Modeling of business process data

Abstract

In one embodiment, a business process meta-model is defined that represents a business process. The business process meta-model includes control flow elements pertaining to a control flow of the business process, and annotation elements providing details for the control flow elements.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method comprising:
 defining a business process meta-model, wherein
 the business process meta-model comprises
 a plurality of primitives, 
 
 the plurality of primitives are configured to facilitate generation of one or more business process executables, and 
 the one or more business process executables represent one or more business processes; and 
   generating a business process executable of the one or more business process
 executables, wherein 
 the generating comprises
 formulating a polymorphic usage pattern using one or more of the plurality of primitives, and 
 
 the polymorphic usage pattern is configured to facilitate generation of the business process executable by virtue of being configured to represent a logical representation of a business process model of the one or more business processes. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of primitives comprise at least one of:
 one or more control flow primitives,   one or more annotation primitives, or   one or more associations.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein
 the one or more associations describe relationships between the one or more control flow elements and the one or more annotation elements.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein
 the plurality of primitives further comprise
 one or more activity primitives, 
   each of the one or more activity primitives correspond to a corresponding activity of a plurality of activities, and   the each of the one or more activity primitives comprises
 execution information that specifies a manner in which the corresponding activity is to be performed. 
   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection of at least one association, wherein
 the at least one association is selected from the one or more associations; and 
   configuring the polymorphic usage pattern, wherein
 the polymorphic usage pattern is configured in a form of a plurality of forms, and 
 the configuring comprises
 applying the at least one association to the polymorphic usage pattern. 
 
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein
 the at least one association describes a relationship between at least one of the one or more control flow elements and at least one of the one or more annotation elements.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein
 the polymorphic usage pattern is valid for a plurality of views.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 formulating a plurality of polymorphic usage patterns, wherein
 the plurality of polymorphic usage patterns comprise the polymorphic usage pattern, 
 the plurality of polymorphic usage patterns are formulated from a single subset of the plurality of primitives, and 
 the plurality of polymorphic usage patterns are based on different business process definition modes of corresponding associations. 
   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 defining each primitive of the plurality of primitives.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 instantiating one of the plurality of primitives as an object.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein
 the plurality of primitives comprise
 one or more control flow primitives, 
 one or more annotation primitives, and 
 one or more associations, and 
   the one of the plurality of primitives is one of the one or more associations.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection, wherein
 the polymorphic usage pattern is one of a plurality of polymorphic usage patterns, 
 the selection identifies at least one of the plurality of polymorphic usage patterns, and 
 the at least one of the plurality of polymorphic usage patterns is the polymorphic usage pattern. 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 defining a plurality of business process definition modes; and   for each of the one or more primitives,
 classifying the each of the one or more primitives as a part of one or more of the plurality of business process definition modes. 
   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of primitives comprise one or more control flow primitives, one or more annotation primitives, and one or more associations, and the method further comprises:
 for each of the one or more associations,
 classifying the each of the one or more associations as another part of the one or more of the plurality of business process definition modes. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein
 each of the one or more control flow primitives is related to a control flow of a business process of the one or more business processes,   each of the one or more annotation primitives comprises
 one or more details regarding one or more of the one or more control flow primitives, and 
   each of the one or more associations describes a relationship between at least one of the one or more annotation primitives and at least one of the one or more control flow primitives.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 classifying, as being created from one or more inputs, one or more of
 one of the one or more control flow primitives, 
 one of the one or more annotation primitives, and 
 one of the one or more associations. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more annotation primitives comprise at least one of:
 an operation primitive, wherein
 the operation primitive is configured to describe one or more operations associated with the one or more control flow primitives, 
   an event primitive, wherein
 the event primitive is configured to describe one or more events associated with the one or more control flow primitives, 
   an actor primitive, wherein
 the actor primitive is configured to describe one or more actors responsible for the one or more control flow primitives, or 
   a data object primitive, wherein
 the data object primitive is configured to describe one or more data objects associated with the one or more control flow primitives. 
   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein
 each of the one or more associations is characterized by
 a usage type code, 
 a source primitive type, and 
 a target primitive type. 
   
     
     
         20 . A computer system comprising:
 a processor;   a computer-readable storage medium, coupled to the processor; and   a plurality of instructions, encoded in the computer-readable storage medium and configured to cause the processor to
 define a business process meta-model, wherein
 the business process meta-model comprises
 a plurality of primitives, 
 
 the plurality of primitives are configured to facilitate generation of one or more business process executables, and 
 the one or more business process executables represent one or more business processes; and 
 
 generate a business process executable of the one or more business process executables, wherein
 the instructions configured to cause the processor to generate comprise instructions configured to cause the processor to formulate a polymorphic usage pattern using one or more of the plurality of primitives, 
 the polymorphic usage pattern is configured to facilitate generation of the business process executable by virtue of being configured to represent a logical representation of a business process model of the one or more business processes. 
 
   
     
     
         21 . A computer program product comprising:
 a plurality of instructions, comprising
 a first set of instructions, executable on a computer system, configured to
 define a business process meta-model, wherein 
 the business process meta-model comprises
 a plurality of primitives, 
 
 the plurality of primitives are configured to facilitate generation of one or more business process executables, and 
 the one or more business process executables represent one or more business processes; and 
 
 a second set of instructions, executable on the computer system,
 configured to generate a business process executable of the one or more business process executables, wherein 
 the second set of instructions comprise
 a first subset of instructions, executable on a computer system, configured to formulate a polymorphic usage pattern using one or more of the plurality of primitives, 
 
 the polymorphic usage pattern is configured to facilitate generation of the business process executable by virtue of being configured to represent a logical representation of a business process model of the one or more business processes; and 
 
   a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the instructions are encoded in the computer-readable storage medium.