2nd International Workshop on
Event-Driven Business Process Management
edBPM09 – http://icep-edbpm09.fzi.de/
External and Internal Events in EPCs:
e²EPCs
Oliver Kopp, Matthias Wieland, Frank Leymann
Institute of Architecture of Application Systems
kopp@iaas.uni-stuttgart.de

Motivation
We created a development method for workflow based
applications based on event-driven service-oriented
architectures (SOEDA)
Wieland, M., Martin, D., Kopp, O., Leymann, F.: SOEDA: A
Methodology for Specification and Implementation of
Applications on a Service-Oriented Event-Driven Architecture.
In: BIS 2009. (2009)
SOEDA uses MDA (Model-Driven Architecture) approach
Save development time by automated transformations
Transformation of EPCs to detailed abstract BPEL workflows
SOEDA Methodology steps
Step 1: Process Definition
Step 2: Complex Event Extraction
Step 3: Process to Workflow Transformation
Step 4: CEP Rules Specification
Step 5: Executable Completion
Presented by Matthias Wieland

SOEDA - High-Level Architecture
Event e1 event specification Business process relevant
complex events
e1 e2
Specification Function
layer f1
s1 m1 f1e s2
transformation
Event e2 event specification Low Level Events
automatic
BPEL engine CEP System
<process>
Event e1:
<receive e1 ... > event select avg(price) from
<invoke f1 ...> notification
Execution OrderEvent.win:time
<receive e2 ...>
layer (30 sec)
</process>
Automatic transformation based on: Vanhatalo, J., Völzer,
H., Koehler, J.: The Refined Process Structure Tree. In:
BPM 2008, Springer (2008)
Presented by Matthias Wieland

Problem
All EPC events are treated the same way in the
automatic transformation
For every event a complex event description has to
be defined
All events have to be observed by a CEP system
But: Many events are process internal events
Could be handled “inside” the workflow without CEP
system
Manual optimization required
We need a EPC transformation that distinguishes
external and internal events
Presented by Matthias Wieland 4

Example
External event,
triggered by external system
Internal event,
triggered by process data
Adapted from:
Scheer, A.W. & Thomas, O. & Adam, O.:
Process Modeling Using Event-Driven Process Chains.
In: Process-Aware Information Systems: Bridging People and
Software Through Process Technology. Wiley & Sons (2005)
Presented by Matthias Wieland 5

Current Transformation
Approaches
6

Drop Intermediate Events
Mendling, J. et al, 2008
ARIS Toolset (Stein, S. & Ivanov, K. 2007)
Presented by Matthias Wieland 7

Drop Start and End Events
Kopp, O. et al., 2006
Specht, T. et al., 2005
Ziemann, J. et al., 2005
Presented by Matthias Wieland 8

Interpret all Events as External Events
SOEDA: Wieland, M. et al., 2009
Presented by Matthias Wieland 9

Summary
Presented by Matthias Wieland 10

Our new Approach:
e²EPCs
11

Input: e²EPCs
Explicit distinction between internal and external events
by new annotations (red lines) in eEPC
Aim: Keep change of eEPC notation as small as possible
– only following two new connections allowed
External event with organizational unit
Internal event with process data
Alternatives
Store type in repository
Place in swim lanes
Presented by Matthias Wieland 12

Transformation Result
Presented by Matthias Wieland 13

Possible Annotations
Presented by Matthias Wieland 14

Transformation Overview
Presented by Matthias Wieland 15

BPEL4Chor Result
Presented by Matthias Wieland 16

Conclusion and Outlook
Motivated why events in EPC should be
distinguished between internal and external ones
Showed extension of eEPC notation for modeling
internal and external events: e²EPCs
Showed an adequate automatic transformation to
WS-BPEL and BPEL4Chor
Future Work: Evaluation of the Approach
Annotation or annotation in the repository?
Chaining of EPCs?
End Event: invoke instead of receive
Presented by Matthias Wieland 17