Controlling time-awareness in modularized processes (extended version)

Abstract

The proper handling of temporal process constraints is crucial in many application domains. A sophisticated support of time-aware processes, however, is still missing in contemporary information systems. As a particular challenge, temporal constraints must be also handled for modularized processes (i.e., processes comprising subprocesses), enabling the reuse of process knowledge as well as the modular design of complex processes. This paper focuses on the representation and support of such time-aware modularized processes. In particular, we present a sound and complete method to derive the duration restrictions of a time-aware (sub-)process in such a way that its temporal properties are completely specified. We then show how this can be utilized when re-using the process within a modularized one. Altogether, the presented approach will foster the efficient and modular design of complex time-aware processes.