Patent ID: 6985938

Claim:
A workflow system comprising: manipulating computer terminals, for executing a workflow between persons in charge, said manipulating computer terminals being connected to a network; a designing computer terminal for designing said workflow by designating project variables for multiplexing a plurality of processes for nodes, each process indicating a unit of operations to be handled; and a workflow server for managing said warkflow designed by said designing computer terminal, and accessing said manipulating computer terminals in accordance with activities that indicate operations assigned to said nodes, wherein the workflow server is coupled to both the designing computer terminal and the manipulating computer terminals through the network, wherein a designer at the designing computer terminal uses the designing computer for arranging the nodes and connecting the nodes by paths such that said nodes and paths determine a workflow definition that determines a processing order of the nodes, wherein the designer uses the designing computer for prescribing a data definition relating to the workflow definition and for prescribing attributes of the nodes and of the paths wherein a project created by a designer at the designing computer terminal is registered in the workflow server, wherein the workflow server comprises programs and storages, wherein the programs comprise a project management program, a process management program, a client request management program, and a user management program, wherein the storage comprise a workflow definition storage, a data definition storage, a process storage, a workflow status storage, and a user information storage, wherein the project management program causes the workflow definition storage and the data definition storage to respectively retain data on the workflow definition and the data definition defined by the designer using the designing computer terminal, wherein the process management program manages a first process created by using a definition of the project, said first process having a definition ID and a process ID, said process ID being for identifying the plurality of processes created by the definition of the project, wherein the client request management program includes functions for providing a person in charge who uses the manipulating computer terminals with a list of activities that are assigned to the person in charge and for honoring a request to terminate an activity assigned to the person in charge, and wherein the user management program controls an authorization of the person in charge to participate in the workflow system, registers user information in the user information storage, and makes access to the user information as the user information is needed.