RESILIENCE-ICWS2022

The prototype of ICWS2022 short paper Improving Business Process Resilience to Long-tailed Business Events via Low-code

Introduction

This project supports the reaction to long-tailed changes of business processes. This project adopts the separation of concerns (SoC) principle.

A front-line person can

• annotate a business process model with domain-specific language (DSL), in order to intervene in the behavior of the business process;

• bind third-party APIs, in order to query information that is helpful in reacting to long-tailed changes.

A back-end person can

• specify functional and non-functional (temporal) constraints on a business process model, in order to make the reaction to long-tailed changes comply with business regulations;

• specify the value ranges of the process variables in a business process model.

Our tool can

• convert a process model annotated with DSL into an ordinary process model, so that an existing process engine (e.g., Camunda) can execute it;

• verify whether a process model still meets functional and non-functional constraints after the reaction to long-tailed changes.

Requirements

This project is developed using Java 11, Maven 3.6, Node.js 14.16, and Npm 6.14.

Run

First, run subproject engine-backend with command mvn spring-boot:run. It is a process engine powered by Camunda. The process engine can be accessed at http://localhost:8082/ . The default user is admin/admin.

Then, run subproject compiler-backend with command mvn spring-boot:run. It is our tool to convert process models and verify functional and non-functional constraints.

Next, run subproject dsl-frontend with command npm run start. It is the front end of our tool. Our tool can be accessed at http://localhost:8093/ .

This is the homepage of our tool:

Annotation

Annotation is for a front-line person to annotate a process model:

Usage:

• Open a process model. Click Choose File to choose a .bpmn file and click Open to open the process model.

• Add a text annotattion. Choose an activity and click to add a text annotation.

• Write a DSL code. Use buttons and drop-down menus to write a DSL code.

• Deploy the process model. Click Deploy with annotation to deploy the annotated process model. An example is process-example/online-grocery-annotation.bpmn.

Constraint

Constraint is for a back-end person to specify functional and non-functional constraints on a process model:

Usage:

• Open a process model. Click Choose File to choose a .bpmn file and click Open to open the process model.

• Specify a functional constraint. Draw a link between two activities and set the relation in the property panel. An example is process-example/online-grocery-functional.bpmn.

• Specify a non-functional constraint. Choose an activity and set the duration in the property panel. Draw a link between two activities and set the constraint in the property panel. An example is process-example/online-grocery-non-functional.bpmn.

• Verify the constraints. Set the start node name and click Verify.

Third-party API

Third-party API is for a front-line person to bind third-party APIs:

Value Range

Value Range is for a back-end person to specify the value ranges of the process variables in a process model:

Case Study

A case study of an e-commerce scenario is available in directory case-study.