The document describes an approach for detecting process antipatterns in BPEL processes. It begins by discussing the motivation for detecting antipatterns, which are poor design decisions that can negatively impact quality of service. It then reviews related work on modeling antipatterns, detecting them in BPMN models, and defining patterns in BPEL. The identified gaps are that antipatterns have not been considered for BPEL processes and quality aspects were not included. The proposed approach involves specifying antipatterns as rules, transforming BPEL processes into a generic model, and then detecting antipatterns by applying the rules. A small experiment is described to detect two antipatterns in three sample BPEL processes.

1. Detection of Process Antipatterns:
An BPEL Perspective
Francis Palma1,2
Supervisors: Dr. Naouel Moha2 and Dr. Yann-Gaël Guéhéneuc1
April 12, 2013
1Ptidej
Team, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada
2Latece, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada

2. Background
Background
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
Motivation
Related Work
• Service-based systems (SBSs)
• Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN)
• Business Process Execution Language (BPEL)
Approach
Experiments
• Service orchestration
• Design patterns and Antipatterns
Conclusion
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3. Outline
Background
Background
Motivation
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
Francis Palma | Detection of Process Antipatterns: An BPEL Perspective

4. Outline
Background
Background
Motivation
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
Francis Palma | Detection of Process Antipatterns: An BPEL Perspective

5. Motivation
Background
Motivation
• Antipatterns:
- From wrong design decisions to poor solutions
• Poor solutions:
Related Work
Approach
- bad quality of service (QoS)
- less maintainability, evolvability etc.
• Detect antipatterns within processes
Experiments
• Improve design and QoS
Conclusion
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6. Why BPEL ?
• BPEL processes are off-the-rack entities
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
• Antipatterns in models (BPMN) already got much attention
in the literature
• Transformation errors:
- business analysts create the processes, technical
developers implement the technology
- translation, adaptation, and–or implementation errors
• Early design errors:
- errors by analysts, eventually transferred to the process
Conclusion
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7. Outline
Background
Background
Motivation
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
Francis Palma | Detection of Process Antipatterns: An BPEL Perspective

8. Related Work (1/2)
Background
Motivation
Model Antipatterns:
- Onoda et al. (1999) catalog of five deadlock patterns
- Persson et al. (2006) and Stirna et al. (2009) provided six process patterns
and 13 process antipatterns
- Koehler and Vanhatalo (2007) described 14 structural antipatterns in
process models
- Trcka et al. (2009) formalized 9 process antipatterns using temporal logic
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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9. Related Work (1/2)
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Model Antipatterns:
- Onoda et al. (1999) catalog of five deadlock patterns
- Persson et al. (2006) and Stirna et al. (2009) provided six process patterns
and 13 process antipatterns
- Koehler and Vanhatalo (2007) described 14 structural antipatterns in
process models
- Trcka et al. (2009) formalized 9 process antipatterns using temporal logic
Detection of Model Antipatterns:
- Gruhn and Laue (2010) proposed a heuristic-based approach for
discovering problems in BPMs
- Laue and Awad (2010) visually represented process antipatterns
Experiments
Conclusion
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10. Related Work (1/2)
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
Model Antipatterns:
- Onoda et al. (1999) catalog of five deadlock patterns
- Persson et al. (2006) and Stirna et al. (2009) provided six process patterns
and 13 process antipatterns
- Koehler and Vanhatalo (2007) described 14 structural antipatterns in
process models
- Trcka et al. (2009) formalized 9 process antipatterns using temporal logic
Detection of Model Antipatterns:
- Gruhn and Laue (2010) proposed a heuristic-based approach for
discovering problems in BPMs
- Laue and Awad (2010) visually represented process antipatterns
Process Patterns:
- Wohed et al. (2002) analyzed BPEL4WS based on workflow and
communication patterns
- Aalst et al. (2003) discussed 26 control flow, branching-synchronization,
and structural patterns
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11. Related Work (2/2)
Identified gaps from the literature:
Background
Motivation
- Antipatterns and detection approaches were considered
only for BPMN models
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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12. Related Work (2/2)
Identified gaps from the literature:
Background
Motivation
Related Work
- Antipatterns and detection approaches were considered
only for BPMN models
- No other formal specifications for process antipatterns
except the one by Trcka et al. (2009)
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
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13. Related Work (2/2)
Identified gaps from the literature:
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
- Antipatterns and detection approaches were considered
only for BPMN models
- No other formal specifications for process antipatterns
except the one by Trcka et al. (2009)
- Various quality aspects (e.g., availability or response time
of Web services) were not considered
Experiments
Conclusion
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14. Related Work (2/2)
Identified gaps from the literature:
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
- Antipatterns and detection approaches were considered
only for BPMN models
- No other formal specifications for process antipatterns
except the one by Trcka et al. (2009)
- Various quality aspects (e.g., availability or response time
of Web services) were not considered
- No automatic detection approach for BPEL process
antipatterns until now
Conclusion
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15. Outline
Background
Background
Motivation
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
Francis Palma | Detection of Process Antipatterns: An BPEL Perspective

16. Solution towards detection
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
• We propose to:
- specify process antipatterns using classical Rules of
Inference
- define a concrete approach
• We perform a small detection experiment
- two antipatterns, three example BPEL processes
Experiments
Conclusion
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17. Approach (1/5)
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
Step 1: Rule specification
Step 2: Process transformation
Step 3: Detection of process antipatterns
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18. Approach (2/5): Specify Rules
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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19. Approach (2/5): Specify Rules
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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20. Approach (3/5): Process Transform
Background
Motivation
• Process transformation (more abstract and simplified)
(a) from the original BPEL to a simplified BPEL
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
(b) from the simplified BPEL to a generic model
• Goal of this transformation is to ease:
- implementation of the rules
- further analysis of the processes
Conclusion
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21. Approach (4/5): Process Transform
Background
Motivation
(a)
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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22. Approach (4/5): Process Transform
Background
Motivation
(a)
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
(b)
Conclusion
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23. Approach (5/5): Detection
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
• The implementation of rules
• Applying implemented algorithms on transformed models
• Detection is now semi-automatic
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24. Outline
Background
Background
Motivation
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
Francis Palma | Detection of Process Antipatterns: An BPEL Perspective

25. Experiments (1/5): Input
travelProcess
3 Web services
7 I/O Var
auctionProcess
3 Web services
6 I/O Var
salesProcess
2 Web services
4 I/O Var
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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26. Experiments (2/5): Rule Specification
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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27. Experiments (2/5): Rule Specification
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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28. Experiments (3/5): Results
Background
Motivation
auctionProcess
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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29. Experiments (3/5): Results
Background
Motivation
auctionProcess
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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30. Experiments (4/5): Results (cont.)
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
salesProcess
Experiments
Conclusion
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31. Experiments (4/5): Results (cont.)
Background
travelProcess
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
salesProcess
Experiments
Conclusion
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32. Experiments (5/5): Threats to Validity
Background
External validity: Possibility to generalize the results
Motivation
for other large and realistic business processes
Related Work
Approach
Construct validity: Different engineers might define
rules differently
Experiments
Conclusion
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33. Outline
Background
Background
Motivation
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
April 12, 2013
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
Francis Palma | Detection of Process Antipatterns: An BPEL Perspective

34. Conclusion
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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35. Conclusion
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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36. Conclusion
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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37. Conclusion
Background
Motivation
Related Work
Approach
Experiments
Conclusion
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38. Future work
Background
Motivation
• Automate the approach
• Detect more process antipatterns
• Perform experiments on other large and complex
Related Work
Approach
business processes
• Analyze the processes dynamically
Experiments
Conclusion
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39. Thanks for your attention!
Questions?