Computer software

Abstract

A business process related computer software that displays a tabular view of a business process. Also, assigning types and/or attributes to worksteps of a business process and filtering the view of the business process based on the workstep types and/or workstep attributes. Also: (i) method for searching for worksteps based on a string pattern; (ii) a method for bulk update of worksteps satisfying search/filter criteria; (iii) a method for combining consecutive tasks into sub-tasks, or elevating sub-tasks to higher level tasks; (iv) a method for automatically setting the successor(s)/predecessor(s) workstep(s) as new worksteps are added or existing worksteps are removed; (v) a method for drilling down through a path in the process flow; (vi) a method for computing estimated duration for reaching a workstep along a path through the process flow; (vii) a method for identifying sequential and parallel worksteps and/or total duration through a timeline diagram; (viii) a method for printing process summary in tabular format; and/or (ix) methods of importing and exporting Microsoft projects.

1 . A set of one or more tangible computer readable storage media having stored thereon a business process software for working with a model of a business process made up of an ordered and hierarchically organized set of tasks, the business process software comprising:
 a business process editing module programmed to allow a user to edit the model of the business process; and   a tabular view module programmed to generate a tabular view of at least a portion of the model of the business process.   
     
     
         2 . The set of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a business process model creation module programmed to allow a user to create a new model of a business process; and   a business process characterization module that allows features of the model of the business process to be characterized in ways suitable for a collection of interrelated tasks that is designed to be performed repeatedly and further designed to achieve a commonly arising objective or goal.   
     
     
         3 . The set of  claim 1  further comprising a diagram view module programmed to generate a diagram view of the business process. 
     
     
         4 . The set of  claim 1  further comprising a properties pane module programmed to generate a properties pane that provides a visual representation of detailed information associated with a selected task in the tabular view generated by the tabular view module. 
     
     
         5 . The set of  claim 1  further comprising a pattern based filter module programmed to filter tasks shown in the tabular view generated by the tabular view module based on a pattern entered by the user. 
     
     
         6 . The set of  claim 1  further comprising an attribute based filter module programmed to filter tasks shown in the tabular view generated by the tabular view module based on one or more attribute(s) chosen by the user. 
     
     
         7 . The set of  claim 1  further comprising a task sorting module programmed to sort tasks shown in the tabular view generated by the tabular view module based upon respective values for an task field selected by the user. 
     
     
         8 . The set of  claim 1  further comprising a path analysis mode module programmed to display a timeline view for each task displayed in the tabular view generated by the tabular view module. 
     
     
         9 . The set of  claim 8  wherein the path analysis mode module is further programmed to display a start time for each task displayed in the tabular view generated by the tabular view module. 
     
     
         10 . The set of  claim 8  wherein the path analysis mode module is further programmed to display parallel timelines in the timeline view for tasks that run in parallel. 
     
     
         11 . The set of  claim 1  further comprising an MS Project import and export module programmed to: (i) import the model of the business process from a file formatted as an MS Project file, and (ii) export the model of the business process to a file formatted as an MS Project file. 
     
     
         12 . A set of one or more tangible computer readable storage media having stored thereon a business process software for working with a model of a business process made up of a hierarchically organized set of tasks, the business process software comprising:
 a business process editing module programmed to allow a user to edit the model of the business process;   a view module programmed to generate a view of at least a portion of the model of the business process; and   a pattern based filter module programmed to filter tasks shown in the view generated by the view module based on a pattern entered by the user.   
     
     
         13 . The set of  claim 12  further comprising:
 a business process model creation module programmed to allow a user to create a new model of a business process; and   a business process characterization module that allows features of the model of the business process to be characterized in ways suitable for a collection of interrelated tasks that is designed to be performed repeatedly and further designed to achieve a commonly arising objective or goal.   
     
     
         14 . The set of  claim 12  further comprising a pattern based filter module programmed to filter tasks shown in the view generated by the view module based on a pattern entered by the user. 
     
     
         15 . The set of  claim 12  further comprising an attribute based filter module programmed to filter tasks shown in the view generated by the view module based on one or more attribute(s) chosen by the user. 
     
     
         16 . The set of  claim 12  further comprising a task sorting module programmed to sort tasks shown in the view generated by the view module based upon respective values for an task field selected by the user. 
     
     
         17 . A set of one or more tangible computer readable storage media having stored thereon a business process software for working with a model of a business process made up of a hierarchically organized set of tasks, the business process software comprising:
 a business process editing module programmed to allow a user to edit the model of the business process;   a business process view module programmed to generate a view of at least a portion of the model of the business process; and   an attribute based filter module programmed to filter tasks shown in the view generated by the view module based on one or more attribute(s) chosen by the user.   
     
     
         18 . The set of  claim 17  further comprising:
 a business process model creation module programmed to allow a user to create a new model of a business process; and   a business process characterization module that allows features of the model of the business process to be characterized in ways suitable for a collection of interrelated tasks that is designed to be performed repeatedly and further designed to achieve a commonly arising objective or goal.   
     
     
         19 . The set of  claim 17  further comprising a pattern based filter module programmed to filter tasks shown in the view generated by the view module based on a pattern entered by the user. 
     
     
         20 . The set of  claim 17  further comprising a task sorting module programmed to sort tasks shown in the view generated by the view module based upon respective values for an task field selected by the user.