A process description and operation control method and control system in a distributed environment

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of software system modeling design, and discloses a process description and operation control method and control system in a distributed environment. The process description and operation control method comprises the following steps: S1, defining a process model: describing the process in a text format independent of the programming language, and supporting extended programming of active block models in the form of extension packages; S2, loading and running the process model: the process operation control service runs the loaded process model and monitors and controls the operation of the process through a process information list. The present invention solves the problems existing in the prior art, such as the difficulty in quickly defining processes, the low reuse of exception handling solutions, the poor scalability of process models, and the poor operational stability in a distributed environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of software system modeling design, and in particular to a process description and operation control method and a control system in a distributed environment. Background Art

[0002] As my country's space industry continues to develop rapidly, the demand for various types of space missions is increasing, including reconnaissance, mapping, scientific experiments, meteorology, relay, low-orbit communications, and more. These missions involve a large number of processes, such as mission processes, calibration processes, and testing processes, all of which are procedural requirements.

[0003] Under the traditional development model for aerospace measurement, operation, control, and monitoring software systems, a separate set of process code is developed for each process requirement. Each process has its own exception handling solution, and exception handling code cannot be shared between different processes. In high-availability scenarios, due to the diversity of data within various processes, process data synchronization functions are often custom-developed, resulting in low process code reuse across projects. Furthermore, with the advancement of software technology, distributed B / S software is becoming the mainstream software implementation method due to its excellent scalability, support for high-availability solutions, and the ability to view and control data with a browser as long as the network is accessible. Therefore, a process requirement implementation method that can be used in B / S software systems in a distributed environment is needed, while addressing issues such as code reusability, operational stability, and adaptability to high-availability scenarios. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology, the present invention provides a process description and operation control method and control system in a distributed environment, which solves the problems existing in the existing technology such as difficulty in quickly defining processes, low reuse of exception handling solutions, poor scalability of process models, and poor operation stability in a distributed environment.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above problems is:

[0006] A process description and operation control method in a distributed environment includes the following steps:

[0007] S1, define the process model: use a text format independent of the programming language to describe the process, and support extended programming of the activity block model in the form of extension packages;

[0008] S2, load and run the process model: the process operation control service runs the loaded process model and monitors and controls the operation of the process through the process information list.

[0009] As a preferred technical solution, step S1 includes the following steps:

[0010] S11, define data elements and enumerations: The data elements defined in this step are used to describe the storage format and display format of the variables in the process, as well as other additional information required based on the different formats; the enumerations defined in this step are used to provide detailed descriptions of the enumeration information of the enumerated data elements;

[0011] S12, defining an activity block model: The activity block model defined in this step is used to describe the basic properties of a type of activity block, the list of private variables it owns, the value range of display properties and end state values, and defines a set of fixed behaviors as activity block behaviors in a coded manner;

[0012] S13, define a flowchart model: The flowchart model defined in this step is used to describe the process variables involved in the process execution, the connection order of the activity blocks in the entire process, and the activity block jump rules.

[0013] As a preferred technical solution, in step S11, defining data elements includes defining the storage format and display format of the data; wherein the storage format is used to describe the data type used when storing data, and the display format is used to describe the format of the data displayed on the interface.

[0014] As a preferred technical solution, step S12 includes the following steps:

[0015] S121, defining a basic activity block model: pre-defining a commonly used activity block model as a basic activity block model, which at least includes process start, process end, parallel branch end, delay, assignment, and conditional judgment;

[0016] S122, define a custom activity block model: The custom activity block model defined in this step is to add a new activity block model by means of an extension package. The custom activity block model needs to implement the interface specified by the activity block model, be able to customize the activity block private variables, and be able to query and modify process public variables, call external service interfaces, and register and receive external messages.

[0017] As a preferred technical solution, step S13 includes the following steps:

[0018] S131, define process variables: The process variables defined in this step are instantiations of data elements and are variables that will be used during the process execution;

[0019] S132, define the process activity block and its jump rules: set the process activity block parameter initial value, the end state value generation rule, the subsequent activity block corresponding to the end state value, the timeout time and the subsequent activity block when the execution timeout occurs, and the subsequent activity block when an exception occurs.

[0020] As a preferred technical solution, in step S131, the defined process variables include process common variables and activity block private variables; each flowchart model can define its own process common variables and their initial values, and the initial values of the common variables are fixed values or values passed in when the process starts; the activity block private variables are defined in the activity block model, and the initial values can be set for the private variables of each process activity block in the flowchart model, and the initial values of the private variables are fixed values or process common variables.

[0021] As a preferred technical solution, in step S2, when the process operation control service deploys multiple nodes, each node obtains the execution right of the process in the process list by competing for the position; the service node competition mechanism is as follows: each service node will periodically update the distributed lock key it has grabbed and check whether there are any unowned process IDs in the process list; if an unowned process ID is found, a distributed lock with a key equal to the process ID is immediately created to obtain ownership of the lock, and then the process model corresponding to the process ID is loaded, the process running thread is started, and the current activity ID corresponding to the process ID is found in the process list to start executing the process; if a service node fails to update its own distributed lock, the execution of the process corresponding to the distributed lock must be stopped immediately.

[0022] As a preferred technical solution, in step S2, the process starts from the process start node and ends at the process end node, and the process executes the following steps in sequence:

[0023] S21, the process execution thread puts the first activity block as the current activity block into a separate thread for execution;

[0024] S22: Execute the current active block. If the current active block is the end of a process, the process execution thread exits and the process execution is completed. If the current active block is the end of a parallel branch, the execution thread of the current process branch exits. However, because the parallel branch end active block exists both in the parallel branch and in the main branch that generated the parallel branch, the parallel branch end active block needs to wait until all execution threads of the preceding parallel branches of the main branch have exited before execution ends.

[0025] S23: After the current active block completes execution, its subsequent active block is determined based on its jump rule. If there is more than one subsequent active block, each subsequent active block is treated as the first active block and jumps to step S21 for execution, thus generating parallel process branches. If there is only one subsequent active block, it is set as the current active block, and the process jumps to step S22.

[0026] As a preferred technical solution, in step S2, when monitoring the operation of the process model, the status of the process operation process is reported by sending messages to the outgoing message queue. The process status will be reported when one or more of the following situations occur:

[0027] Start the process and report the started process ID;

[0028] After the current activity block of the process is executed, the current activity block ID, activity block execution result and display color, and next activity block ID are reported;

[0029] The process enters the pause state and reports the ID of the suspended process and the ID of the currently executing activity block;

[0030] The process stops running, including the process ID and the type of process that stops running.

[0031] A process description and operation control system in a distributed environment, based on the process description and operation control method in a distributed environment, includes a process model construction module and a process model operation control module connected in sequence;

[0032] in,

[0033] The process model definition module is used to describe the process in a text format independent of the programming language, and supports extended programming of the activity block model in the form of extension packages;

[0034] The process model loading and running module is used by the process running control service to run the loaded process model and monitor and control the running of the process through the process information list.

[0035] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0036] (1) The present invention establishes a flow chart description model that describes the activity blocks and the conditions for their jump to subsequent activity blocks (this loosely coupled description method that only describes the jump relationship between adjacent activity blocks replaces the traditional method of describing the connection relationship between all activity blocks in the entire process), as well as various variable definitions in the process. It uses a text format that is completely independent of the programming language to store and represent data; the concise and clearly structured JSON format is easy for humans to read and write, and is also easy for machines to parse and generate, and effectively improves network transmission efficiency. Activity blocks can be expanded through extension packages, which makes them more adaptable and has a wider range of applications;

[0037] (2) The present invention implements a unified modeling of data definitions (using independent data elements and enumeration definition models to describe the type and definition of data information). Subsequent business processing is based on the parameters of the unified modeling, which greatly improves the problem of heterogeneous process parameters in different process requirements. The same set of process execution and control codes can be used for different process data;

[0038] (3) The present invention describes the entire process by describing the activity block and its directly subsequent activity block, decoupling the activity block from the complete large process. In addition, the values of all process variables are placed in a distributed memory database, making the activity block stateless. Finally, combined with the current activity block information of the currently executing process in the process information, the difficulty of implementing functions such as process pause / resume, fault relay, and exception retry is greatly reduced;

[0039] (4) The present invention designs the process timeout handling strategy and exception handling strategy as another strategy for determining subsequent activity blocks in another situation, so that the process editor has a clear idea and the handling of exceptions encountered in process execution is basically the same as in normal situations;

[0040] (5) The service node competition mechanism designed by the present invention, combined with the design of separating process parameters from process models, solves the problem of data synchronization under traditional high-availability solutions. When executing the process, the process parameters in the distributed memory database are used. The distributed memory database is used to achieve high availability of process data, and process nodes can easily relay execution. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the steps of a process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to the present invention;

[0042] Figure 2 This is a structural diagram of a process description and operation control system in a distributed environment described in the present invention.

[0043] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the working boundary of the active block in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 4 A flowchart (example meeting diagram) supported by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

[0046] Example

[0047] like Figures 1 to 4As shown, the present invention relates to a modeling design and operation control method for realizing process requirements in a B / S software system in a distributed environment.

[0048] This invention proposes a process description and operation control method and control system in a distributed environment, designed to meet various process requirements in distributed software engineering projects (such as various task processes, testing processes, and calibration processes in aerospace measurement, transportation, and control projects). This method uses flowchart editing to concisely and intuitively edit processes. The process operation control method in this method provides practical features for process operation control, such as timed startup, delayed retry of faulty nodes, and parallel execution of process branches.

[0049] The present invention is implemented through the following technical solutions: first, a model describing the process is defined, business-specific custom activity blocks are implemented according to the development interface of the custom activity blocks as needed, and the process model is edited using a process model editor; then the process operation control service is made to load the edited process model, manage the start, pause, resume, and termination of the process, and intuitively display and control the process operation status through the front-end page. If it is necessary to improve the reliability of the process operation, high availability can be achieved by deploying multiple service nodes.

[0050] The present invention can specifically adopt the following technical solutions:

[0051] First, define a model that describes the process. The process model is an executable flowchart composed of data elements and enumerations, an activity block model, and a flowchart model description. The process model is described in JSON, a text format that is completely independent of the programming language. Its activity block model can be extended through extension packages. Defining the process model involves the following steps:

[0052] a) Define data elements and enumerations. Data elements are used to describe the storage format and display format of variables in the process, as well as other additional information that needs to be added based on the different formats (such as units, value ranges, and regular expressions). The storage format describes the data type used when storing data (corresponding to the data type in the database). The display format is the format of the data when it is viewed by people, which is divided into numeric type (based on the base: decimal, hexadecimal, binary, octal), enumeration type, string type, and time type. Enumerations are used to define enumeration data elements in detail. Each enumeration contains a set of correspondences between enumeration values and descriptive information. Enumeration values are integers and are unique in the current enumeration.

[0053] b) Define the activity block model. An activity block model describes the basic properties of a type of activity block, the list of private variables it owns, the value range of display properties and end state values, and describes a set of fixed behaviors as activity block behaviors. Common activity block models are pre-defined as basic activity block models, which at least include process start, process end, parallel branch end, delay, assignment, and conditional judgment. In addition, you can also develop a custom activity block extension package according to the custom activity block model programming interface to create a custom activity block model. The activity block behavior described in the custom activity block model can access process variables, call external service interfaces, and register and receive external messages.

[0054] c) Define a flowchart model. The flowchart model describes the connection order of activity blocks in the entire process and the rules for activity block jumps (rules for determining subsequent activity blocks based on the end state values of activity blocks). Information in the flowchart is stored and transmitted through process variables.

[0055] ① Define process variables. Process variables are instantiations of data elements and are variables that will be used during the execution of the process. Process variables include process public variables and activity block private variables. Each flowchart model can define its own process public variables and their initial values (the initial values can be fixed values or passed in when the process starts). Activity block private variables are defined in the activity block model. In the flowchart model, initial values can be set for the private variables of each process activity block (fixed values or process public variables can be used). When the process is running, the latest values of the process variables are stored in a distributed memory database. The life cycle of process public variables is throughout the entire process. Through process public variables, information can be exchanged not only within and outside the process, but also between process activity blocks. Activity block private variables separate the state of the process activity block, making it state-independent (when developing a custom activity block extension package, it is not allowed to store activity block status in a way other than process variables);

[0056] ② Define the process activity block and its jump rules. In the present invention, the execution path of the process is described by the jump rules of the process activity block. The process activity block is the smallest unit of a single execution in the process and is an instantiation of the activity block model. You can set the initial value of the process activity block parameters, the end state value generation rule, the subsequent activity block corresponding to the end state value (conventional jump rule), the timeout time and the subsequent activity block when the execution timeout occurs (timeout jump rule), and the subsequent activity block when an exception occurs (exception jump rule). When the activity block is running, the activity block behavior will be executed, and the jump rules will be used to determine the subsequent activity block. In a complete process, all activity blocks except the process end action block must have a subsequent activity block. If the end state value generation rule is not defined in the activity block model, conditional branches cannot be defined subsequently. When a process activity block is followed by multiple subsequent activity blocks specified by the same end state value (no end state value is considered the same situation), the process branches starting from these activity blocks will be executed in parallel. The parallel branch end activity block will wait for all these parallel execution branches to end before continuing to execute the subsequent process. A process can be nested as a sub-process activity block in another large process to run. The public variables of the sub-process will be used as private variables of the sub-process activity block in the large process. You can define how to assign initial values to them in the sub-process activity block, define public variable assignment rules, and assign values to the public variables of the current process after the sub-process ends.

[0057] Secondly, the edited process model is loaded through the process operation control service, the process is run, and it is monitored and controlled. The process operation control service provides status reporting and query functions for the process execution process, and provides a process control interface for starting, stopping, pausing, and resuming the execution of the process.

[0058] The process operation control service can deploy multiple nodes (high availability solution), and each node executes the process in the process list by competing for the job.

[0059] The process list is stored independently in a distributed memory database. It contains the process ID, process model ID, process status (running, paused, abnormally terminated) and the current active block ID (if there are parallel branches, there may be multiple current active block IDs at the same time).

[0060] Service node competition mechanism: Each process operation control service node will periodically update the distributed lock it has grabbed (key = process ID, the default timeout of the distributed lock is 3 seconds) and check whether there are any ownerless process IDs in the process list. If an ownerless process ID is found, it will immediately create a distributed lock with the key equal to the process ID, set the value to its own special diagnosis code, and then load and start the process model, and start executing the process directly from the current activity ID corresponding to the process ID. If a service node fails to update its own distributed lock, the execution of the corresponding process will be terminated. In this mechanism, after a service node hangs up, the distributed lock of the process ID it owns will be released due to timeout, and other nodes will resume the operation of these processes in time.

[0061] Note: Each process run control service node has a configuration parameter - "maximum number of executable processes" (integer). When the number of processes executed by this node reaches this value, it will no longer check whether there are processes to be executed in the process list.

[0062] Process operation: The process operation starts from the process start node and ends at the process end node.

[0063] 1. The process execution thread puts the first activity block as the current activity block into a separate thread for execution;

[0064] 2. Execute the current active block. If the current active block is the end of a process, the process execution thread will exit and the process execution will be completed. If the current active block is the end of a parallel branch, the execution thread of the current process branch will exit. However, because the parallel branch end active block exists in both the parallel branch and the main branch that generates the parallel branch, the parallel branch end active block needs to wait until the execution threads of all preceding parallel branches of the main branch have all exited before execution ends.

[0065] 3. After the current activity block completes execution, determine its subsequent activity block based on its jump rules. If there is more than one subsequent activity block, each subsequent activity block is treated as the first activity block and jumps to step 1 for execution, thus generating parallel process branches. If there is only one subsequent activity block, it is set as the current activity block and jumps to step 2.

[0066] Each time the next activity block begins, the current activity block information in the process list needs to be updated. Every change in the process list information and process parameter changes during the process operation will be recorded and written to the relational database for later query. The status of the process operation process is reported through the outgoing message queue message. The process status will be reported in the following situations:

[0067] 1. When the process is started, report the started process ID;

[0068] 2. When the current activity block of the process is completed, report the current activity block ID, activity block execution result (end status value, whether timed out, whether abnormal exit), and next activity block ID;

[0069] 3. When the process enters the pause state, report the ID of the suspended process and the ID of the currently executing activity block;

[0070] 4. When a process stops running, it reports the process ID and the type of stop ((execution completed, abnormal termination, timeout exit, manual termination, etc.));

[0071] 5. When the process resumes running, report the resumed process ID.

[0072] When a process ends (whether the process ends normally or abnormally or is manually stopped by the user), the relevant information of the process will be deleted from the process list.

[0073] Note: If a program error occurs in an activity block during the process running, the process will exit directly and the stop type will be "abnormal termination".

[0074] Abnormal exit of a custom activity block triggers the abnormal termination of the process. If the abnormally exited activity block is located in a parallel execution branch, other parallel branches are also forced to terminate, and the entire process exits. The status of the process in the process list is changed to "abnormally terminated." The process's activity variables are not cleared temporarily. The process execution engine starts a timer and waits for the RESTful interface of the abnormally terminated process to confirm whether to rerun the abnormally exited activity block to continue the process or clear the activity variables and abort the retry. If you choose to retry the abnormally terminated process, all current activity blocks of the thread in the process list will be restarted normally (with private activity variables reset), and then the process will continue. If you choose to abort the retry, the relevant information of the process will be deleted from the process list, and all process variables of the process will be cleared from the distributed in-memory database. If the handling method is not confirmed through the interface, the activity variables will be cleared after a timeout (the default timeout is 5 minutes), and the retry will be abandoned. The abnormal retry timeout of the process can be extended by extending the RESTful interface.

[0075] like Figure 4 As shown, the present invention can support almost all processes that can be drawn through a flowchart, such as conditional branches, parallel branches, loops, etc.

[0076] As described above, the present invention can be preferably implemented.

[0077] All features disclosed in all embodiments in this specification, or steps in all methods or processes implicitly disclosed, except for mutually exclusive features and / or steps, can be combined and / or expanded or replaced in any manner.

[0078] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not constitute any form of limitation to the present invention. Based on the technical essence of the present invention and within the spirit and principles of the present invention, any simple modification, equivalent replacement and improvement of the above embodiment shall still fall within the scope of protection of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A process description and operation control method in a distributed environment, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1, define the process model: use a text format independent of the programming language to describe the process, and support extended programming of the activity block model in the form of extension packages; Process variables are stored in a distributed memory database, and the flowchart model is decoupled from the process variables; S2, load and run the process model: The process operation control service runs the loaded process model and monitors and controls the operation of the process through the process information list. Among them, multiple service nodes obtain the process execution right through the competitive job mechanism, specifically including: each service node will regularly update the distributed lock key it has grabbed and check whether there are any ownerless process IDs in the process list; create a distributed lock for the ownerless process ID, obtain ownership of the lock, load the process model corresponding to the process ID and start the process running thread; if the node fails to update the distributed lock, the corresponding process will be stopped immediately; when the node fails, the distributed lock it holds is released due to timeout, and other nodes compete to take over and directly restore the operation of the process variables from the distributed memory database.

2. The process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: Step S1 includes the following steps: S11, define data elements and enumerations: The data elements defined in this step are used to describe the storage format and display format of the variables in the process, as well as other additional information required based on the different formats; the enumerations defined in this step are used to provide detailed descriptions of the enumeration information of the enumerated data elements; S12, defining an activity block model: The activity block model defined in this step is used to describe the basic properties of a type of activity block, the list of private variables it owns, the value range of display properties and end state values, and defines a set of fixed behaviors as activity block behaviors in a coded manner; S13, define a flowchart model: The flowchart model defined in this step is used to describe the process variables involved in the process execution, the connection order of the activity blocks in the entire process, and the activity block jump rules.

3. The process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to claim 2, characterized in that: In step S11, defining data elements includes defining the storage format and display format of the data; wherein the storage format is used to describe the type of data used when storing data, and the display format is used to describe the format of the data displayed on the interface.

4. The process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to claim 2, characterized in that: Step S12 includes the following steps: S121, defining a basic activity block model: pre-defining a commonly used activity block model as a basic activity block model, which at least includes process start, process end, parallel branch end, delay, assignment, and conditional judgment; S122, define a custom activity block model: The custom activity block model defined in this step is to add a new activity block model by means of an extension package. The custom activity block model needs to implement the interface specified by the activity block model, be able to customize the activity block private variables, and be able to query and modify process public variables, call external service interfaces, and register and receive external messages.

5. The process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to claim 2, characterized in that: Step S13 includes the following steps: S131, define process variables: The process variables defined in this step are instantiations of data elements and are variables that will be used during the process execution; S132, define the process activity block and its jump rules: set the process activity block parameter initial value, the end state value generation rule, the subsequent activity block corresponding to the end state value, the timeout time and the subsequent activity block when the execution timeout occurs, and the subsequent activity block when an exception occurs.

6. The process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to claim 5, characterized in that: In step S131, the defined process variables include process public variables and activity block private variables; each flowchart model can define its own process public variables and their initial values, and the initial values of the public variables are fixed values or values passed in when the process starts; the activity block private variables are defined in the activity block model, and the initial values can be set for the private variables of each process activity block in the flowchart model, and the initial values of the private variables are fixed values or the values of the process public variables.

7. The process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S2, the process starts from the process start node and ends at the process end node. The process executes the following steps in sequence: S21, the process execution thread puts the first active block as the current active block into the newly created execution thread; S22: Execute the current active block. If the current active block is the end of a process, the process execution thread exits and the process execution is completed. If the current active block is the end of a parallel branch, the execution thread of the current process branch exits. However, because the parallel branch end active block exists both in the parallel branch and in the main branch that generated the parallel branch, the parallel branch end active block needs to wait until all execution threads of the preceding parallel branches of the main branch have exited before execution ends. S23, after the current activity block is executed, its subsequent activity block is determined according to its jump rule; if there is more than one subsequent activity block, each subsequent activity block is executed as the first activity block and jumps to step S21, thereby generating parallel process branches; When there is only one subsequent active block, the subsequent active block is set as the current active block, and the process jumps to step S22.

8. A process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: In step S2, when monitoring the operation of the process model, the status of the process operation process is reported by sending messages to the outgoing message queue. The process status will be reported when one or more of the following situations occur: Start the process and report the started process ID; After the current activity block of the process is executed, the current activity block ID, activity block execution result and display color, and next activity block ID are reported; The process enters the pause state and reports the ID of the suspended process and the ID of the currently executing activity block; The process stops running, including the process ID and the type of process that stops running.

9. A process description and operation control system in a distributed environment, characterized in that: A process description and operation control method in a distributed environment according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising a process model construction module and a process model operation control module connected in sequence; in, The process model definition module is used to describe the process in a text format independent of the programming language, and supports extended programming of the activity block model in the form of extension packages; The process model loading and running module is used by the process running control service to run the loaded process model and monitor and control the running of the process through the process information list.

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