Projections and First Results of FLoWPASS Framework to Laws Workflow Process Automation SystemS base

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Projections and First Results of FLoWPASS
Framework to Laws Workflow Process Automation
SystemS based on the following Open Patterns
XML, XML Web-Services, SOAP, NXDB and J2EE or
.NET Framework
PORTUGAL

• PhD Student Researcher
• MSc Rogério Patrício Chagas do Nascimento
• Coordinators
• PhD Joaquim Arnaldo Carvalho Martins
• PhD Joaquim Manuel Sousa Pinto

2
Preview

• Motivation
• Ubiquitous Applications
• Multimedia
• Lag Time x Task Time
• FLoWPASS Architecture
• Ideal Scenario for our work in
• Workflow Process Automation ? WfMC Standards
• Database and Metadata ? XML Family NXDBs
• Ubiquitous Applications ? .NET Framework / J2EE
• Case Study
• Portuguese Parliament
• Further Works

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Motivation

• Ubiquitous Web Applications
• time-aware, location-aware, device-aware, and
  personalised services
• Multimedia
• Indexing rich documents
• XML
• XML-based information retrieve
• WPA Workflow Process Automation
• the process follows the 90/10 rule Lag Time x
  Task Time
• lt Task Time ? personal software productivity
• lt Lag Time ? WPA
• electronic distribution of work
• right information right user right time
• monitoring and scheduling of delayed tasks

4
Related Works

• WPA, e-commerce and XML
• Kirsten Lens Modeling Interorganizational
  Workflows with XML Nets, 2001
• German Shegalov XML-enable Workflow Management
  for E-Services across Heterogeneous Platforms,
  2001
• Qiming Chen et ali Dynamic-agents, Workflow and
  XML for E-Commerce Automation, 2000
• XML and Business Logic Independence
• Lerina Aversano et ali Integrating Document and
  Workflow Management Tools using XML and Web
  Technologies a Case Study, 2002
• Michael zur Muehlen A Framework for XML-based
  Workflow Interoperability The AFRICA Project,
  2000
• XML encoding of Legal and Paralegal Documents
• Rinke Hoekstra et ali METALex Legislation in
  XML. Legal Knowledge and Information Systems,
  2002
• Rinke Hoekstra et ali Proposal for a Dutch Legal
  XML Standard, 2002

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WPA Standards

• WPA Workflow Process Automation
• Commercial Solutions
• Ultimus Workflow, Diamond, icXpert Solution
  Suite, HighView Workflow and W4 Architecture
• Standards
• OMG
• Workflow Management Facility
• IETF Working Group
• SWAP (july, 1998)
• BPMI Business Process Management Iniciative
• e-Commerce
• Sun, IBM, HP, Fujitsu, DHL
• BPML (march, 2001)
• E-business protocols RosettaNet, ebXML, Biztalk
• XML Schema
• WfMC Workflow Management Coalition
• WAPI Workflow API
• Workflow Reference Model
• XPDL Schema (XML Process Definition Language)

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WfMC Standard

• WfMC Workflow Reference Model

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XPDL Schema

• The FLoWPASS XPDL Schemabased on WfMC Standards
• Applications
• Tool
• System

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XPDL Schema

• Activity and Transition

ltxsdelement name"Transition"gt ltxsdcomplexTyp
egt ltxsdsequencegt ltxsdelement
ref"xpdlCondition" minOccurs"0"/gt ltxsdelem
ent ref"xpdlDescription" minOccurs"0"/gt ltxs
delement ref"xpdlExtendedAttributes"
minOccurs"0"/gt lt/xsdsequencegt ltxsdattribu
te name"Id" type"xsdNMTOKEN"
use"required"/gt ltxsdattribute name"From"
type"xsdNMTOKEN" use"required"/gt ltxsdattrib
ute name"To" type"xsdNMTOKEN"
use"required"/gt ltxsdattribute name"Name"
type"xsdstring"/gt lt/xsdcomplexTypegt lt/xsdel
ementgt
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XML Family

• XML Technologies
• building DTD / XML Schemas
• using XPDL Schemas
• generating XML files
• formating XSL files
• generating HTML
• WAP
• XSL
• VXML files

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FLoWPASS

• Architecture

asynchronous
synchronous
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Data Layer

• Document Base repository
• XML files
• any Binary files video, audio, image, etc...
• just can be found by the name or reference XML
• Some XML Search Engines
• Sgrep
• XYZFind
• eXist
• DelfosnetX
• Kweelt
• Apache Xindice
• TEXTML Server

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still at Data Layer...

• Best NXDBs to our problem
• Apache Xindice
• Open Code
• Xpath / XUpdate
• Java API, CORBA API
• XML-RPC plug-in
• TEXTML Server
• Commercial Applications
• Xpath / property XML Query
• COM API, Java API

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Logic Layer

• ASP.NET
• Web Forms
• access directly the XML content in the Document
  Base by the TEXTML COM API
• Java
• DOM tree
• to parse each XML element in the FLoWPASS XPDL
  Documents

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Presentation Layer

• for each different device
• JAVA
• generate Java Interfaces
• ASP.NET
• generate HTML files using XSL files
• Offer funcionality using XML Web Services

Web Services are programmable business logic
components that serve as black boxes to provide
access to funcionality via the Internet using
standard protocols such as HTTP, WAP, etc...
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FLoWPASS Web Services

• WSDL suggested to FLoWPASS-based Systems

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FLoWPASS

• We suggest TEXTML Server
• 100 XML
• dont touch in the native instance of XML file
• parses XML to build markup-based index
• Its a back end system for
• Store
• Index and
• Search information
• ... in a big number of XML documents

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FLoWPASS Advantages

• FLoWPASS Advantages
• Based on Open Standards
• Only needs additional business logic components
• Easily we can add new business metadata schemas
• With additional XSL Scripts
• We can view the business information in
• new different media
• new language
• new format / lay-out

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Case Study

• Case Study Portuguese Parliament
• We study the Portuguese Assembly Rules
• We model the Approval of a CLP
• Based on FLoWPASS XPDL Schema
• Based on WfMC Interface 1, version 1.0

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CLP Workflow

• Main Workflow Process for any CLP Approval

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How are related...

• the FLoWPASS XPDL and XML Schemas

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XML Schemas
ltxselement name"Rich-Document"gt
ltxscomplexTypegt ltxssimpleContentgt
ltxsextension base"xsstring"gt
ltxsattribute name"Descricption"
type"xsstring"/gt ltxsattribute
name"Link" type"xsstring"/gt
lt/xsextensiongt lt/xssimpleContentgt
lt/xscomplexTypegt lt/xselementgt
ltxselement name"Record" maxOccurs"unbounded"gt
ltxscomplexTypegt ltxssequencegt
ltxselement ref"Rich-Document"
maxOccurs"unbounded"/gt
lt/xssequencegt ltxsattribute name"IDRecord"
type"xsinteger"/gt ltxsattribute
name"DocumentType" type"xsstring"/gt ltxsattrib
ute name"Data" type"xsdate"/gt ltxsattribute
name"From" type"xsstring"/gt ltxsattribute
name"Subject" type"xsstring"/gt ltxsattribute
name"Description" type"xsstring"/gt
ltxsattribute name"IDCLP" type"xsinteger"/gt
lt/xscomplexTypegt lt/xselementgt
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CLP XML Schema
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First Java Prototype
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Suggested App

• Suggested e-Parliament Applicationsrepresented
  by its respective XML Web Services

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Conclusions

• we did...
• study Workflow Process Management
• use the WfMC patterns
• design XML Web Services (WSDL)
• build XML Schemas
• generate XML files
• generate HTML
• format XSL files
• Java Interface

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Contributions

• for obtain this key aims
• the study of granularity of XML documents that
  supports the proposal framework
• the capacity of crossed-reference data with other
  files or databases in the system
• the front-ends for ubiquitous applications

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Further Works

• Immediate future work
• prepare the Framework to effectively integrate
  itself with ubiquitous applications
• Possible future works
• produce an analyze of the XML Database versus
  Relacional Database
• and between XML Web Services and classical
  communication protocols
• describe the intrinsics aspects to integrate
  heterogeneous systems supported by XML Web
  Services

• We have not found any academic work involving
• XML Web Services
• NXDB
• Java / .NET Framework
• ...to develop WPA Systems!

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Further Works

• Further Works
• Management of Laws Workflows
• Interface 5, WfMC
• Status, Historic, Productivity of the Parliament
• UDDI Registry to Legal Services
• Mapping of a common UDDI Framework
• Suggest to the European Parliament
• FLoWPASS as a standard framework
• Suggesting the FLoWPASS as a workflow solution to
  LeXML comunity...

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Epilogue
Epilogue

• O saber deve ser como um rio, cujas águas
  doces,grossas,copiosas, transbordem do
  indivíduo, e se espraiem, estancando a sede dos
  outros... Sem um fim social, o saber será a
  maior das futilidades
• Without a social aim, the knowledge will be the
  most important of all futilities.
• Gilberto Freire

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Ask me...

• Questions and Sugestions?

• rogerio_at_ieeta.pt
• www.ieeta.pt/rogerio