ends. FIG. 28 shows the business process definition at the end of step S2205. In the business process definition in FIG. 28, there are a plurality of activity nodes and branch / join nodes corresponding to the same activity, branch / join, and so on. A node or a branch / join node is represented as an active node a ({}, {1}), for example.

  The processing returns to FIG. 20, and it is determined in step S2018 whether or not the value of the variable J (activity node f) is the last element of the variable I. Here, since the activity node f is the only element of the variable I, the process advances to step S2019 to determine whether or not the value of the variable G (activity node b) is the last element of the variable F. Since the activity node b is also the only element of the variable F, the process returns to step S2004.

  After the variable group is initialized in step S2004, in step S2005, the activity (activity) in the input second activity sequence is the activity node in the business process definition (business process definition in FIG. 28) of the value of variable A. Of the activity nodes that execute b), those not included in variable B and variable C are substituted into variable D. Here, the activity node b ({4}, {7}) and the activity node b ({5}, {8}) are substituted into the variable D. Next, in step S2006, it is determined whether or not the activity nodes (activity node b ({4}, {7}) and activity node b ({5}, {8})) in variable D satisfy the following conditions, Are assigned to the variable B, and all the unsatisfied activity nodes are assigned to the variable E.

  (Condition) In the business process definition of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 28), all activity node columns including the activity node execute all activities (activity b, activity f) included in the first activity column. .

  First, all the active node strings including the active node b ({4}, {7}) are the following four.

(1) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({4}, {7}), Activity node d ({13}, {17}), Activity node f ({23}, {26}), activity node i ({28}, {})}
(2) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({4}, {7}), Activity node d ({13}, {17}), Activity node g ({24}, {27}), activity node i ({28}, {})}
(3) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({4}, {7}), Activity node e ({14}, {18}), Activity node f ({23}, (26}), activity node i ({28}, {})}
(4) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({4}, {7}), Activity node e ({14}, {18}), Activity node g ({24}, {27}), activity node i ({28}, {})}

  Of these, only the first activity node column and the third activity node column execute all activities (activity b, activity f) included in the first activity column. For this reason, the activity node b ({4}, {7}) does not satisfy the above condition and is assigned to the variable E. Similarly, all the active node sequences including the active node b ({5}, {8}) are the following two.

  (1) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({5}, {8}), Activity node d ({15}, {19}), Activity node h ({22}, {25}), activity node i ({28}, {})}

  (2) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({5}, {8}), Activity node e ({16}, {20}), Activity node h ({22}, {25}), activity node i ({28}, {})}

  None of these execute all activities (activity b, activity f) included in the first activity column. Therefore, the activity node b ({5}, (8}) is also assigned to the variable E. The process proceeds to step S2008 through step S2007, and the activity node (activity node b ({4}, { 7}), the activity node b ({5}, (8})) determines whether or not the following condition is satisfied, and all the activity nodes that satisfy the condition are substituted for the variable C, and all the activity nodes that do not satisfy the condition are substituted for the variable F.

  (Condition) In the business process definition of the variable A (business process definition in FIG. 28), any activity node column including the activity node does not execute all the activities included in the first activity column.

  As shown above, the active node b ({5}, {8}) satisfies this condition, but the active node b ({4}, {7}) does not satisfy this condition. Therefore, the activity node b ({5}, (8}) is assigned to the variable C, and the activity node b ({4}, {7}) is assigned to the variable F. The process proceeds to step S2010 via step S2009. The variable G is assigned with the activity node b ({4}, {7}), which is the first element of the variable F.

  In step S2011, only a part of the activity node sequence including the value of the variable G (activity node b ({4}, {7})) among the activities (activity b, activity f) constituting the first activity sequence is included. What is to be executed is assigned to the variable H, and the activity node that executes the activity of the variable H in the activity node sequence is assigned to the variable I. Here, the activity node f ({23}, {26}) is substituted into the variable I. The process proceeds to step S2014 via step S2012 and step S2013, and (value of variable J (activity node f ({23}, {26})), value of variable G (activity node b ({4}, {7})). ))) As an argument, operation 1 is executed on the business process definition (business process definition in FIG. 28) which is the value of variable A. FIG. 29 shows a business process definition at the end of the operation 1.

  In step S2018, it is determined whether or not the value of variable J (activity node f ({23}, {26})) is the last element of variable I. Here, since the activity node f ({23}, {26}) is the only element of the variable I, the process proceeds to step S2019, and the value of the variable G (activity node b ({4}, {7})) is the variable. It is determined whether or not it is the last element of F. Since the activity node b ({4}, {7}) is also the only element of the variable F, the process returns to step S2004.

  The process returns to step S2004, and after the variable is initialized in step S2004, in step S2005, the second activity sequence input at the activity node in the business process definition (business process definition in FIG. 29) of the value of variable A is obtained. Among the activity nodes that execute the middle activity (activity b), those not included in variable B and variable C are substituted into variable D. Here, the activity node b ({30}, {34}) and the activity node b ({31}, {35}) in the business process definition of FIG. Next, in step S2006, it is determined whether or not the activity nodes (activity node b ({30}, {34}) and activity node b ({31}, {35})) in variable D satisfy the following conditions, Are assigned to the variable B, and all the unsatisfied activity nodes are assigned to the variable E.

  (Condition) In the business process definition of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 29), all activity node columns including the activity node execute all activities (activity b, activity f) included in the first activity column. .

  First, all the active node sequences including the active node b ({30}, {34}) are the following two.

(1) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({30}, {34}), Activity node d ({38}, {42}), Activity node f ({23}, {26}), activity node i ({28}, {})}
(2) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({30}, {34}), Activity node e ({39}, {43}), Activity node f ({23}, {26}), activity node i ({28}, {})}

  Both execute all activities (activity b, activity f) included in the first activity column. Therefore, the activity node b ({30}, {34}) satisfies the above condition and is assigned to the variable B. Similarly, all the active node sequences including the active node b ({31}, {35}) are the following two.

(1) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({31}, {35}), Activity node d ({40}, {44}), Activity node g ({24}, {27}), activity node i ({28}, {})}
(2) {Activity node a ({}, {1}), Activity node b ({31}, {35}), Activity node e ({41}, {45}), Activity node g ({24}, {27}), activity node i ({28}, {})}

  None of these execute all activities (activity b, activity f) included in the first activity column. Therefore, the activity node b ({31}, {35}) is substituted into the variable E.

  The process proceeds to step S2008 through step S2007, determines whether the activity node (activity node b ({31}, {35})) in variable E satisfies the following condition, and sets all the activity nodes that satisfy the condition to variable C. Substitute all the activity nodes that do not satisfy the variable F.

  (Condition) In the business process definition of the variable A (business process definition in FIG. 29), any activity node column including the activity node does not execute all the activities included in the first activity column.

  As indicated above, any activity node sequence that includes activity node b ({31}, {35}) does not execute all activities (activity b, activity f) included in the first activity sequence. Therefore, the activity node b ({31}, {35}) is substituted into the variable C. The process proceeds to step S2007 to determine whether the variable E is empty. Here, since the variable E is empty, the process proceeds to step S2016, and processing for replacing the fork branch substitution activity node in the business process definition, which is the value of the variable A, with the activity node is executed. Does not include a fork branch substitution active node, so no replacement process is performed. Finally, in step S2017, the value of the variable A (business process definition in FIG. 29) and the value of the variable B (activity node b ({30}, {34})) are output, and the processing of the business process definition conversion unit ends.

  The user of the business process editing system of this embodiment acquires the business process definition and the activity node b ({30}, {34}) in FIG. 29 via the business process definition editing unit. The user inserts an activity on the sequence flow (sequence flow 30, sequence flow 34) immediately before or immediately after the activity node b ({30}, {34}) to execute the activity b and activity f. It is possible to add an activity that is performed only in the column and not performed in an activity column that does not include at least one of activity b or activity f.

  In this embodiment, in step S2202 of FIG. 22, in the business process definition of variable A, a subgraph (sequence of variable K) consisting of a node from the value of variable G to the value of variable K and a sequence flow starting from the node is set. The value itself and the sequence flow that ends with the value of the variable K are excluded) as the value of the variable L. However, in the business process definition of variable A, in addition to the node from the value of variable G to the value of variable K, a subgraph consisting of an arbitrary number of nodes satisfying the following conditions and a sequence flow starting from that node is represented by variable Even if it is substituted as the value of L, an equivalent effect can be obtained.

  (Condition) The end of all sequence flows starting from that node is a node included in the graph that is the value of the variable L.

  When the processing in step S2202 is changed as described above, when the value of variable A is the business process definition of FIG. 14, the value of variable G is the activity node b, and the value of variable K is the exclusive branch node E, step S2202 FIG. 30 shows an example of the subgraph assigned to the variable L in FIG. In the subgraph of FIG. 30, an exclusive branch node A and an activity node c are added as nodes satisfying the above conditions with respect to the subgraph of FIG. Further, FIG. 31 shows a business process definition at the end of step S2205 when the subgraph of FIG.

  Similarly, in step S2302 of FIG. 23, in the business process definition of variable A, a node from the value of variable M to the value of variable G and a subgraph consisting of a sequence flow with the node at the end (the value of variable M itself and (Except for the sequence flow starting from the value of the variable M) is substituted as the value of the variable N. However, in the business process definition of variable A, in addition to the node from the value of variable M to the value of variable G, a subgraph consisting of an arbitrary number of nodes satisfying the following conditions and a sequence flow with that node as the end point is represented by variable Even if it is substituted as the value of N, the same effect can be obtained.

  (Condition) The starting end of all sequence flows whose end is that node is a node included in the graph that is the value of the variable N.

  (Business process definition conversion example 2)

  Next, an outline of the conversion process of the business process definition when the following business process definition, activity column 1 and activity column 2 are input to the business process definition conversion unit 122 is shown. In the following description, the description of the same processing as that of the conversion example 1 described above may be omitted, so refer to the description of the conversion example 1 as necessary.

(1) Business process definition: Business process definition of FIG. 14 (2) Activity sequence 1: {activity b, activity d, activity f}
(2) Activity column 2: {Activity b}

  When the business process definition conversion unit 122 is activated, the activity node b in FIG. 14 is substituted for the variable D in step S2005 in FIG. As a result of a series of processes from step S2006 to step S2009, the value of variable D (activity node b) is assigned to variable F, and is assigned to variable G in step S2010. Next, in step S2011, activity d and activity f are substituted into variable H as activities executed in only a part of the six activity sequences shown above among the activities constituting the first activity sequence. Then, in the activity node sequence including the value of the variable G (activity node b), the activity nodes that execute the activity assigned to the value of the variable H are arranged in ascending order of the number of nodes with the value of the variable G. The list {active node d, active node f} is substituted into variable I.

  The process proceeds to step S2012, step S2013, and step S2014, and operation 1 is executed with (activity node d, activity node b) as an argument for the value of variable A (the business process definition in FIG. 14). FIG. 32 shows the business process definition at the end of the execution of operation 1.

  The process returns to step S2004, and in step S2005, the activity node b ({4}, {7}) and the activity node b ({5}, {8}) in FIG. In S2008, among these, the activity node b ({4}, {7}) is substituted into the variable F, and the activity node b ({5}, {8}) is substituted into the variable C. In step S2010, the activity node b ({4}, {7}) is assigned to the variable G, and the activity f is assigned to the variable H in step S2011. The process proceeds to step S2012, step S2013, and step S2014, and for the value of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 32), (activity node b ({4}, {7}), activity node f ({18}, Operation 1 is executed with {21})) as an argument. FIG. 33 shows the business process definition at the end of the execution of operation 1.

  The process returns to step S2004 again, and in step S2005, the activity node b ({25}, {31}) and the activity node b ({26}, {32}) in FIG. In S2008, among these, the activity node b ({25}, {31}) is substituted into the variable F, and the activity node b ({26}, {32}) is substituted into the variable C. In step S2010, the activity node b ({25}, {31}) is assigned to the variable G, and the activity f is assigned to the variable H in step S2011. Processing proceeds to step S2012, step S2013, and step S2014, and for the value of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 33), (activity node b ({25}, {31}), activity node f ({18}, Operation 1 is executed with {21})) as an argument. FIG. 34 shows the business process definition at the end of the operation 1 execution.

  The process returns to step S2004 again, and in S2005, the activity node b ({37}, {43}) and the activity node b ({38}, {44}) in FIG. Of these, the activity node b ({37}, {43}) is assigned to the variable B in step S2006, and the activity node b ({38}, {44}) is assigned to the variable C in step S2008. As a result, since the value of the variable F becomes empty at the start of step S2009, the process proceeds to step S2016, and the process of replacing the fork branch substitution activity node in the business process definition, which is the value of the variable A, with the active node is executed. However, since the business process definition in FIG. 34 does not include the fork branch substitution activity node, the replacement process is not executed. Finally, in step S2017, the value of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 34) and the value of variable B (activity node b ({37}, {43})) are output, and the process of the business process definition conversion unit is completed. To do.

  (Business process definition conversion example 3)

  Next, an outline of the conversion process of the business process definition when the following business process definition, activity column 1 and activity column 2 are input to the business process definition conversion unit 122 is shown. Similarly, in the following description, the description of the same processing as that of the conversion example 1 described above may be omitted, so refer to the description of the conversion example 1 as necessary.

(1) Business process definition: Business process definition in FIG. 3 (2) Activity sequence 1: {activity b, activity d}
(3) Activity column 2: {Activity b}

  When the business process definition conversion unit 122 is activated, the activity node b in FIG. 3 is assigned to the variable D in S2005 of FIG. Subsequently, in step S2006, the following three activity node sequences are specified as the activity node sequence including the value of the variable D (activity node b), and among these, the third activity node sequence is all of the first activity sequences. Activity node b is assigned to variable E because no activity is performed.

(1) {activity node a, activity node b, activity node x, activity node d, activity node f}
(2) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node d, activity node f}
(3) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node e, activity node f}

  As a result of a series of processes from step S2007 to step S2009, the value of variable E (activity node b) is substituted for variable F and then for variable G in step S2010. Next, in step S2011, the activity d is specified as being executed by only a part of the above three activity node sequences among the activities constituting the first activity sequence, and is substituted into the variable H. Then, the activity node d is assigned to the variables I and J.

  Processing proceeds to step S2013 and step S2014, and operation 1 is executed with (activity node d, activity node b) as an argument for the value of variable A (the business process definition in FIG. 3). FIG. 35 shows a business process definition at the end of the operation 1 execution.

  The processing returns to step S2004, and in S2005, the activity node b ({5}, {9}) and the activity node b ({6}, {10}) in FIG. Of these, the activity node b ({5}, {9}) is assigned to the variable B in step S2006, the activity node b ({6}, {10}) is changed to the variable E in step S2008, and the variable F in step S2008. In step S2010, the variable G is substituted. In step S2011, only a part of the activity node sequence including the value of the variable G (activity node b ({6}, {10})) among the activities (activity b, activity d) constituting the first activity sequence is executed. As a result, activity d is assigned to variable H, and activity node d ({16}, {17}) is assigned to variable I.

  Processing proceeds to step S2013 and step S2014, and for the value of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 35), (activity node d ({16}, {17}), activity node b ({6}, {10}) Operation 1 is executed with)) as an argument. FIG. 36 shows the business process definition at the end of the execution of operation 1.

  The process returns to step S2004 again, and in S2005, the activity node b ({20}, {24}) and the activity node b ({21}, {25}) in FIG. Of these, the activity node b ({20}, {24}) is assigned to the variable B in step S2006, and the activity node b ({21}, {25}) is assigned to the variable C in step S2008. As a result, since the value of the variable F becomes empty at the start of step S2009, the process proceeds to step S2016, and the process of replacing the fork branch substitution activity node in the business process definition that is the value of the variable A with the active node is executed. However, since the business process definition in FIG. 36 does not include a fork branch replacement activity node, the replacement process is not executed. Finally, in step S2017, the value of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 36) and the value of variable B (activity node b ({5}, {9}), activity node b ({20}, {24})) are obtained. Is output, and the process of the business process definition conversion unit ends.

  (Business process definition conversion example 4)

  Next, an outline of the conversion process of the business process definition when the following business process definition, activity column 1 and activity column 2 are input to the business process definition conversion unit 122 is shown. Similarly, in the following description, the description of the same processing as that of the conversion example 1 described above may be omitted, so refer to the description of the conversion example 1 as necessary.

(1) Business process definition: Business process definition in FIG. 3 (2) Activity sequence 1: {activity b, activity d}
(3) Activity column 2: {Activity d}

  When the business process definition conversion unit 122 is activated, the activity node d in FIG. 3 is substituted for the variable D in step S2005 in FIG. Subsequently, in step S2006, the following three activity node sequences are specified as the activity node sequence including the value of the variable D (activity node d), and among these, the third activity node sequence is all the first activity sequences. Activity node d is assigned to variable E because activity (activity b, activity d) is not executed.

(1) {activity node a, activity node b, activity node x, activity node d, activity node f}
(2) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node d, activity node f}
(3) {Activity node a, activity node c, activity node d, activity node f}

  As a result of a series of processes from step S2007 to step S2009, the value of variable D (activity node d) is substituted into variable F and variable G at step S2010. Next, in step S2011, activity b is substituted into variable H as an activity executed in only a part of the three activity sequences shown above among the activities constituting the first activity sequence. Then, a list consisting only of the activity node b is substituted for the variable I.

  The process proceeds to step S2013 via step S2012, where it is determined that the value of variable J (activity node b) does not appear after the value of variable G (activity node d), and the process proceeds to step S2015. In step S2015, operation 2 is executed with (activity node b, activity node d) as an argument for the value of variable A (the business process definition in FIG. 3). FIG. 37 shows the business process definition at the end of the execution of operation 2.

  The process returns to step S2004. In step S2005, the activity node d ({16}, {18}) and the activity node d ({17}, {19}) in FIG. Of these, the activity node d ({16}, {18}) is substituted into the variable B in step S2006, and the activity node d ({17}, {19}) is substituted into the variable C in step S2008. As a result, since the value of the variable F becomes empty at the start of step S2009, the process proceeds to step S2016, and the process of replacing the fork branch substitution activity node in the business process definition that is the value of the variable A with the active node is executed. However, since the business process definition in FIG. 37 does not include the fork branch substitution activity node, the replacement process is not executed. Finally, in step S2017, the value of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 37) and the value of variable B (activity node b ({16}, {18})) are output, and the process of the business process definition conversion unit ends. .

  (Business Process Definition Conversion Example 5)

  Next, an outline of the conversion process of the business process definition when the business process definition including the following fork branch substitution activity node, the activity column 1 and the activity column 2 is input to the business process definition conversion unit 122 is shown.

(1) Business process definition: Business process definition in FIG. 4 (2) Activity sequence 1: {activity b, activity f}
(3) Activity column 2: {Activity f}

  When the business process definition conversion unit 122 is activated, processing for replacing the fork branch in the business process definition with a fork branch replacement activity is executed in step S2002. Specifically, all branch nodes in the business process definition are substituted for variable X in step S2101 of FIG. However, when the branch region starting from the first branch node includes the branch region starting from the second branch node, in X, the second branch node appears before the first branch node. To. Here, it is assumed that the branch nodes are stored in the following order for the variable X, but the same result is obtained even if the order of the branch nodes is changed within the range satisfying the condition described in step S2101. be able to.

  (Value of variable X) branch node A, branch node F, branch node E

  In step S2102, the first element of X (branch A in this case) is assigned to the variable Y. In step S2103, it is determined whether the value of variable Y (branch node A) is a fork branch. Since the branch node A is not a fork branch, the process advances to step S2107 to determine whether or not there is a fork branch including the value of the variable Y. Since there is no branch including the value of variable Y (branch node A), the process advances to step S2105 to determine whether or not the value of variable Y (branch node A) is the last element of variable X. Here, since the branch node A is not the last element of the variable X, the process proceeds to step S2106, and the next element (branch node F) of the variable X is stored in the variable Y.

  The process returns to step S2103 to determine whether or not the value of variable Y (branch node F) is a fork branch. Since the branch node F is an exclusive branch and not a fork branch, the process advances to step S2107 to determine whether or not there is a fork branch region including the value of the variable Y (branch node F). Here, since the fork branch region starting from the fork branch node E includes the branch node F, the process advances to step S2108 to branch as the minimum fork branch region in which the variable W includes the value of the variable Y (branch node F). A fork branch area starting from node E is substituted. The process advances to step S2109 to determine whether or not the value of the variable Y (branch node F) uses information on the activity in the value of the variable W (fork branch region starting from the branch node E). . Here, since the branch node F does not use the information of other activities, the process proceeds to step S2110, and the operation 3 is performed on (variable Y, variable W).

  In step S2401 of FIG. 24, copies of the value of the variable W (fork branch area starting from the branch node E) are created for the number of sequence flows starting from the value of the variable Y (branch node F). Here, since there are two sequence flows starting from the branch node F, two fork branch regions starting from the branch node E are created. In step S2402, a copy of the value of variable Y (branch node F) is substituted for variable P, and a copy of the join node (join node G) corresponding to the value of variable Y is substituted for variable Q. In step S2403, the value of the variable W is separated from the sequence flow immediately before and after, and the end of the sequence flow whose end is the branch at the start of the variable W (branch node E) is the value of the variable P (branch node). In F), the start end of the sequence flow starting from the end of the variable W value (join node H) is replaced with the value of the variable Q (join node G). It is assumed that the original value of the variable W has been deleted. The business process definition at this point is shown in FIG.

  In step S2404, the first copy of the value of variable W (fork branch area starting from branch node E) is substituted for variable R. In step S2405, the branch area starting from the value of variable Y (branch node F) included in the value of variable R (fork branch area starting from branch node E) is designated as the nth (here In this case, the first branch is replaced with the connection at the end of the branch area (here, the active node f). In step S2406, the n-th (here, the first) branch of the value of the variable P (branch node F) is set as the start end, and the value of the variable R (fork branch region starting from the branch node E) Generate a sequence flow that ends at a branch. In step S2407, the connection at the end of the value of variable R (fork branch region starting from branch node E) is the start, and the nth connection of the value of variable Q (connection node G) is the end. Generate a sequence flow. The business process definition at this point is shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, the processing in FIG. 24 continues, and when there are a plurality of copies in the variable W, the processing from step S2405 to S2407 is repeated. FIG. 40 shows the business process definition at the end of processing in FIG.

The processing returns to FIG. 21. In step S2111, the branch node at the branch region start end generated in operation 3 is added as the next value of variable Y in variable X, and the branch region start end branch deleted in operation 3 is added. Delete the node from X. At this time, when the value of the variable Y is included in the branch node deleted from X, the following processing is performed.
(1) If the value of the variable Y is not the first element of the variable X, the branch node located immediately before the value of the variable Y is set as the value of the variable Y.
(2) If the value of the variable Y is the first element of the variable X, the value of the variable Y is set to a special value (for example, a NULL value). In S2106, the first element in the variable X is set to the variable Y as the next element of the special value. Assign to.
As a result, the value of the variable X is as follows.

  (Value of variable X) Branch node A ({1}, {2, 4}), Branch node E ({7}, {8, 10}), Branch node E ({13}, {14, 16}) , Branch node F ({6}, {7, 13})

  The process proceeds to step S2105 and step S2106, the next element of variable X (branch node E ({7}, {8, 10})) is substituted for variable Y, the process returns to step S2103, and the value of variable Y ( It is determined whether or not the branch node E ({7}, {8, 10})) is a fork branch. Since branch node E ({7}, {8, 10}) is a fork branch, the process advances to step S2104 to generate a variable Z (here, active node x) which is a fork branch region alternative activity node. Replace with the branch region starting from the value of Y (branch node E ({7}, {8, 10})). Fork branch area substitution activity is a kind of activity, and maintains a correspondence with the replaced fork branch area. FIG. 41 shows the business process definition at this time and the correspondence relationship between the fork branch area substitution activity node x and the original fork branch area. In the figure, the fork branch area substitution activity node is represented by a hatched square.

  Thereafter, the processing in FIG. 21 is continued, and the processing of steps S2103 to S2105 is repeated for each element of the variable X. FIG. 42 shows the business process definition at the end of the processing in FIG.

  The processing returns to step S2003 in FIG. 20, and the active node x ({7}, {12}) in FIG. Subsequently, in step S2006, the following two activity node sequences are specified as the activity node sequence including the value of the variable D (activity node x ({7}, {12})). Does not execute all activities (activity b, activity x) in the first activity sequence, so activity node x ({7}, {12}) is assigned to variable E.

(1) {Activity node a, activity node b, activity node x, activity node i}
(2) {activity node a, activity node c, activity node x, activity node i}

  As a result of a series of processing from step S2007 to step S2010, the value of variable E (activity node x ({7}, {12})) is substituted into variable F and variable G. Next, in step S2011, activity b is identified as an activity to be executed in only a part of the above two activity node sequences among the activities constituting the first activity sequence, and is assigned to variable H. Then, the activity node b ({2}, {3}) is assigned to the variable I. The process proceeds to step S2012, step S2013, and step S2015, and operation 2 is executed with (activity node b, activity node x) as an argument for the value of variable A (business process definition in FIG. 42). FIG. 43 shows a business process definition at the end of execution of operation 2.

  The process returns to step S2004. In step S2005, the activity node x ({20}, {24}) and the activity node x ({22}, {25}) in FIG. Of these, the activity node x ({20}, {24}) is assigned to the variable B in step S2006, and the activity node x ({22}, {25}) is assigned to the variable C in step S2008. As a result, since the value of the variable F becomes empty at the start of step S2009, the process proceeds to step S2016, and the process of replacing the fork branch substitution activity node in the business process definition that is the value of the variable A with the active node is executed. The FIG. 44 shows the business process definition at this point. In step S2016, the fork branch substitution activity node (activity node x ({20}, {24})) included in the variable B is an activity node in the corresponding fork branch area and included in the second activity column. It is replaced with an activity node (activity node f ({26}, {32})) that executes (activity f). As a result, in step S2017, the business process definition in FIG. 44 and the activity node f ({26}, {32}) are output as the value of the variable X as the business process definition, and the processing of the business process definition conversion unit is completed. .

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. 45 to 56 relate to the business process definition conversion apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

(Configuration of the second embodiment)
FIG. 45 is a configuration diagram of the business process definition editing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 45, the system 450 includes a business process definition editing unit 451 and an activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452. The business process definition editing unit 451 displays a graphic representation of the business process definition (for example, a representation as shown in FIG. 10) in response to a user instruction. Then, the graphic representation is changed according to instructions such as addition / deletion of activity, branch, combination, sequence flow, connection / division of activity / branch / join and sequence flow, etc., and graphic representation according to the save instruction from the user Is reflected in the data expression (for example, the expression shown in FIG. 2).

  In addition, the business process definition editing unit 451 accepts a move destination sequence flow specifying instruction together with designation of an activity to be changed on the graphic representation of the business process definition from the user. Then, after reflecting the graphic representation of the business process definition in the data representation, the data representation and the designated activity, the constraints associated with the business process definition (for example, those shown in FIGS. 10 and 13), This is input to the activity movement destination sequence flow specifying unit 452. Further, the business process definition editing unit 451 receives the data representation of the sequence flow (group) output from the activity movement destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 and presents it to the user via the graphic representation.

(Operation of the second embodiment)
Next, the flow of processing in the present embodiment will be described. The activity movement destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 specifies the sequence flow (group) of the movement destination on the assumption that the position change target activity is moved onto a single sequence flow in the business process definition. An example of the basic processing flow of the activity destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 is shown in FIG. In addition, FIG. 47 shows an example of a detailed flow of the processing for generating the constraint list A (step S4602) in the processing of FIG. 46, and all of the elements of the sequence flow set B that satisfy the constraint C are shown. FIG. 48 shows an example of a detailed flow of the specifying process (step S4605).

  In step S4601 of FIG. 46, the activity input by the user is stored in the activity X, and in step S4602, a list A of constraints for the activity X is obtained. The constraint relating to the activity X is expressed by a set of a preceding activity and a following activity. The calculation procedure of the restriction list A will be described later.

  Next, in step S4603, all of the sequence flows in the input business process definition except for those adjacent to the activity X are stored in the sequence flow set B.

  In step S4604, the first element of the constraint list A is stored in the constraint C, and the sequence flow satisfying the constraint C is extracted from all the elements in the sequence flow set B (step S4605). The detailed procedure of step S4605 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the constraint C is the last element of the constraint list A (step S4606). If the constraint C is not the tail element, the next element of the constraint list A is read and stored in the constraint C, and steps S4605 to S4606 are performed. The procedure is repeated (step S4607). If the constraint C is the last element of the constraint list A, all elements of B are output in step S4608, and the process ends.

  FIG. 47 is a flowchart for explaining the detailed flow of the process for generating the restriction list A in step S4602 of FIG.

  First, the constraint list A is initialized in step S4701, and then the head element is read from the execution order table (see FIG. 13) of the data structure of the business process definition and stored in the risk / control list D (step S4702). ). Next, referring to the risk table and control table (see FIG. 13) of the data structure of the business process definition, the preceding information and succeeding information that are each element of the list D are replaced with corresponding activity names. Substitute into constraint E (step S4703).

  Next, it is determined whether any one of the preceding information and following information activities of the constraint E is an input activity (step S4704), and if it is an input activity, the constraint E is added to the constraint list A ( If neither of the constraints E is an input activity in step S4705), the process proceeds to step S4706 without being added to the constraint list A.

  Next, in step S4706, it is determined whether the risk / control list D is the end element of the execution order table (step S4706). If it is not the end element, the procedure from step S4703 is repeated until it becomes the end element. When the list D becomes the last element, the generation of the restriction list A is finished, and the process is passed to step S4603 in FIG.

  FIG. 48 is a flowchart illustrating in detail the operation of identifying all elements of B that satisfy the constraint C shown in step S4605 of FIG.

  First, the sequence flow set F is initialized in step S4801, and the leading element of the sequence flow set B is stored in the sequence flow G in step S4802. Next, it is determined whether the input activity is a predecessor activity of the input constraint (step S4803). If the input activity is a predecessor activity of the constraint activity, the start end activity of the sequence flow G and the input activity are determined. A set H of activities composed of the following activities of the constraint is created (step S4804). On the other hand, if the input activity is not the preceding activity of the constraint activity, a set H of activities consisting of the preceding activity of the input constraint and the activity at the end of the sequence flow G is created (step S4805).

  Next, it is determined whether the second activity can be reached by following the sequence flow of the business process definition from the first activity of the activity set H (step S4806). If reachable, the sequence flow G is added to the sequence flow set F (step S4807). Next, it is determined whether or not the sequence flow G is the last element of the sequence flow set B (step S4808). If the sequence flow G is not the last element, the next element of the sequence flow set B is added to the sequence flow G until it becomes the last element. Substituting (step S4809), the procedure after step S4803 is repeated. When the sequence flow G becomes the end element of the set B in step S4808, the sequence flow set F is substituted into the sequence flow set B (step S4810), and the process is passed to step S4606 in FIG.

(Example of sequence flow output in the second embodiment)
Next, a specific output example of the sequence flow according to the above process will be described with reference to FIGS. 49 and 50. FIG.

  49 shows the processing in the activity destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 when the activity a is input as the activity change destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 and the business process definition and constraint in FIG. The data generated in the process is shown in association with each step of the process of FIG. As shown in FIG. 49, the variable A holding the list of constraints stores a constraint that the activity b is executed after the activity a and a constraint that the activity e is executed after the activity a (step S4602). ).

  Next, six sequence flows of sequence flows 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are stored in the variable B that holds a set of sequence flows (step S4603). Then, the sequence flow 2 is stored in the variable B as satisfying the first constraint among these (step S4605). Since the sequence flow 2 also satisfies the second constraint, the sequence flow 2 is finally output from the activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 (step S4608).

  FIG. 50 shows the processing in the activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 when the activity process destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 receives the business process definition and constraints of FIG. 11 and the activity a as the activity to be changed. The data generated in the process is shown in association with each step of the process of FIG. As shown in FIG. 50, the variable A holding the list of constraints stores a constraint that the activity d is executed after the activity a and a constraint that the activity f is executed after the activity a (step S4602). ).

  Next, 10 sequence flows of sequence flows 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are stored in variable B that holds a set of sequence flows (step S4603). Then, the sequence flows 2, 4 and 6 are stored in the variable B as satisfying the first constraint among these (step S4605). Since these sequence flows also satisfy the second constraint, the sequence flows 2, 4 and 6 are finally output from the activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 (step S4608).

  The business process definition and constraints shown in FIG. 12 and the process when the activity a is input as the activity whose position is to be changed are the same as those shown in FIG. 49. It becomes.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a business process definition editing system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  The configuration of the business process definition editing system according to the present embodiment is the same as the system configuration of the second embodiment, but the activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 according to the present embodiment ends from the start of the business. The difference is that the sequence flow (group) of the movement destination is specified for each activity column under the condition that the activity group constituting the activity sequence leading to is not changed.

(Operation of the third embodiment)
Next, the flow of processing in the present embodiment will be described. An example of the basic processing flow of the activity destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 is shown in FIG. Here, the details of the process of generating the restriction list A (step S5102) in the process of FIG. 51 are the same as those shown in FIG. FIG. 52 shows an example of the detailed flow of the process (step S5103) for identifying the sequence flow sequence set I (step S5103). In the process of FIG. 52, the process of adding a sequence to K with node J as the start point ( An example of a detailed flow of step S5204) is shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 54 shows an example of a detailed flow of the process (step S5107) for identifying a set of sequence flows whose input activity can move, targeting the sequence flow sequence N in the process of FIG.

  In step S5101, the activity input by the user is stored in activity X. In step S5102, a constraint list A for the activity X is obtained. The constraint relating to the activity X is expressed by a set of a preceding activity and a following activity. The calculation procedure of the restriction list A is as described in relation to FIG. 47 in the previous embodiment.

  Next, in step S5103, a series of processes for storing all sequence flow sequences from the first activity to the last activity of the input business process definition in the sequence flow sequence set I is executed. The detailed procedure of step S5103 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the elements of the sequence flow sequence set I are extracted in step S5103, a set M of sequence flow sequence and sequence flow set sets is initialized in step S5104, and then in step S5105, the head of the sequence flow sequence set I is initialized. Elements are assigned to the sequence flow sequence N.

  Then, it is determined whether or not the sequence flow sequence N includes a sequence flow in which the input activity is the end / start end (step S5106). As a result of the determination, when such a sequence flow is included, a sequence flow set to which the activity X can move is specified for the sequence flow sequence N, and a set of (N, specified set) is set to the set M. The adding process is executed (step S5107). The detailed procedure of step S5107 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the process of step S5107 is completed, it is determined whether the sequence flow sequence N is the end element of the set I of the sequence flow sequence (step S5108). If it is not the end element, the next element of the set I is set to N, and after step S5106 This operation is repeated (step S5109). On the other hand, if the sequence flow sequence N is the last element, in step S5110, the other elements of the second element (sequence flow set) of the elements of M (the combination of the sequence flow sequence and the sequence flow set) are the other elements of M. Only the elements included in the second element of all the elements including O in the first element are output, and the process ends.

  FIG. 52 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of step S5103 of FIG. 51 in more detail. First, in step S5201 and step S5202, the sequence flow sequence set I and the sequence flow sequence K are initialized. In step S5203, the top activity of the business process definition is registered in the node J, and in step S5204, a process of adding a sequence flow to the sequence flow sequence K with the node J as a starting point is executed.

  FIG. 53 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of step S5204 of FIG. 52 in more detail. First, in step S5301, it is determined whether the node J is the end activity of the business process definition. If the node J is the end activity, the sequence flow sequence K is added to the sequence flow sequence set I in step S5302, and the process is performed. Returning to step S5103 of FIG.

  On the other hand, if node J is not the end activity in step S5301, it is determined in step S5303 whether node J is a branch. If the node J is a branch, n copies of the sequence flow sequence K, which is the number of sequence flows at the branch destination, are created and are set as K1, K2,..., Kn (step S5304). Next, in step S5305, the i-th sequence flow starting from a branch is added as the end element of Ki (i = 1, 2,..., N), and in step S5306, the end of the i-th sequence flow is added. Are set to Ji (j = 1, 2,..., N). In step S5307, the nodes J1, J2,..., Jn are used as starting points, a sequence is added to K1, K2,... Kn, and the process returns to step S5103 in FIG.

  On the other hand, if the node J is not a branch in step S5303, a sequence flow starting from activity or connection is added as the end element of K (step S5308). Next, the node at the end of the sequence flow added in step S5309 is set as the node J. In step S5310, the sequence is added to the sequence flow sequence K with the node J as the start point, and the process returns to step S5103 in FIG. Through the above processing, a sequence flow sequence set I is obtained in step S5103 of FIG.

  FIG. 54 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of step S5107 of FIG. 51 in more detail. First, in step S5401, all the sequence flows in the input sequence flow sequence except for those adjacent to the input activity are set in the sequence flow set B. Next, in step S5402, the first element of the constraint list A is substituted into the constraint C. In step S5403, it is determined whether all sequence flows adjacent to the two activities included in the constraint C are included in the sequence flow set B. In step S5404, all elements of the sequence flow set B that satisfy the constraint C are processed as a sequence flow set B, and the process proceeds to step S5405. If not included, the process proceeds to step S5405. The process proceeds to S5405. In step S5405, it is determined whether the constraint C is the last element of the constraint list A. If the constraint C is not the last element, the next element in the constraint list A is set as the constraint C, and the operations after step S5403 are repeated (step S5405). S5406). When the constraint C becomes the last element of the constraint list A, all elements of the sequence flow set B are output in step S5407. Thus, the process for specifying the set of sequence flows to which the input activity can move is completed for the sequence flow sequence N, and the process is passed to step S5108 in FIG.

(Example of sequence flow output in the third embodiment)
Next, a specific output example of the sequence flow according to the processing in the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 55 and 56. FIG.

  FIG. 55 shows the processing in the activity destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 when the activity process destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 receives the business process definition and constraints of FIG. 10 and the activity a as the activity to be changed. Data generated in the process is shown in association with each step of the processing of FIG. As shown in FIG. 55, the variable A holding the list of constraints stores a constraint that the activity b is executed after the activity a and a constraint that the activity e is executed after the activity a (step S5102). ). Next, the following two sequence flows are stored in the sequence flow sequence set I (step S5103).

(1) Sequence flow sequence consisting of sequence flows 1, 2, 3 and 7 (sequence flow sequence 1)
(2) Sequence flow sequence consisting of sequence flows 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (sequence flow sequence 2)

  Then, as an element of a set M of (a set of sequence flow sequence and sequence flow set), sequence flow 2 for sequence flow sequence 1 and sequence flows 4, 5, 6 and 7 for sequence flow sequence 2 Is stored (step S5107).

  As a result of deletion of the sequence flow 7 associated only with the sequence flow sequence 2 despite being included in the two sequence flow sequences of the set I of sequence flow sequences, the activity movement destination sequence flow specifying unit From 452, the following sequence flow group is output corresponding to each sequence flow sequence (step S5110).

(1) Sequence flow group corresponding to sequence flow sequence 1: sequence flow 2
(2) Sequence flow group corresponding to sequence flow sequence 2: sequence flows 4, 5 and 6

  FIG. 56 shows the processing in the activity destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 when the activity process destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 receives the business process definition and constraints of FIG. 11 and the activity a as the activity to be changed. The data generated in the process is shown in association with each step of the process of FIG. As shown in FIG. 56, the variable A that holds the list of constraints stores a constraint that the activity d is executed after the activity a and a constraint that the activity f is executed after the activity a (step S5102). ). Next, the following three sequence flow sequences are stored in the sequence flow sequence set I (step S5103).

(1) Sequence flow sequence consisting of sequence flows 1, 2, 4, 8 and 11 (sequence flow sequence 1)
(2) Sequence flow sequence consisting of sequence flows 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 (sequence flow sequence 2)
(3) Sequence flow sequence consisting of sequence flows 1, 3, 5, 9, 10 and 11 (sequence flow sequence 3)

  Then, as an element of a set M of (sequence flow sequence and sequence flow set), sequence flow 2, 4, 8 and 11 are for sequence flow sequence 1, and sequence flow 2 is for sequence flow sequence 2. 4 and 6 are stored as sequence flows 3, 5, 9, 10 and 11 for the sequence flow column 3 (step S5107).

  As a result of the deletion of the sequence flow 11 associated only with the sequence flow sequence 1 and the sequence flow sequence 3 despite being included in the three sequence flow sequences of the set I of the sequence flow sequence, the activity movement The following sequence flow group corresponding to each sequence flow sequence is output from the previous sequence flow specifying unit 452 (step S5110).

(1) Sequence flow group corresponding to sequence flow sequence 1: sequence flows 2, 4 and 8
(2) Sequence flow group corresponding to sequence flow sequence 2: sequence flows 2, 4 and 6
(3) Sequence flow group corresponding to sequence flow sequence 3: sequence flows 3, 5, 9, and 10

  When a sequence flow identified by a plurality of sequence flow sequences is selected as a destination sequence flow in a sequence flow sequence, the sequence flow is also displayed in all other sequence flow sequences in which the sequence flow is identified. Must be selected. In FIG. 56, this restriction is indicated by enclosing sequence flows (sequence flow 2 and sequence flow 4) included in sequence flow groups corresponding to a plurality of sequence flow sequences with circles, and connecting circles corresponding to the same sequence flow with broken lines. It is indicated by that.

  12 is the same as that shown in FIG. 55 when the activity process destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 receives the business process definition and restriction shown in FIG. It becomes.

  As is clear from the description of each of the embodiments described above, according to the business process definition change support device of the present invention, the business process definition is within a range that does not impair the conformity to the constraints related to the order relation of the activities constituting the business. Since it is possible to show options for change that can be performed (change in the order relation of activities), it is possible to support the change of the business process definition with the restriction.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments according to the present invention, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. Deformation / change is possible.

  The present invention provides a business process definition including an activity that constitutes a business, a branch / join, an order relation (sequence flow) of the activity / branch / join execution, and a restriction on an execution order relation of each activity constituting the business process definition. Useful in targeted management technology.

It is the figure which showed an example of the business process definition. It is an example of the data structure of the information regarding a node when using the business process definition of FIG. 1 by a computer program, and the information regarding an arc. It is an example of the data structure of the activity at the time of using the business process definition of FIG. 1 by a computer program, the information regarding a branch and coupling | bonding, the information regarding a node, and the information regarding an arc. It is the figure which showed another example of the business process definition. It is the figure which showed an example of the business process definition provided with the fork branch. It is the figure which showed an example of the business process definition provided with the conditional branch. It is the figure which showed another example of the business process definition. It is the figure which showed another example of the business process definition. It is the figure which showed an example of the business process definition provided with the fork branch. It is an example of the data structure of the information regarding a node when using the business process definition of FIG. 6 with a computer program, and the information regarding an arc. FIG. 7 is an example of a data structure of activity, information on branching / joining, information on nodes, and information on arcs when the business process definition of FIG. 6 is used in a computer program. FIG. 7 is a diagram in which constraint information is set in the business process definition of FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a diagram in which constraint information is set in the business process definition of FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a diagram in which constraint information is set in the business process definition of FIG. 8. 11 is an example of a data structure when the constraint information of the business process definition in FIG. 10 is used in a computer program. It is the figure which showed an example of the business process definition. It is the figure which showed the conversion result of the business process definition of FIG. It is the figure which showed the conversion result of the business process definition of FIG. It is the figure which showed the conversion result of the business process definition of FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a conversion result of the business process definition of FIG. 15. It is a block block diagram of the business process definition editing system which concerns on 1st embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a basic processing flow of a business process definition conversion unit 122; 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a basic processing flow of a business process definition conversion unit 122; It is a flowchart which shows the detail of a process of step S2002 in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the operation 1 performed by the process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the operation 2 performed by the process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the operation 3 performed by the process of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the subgraph substituted to the variable L of FIG. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of completion | finish of step S2203 in FIG. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of completion | finish of step S2204 in FIG. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of completion | finish of step S2205 in FIG. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of completion | finish of the operation 1 in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the subgraph substituted to the variable L in step S2202 in FIG. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of completion | finish of step S2205 of FIG. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a business process definition at the end of operation 1 in FIG. 20 in a conversion example 2; FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a business process definition at the end of operation 1 in FIG. 20 in a conversion example 2; FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a business process definition at the end of operation 1 in FIG. 20 in a conversion example 2; FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a business process definition at the end of operation 1 in FIG. 20 in a conversion example 3; FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a business process definition at the end of operation 1 in FIG. 20 in a conversion example 3; FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a business process definition at the end of operation 2 in FIG. 20 in a conversion example 4; It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of completion | finish of step S2403 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of completion | finish of step S2407 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of the process end of FIG. 24 in the conversion example 5. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of completion | finish of step S2104 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of the completion | finish of a process of FIG. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a business process definition at the end of operation 2 in FIG. 20 in a conversion example 5; It is a figure which shows the business process definition at the time of the completion | finish of a process of FIG. It is a block block diagram of the business process definition edit system which concerns on 2nd embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the basic process of the activity movement destination sequence flow specific | specification part 452. It is a flowchart explaining the detailed flow of a process of step S4602 of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining in detail the operation of step S4605 of FIG. FIG. 47 is a diagram showing data generated in the course of processing in the activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 in association with each step of the processing in FIG. 46 for the business process definition and constraints in FIG. 10. FIG. 47 is a diagram showing data generated in the course of processing in the activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 with respect to the business process definition and restriction in FIG. 11 in association with each step of the processing in FIG. 46. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the basic process of the activity movement destination sequence flow specific | specification part 452 in 3rd embodiment. FIG. 52 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of step S5103 of FIG. 51 in more detail. FIG. 53 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of step S5204 of FIG. 52 in more detail. FIG. 52 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of step S5107 of FIG. 51 in more detail. The data generated in the course of processing in the activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 for the business process definition and constraints in FIG. 10 in the third embodiment is shown in association with each step of the processing in FIG. Is. Data generated in the course of processing in the activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit 452 for the business process definition and constraints in FIG. 11 in the third embodiment is shown in association with each step of the processing in FIG. Is.

Explanation of symbols

120: Business process definition editing system 121: Business process definition editing unit 122: Business process definition conversion unit 450: Business process definition editing system 451: Business process definition editing unit 452: Activity transfer destination sequence flow specifying unit

Claims (12)

A business process definition including a business process definition including a sequence flow indicating an activity, a branch / join, an activity and a sequence flow indicating a branch / join execution, and two or more activities included in an activity column executable in the business process definition. Means for entering one activity sequence and a second activity sequence comprising all or part of the first activity sequence;
An activity in which the input business process definition is an element of an activity node sequence set that is defined as an activity node sequence that can be executed in the business process definition and that executes all elements of the first activity sequence. Whether or not an activity node in the node sequence that executes an element of the second activity sequence satisfies a condition that it is not executed in an activity node sequence that is not included in the activity node sequence set Means for determining
Means for outputting, when the condition is satisfied, an activity node in an activity node sequence that is an element of an activity node sequence set that executes an element of the second activity sequence;
A business process definition conversion device characterized by comprising: Means for converting the input business process definition when the input business process definition does not satisfy the condition of claim 1;
(1) The business process definition after conversion satisfies the conditions described in claim 1,
(2) The set of activity sequences that can be executed in the business process definition after conversion is the same as the set of activity sequences that can be executed in the input business process definition,
(3) The branch and combination executed in the activity sequence that can be executed in the input business process definition are executed even in the activity sequence that is the same as the activity sequence and that can be executed in the converted business process definition. , Otherwise no branch or join is performed,
(4) When the branch executed in the activity sequence executable in the input business process definition uses the result of the executed activity, the branch in the business process definition after conversion corresponding to the branch is The branch is executed after the same activity as the activity using the result is executed,
Converting the input business process definition to satisfy all of the conditions (1) to (4);
Executing an element of the second activity sequence at an activity node included in an activity node sequence that can be executed in the converted business process definition and executing all elements of the first activity sequence; Means for outputting the converted business process definition;
The business process definition conversion device according to claim 1, further comprising: In the case where all branches / joins constituting the input business process definition are exclusive branches / exclusive joins,
A second activity node that executes an activity included in the second activity column in the input business process definition, and an activity node column that includes a second activity node among the activities included in the first activity column Means for determining the front and back positions of the first activity node and the second activity node in an activity node sequence with a first activity node that executes what is executed only in a part of
In the determination, when the first activity node appears after the second activity node in the activity node sequence,
(1) An exclusive branch included in the node sequence from the second activity node to the first activity node in the business process definition to be processed, and a part of the sequence flow starting from that branch is the first activity A node that cannot reach the node and has the smallest number of nodes located between the node and the second active node in the node sequence is specified as an operation target branch.
(2) An operation target graph including a node from the second activity node to the operation target branch and a partial graph composed of a sequence flow starting from the node (excluding a sequence flow starting from the operation target branch and the operation target branch) Identified as
(3) Generate a copy of the operation target graph for each sequence flow starting from the operation target branch, and change the start end of the sequence flow to the end node of the operation target graph copy.
(4) A copy of the operation target branch is generated for each original sequence flow whose end is the node in the operation target graph, the end of the original sequence flow is changed to the operation target branch copy, and the operation target branch is copied. Generate a sequence flow that starts with, and set its end to be the node in the operation target graph copy generated by copying the node in the original operation target graph that was the end of the original sequence flow. ,
(5) Delete the original operation target branch, the original operation target graph, and the sequence flow connecting both.
Means for sequentially executing the operations (1) to (5);
In the determination, if the first activity node appears before the second activity node in the activity node row,
(6) The exclusive activity included in the node sequence from the first activity node to the second activity node in the business process definition to be processed, and the first activity as part of the sequence flow whose termination ends. Specify the operation target combination that cannot be reached from the node and has the smallest number of nodes located between the node and the second active node in the node sequence,
(7) The operation target graph is a subgraph consisting of a node from the operation target connection to the second activity node and a sequence flow that ends with the node (excluding a sequence flow starting with the operation target connection and the operation target connection). Identified as
(8) Generate a copy of the operation target graph for each sequence flow whose operation target combination ends, change the end of the sequence flow to the first node of the operation target graph copy,
(9) For each original sequence flow starting from a node in the operation target graph, a copy of the operation target join is generated, the start end of the original sequence flow is changed to the operation target join copy, and the operation target join copy Generate a sequence flow that ends with, and set its start end as the node in the operation target graph copy that was generated by copying the node in the original operation target graph that was the start end of the original sequence flow. ,
(10) Delete the original operation target combination, the operation target graph, and the sequence flow connecting both.
Means for sequentially executing the operations (6) to (10);
The business process definition conversion device according to claim 2, further comprising: A means for outputting a set of business process definitions and activity nodes,
(1) The business process definition to be processed is the input business process definition,
(2) Among the activity nodes that execute the activities that make up the second activity column in the business process definition to be processed, those that have already been output in this processing and those that are excluded from the processing target in (3) The second activity node defined as follows the condition that all activity node columns that contain the second activity node in the entered business process definition execute all activities that are included in the first activity column Output all active nodes that satisfy,
(3) If there is no second activity node that does not satisfy the condition in (2), the business process definition to be processed is output and the process ends, and the second activity node that does not satisfy the condition in (2) If there is, determine whether the activity node satisfies the condition that any activity node column that includes the second activity node in the entered business process definition does not execute all the activities included in the first activity column All active nodes that satisfy it are excluded from processing,
(4) If there is no second activity node that does not satisfy the condition in (3), the business process definition to be processed is output and the process ends, and there is a second activity node that does not satisfy the condition in (3) If that activity node is targeted,
(4-1) An activity that specifies an activity that is executed only in a part of an activity node sequence including the second activity node among activities that constitute the first activity sequence, and executes the activity in the activity node sequence Identify the first active node defined as a node,
(4-2) When the first activity node appears after the second activity node in the activity node row, the operations (1) to (5) according to claim 3 are performed on the business process definition to be processed. Run,
(4-3) The operations (6) to (10) according to claim 3, wherein when the first activity node appears before the second activity node in the activity node row, the business process definition to be processed is defined. Run the
Execute each process sequentially,
(5) Return the processing to (2) as the business process definition after conversion as the business process definition to be processed.
A means for outputting a set of business process definitions and activity nodes by executing a series of processes,
4. The business process definition conversion apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, further comprising: The operations (1) to (1) according to claim 3, wherein the first activity nodes identified corresponding to the second activity nodes are sequentially operated in descending order of the number of nodes located between the second activity nodes. 5. The business process definition conversion apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the operation (5) or operations (6) to (10) are executed. The operation target graph in the operations (1) to (5) according to claim 3 is the node constituting the operation target graph defined in claim 3, and the end ends of all sequence flows starting from that node. Is composed of zero or more nodes satisfying the condition that they are nodes included in the operation target graph, and a sequence flow starting from that node.
The operation target graph in the operations (6) to (10) according to claim 3 is a node constituting the operation target graph defined in claim 3, and the start ends of all sequence flows having that node as an end end. Is composed of zero or more nodes that satisfy the condition that they are nodes included in the operation target graph, and a sequence flow that ends with the nodes.
The business process definition conversion apparatus according to claim 3, 4 or 5. A means for inputting a business process definition, and the business process is
(1) For all branches, there is a connection through which all the active node sequences that pass through the branch pass.
(2) For every connection, there is a branch through which only all active node sequences that pass through the connection.
Means satisfying the condition,
A means for converting an input business process definition including a fork branch into a business process definition not including a fork branch,
(3) An operation for replacing a fork branch area not including an exclusive branch area with an active node is executed one or more times, and
(4) Exclusion of a fork branch area including an exclusive branch area by replacing the exclusive branch area in the fork branch area with a subgraph of each branch destination in the exclusive branch area as a subgraph of each branch destination Execute the operation to replace the branch area any number of times 0 or more,
Means satisfying the condition,
After executing the processing according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6,
(5) Replace the active node that replaces the fork branch area with the corresponding fork branch area,
(6) If an activity node that replaces the fork branch area is included in the output activity node, the second activity sequence that is input at the activity node in the corresponding fork branch area is replaced with the activity node that replaced the fork branch area. Means to replace the activities included in
The business process definition conversion device according to claim 1, further comprising: Business process definition including a business process, a branch / join, and a business process definition including a sequence flow indicating a direct execution order relation of the activity, a restriction on an order relation of the activities constituting the business process definition, and a position change target A means of entering activities;
Among the sequence flows included in the input business process definition, when the input activity is moved on the sequence flow, the post-transfer business process definition is input among the input constraints. A means to output something that fits all things related to the activity;
A business process definition conversion device characterized by comprising: Business process definition including a business process, a branch / join, and a business process definition including a sequence flow indicating a direct execution order relation of the activity, a restriction on an order relation of the activities constituting the business process definition, and a position change target A means of entering activities;
For each sequence flow column from the business start activity to the business end activity included in the input business process definition, the input activity is moved onto the sequence flow among the sequence flows included in the column. Means for identifying a sequence flow in which the business process definition after movement matches all of the input constraints related to the input activities;
Means for outputting one specified in all sequence flow sequences including the sequence flow among the specified sequence flows;
A business process definition conversion device characterized by comprising: The restrictions on the order relationship of the activities are as follows:
The order between risk, which is an error that can occur in an activity, and preventive control, which is a description of an action that discovers and addresses the error as part of the activity, or a description of an action that proactively prevents the error Expressed as a relationship constraint,
Identified from constraints on the order relationship between the risk and the heuristic and / or preventive control, and the correspondence between the risk control and the activity,
10. The business process definition conversion apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein A business process definition including a business process definition including a sequence flow indicating an activity, a branch / join, an activity and a sequence flow indicating a branch / join execution, and two or more activities included in an activity column executable in the business process definition. Entering one activity sequence and a second activity sequence consisting of all or part of the first activity sequence;
An activity in which the input business process definition is an element of an activity node sequence set that is defined as an activity node sequence that can be executed in the business process definition and that executes all elements of the first activity sequence. Whether or not an activity node in the node sequence that executes an element of the second activity sequence satisfies a condition that it is not executed in an activity node sequence that is not included in the activity node sequence set Determining
If the condition is satisfied, outputting an activity node in the activity node sequence that is an element of the activity node sequence set that executes the element of the second activity sequence;
A business process definition conversion program characterized by comprising: Business process definition including a business process, a branch / join, and a business process definition including a sequence flow indicating a direct execution order relation of the activity, a restriction on an order relation of the activities constituting the business process definition, and a position change target Entering an activity;
Among the sequence flows included in the input business process definition, when the input activity is moved on the sequence flow, the post-transfer business process definition is input among the input constraints. Outputting what fits everything related to the activity;
A business process definition conversion program characterized by comprising:

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