Patent ID: 7848942
Filing Date: 2010-12-07
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A workflow system comprising a storage medium a design tool operable to access the storage medium and operable to display an integrated process model that includes a progression of tasks to obtain a desired result; partition assigner operable to assign a first partition identifier associated with a first entity to a first set of the tasks, and to assign a second partition identifier associated with a second entity to a second set of the tasks; a control transfer identifier operable to determine control transfer points at which, within the progression of tasks, partition assignment changes between the first partition identifier and the second partition identifier, such that a first distributed process model is defined with respect to the first set of the tasks and the first entity, and a second distributed process model is defined with respect to the second set of the tasks and the second entity, wherein the first distributed process model of the first entity is incompatible with the second distributed process model of the second entity; and an event flow assignment system operable to insert event flow coordinators into the first distributed process model and the second distributed process model, based on the control transfer points, such that, at run-time, the first distributed process model and the second distributed process model are executed independently and in synchronization with one another to obtain the result of the integrated process model; wherein the control transfer identifier is operable to insert a plug-point task into the integrated process model, based on the control transfer points, and is further operable to duplicate each of the plug-point tasks to obtain plug-point task pairs, wherein each of the first distributed process model and the second distributed process model includes one of the plug-point tasks within the plug-point pair; wherein each of the plug-point tasks within the plug-point pair is associated with an event identifier that is unique to the plug-point pair; and wherein the event flow assignment system is operable to transform each of the plug-point tasks forming multiple plug-point pairs into a sender task or a receiver task, such that plug-point task pairs are transformed into sender-receiver pairs, and wherein the event identifier of each of the plug-point pairs is associated with a corresponding one of the sender-receiver pairs.