Projects


BPMLab is currently considering a set of projects along the lines of ideas suggested on this article. What follows is a list of projects that are considered to be the most interesting for the industry.

BPMN 2.0 Reference Implementation

This project will develop a reference implementation of BPMN 2.0, based on the Eclipse BPMN Modeler.

BPMN Serialization Format

This project will develop a standard serialization format for BPMN, based on the following requirements:

  • Must support the entire BPMN 2.0 specification.
  • Must support both executable and non-executable diagrams.
  • Must support complete round-trip engineering for non-executable diagrams.
  • Must support extensions for proprietary decorations.

Executable BPMN Model

This project will develop an executable model for BPMN, using the WS-BPEL language as default target execution language. It will leverage existing mappings to WS-BPEL currently provided by the BPMN specification, clarify ambiguities, demonstrate that most BPMN constructs can be translated into valid WS-BPEL code, and identify areas of the WS-BPEL 2.0 specification that need improvements in order to support a complete executable BPMN model. This project will leverage the upcoming standard BPMN serialization format.

RESTful API for Workflow

This project will define a standard API for workflow based on the Representational State Transfer model (REST). This project will leverage the Singleshot project currently being developed by the Apache Software Foundation.

Simpler Syntax for WS-BPEL

This project will integrate the SimPEL language developed by the Apache ODE project with the BPMN+BPEL stack. It will validate the completeness of the language, demonstrate how the language can support all common workflow patterns, and formalize the translation of SimPEL code to BPEL code.

Standard Extensions to WS-BPEL

This project will develop standard extensions to the WS-BPEL specification, in the following areas:

Workflow Pattern Mapping

This project will map the workflow patterns defined by the Eindhoven University of Technology and the Queensland University of Technology as part of the Workflow Patterns effort to BPMN constructs, and validate the correctness of the BPEL code that can be generated from them. This project will cover all four pattern types, including control-flow perspective, data perspective, resource perspective, and exception handling perspective. This project will not only map simple patterns to standard BPMN constructs, but also suggest aggregate constructs for more complex patterns that could not be mapped to standard constructs.