Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-12
2003-01-14
Breene, John (Department: 2177)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000, C709S241000, C709S226000, C709S235000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06507844
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to distributed applications running in networked computer systems. In particular, the present invention relates to method and system for minimizing database related network traffic in such systems.
2. Description and Disadvantages of Prior Art
The subject matter of the present invention is applicable to a broad variety of applications, i.e. whenever an application has a distributed nature and when data storages are commonly accessed by a plurality of workstations hosting some copy of said distributed application and are distributed in the network. Further, workflow management systems, referred to herein as WFMSs are preferred objects for being subjected to the improvements of the present invention. But basically, every system that can be described with the basic structure and terminology of WFMSs, can advantageously be improved by applying the method according to the invention. For clear terminology and improved clarity the present invention will be disclosed herein in detail as applied to WFMSs and with the terminology of relational database systems by way of example only.
A new area of technology with increasing importance is the domain of Workflow-Management-Systems (WFMSs). WFMSa, as for example implemented by the IBM product FlowMark, support the modeling and execution of business processes. Business processes control which piece of work of a network of pieces of work will be performed by whom and which resources are exploited for this work, i.e. a business process describes how an enterprise will achieve its business goals. The individual pieces of work might be distributed across a multitude of different computer systems connected by some type of network.
The process of designing, developing and manufacturing a new product and the process of changing or adapting an existing product presents many challenges to product managers and engineers to bring the product to market for the least cost and within schedule, while maintaining or even increasing product quality. Many companies are realizing that the conventional product design process is not satisfactory to meet these needs. They require early involvement of manufacturing engineering, cost engineering, logistic planning, procurement, manufacturing, service and support with the design effort. Furthermore, they require planning and control of product data through design, release, and manufacturing.
The correct and efficient execution of business processes within a company, e. g. development or production processes, is of enormous importance for a company and has significant influence on company's overall success in the market place. Therefore, those processes have to be regarded as similar to technology processes and have to be tested, optimized and monitored. The management of such processes is usually performed and supported by a computer based process or workflow management system.
In D. J. Spoon: “Project Management Environment”, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 9A, February 1990, pages 250 to 254, a process management environment is described including an operating environment, data elements, and application functions and processes.
In R. T. Marshak: “IBM's FlowMark, Object-Oriented Workflow for Mission-Critical Applications”, Workgroup Computing Report (USA), Vol. 17, No. 5, 1994, page 3 to 13, the object character of IBM FlowMark as a client/server product built on a true object model targeted for mission-critical production process application development and deployment is described.
In H. A. Inniss and J. H. Sheridan: “Workflow Management Based on an Object-Oriented Paradigm”, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 37, No. 3, March 1994, page 185, other aspects of object-oriented modeling on customization and changes are described.
In F. Leymann and D. Roller: “Business Process Management with FlowMark”, Digest of papers, Cat. No. 94CH3414-0, Spring COMPCON 94, 1994, pages 230 to 234, the state-of-the-art computer process management tool IBM FlowMark is described. The meta model of IBM FlowMark is presented as well as the implementation of IBM FlowMark. The possibilities of IBM FlowMark for modeling of business processes as well as their execution are discussed. The product IBM FlowMark is available for different computer platforms and documentation for IBM FlowMark is available in every IBM branch.
In F. Leymann: “A meta model to support the modeling and execution of processes”, Proceedings of the 11th European Meeting on Cybernetics and System Research EMCR92, Vienna, Austria, April 21 to 24, 1992, World Scientific 1992, pages 287 to 294, a meta model for controlling business processes is presented and discussed in detail.
The “IBM FlowMark for OS/2”,document number GH 19-8215-01, IBM Corporation, 1994, available in every IBM sales office, represents a typical modern, sophisticated, and powerful workflow management system. It supports the modeling of business processes as a network of activities; refer for instance to “Modeling Workflow”, document number SH 19-8241, IBM Corporation, 1996. Further information on Workflow Management Systems available from IBM is contained in: IBM MQSeries Concepts and Architecture, document number GH 12-6285; IBM MQSeries Getting Started with Buildtime, document number SH 12-6286; IBM MQSeries Getting Started with Runtime, document number SH 12-6287. A process model is constructed as a directed, acyclic, weighted, colored graph. The nodes of the graph represent the activities or work items which are performed. The edges of the graph, the control connectors, describe the potential sequence of execution of the activities. Definition of the process graph is via the IBM FlowMark Definition Language (FDL) or the built-in graphical editor. The runtime component of the workflow manager interprets the process graph and distributes the execution of activities to the right person at the right place, e.g. by assigning tasks to a work list according to a respective person, wherein said work list is stored as digital data within said workflow or process management computer system.
In F. Leymann and W. Altenhuber: “Managing business processes as an information resource”, IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 32(2), 1994, the mathematical theory underlying the IBM FlowMark product is described.
In D. Roller: “Verifikation von Workflows in IBM FlowMark”, in J. Becker und G. Vossen (Hrsg.): “Geschaeftsprozessmodellierung und Workflows”, International Thompson Publishing, 1995, the requirement and possibility of the verification of workflows is described. Furthermore, the feature of graphical animation for verification of the process logic is presented as it is implemented within the IBM FlowMark product.
For implementing a computer based process management system, firstly the business processes have to be analyzed and, as the result of this analysis, a process model has to be constructed as a network of activities corresponding to the business process. In the IBM FlowMark product, the process models are not transformed into an executable. At runtime, an instance of the process is created from the process model; this is called a process instance. This process instance is then interpreted dynamically by the IBM FlowMark product.
A user typically interacts with the workflow management system via a graphical end user interface that represents the tasks to be performed by the user as icons. Work for a particular task is started by the user by double-clicking on the appropriate icon, which in turn starts the program implementing the activity.
It is important for the productivity of the user that the program complete its access to data as fast as possible to avoid delays in interacting with the user. In many cases WFMSs are executed by a multitude of distributed computer systems accessing resources/objects that also are spread across the computer network. In such distributed environment, a user who controls execution of an activity assigned as a work item to him or her could suffer sever performance degrad
Leymann Frank
Roller Dieter
Breene John
Herndon Jerry W.
Le Debbie M.
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