Method and system for visualizing flow chart of BPMN model

Abstract

The invention provides a visualization method for a flow chart of a BPMN model, and the method comprises the following steps: S1, obtaining the flow chart of the BPMN model, the flow chart at least comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges; s2, dividing the plurality of nodes in the flow chart into a plurality of groups based on a feature group division algorithm, and abstracting the plurality of groups into a plurality of coarsened nodes; s3, performing coarsening layout on the plurality of coarsening nodes by using a force steering algorithm; s4, performing initial layout on the plurality of coarsened nodes after the coarsened layout; s5, performing refined layout on the nodes in each coarsened node after the initial layout by using an improved force steering algorithm; and S6, visualizing the flow chart of the BPMN model by using all the nodes after layout refinement. According to the method, the real characteristics of the business process can be reflected more accurately, the layout quality is ensured, the node layout result is clear and visual, a user can understand and analyze the flow relation and node details of the business process conveniently, and the use experience of the user is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of flowchart visualization, and in particular to a flowchart visualization method and system for a BPMN model. Background Art

[0002] As business processes become increasingly complex, traditional business process modeling methods can no longer meet the needs of modern enterprises. The BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) model is a modeling language standard for building business process diagrams. As a widely used business process modeling specification, the BPMN model provides strong support for the standardization and visualization of business processes.

[0003] However, most existing BPMN model layout methods rely on manual adjustments, which are inefficient and prone to errors. In business development in the government sector, complex business processes are often handled through workflows to achieve full-cycle management of process modeling, operation, monitoring and analysis. As the mainstream workflow modeling standard in the industry, the BPMN model defines the metamodel and execution semantics of the process, and solves the storage, exchange and execution problems of business processes. However, in actual applications, visual flowcharts generated based on the BPMN model often have problems with human-computer interaction, such as confusing node layouts and crossed connections, making it difficult for users to analyze process flow relationships and node details.

[0004] The most common way to visualize a flowchart based on the BPMN model is a node-link graph, which uses nodes to represent flow objects and edges to represent relationships. An important topic involved is how the nodes should be laid out.

[0005] Generally, layout algorithms for node-link graphs will follow the principle of avoiding edge crossings and keeping adjacent nodes close to each other. Different layout methods are used for different visualization goals. A variety of layout algorithms have been proposed in the prior art, such as force-directed layout and distance-based multi-dimensional scaling analysis layout. Force-directed layout can avoid node overlap and has good symmetry and local aggregation, but it has problems such as only being able to achieve local optimality, the initial position affecting the results, and the complicated connections.

[0006] The classic force-directed algorithm (Fruchterman-Reingold, FR algorithm) is widely used because of its simple algorithmic concept and easy implementation. In the force-directed algorithm, the edges in the network are simulated as springs and the nodes are simulated as electrons with the same charge, corresponding to the attraction based on Hooke's law and the repulsion based on Coulomb's force, respectively. Under the action of the force, the node will move in the direction of the force until it reaches a stable state. The usual formula for calculating the attraction and repulsion is:

[0007]

[0008] Among them, F r is the gravitational force between nodes; F a is the repulsive force between nodes; k is the ideal distance between nodes; S is the area of ​​node layout; |V| is the number of nodes; δ is the Euclidean distance between nodes; when the Euclidean distance between nodes is equal to the ideal distance between nodes, that is, δ = k, the repulsive force is equal to the attractive force.

[0009] Force-directed layout can avoid node overlap and has good symmetry and local aggregation, so it is widely used. However, force-directed layout can only achieve local optimization, not global optimization, and the initial position has a great influence on the results, which often leads to complicated connections and makes it difficult to analyze the node association relationship in the graph.

[0010] Although the multi-dimensional scale analysis layout can make up for the limitations of the force-directed layout, it uses the dimensionality reduction method to map data from high-dimensional space to low-dimensional space to achieve global control, with the goal of ensuring that the relative position between data does not change and the minimum overall deviation can be guaranteed. However, its analysis results are not unique, and the results can be rotated and translated in space, which is heavily dependent on user-defined constraints and cannot maintain the layout stability during automated modeling.

[0011] In terms of business process modeling, the mainstream workflow engines in the industry all use or support the technical standards of the BPMN model to define processes. The BPMN model is a set of modeling standards for business process models and symbols. It defines the metamodel and execution semantics of the process, uses precise execution semantics to describe element operations, and is based on the XML process storage and exchange format, which solves the problems of storage, exchange and execution of business processes.

[0012] Based on big data technology, we analyze and extract business data that has already occurred, extract and process historical business data through automated modeling technology, generate business process models, and use visualization technology to present them. This helps users analyze and improve, simplify and reuse processes, optimize process models, and promote the organic combination of digital government system engineering and grassroots department applications, thereby improving cross-regional and cross-departmental business efficiency and smoothing the docking and coordination channels between the central and local governments, between local governments, and between State Council departments.

[0013] In this process, the business process diagram generated using the BPMN model technical standard needs to be easy for users to understand after visualization, which places high technical requirements on the automatic layout of the flow chart of the BPMN model.

[0014] In business process visualization analysis scenarios, it is often difficult for users to understand the relationship between nodes after the model generated by the application is visualized because there are many nodes and the relationships are complex. For example, the positions of nodes overlap and block each other, related nodes are not close to each other, and the connection lines between nodes cross and overlap. At this time, some graph layout algorithms are used to layout the entire graph to make the relationship of the entire graph clearer and easier for users to analyze. Figure 1 The flowchart of the existing BPMN model shown is a schematic diagram based on the visualization of a workflow engine code. The human-computer interaction is not friendly, and it is difficult for users to analyze the process flow relationship and node details. Summary of the invention

[0015] The present invention provides a method and system for visualizing a flow chart of a BPMN model, so as to solve the technical problems of chaotic node layout and unfriendly human-computer interaction of a visualized flow chart generated by a flow chart of a BPMN model.

[0016] One aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model, the method comprising the following steps:

[0017] S1. Obtain a flowchart of a BPMN model, wherein the flowchart includes at least a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges;

[0018] S2. Based on a feature grouping algorithm, multiple nodes in the flow chart are divided into multiple groups, and multiple groups are abstracted into multiple coarsened nodes;

[0019] S3, using a force-directed algorithm to perform a coarsening layout on the plurality of coarsening nodes;

[0020] S4, initializing the layout of the plurality of coarsened nodes after the coarsening layout;

[0021] S5, using the improved force-directed algorithm to perform a detailed layout on each of the coarsened nodes after the initialization layout;

[0022] S6. Use all nodes after detailed layout to visualize the flowchart of the BPMN model.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment, in step S1, the flowchart of the BPMN model is preprocessed, including:

[0024] S101, converting weighted edges in the flow chart into unweighted edges;

[0025] S102: Merge bidirectional edges between nodes and delete self-loop edges.

[0026] In a preferred embodiment, in step S2, multiple nodes in the flow chart are divided into multiple groups by the following method:

[0027] S201, screening multiple seed nodes from multiple nodes in the flowchart;

[0028] S202, calculating the feature similarity between a certain seed node and the remaining nodes other than the seed node;

[0029] S203, dividing a certain seed node and a node with the highest feature similarity to the seed node into a group;

[0030] S204, repeating step S202 to step S203, dividing the multiple nodes of the flowchart into multiple groups.

[0031] In a preferred embodiment, in step S201, multiple seed nodes are screened by the following method:

[0032] S2011. Among the multiple nodes of the flowchart, based on the adjacent start node and end node, calculate the out-degree and in-degree of each node;

[0033] S2012. Calculate the number of paths in the flowchart according to the out-degree and in-degree of each node, wherein each path includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges;

[0034] S2013. On a path, arrange the out-degree of each node in descending order, and arrange the in-degree of each node in descending order;

[0035] S2014. On a path, select the node with the highest out-degree and the highest in-degree as the seed node on the path.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment, in step S2, when all nodes in a group i belong to the group i, the group is abstracted as a coarse node Gi;

[0037] When there are overlapping nodes between group i and group j, the overlapping nodes between group i and group j are regarded as one group and abstracted as a coarsened node Gij.

[0038] In a preferred embodiment, in step S2, when the node overlap degree in two coarsened nodes is greater than a preset threshold, the two coarsened nodes are merged into one coarsened node;

[0039] When the number of nodes in a coarsening node is greater than a preset threshold, the nodes in the coarsening node are divided into multiple groups again and abstracted into multiple coarsening nodes.

[0040] In a preferred embodiment, in step S3, a force-directed algorithm is used to perform a coarsening layout on the plurality of coarsening nodes according to the following method:

[0041] Compute the attraction between coarsened nodes:

[0042]

[0043] Calculate the repulsion between coarsened nodes:

[0044]

[0045] Calculate the gravity of the coarsened nodes:

[0046]

[0047] Among them, F r ' is the attraction between the coarsened nodes; F a ' is the repulsive force between the coarsened nodes; F g ' is the gravity of the coarsened node; is the distance coefficient between coarsened nodes; N i is the number of nodes in the i-th coarsening node; N j is the number of nodes in the jth coarsening node; d is the distance between coarsening nodes; ω ij is the weight of the edge between the i-th coarsening node and the j-th coarsening node; ω max is the maximum weight of the edge between coarsening nodes.

[0048] In a preferred embodiment, in step S4, initializing the layout of the plurality of coarsened nodes after the coarsened layout includes:

[0049] S401, dividing the nodes in each coarsened node into internal nodes and edge nodes;

[0050] Among them, an internal node is: a node that has edges connected only to nodes inside the coarsened node to which the node belongs;

[0051] An edge node is a node that has edges connected to nodes in other coarsening nodes other than the coarsening node to which the node belongs;

[0052] S402, calculating the initial position of each internal node of the coarsened node:

[0053] in,

[0054] Calculate the initial position of the edge nodes of each coarsened node:

[0055] in,

[0056] Among them, x i ,y i is the coordinate of the i-th internal node; x i ',y i ' is the coordinate of the i-th edge node; m i is the degree of the i-th node in the coarsened node; m max is the degree of the node with the maximum degree in the coarsened node; α is the number of edges between nodes in the coarsened node; |V inner | is the number of internal nodes within the coarsened node; |V outer | is the number of edge nodes within the coarsened node.

[0057] In a preferred embodiment, in step S5, the nodes in each of the coarsened nodes after the initialization layout are refined using the improved force-directed algorithm according to the following method:

[0058] Compute the ideal distance between nodes within each coarsened node:

[0059]

[0060] Calculate the attraction between nodes within each coarsened node:

[0061]

[0062] Calculate the repulsion between nodes within each coarsened node:

[0063]

[0064] Calculate the gravity of each node within the coarsened node:

[0065] F g ” = k g ×m i ×ε,

[0066] Where k' is the ideal distance between the i-th node and the j-th node in the coarsened node; m i is the degree of the i-th node in the coarsened node; m j is the degree of the jth node in the coarsened node; is the distance coefficient between nodes in the coarsening node; |V| is the number of nodes in the coarsening node; F r ” is the attraction between nodes in the coarsened node; □ □ ” is the repulsive force between nodes in the coarsened node; F g ” is the gravity of the nodes within the coarsened node; δ is the Euclidean distance between the nodes within the coarsened node; k gis the coefficient that controls the gravity strength; ε is the Euclidean distance between the nodes within the coarsened node and the center of the canvas.

[0067] Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a visualization system for a flowchart of a BPMN model, wherein the visualization system is used to execute a visualization method for a flowchart of a BPMN model provided by the present invention, and visualize the flowchart of the BPMN model.

[0068] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0069] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model, which reduces the intersection of edges in the layout, and the positions of nodes do not overlap and block each other. The positions of nodes generally tend to the center of the canvas, and related nodes are connected by edges and are close to each other.

[0070] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flow chart of a BPMN model. The node layout algorithm is highly efficient. The visualized flow chart can reflect the flow order between nodes, clearly display the connection relationship between nodes in the process, and reveal how the nodes organize the node details of the corresponding business.

[0071] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flow chart of a BPMN model. After the flow chart of the BPMN model is visualized, it can better reflect the real characteristics of the business process in terms of node layout quality, locally take into account the node processing order, truly restore its flow order, and meet the user's needs for visual analysis of complex processes.

[0072] The present invention provides a visualization method for a flow chart of a BPMN model, which realizes the automatic layout of the BPMN model flow chart by introducing feature grouping and feature ideal distance to improve the force-directed layout algorithm, thereby greatly improving the node layout efficiency.

[0073] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flow chart of a BPMN model, which ensures the accuracy and clarity of node layout results through multi-level layout optimization. The node layout results can truly reflect the flow order of the business process and the association relationship between nodes.

[0074] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model, which is easy to expand and maintain. By adding new modules or optimizing existing modules, it can adapt to different business scenarios and needs. It is suitable for various fields that require business process modeling and optimization, such as manufacturing, finance, and services. It can greatly improve the efficiency and accuracy of business process modeling and provide strong support for enterprise decision-making.

[0075] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model. The coarse layout can more accurately restore the overall process structure of the business, and the detailed layout can better restore the business details. Compared with the one-time layout processing in the prior art, it can better balance the overall and detailed business presentation.

[0076] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model, and proposes a feature-based grouping algorithm that can combine personalized local grouping with multi-level layout, thereby effectively highlighting the overall business features and making the layout more able to reflect the true characteristics of the business process.

[0077] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flow chart of a BPMN model, which more clearly displays the association relationship between nodes and the business flow order by improving the ideal distance of the force-directed algorithm, avoids overlap and intersection between nodes, and ensures that related nodes are close to each other, thereby truly restoring the business flow order.

[0078] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model, which can process large-scale business process data in a short time and ensure the efficiency and real-time performance of the layout. By introducing a feature grouping algorithm and improving the ideal distance of a force-directed algorithm, the real characteristics of the business process can be more accurately reflected, the quality of the layout can be ensured, and the node layout results are clear and intuitive, which is convenient for users to understand and analyze the flow relationship and node details of the business process, thereby improving the user experience.

[0079] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model, which combines personalized local grouping and multi-level layout. Compared with traditional layout algorithms that often only focus on local or global layouts, it takes into account both overall business characteristics and local details. Through phased processing, it can improve the efficiency of the algorithm while ensuring the layout quality, which is not available in traditional layout algorithms.

[0080] The present invention provides a method for visualizing a flow chart of a BPMN model, which improves the ideal distance of a force-oriented algorithm. Compared with a traditional force-oriented algorithm that often only considers the distance between nodes and the balance of forces, the layout can better reflect the actual flow order of the business. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0081] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific implementation methods of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the specific implementation methods or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some implementation methods of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0082] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the existing BPMN model's flowchart visualized based on a workflow engine code.

[0083] Figure 2 The present invention discloses a flowchart of a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model.

[0084] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the process of screening seed nodes by the feature grouping algorithm of the present invention.

[0085] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of initializing the layout of the coarsening nodes after the coarsening layout of the present invention.

[0086] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the visualized flowchart of the BPMN model of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0087] In order to make the above and other features and advantages of the present invention more clear, the present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments given herein are for the purpose of explaining to those skilled in the art and are only exemplary and not restrictive.

[0088] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0089] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0090] Combination Figure 2 According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model is provided, comprising the following method steps:

[0091] Step S1: Obtain a flowchart of a BPMN model, wherein the flowchart at least includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges.

[0092] The present invention provides a visualization method for a flowchart of a BPMN model, which is for the visualization layout of a directed unweighted flowchart. First, the flowchart data of the BPMN model is obtained, and the flowchart includes multiple nodes and multiple edges. Since the present invention is for the visualization layout of a directed unweighted flowchart, it is necessary to preprocess the flowchart of the BPMN model.

[0093] Preprocess the flowchart of the BPMN model, including:

[0094] Step S101: Convert weighted edges in the flowchart into unweighted edges. Set the weights of all edges to 1 (de-weighting).

[0095] Step S102: merge the bidirectional edges between nodes, and delete the self-loop edges of the nodes that have self-loop edges.

[0096] Step S2: Based on the feature grouping algorithm, multiple nodes in the flow chart are divided into multiple groups, and the multiple groups are abstracted into multiple coarsened nodes.

[0097] Specifically, multiple nodes in the flowchart are divided into multiple groups by the following method:

[0098] Step S201: Filter multiple seed nodes from multiple nodes in the flowchart.

[0099] The present invention selects multiple seed nodes by the following method:

[0100] Step S2011: Among the multiple nodes in the flowchart, the out-degree and in-degree of each node are calculated based on the adjacent start node and end node.

[0101] Combination Figure 3 The multiple nodes of the exemplary flowchart are node No. 1 J1, node No. 2 J2, node No. 3 J3, node No. 4 J4, node No. 5 J5, node No. 6 J6, node No. 7 J7, node No. 8 J8, node No. 9 J9 and node No. 10 J10.

[0102] The multiple edges of the exemplary flowchart are edge 1 B1, edge 2 B2, edge 3 B3, edge 4 B4, edge 5 B5, edge 6 B6, edge 7 B7, edge 8 B8 and edge 9 B9.

[0103] Taking node J2 as an example, the start node adjacent to node J2 is node J1, and the end nodes adjacent to node J2 are node J3 and node J5. The calculated out-degree of node J2 is 2, and the in-degree of node J2 is 1.

[0104] Step S2012: Calculate the number of paths in the flowchart according to the out-degree and in-degree of each node, where each path includes multiple nodes and multiple edges.

[0105] The present invention calculates the number of paths of the flow graph according to the out-degree and in-degree of each node. As shown in 3, three paths are obtained by exemplarily calculating the out-degree and in-degree of each node, namely, path 1 L1, path 2 L2 and path 3 L3.

[0106] Path No. 1 L1 includes node No. 1 J1, node No. 2 J2, node No. 3 J3, node No. 4 J4, and edge No. 1 B1, edge No. 2 B2, and edge No. 3 B3.

[0107] Path No. 2 L2 includes node No. 1 J1, node No. 2 J2, node No. 5 J5, node No. 6 J6, node No. 7 J7, and edge No. 1 B1, edge No. 4 B4, edge No. 5 B5 and edge No. 6 B6.

[0108] Path No. 2 L2 includes node No. 1 J1, node No. 2 J2, node No. 5 J5, node No. 8 J8, node No. 9 J9 and node No. 10 J10, and edge No. 1 B1, edge No. 4 B4, edge No. 7 B7, edge No. 8 B8 and edge No. 9 B9.

[0109] Step S2013: on a path, arrange the out-degree of each node in descending order, and arrange the in-degree of each node in descending order.

[0110] Step S2014: On a path, select the node with the highest out-degree and the highest in-degree as the seed node on the path.

[0111] like Figure 3 As shown, the exemplary node No. 2 J2 is the node with the highest out-degree and the highest in-degree in the path No. 1 L1, and the node No. 2 J2 serves as the seed node on the path No. 1 L1.

[0112] Node No. 2 J2 and Node No. 5 J5 are the nodes with the highest out-degree and the highest in-degree in path No. 2 L2, and node No. 5 J2 is selected as the seed node on path No. 2 L2.

[0113] Node No. 2 J2 and Node No. 5 J5 are the nodes with the highest out-degree and the highest in-degree in path No. 2 L2. Node No. 5 J2 is selected as the seed node on path No. 3 L3.

[0114] Step S202: Calculate the feature similarity between a seed node and the remaining nodes other than the seed node.

[0115] After the seed node is obtained in step S201, the seed node is expanded, and the feature similarity between the seed node and the remaining nodes other than the seed node is calculated.

[0116] Step S203: group a certain seed node and a node with the highest feature similarity to the seed node into a group.

[0117] Step S204, repeating steps S202 to S203, dividing the multiple nodes of the flowchart into multiple groups.

[0118] After step S201 to step S204, multiple nodes in the flow chart data are divided into multiple groups, and a group has multiple nodes. For the subsequent coarsening layout, the present invention abstracts a group into a coarsening node, and one group corresponds to one coarsening node.

[0119] Since multiple nodes in the flowchart data are divided into multiple groups, there may be overlaps between nodes in different groups. In one embodiment, when all nodes in a group i belong to the group i, the group is abstracted as a coarsened node Gi. In one embodiment, when there are overlapping nodes in group i and group j, the overlapping nodes in group i and group j are treated as one group and abstracted as a coarsened node Gij.

[0120] In one embodiment, when the node overlap degree in two coarsened nodes (groups) is greater than a preset threshold, the two coarsened nodes are merged into one coarsened node (group).

[0121] In one embodiment, when the number of nodes in a coarsening node (group) is greater than a preset threshold, the nodes in the coarsening node (group) are again divided into multiple groups according to the method of steps S201 to S204, and abstracted into multiple coarsening nodes (groups).

[0122] In the present invention, the weight of the edge between two coarsened nodes (groups) is the sum of the node-connecting edges within the two coarsened nodes (groups).

[0123] In order to reflect the overall business characteristics, the present invention performs feature division on the flow chart based on the feature grouping algorithm in advance to obtain node groups. The present invention uses a feature grouping algorithm with low time complexity from step S201 to step S204 to find seed nodes from bottom to top, thereby better retaining the flow order information of the business. By expanding the seed nodes to obtain the node grouping, it has natural parallel processing and reduces the overall time consumption of the grouping algorithm.

[0124] Step S3: Use a force-directed algorithm to perform coarse layout on multiple coarse nodes (groups).

[0125] Specifically, the force-directed algorithm is used to perform coarsening layout on multiple coarsening nodes according to the following method:

[0126] Compute the attraction between coarsened nodes:

[0127]

[0128] Calculate the repulsion between coarsened nodes:

[0129]

[0130] Calculate the gravity of the coarsened nodes:

[0131]

[0132] Among them, F r ' is the attraction between the coarsened nodes; F a ' is the repulsive force between the coarsened nodes; F g ' is the gravity of the coarsened node; is the distance coefficient between coarsened nodes; N i is the number of nodes in the i-th coarsening node; N j is the number of nodes in the jth coarsening node; d is the distance between coarsening nodes; ω ij is the weight of the edge between the i-th coarsening node and the j-th coarsening node; ω max is the maximum weight of the edge between coarsening nodes.

[0133] The present invention combines the multi-level layout concept, abstracts the groups into coarsened nodes, uses a force-directed algorithm to perform coarsened layout of the coarsened nodes, and utilizes weighted repulsion and attraction to layout the coarsened nodes so that the layout can reflect the overall structure of the process, reflect the business characteristics of the coarsened nodes and display the connection relationship between each coarsened node.

[0134] Step S4: Initialize the layout of the multiple coarsened nodes after the coarsened layout.

[0135] Specifically, initializing the layout of the multiple coarsened nodes after the coarsened layout includes:

[0136] Step S401: Divide the nodes in each coarsened node into internal nodes and edge nodes.

[0137] Among them, an internal node is a node that has edges connected only to nodes inside the coarsened node to which the node belongs.

[0138] An edge node is a node that has edges connecting to nodes in other coarsening nodes other than the coarsening node to which the node belongs.

[0139] Step S402: Calculate the initial position of each internal node of the coarsened node:

[0140] in,

[0141] Calculate the initial position of the edge nodes of each coarsened node:

[0142] in,

[0143] Among them, x i ,y i is the coordinate of the i-th internal node; x i ',y i ' is the coordinate of the i-th edge node; m i is the degree of the i-th node in the coarsened node; m max is the degree of the node with the maximum degree in the coarsened node; α is the number of edges between nodes in the coarsened node; |V inner | is the number of internal nodes within the coarsened node; |V outer | is the number of edge nodes within the coarsened node.

[0144] It should be noted that in step S402, the degree of a node in a coarsening node refers only to the degree of the node in the coarsening node. That is, when calculating the degree of a node in a coarsening node, only the edges between the node and other nodes in the coarsening node to which the node belongs are considered, and the edges between the node and nodes in other coarsening nodes are not considered.

[0145] like Figure 4 As shown, steps S401 to S402 of the present invention initialize the layout of the coarsening nodes through a circular layout, and the internal nodes in the coarsening nodes after the layout are distributed in regions A and B, and the edge nodes in the coarsening nodes after the layout are distributed in the fan-shaped area composed of regions C and D. The area of ​​the fan-shaped area composed of regions C and D is calculated by the ratio of the edge nodes in the coarsening nodes to all the nodes in the coarsening nodes. The present invention initializes the layout of the coarsening nodes, so that the nodes with large degrees in the coarsening nodes are located in the center of the layout, and the edge nodes are located at the edge of the layout in the corresponding direction.

[0146] Since the layout result obtained by the layout algorithm of the random initial node position is not unique, the present invention initializes the layout of the coarsening nodes to uniquely determine the layout result. At the same time, a good initialization layout is conducive to the coarsening nodes to quickly reach the convergence position, and at the same time clearly displays the connection relationship between each group of the process and makes the group boundary obvious.

[0147] Step S5: Use the improved force-directed algorithm to perform detailed layout on the nodes within each coarsened node after the initial layout.

[0148] Specifically, the improved force-directed algorithm is used to refine the layout of nodes within each coarsened node after the initialization layout according to the following method:

[0149] Compute the ideal distance between nodes within each coarsened node:

[0150]

[0151] Calculate the attraction between nodes within each coarsened node:

[0152]

[0153] Calculate the repulsion between nodes within each coarsened node:

[0154]

[0155] Calculate the gravity of each node within the coarsened node:

[0156] F g ” = k g ×m i ×ε,

[0157] Where k' is the ideal distance between the i-th node and the j-th node in the coarsened node; m i is the degree of the i-th node in the coarsened node; m j is the degree of the jth node in the coarsened node; is the distance coefficient between nodes in the coarsening node; |V| is the number of nodes in the coarsening node; F r ” is the attraction between nodes in the coarsened node; F a ” is the repulsive force between nodes in the coarsened node; F g ” is the gravity of the nodes within the coarsened node; δ is the Euclidean distance between the nodes within the coarsened node; k g is the coefficient that controls the gravity strength; ε is the Euclidean distance between the nodes within the coarsened node and the center of the canvas.

[0158] The traditional force-directed layout algorithm is based on the principles of uniform node distribution and uniform edge length, and cannot well reflect the structural information of the process, such as the core business nodes in the business process, the order of business processing, and other information.

[0159] The present invention uses the degree of nodes to modify the ideal distance between nodes in the force-directed algorithm, so that the distance between nodes with large degrees is larger, and the distance between nodes with small degrees is smaller, so that the nodes can maintain an appropriate distance during the layout process, reduce edge crossing and node overlap, and take into account the node processing order, so that the layout can truly restore the characteristics of the business process. By controlling the coefficient of gravity intensity, the greater the gravity received by the node with large degree, the easier it is to be in the center of the layout.

[0160] Step S6: Visualize the flow chart of the BPMN model using all nodes after the detailed layout.

[0161] Specifically, coordinate data and labels of nodes are generated according to all nodes after the detailed layout, so as to realize the flowchart of the visualized BPMN model.

[0162] Furthermore, the bidirectional edges and self-loop edges between nodes are restored, and optimization processing is performed to avoid edge overlap.

[0163] The present invention uses a feature grouping algorithm to group nodes according to the relationship between node types and edges, so that nodes in the same group have similar features and associations, and modifies the ideal distance of the force-directed algorithm, adjusts the layout relationship between nodes to optimize the node layout, and makes the layout result clearer and more intuitive. The present invention optimizes the layout result from the idea of ​​multi-level layout from coarse layout to detailed layout, continuously adjusts the node position and hierarchical relationship, so that the layout result is more in line with the real characteristics of the business process, the layout is clearer and more orderly, and it is easy for users to understand the business process, and realizes the automatic and efficient layout of the flowchart of the BPMN model.

[0164] like Figure 5 The diagram shown is a schematic diagram of a visualized flowchart of the BPMN model of the present invention. The visualized flowchart of the present invention can better reflect the real characteristics of the business process in terms of node layout quality.

[0165] The present invention can efficiently process large-scale business process data and ensure the accuracy and real-time performance of the layout. In the test, the present invention successfully processed more than 100,000 business process data, and the processing time was only 1 / 3 of that of the traditional algorithm.

[0166] The present invention combines personalized local grouping and multi-level layout, and improves the ideal distance of the force-directed algorithm, which is technically innovative. These innovations make the layout results more accurate and clear, providing strong support for the optimization of business processes.

[0167] The present invention helps employees of enterprises and organizations better understand business processes and reduce communication misunderstandings through clear and intuitive visual layout, thereby improving work efficiency. It is estimated that enterprises using the present invention can improve internal communication efficiency by 20%.

[0168] The present invention can display cross-departmental business processes, helping different departments to better understand each other's work, thereby strengthening collaboration. According to statistical data, enterprises that adopt the present invention have increased inter-departmental collaboration efficiency by 30%, reducing unnecessary duplication of work and waste of resources.

[0169] The present invention can reduce the operating cost of enterprises by optimizing the business process and reducing unnecessary steps and operations. According to the data of the pilot enterprises, after adopting the present invention, the cost of each business process was reduced by 15% on average.

[0170] The present invention can quickly identify bottlenecks and problems in business processes, so that enterprises can make decisions faster and seize business opportunities. According to statistics, enterprises using the present invention have shortened their decision-making time by 20%, thereby improving their market competitiveness.

[0171] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a flowchart visualization system of a BPMN model is provided, which is used to execute a flowchart visualization method of a BPMN model provided by the present invention to visualize the flowchart of the BPMN model.

[0172] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is to be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and are not to be construed as limitations of the present invention. A person skilled in the art may change, modify, replace and vary the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for visualizing a flowchart of a BPMN model, characterized in that: The visualization method comprises the following steps: S1. Obtain a flowchart of a BPMN model, wherein the flowchart includes at least a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges; S2. Based on a feature grouping algorithm, multiple nodes in the flow chart are divided into multiple groups, and multiple groups are abstracted into multiple coarsened nodes; S3, using a force-directed algorithm to perform a coarsening layout on the plurality of coarsening nodes; S4, initializing the layout of the plurality of coarsened nodes after the coarsening layout; S5, using the improved force-directed algorithm to perform a detailed layout on each of the coarsened nodes after the initialization layout; S6. Use all nodes after detailed layout to visualize the flow chart of the BPMN model.

2. The visualization method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S1, the flowchart of the BPMN model is preprocessed, including: S101, converting weighted edges in the flow chart into unweighted edges; S102: Merge bidirectional edges between nodes and delete self-loop edges.

3. The visualization method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S2, multiple nodes in the flow chart are divided into multiple groups by the following method: S201, screening multiple seed nodes from multiple nodes in the flowchart; S202, calculating the feature similarity between a certain seed node and the remaining nodes other than the seed node; S203, dividing a certain seed node and a node with the highest feature similarity to the seed node into a group; S204, repeating step S202 to step S203, dividing the multiple nodes of the flowchart into multiple groups.

4. The visualization method according to claim 3, characterized in that: In step S201, multiple seed nodes are screened by the following method: S2011. Among the multiple nodes of the flowchart, based on the adjacent start node and end node, calculate the out-degree and in-degree of each node; S2012. Calculate the number of paths in the flowchart according to the out-degree and in-degree of each node, wherein each path includes a plurality of nodes and a plurality of edges; S2013. On a path, arrange the out-degree of each node in descending order, and arrange the in-degree of each node in descending order; S2014. On a path, select the node with the highest out-degree and the highest in-degree as the seed node on the path.

5. The visualization method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S2, when all nodes in a group i belong to the group i, the group is abstracted into a coarsened node Gi; When there are overlapping nodes between group i and group j, the overlapping nodes between group i and group j are regarded as one group and abstracted as a coarsened node Gij.

6. The visualization method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S2, when the node overlap degree in two coarsened nodes is greater than a preset threshold, the two coarsened nodes are merged into one coarsened node; When the number of nodes in a coarsening node is greater than a preset threshold, the nodes in the coarsening node are divided into multiple groups again and abstracted into multiple coarsening nodes.

7. The visualization method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S3, a force-directed algorithm is used to perform a coarsening layout on the plurality of coarsening nodes according to the following method: Compute the attraction between coarsened nodes: Calculate the repulsion between coarsened nodes: Calculate the gravity of the coarsened nodes: Among them, F r ' is the attraction between the coarsened nodes; F a ' is the repulsive force between the coarsened nodes; F g ' is the gravity of the coarsened node; is the distance coefficient between coarsened nodes; N i is the number of nodes in the i-th coarsening node; N j is the number of nodes in the jth coarsening node; d is the distance between coarsening nodes; ω ij is the weight of the edge between the i-th coarsening node and the j-th coarsening node; ω max is the maximum weight of the edge between coarsening nodes.

8. The visualization method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S4, initializing the layout of the plurality of coarsened nodes after the coarsening layout includes: S401, dividing the nodes in each coarsened node into internal nodes and edge nodes; Among them, an internal node is: a node that has edges connected only to nodes inside the coarsened node to which the node belongs; An edge node is a node that has edges connected to nodes in other coarsening nodes other than the coarsening node to which the node belongs; S402, calculating the initial position of each internal node of the coarsened node: in, Calculate the initial position of the edge nodes of each coarsened node: in, Among them, x i ,y i is the coordinate of the i-th internal node; x i ',y i ' is the coordinate of the i-th edge node; m i is the degree of the i-th node in the coarsened node; m max is the degree of the node with the maximum degree in the coarsened node; α is the number of edges between nodes in the coarsened node; |V inner | is the number of internal nodes within the coarsened node; |V outer | is the number of edge nodes within the coarsened node.

9. The visualization method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S5, the nodes in each of the coarsened nodes after the initialization layout are refined using the improved force-directed algorithm according to the following method: Compute the ideal distance between nodes within each coarsened node: Calculate the attraction between nodes within each coarsened node: Calculate the repulsion between nodes within each coarsened node: Calculate the gravity of each node within the coarsened node: F g ”=k g ×m i ×ε, Where k' is the ideal distance between the i-th node and the j-th node in the coarsened node; m i is the degree of the i-th node in the coarsened node; m j is the degree of the jth node in the coarsened node; is the distance coefficient between nodes in the coarsening node; |V| is the number of nodes in the coarsening node; F r ” is the attraction between nodes in the coarsened node; F a ” is the repulsive force between nodes in the coarsened node; F g ” is the gravity of the nodes within the coarsened node; δ is the Euclidean distance between the nodes within the coarsened node; k g is the coefficient that controls the gravity strength; ε is the Euclidean distance between the nodes within the coarsened node and the center of the canvas.

10. A visualization system for flowcharts of BPMN models, characterized in that: The visualization system is used to execute the visualization method described in any one of claims 1 to 9 to visualize the flow chart of the BPMN model.

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