A work product transfer design method based on BPMN

Abstract

The present invention relates to a work product transmission design method based on BPMN, and belongs to the field of business process modeling. The present invention implements the control of information flow transmission in a business process instance by extending user task attributes in the BPMN modeling language, including the categories of input and output products, the direction of product delivery, and product version management. The information flow transmission is controlled by using a general file transmission method to replace the form function in Activiti, and any type of file can be transmitted. At the same time, the information flow design process is simplified, and a list is used for unified display; the information flow transmission data is stored in a separate table and associated with the process instance execution data, which is convenient for quick query and also supports statistical analysis.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of business process modeling, and in particular relates to a work product transmission design method based on BPMN. Background Art

[0002] Due to its standardization, the BPMN modeling language is now widely used as a set of standardized modeling symbols for business process design and implementation. After the official version of BPMN 2.0 was released in 2011, the process metamodel and execution semantics were defined. Standard graphics are used to describe the business process, which can ensure that the same process has consistent execution results in different engines.

[0003] The basic elements of BPMN modeling include flow objects, connection objects, swimlanes, and manual deliverables. Flow objects are the main graphical elements in BPMN, including events, activities, and gateways; connection objects are used to connect various flow objects to form the basic structure of a business process, including sequence flow, message flow, and association; swimlanes include pools and lanes, which are used to distinguish the responsibilities of different participants; manual deliverables include groups and notes.

[0004] The basic elements of BPMN modeling are mainly used to model control flows, while there are fewer elements for modeling information flows. Activiti, an open source implementation framework of BPMN, has a form function, but the form only supports the format of key-value pairs; it does not support online visualization for form design; form data and process data cannot be stored in separate libraries, and cannot be queried or statistically analyzed. Summary of the invention

[0005] 1. Technical issues to be resolved

[0006] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is how to provide a work product transmission design method based on BPMN to solve the problems that BPMN modeling has fewer information flow modeling elements, Activiti, an open source implementation framework of BPMN, has a form function, but the form only supports the format of key-value pairs; it does not support online visualization for form design; form data and process data cannot be stored in separate libraries, and cannot be queried and statistically analyzed.

[0007] (II) Technical solution

[0008] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention proposes a work product transmission design method based on BPMN, which comprises the following steps:

[0009] S1. Process Product Management

[0010] Divide product categories and then set product attributes for association and selection when configuring activity and process extended attributes;

[0011] S2. Product attributes of extended activities and processes

[0012] By extending the input products and output products of the activities, the process input information flow and output information flow are formed and allowed to be modified by the user; according to the process input information flow and output information flow of the process, the sub-process can be quickly associated when modeling the activities;

[0013] S3. Information flow transmission based on product instances

[0014] Read the input products and output products defined in the activity. Based on the input products and output products, calculate whether the activities associated with the main process have products input to this process. Then calculate the products uploaded by other activities in the process. If the current activity is associated with a sub-process, the output products of the sub-process must also be calculated. Finally, calculate the temporary products in the process and remove duplicates based on different versions of the same product, retaining only the latest version.

[0015] S4. Statistical analysis based on product examples

[0016] Statistical analysis based on product instances includes statistics on the products themselves and statistics on the relationships between products, providing a reference for organizational optimization and adjustment.

[0017] Furthermore, the step S1 specifically includes:

[0018] S11. Product classification management

[0019] According to the different levels of categories, a tree structure is used for category management. The tree structure has a unique root node, namely "all products". The tree structure is expanded based on the root node. Non-leaf nodes are product categories, and leaf nodes are specific product definitions.

[0020] S12. Product attribute definition

[0021] The activity execution process includes receiving input conditions, processing business and generating output results. Products are used to specify the categories of input and output files and control the flow of information when the activity is executed. Product attribute definitions include product name, product description, product form and product template.

[0022] Furthermore, the product name and product description specify the basic information of the product; the product form includes documents, pictures and videos, which are verified through the file suffix; the product template is a reference material when filling in the product.

[0023] Furthermore, the step S2 specifically includes:

[0024] S21. Product attributes of extended activities

[0025] Based on the original activity definition, the input product and output product attributes of the activity are expanded and visualized on the flow chart during modeling. The left side of each activity represents the input product and the right side represents the output product.

[0026] S22. Product attributes of the extended process

[0027] Based on the input products and output products of each activity within the process, the input products and output products of the process are calculated, and related sub-processes are recommended based on the degree of matching.

[0028] Furthermore, in step S21, a product is selected from a defined product list, and a product ID is saved in a corresponding activity to reference the product, thereby extending the product attributes of the activity.

[0029] Furthermore, the step S22 specifically includes:

[0030] S221. The rule for calculating process products is to summarize the products of each activity in the process. If the process can be closed, it will be deleted from the process product attribute list; if the process cannot be closed, it will be used as the product of the process; products that need to be input from outside the process will be used as process input products, and products that need to be output to outside the process will be used as process output products;

[0031] S222. According to the input and output products of the process, sub-processes are quickly associated when modeling activities. Sub-processes are refinements of activities in the main process to achieve monitoring and management of processes at different granularities. When executing activities with associated sub-processes, the main process will suspend and start the sub-process, and at the same time pass the products in the main process to the sub-process. After the sub-process is executed, the main process will resume to the running state, read the products generated by the sub-process, and flow to subsequent activities.

[0032] Furthermore, in step S222, after the product attributes are expanded for the activities and processes, the product attribute matching of the activities and processes needs to be considered when selecting the associated sub-processes. If there is a mismatch, the required products will not be provided as input. The principle of product matching is that the provided products can cover the required products, that is, the input of the parent process activity must be greater than the input of the sub-process, and the output of the parent process activity must be less than the output of the sub-process.

[0033] Furthermore, the step S3 specifically includes:

[0034] S31. Product instance transmission within the process

[0035] The control flow and information flow are processed independently. By refining the information transmission, the output files of each activity are precisely controlled and transmitted to other activity instances.

[0036] S32, cross-sub-process product instance transmission

[0037] When a process is executed, it is usually started with the top-level process, and the coarse-grained activities in it are executed. The extended attributes of the associated process are configured on the coarse-grained activities. The corresponding sub-process is started by reading the ID of the associated sub-process in the process library, and the activities are refined through the associated sub-processes. Different levels of processes correspond to different levels of products. The cross-process transfer of products provides support for the detailed execution of activities and also manages the outputs more finely. The rule for cross-process transfer of products is that when entering a sub-process, the input of the associated activity is read as the input of the sub-process; when completing the sub-process, the output of the sub-process is read as the output of the activity and passed downward.

[0038] S33, temporary product instance transmission

[0039] On the premise that the process is executed according to the input products and output products specified during modeling and design, temporary uploading of output products is allowed to cope with emergencies or situations that have not been considered. Since there is no specified recipient of the temporary products, the temporary products will enter the resource sharing pool of the process, and all activities within the process can receive the temporary products.

[0040] Furthermore, in the step S31, when submitting a product, the activity instance ID and personnel corresponding to the product are recorded, and the version number is maintained for screening and use; when receiving a product while handling a task, the process product table is first queried to screen out products related to the process; then the product instances are screened according to the input product category defined in the activity; finally, deduplication is performed, and only the latest version of the product submitted multiple times for the same activity is taken to form a product input list.

[0041] Furthermore, the step S4 specifically includes:

[0042] S41. Product example statistical analysis

[0043] When modeling activities, the activity time limit attributes are set. When performing statistical analysis, the absolute time consumed in producing output products and the percentage relative to the expected time are queried through multi-table associations to analyze the completion speed and efficiency. When receiving products, the received products are scored and evaluated and saved in a separate table in the database. The scores of all product recipients are weighted averaged to form the final score of the product, which enables analysis of completion quality.

[0044] S42. Statistical analysis of correlations between products

[0045] The product scoring records are counted. Each score represents an interaction between the product recipient and the product producer. By accumulating the number of interactions and using a circular interaction diagram for visual display, the number of information interactions between different seats and departments can be analyzed to provide support for business optimization and organizational adjustments.

[0046] (III) Beneficial effects

[0047] The present invention proposes a work product transmission design method based on BPMN. The present invention implements the control of information flow transmission in a business process instance by extending the user task attributes in the BPMN modeling language, including the categories of input and output products, the direction of product delivery, and the version management of products. The information flow transmission is controlled by using a general file transmission method to replace the form function in Activiti, and any type of file can be transmitted. At the same time, the information flow design process is simplified and a list is used for unified display; the information flow transmission data is stored in a separate table and associated with the process instance execution data, which is convenient for quick query and also supports statistical analysis. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0048] Figure 1 Product attribute graph for extended activities;

[0049] Figure 2 Product attribute graph for the extended process;

[0050] Figure 3 Product attribute graph for the extended process;

[0051] Figure 4 Calculate the flow chart for the product instance;

[0052] Figure 5 Transfer diagrams for product instances within a process;

[0053] Figure 6 Transfer diagram for product instances across sub-processes. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] In order to make the purpose, content and advantages of the present invention more clear, the specific implementation methods of the present invention are further described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and examples.

[0055] The present invention realizes the control of information flow transmission in business process instances by extending user task attributes in BPMN modeling language, including the categories of input and output products, the direction of product delivery and product version management. The information flow transmission is controlled by using a general file transmission method to replace the form function in Activiti, and any type of file can be transmitted. At the same time, the information flow design process is simplified and a list is used for unified display; the information flow transmission data is stored in a separate table and associated with the process instance execution data, which is convenient for quick query and also supports statistical analysis.

[0056] S1. Process Product Management

[0057] Process product management is the unified design and management of products that need to be delivered in the process template. First, the product categories are divided, and then the product attributes are set for association and selection when configuring activities and process extension attributes.

[0058] S11. Product classification management

[0059] In order to facilitate users to quickly find corresponding products when modeling activities, it is necessary to implement classification management of products. According to the different levels of categories, a tree structure is used for category management. The tree structure has a unique root node, namely "all products". Based on the root node, the tree structure is expanded, non-leaf nodes are product categories, and leaf nodes are specific product definitions.

[0060] S12. Product attribute definition

[0061] The activity execution process includes receiving input conditions, processing business, and generating output results. Products are used to specify the categories of input files and output files and control the flow of information when the activity is executed. Product attribute definitions include product name, product description, product form, and product template. The product name and product description specify the basic information of the product; the product form includes documents, pictures, videos, etc., which can be verified through the file suffix; the product template is a reference material when filling in the product.

[0062] S2. Product attributes of extended activities and processes

[0063] By expanding the input products and output products of the activities, the process input information flow and output information flow are formed and can be modified by the user. According to the process input information flow and output information flow of the process, the sub-processes are quickly associated when the activity is modeled, and the associated sub-processes are used as recommended rules to enable the process association to be quickly matched.

[0064] S21. Product attributes of extended activities

[0065] Based on the original activity definition, the input product and output product attributes of the activity are extended. When modeling, they are visualized on the flow chart. The left side of each activity represents the input product, and the right side represents the output product. Products are selected from the defined product list, and the product ID is saved in the corresponding activity to reference the product, thereby realizing the product attributes of the extended activity. Figure 1 shown.

[0066] S22. Product attributes of the extended process

[0067] Based on the input products and output products of each activity within the process, the input products and output products of the process can be calculated, and the associated sub-processes can be recommended based on the degree of matching.

[0068] S221. The rule for calculating process products is to summarize the products of each activity in the process. If the process can be closed, it will be deleted from the process product attribute list; if the process cannot be closed, it will be regarded as the product of the process; products that need to be input from outside the process will be regarded as process input products, and products that need to be output to outside the process will be regarded as process output products. Figure 2 shown.

[0069] S222. Based on the input and output products of the process, sub-processes can be quickly associated when modeling activities. Sub-processes are refinements of activities in the main process to achieve monitoring and management of different granularities of the process. When executing an activity with an associated sub-process, the main process will be suspended and the sub-process will be started, and the products in the main process will be transferred to the sub-process; after the sub-process is executed, the main process will resume to the running state, read the products generated by the sub-process, and transfer to subsequent activities. Figure 3 shown.

[0070] After extending product attributes for activities and processes, you need to consider the matching of product attributes of activities and processes when selecting associated sub-processes. If they do not match, the required products will not be provided with input. The principle of product matching is that the provided products can cover the required products, that is, the input of the parent process activity should be more than the input of the sub-process, and the output of the parent process activity should be less than the output of the sub-process.

[0071] S3. Information flow transmission based on product instances

[0072] Through the modeling in step S2, static process definitions and activity definitions can be obtained. When the process generates an instance and executes it, it is necessary to perform product calculations for task handling based on the activity definition, product instance upload, and associated process instance. The calculation process is as follows: Figure 4 As shown:

[0073] First, you need to read the input products and output products defined in the activity. Based on the input products and output products, calculate whether the activities associated with the main process have products input to this process. Then calculate the products uploaded by other activities in the process. If the current activity has an associated sub-process, you also need to calculate the output products of the sub-process. Finally, calculate the temporary products in the process and deduplicate different versions of the same product, retaining only the latest version.

[0074] S31. Product instance transmission within the process

[0075] The product transmission method within the process is quite different from the traditional workflow. The control flow and information flow are processed independently. By refining the information transmission, the files output by each activity can be accurately controlled and transmitted to other activity instances. When submitting products, the product corresponding to the activity instance ID and personnel are recorded, and the version number is maintained for screening and use. When receiving products for tasks, first query the process product table to filter out products related to this process; then filter product instances according to the input product categories defined in the activity; finally, remove duplicates, and only take the latest version of products submitted multiple times for the same activity to form a product input list.

[0076] by Figure 5 Taking the process in as an example, activity 1 produces two output products, product A and product B. The seat operator of activity 2 can only see product A but not product B. The seat operator of activity 3 can only see product B and product C output by activity 2 but not product A.

[0077] S32, cross-sub-process product instance transmission

[0078] Subprocess is a modeling element designed to reflect the different levels of the process when designing the process. It provides support for personnel in different positions to monitor the execution status of the process according to their focus when executing the process. When executing the process, the top-level process is usually started, the coarse-grained activities in it are executed, and the extended attributes of the associated process are configured on the coarse-grained activities. The corresponding subprocess is started by reading the ID of the associated subprocess into the process library, and the activities are refined through the associated subprocess. Different levels of processes correspond to different levels of products. The cross-process transfer of products provides support for the detailed execution of activities, and also provides more refined management of outputs.

[0079] The rule for passing products across processes is that when entering a sub-process, the input of the associated activity is read as the input of the sub-process; when completing the sub-process, the output of the sub-process is read as the output of the activity and passed downward. For example, the main process activity inputs product A and outputs product D. When the sub-process is associated, product A is passed to the sub-process as the input product of the sub-process. The sub-process activity receives the input product and processes it, then outputs product D as the output of the sub-process, and passes it back to the main process activity, and continues to pass it within the main process. The entire process Figure 6 As shown in the figure. The main process activity receives product A and starts the associated sub-process, which is equivalent to refining the coarse-grained main process activity into three activities in the associated sub-process; activity 1 in the sub-process outputs product B, activity 2 receives product A and outputs product C, and activity 3 receives products B and C and outputs product D as the output of the sub-process; the main process activity resumes after the sub-process is completed and outputs product D to the subsequent activities.

[0080] S33, temporary product instance transmission

[0081] Temporary products are a supplement to the balance between process standardization and flexibility. On the premise that the process is executed according to the input products and output products specified during modeling and design, in order to deal with emergencies or unconsidered situations, temporary upload of output products is allowed. Since there is no specified recipient of temporary products, temporary products will enter the resource sharing pool of the process, and all activities within the process can receive temporary products.

[0082] S4. Statistical analysis based on product examples

[0083] Statistical analysis based on product instances can be divided into two types. One is the statistics of the product itself, such as processing time, evaluation scores, etc.; the other is the statistics of the relationship between products, such as which seats and departments have more information exchange, to provide a reference for organizational optimization and adjustment.

[0084] S41. Product example statistical analysis

[0085] Products are the output of activities, and the evaluation of products can reflect the effect of process execution. When modeling activities, the activity time limit attributes are set. When performing statistical analysis, the absolute time consumed in producing output products and the percentage relative to the expected time can be queried through multi-table associations to analyze the completion speed and efficiency. When receiving products, the received products can be scored and evaluated and saved in a separate table in the database. The scores of all product recipients are weighted averaged to form the final score of the product, realizing the analysis of completion quality.

[0086] S42. Statistical analysis of correlations between products

[0087] The product scoring records are counted. Each score represents an interaction between the product recipient and the product producer. By accumulating the number of interactions and using a circular interaction diagram for visual display, the number of information interactions between different seats and departments can be analyzed to provide support for business optimization and organizational adjustments.

[0088] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A work product transfer design method based on BPMN, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: S1. Process Product Management Divide product categories and then set product attributes for association and selection when configuring activity and process extended attributes; S2. Product attributes of extended activities and processes By extending the input products and output products of the activities, the process input information flow and output information flow are formed and allowed to be modified by the user; according to the process input information flow and output information flow of the process, the sub-process can be quickly associated when modeling the activities; S3. Information flow transmission based on product instances Read the input products and output products defined in the activity. Based on the input products and output products, calculate whether the activities associated with the main process have products input to this process. Then calculate the products uploaded by other activities in the process. If the current activity is associated with a sub-process, the output products of the sub-process must also be calculated. Finally, calculate the temporary products in the process and remove duplicates based on different versions of the same product, retaining only the latest version. S4. Statistical analysis based on product examples Statistical analysis based on product instances includes statistics on the products themselves and statistics on the relationships between products, providing a reference for organizational optimization and adjustment.

2. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step S1 specifically includes: S11. Product classification management According to the different levels of categories, a tree structure is used for category management. The tree structure has a unique root node, namely "all products". The tree structure is expanded based on the root node. Non-leaf nodes are product categories, and leaf nodes are specific product definitions. S12. Product attribute definition The activity execution process includes receiving input conditions, processing business and generating output results. Products are used to specify the categories of input and output files and control the flow of information when the activity is executed. Product attribute definitions include product name, product description, product form and product template.

3. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The product name and product description specify the basic information of the product; the product form includes documents, pictures and videos, which are verified by the file suffix; the product template is a reference material when filling in the product.

4. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step S2 specifically includes: S21. Product attributes of extended activities Based on the original activity definition, the input product and output product attributes of the activity are expanded and visualized on the flow chart during modeling. The left side of each activity represents the input product and the right side represents the output product. S22. Product attributes of the extended process Based on the input products and output products of each activity within the process, the input products and output products of the process are calculated, and related sub-processes are recommended based on the degree of matching.

5. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to claim 4, characterized in that: In step S21, a product is selected from a defined product list, and the product ID is saved in the corresponding activity to reference the product, thereby extending the product attributes of the activity.

6. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The step S22 specifically includes: S221. The rule for calculating process products is to summarize the products of each activity in the process. If the process can be closed, it will be deleted from the process product attribute list; if the process cannot be closed, it will be used as the product of the process; products that need to be input from outside the process will be used as process input products, and products that need to be output to outside the process will be used as process output products; S222. According to the input and output products of the process, sub-processes are quickly associated when modeling activities. Sub-processes are refinements of activities in the main process to achieve monitoring and management of processes at different granularities. When executing activities with associated sub-processes, the main process will suspend and start the sub-process, and at the same time pass the products in the main process to the sub-process. After the sub-process is executed, the main process will resume to the running state, read the products generated by the sub-process, and flow to subsequent activities.

7. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to claim 6, characterized in that: In step S222, after product attributes are extended for activities and processes, the product attribute matching of activities and processes needs to be considered when selecting associated sub-processes. If they do not match, the required products will not be provided. The principle of product matching is that the provided products can cover the required products, that is, the input of the parent process activity must be more than the input of the sub-process, and the output of the parent process activity must be less than the output of the sub-process.

8. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that: The step S3 specifically includes: S31. Product instance transmission within the process The control flow and information flow are processed independently. By refining the information transmission, the output files of each activity are precisely controlled and transmitted to other activity instances. S32, cross-sub-process product instance transmission When a process is executed, it is usually started with the top-level process, and the coarse-grained activities in it are executed. The extended attributes of the associated process are configured on the coarse-grained activities. The corresponding sub-process is started by reading the ID of the associated sub-process in the process library, and the activities are refined through the associated sub-processes. Different levels of processes correspond to different levels of products. The cross-process transfer of products provides support for the detailed execution of activities and also manages the outputs more finely. The rule for cross-process transfer of products is that when entering a sub-process, the input of the associated activity is read as the input of the sub-process; when completing the sub-process, the output of the sub-process is read as the output of the activity and passed downward. S33, temporary product instance transmission On the premise that the process is executed according to the input products and output products specified during modeling and design, temporary uploading of output products is allowed to cope with emergencies or situations that have not been considered. Since there is no specified recipient of the temporary products, the temporary products will enter the resource sharing pool of the process, and all activities within the process can receive the temporary products.

9. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to claim 8, characterized in that: In step S31, when submitting a product, the activity instance ID and personnel corresponding to the product are recorded, and the version number is maintained for screening and use; when receiving a product for a task, the process product table is first queried to screen out products related to the process; then, the product instances are screened according to the input product category defined in the activity; finally, deduplication is performed, and only the latest version of the product submitted multiple times for the same activity is taken to form a product input list.

10. The BPMN-based work product transmission design method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The step S4 specifically includes: S41. Product example statistical analysis When modeling activities, the activity time limit attributes are set. When performing statistical analysis, the absolute time consumed in producing output products and the percentage relative to the expected time are queried through multi-table associations to analyze the completion speed and efficiency. When receiving products, the received products are scored and evaluated and saved in a separate table in the database. The scores of all product recipients are weighted averaged to form the final score of the product, which enables analysis of completion quality. S42. Statistical analysis of correlations between products The product scoring records are counted. Each score represents an interaction between the product recipient and the product producer. By accumulating the number of interactions and using a circular interaction diagram for visual display, the number of information interactions between different seats and departments can be analyzed to provide support for business optimization and organizational adjustments.

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