Workflow Open Service

The Workflow Open Service Interface Definition (OSID) is an O.K.I. specification which provides the means to define a Process composed of Steps. OSIDs are programmatic interfaces which comprise a Service Oriented Architecture for designing and building reusable and interoperable software. Each Step has Input Conditions and Output States. A Process exists to advance Work from an initial to a terminal Step. The advance is affected by events that are performed as part of a Step, the result of which is a new Step Output State. Work events are the result of Agents performing a specific role in the Process.

Part of the service providers responsibility is to define the Process and its Steps. Other parts of the service are intended to capture the events of a user in the Process. Separate applications for designing and using Workflow are likely to be written, each of which will rely on one or more OSIDs.

The Workflow OSID provides an application, or set of applications, with the means for coordinating and managing workflow based on some predetermined logic, among one or more actors (Agents). Abstracting and separating the workflow from the application insulates the application from changes in the workflow logic. Common tools for displaying, monitoring and maintaining workflow could be used in conjunction with the application, saving the application from delivering this functionality.

Ref: Wikipedia

Workflow Application-1

Today we continue our talk on workflow application. Languages that can be used for workflow definition in this way include:
1. Job Definition Formats
Another approach to develop workflow applications is to use a programming language in conjunction with libraries and interfaces that capture abstractions for task coordination. The following are examples of such libraries and interfaces:
1. Windows Workflow Foundation
2. Workflow OSID
It is also possible to use languages designed for business process modeling (e.g. the Business Process Modeling Notation) to specify workflows. However, to fit the purpose of workflow specification, such notations need to be enhanced with additional constructs to capture data passing, data transformations and routing conditions, to bind tasks to their implementation, etc... Indeed, business process modeling is about capturing business processes at a higher level of abstraction in order to enable their analysis through methods such as simulation. For example, for a blinds company who manufacture vertical blinds and roman shades blinds, taking customize side order from customer till installing blinds, that require proper workflow management. Meanwhile, workflow specification is about capturing processes at a level of detail that is sufficient to enable their execution.
For the purpose of static analysis, e.g., to detect semantic errors at design-time, it is also possible to represent workflow in a mathematical form using formal notations such as Petri nets. For any business weather it is life insurance agents or motel, manufacturing or servicing, work flow management is most important part of business.

Workflow Operation

A workflow is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, work of a simple or complex mechanism, work of a group of persons, work of an organization of staff, or machines. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work, segregated in work share, work split or whatever types of ordering. For control purposes, workflow may be a view on real work under a chosen aspect, thus serving as a virtual representation of actual work. The flow being described often refers to a document that is being transferred from one step to another.

A workflow is a model to represent real work for further assessment, e.g., for describing a reliably repeatable sequence of operations. Another example of workflow operation is online business of roller shades, woven wood shades, blinds store; they also need to have proper workflow than and than they can do business online. More abstractly, a workflow is a pattern of activity enabled by a systematic organization of resources, defined roles and mass, energy and information flows, into a work process that can be documented and learned. Workflows are designed to achieve processing intents of some sort, such as physical transformation, service provision, or information processing.

Workflow concepts are closely related to other concepts used to describe organizational structure, such as silos, functions, teams, projects, policies and hierarchies. Workflows may be viewed as one primitive building block of organizations. The relationships among these concepts are described later in this entry.

The term workflow is used in computer programming to capture and develop human to machine interaction. Workflow software aims to provide end users with an easier way to orchestrate or describe complex processing of data in a visual form, much like flow charts but without the need to understand computers or programming.