Workflow Engine Dynamic Transition Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing workflow technologies are inflexible and unable to accommodate frequent changes in business processes, requiring rigid schema designs that hinder adaptability and responsiveness to dynamic business needs, such as in medical treatment plans where real-time adjustments are necessary.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a workflow execution engine that instantiates a process execution artifact represented as a finite state machine, allowing for dynamic modifications and execution of new or modified transitions without reinstantiating the artifact, enabling flexible workflow processes that can be altered at runtime without interrupting existing workflows.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigid workflow schema designs are used to ensure process standardization and repeatability, then process predictability is improved, but business adaptability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic workflow capabilities by allowing runtime modification of workflow schemas without requiring system restart or redeployment. The workflow engine can load and execute new or modified transitions dynamically, enabling the workflow to adapt to changing business needs while maintaining execution stability. This resolves the contradiction by making the previously static schema dynamic and adaptable.
2Adaptability or versatility
If workflow schemas are modified frequently to accommodate changing business needs, then business responsiveness is improved, but system stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a transition validation mechanism that checks new or modified transitions before executing them. The validation ensures that schema changes meet correctness and consistency requirements before being applied to running workflows. This preliminary validation action prevents unstable modifications from compromising system stability while still allowing necessary business adaptations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If exception workflows are deployed from development to runtime environment to allow runtime deviations, then process flexibility is improved, but workflow complexity and deployment overhead deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the exception handling capability directly into the main workflow execution engine, eliminating the need for separate exception workflow deployments. The engine can load and execute new or modified transitions dynamically during runtime, combining the flexibility of exception handling with the simplicity of a unified workflow system, thereby reducing deployment overhead and complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Execution of flexible workflows using artifacts is described. A workflow execution engine is configured to instantiate a process execution (PE) artifact. The PE artifact includes one or more transitions. The workflow execution engine is further configured to execute the one or more transitions and determine if any of the one or more transitions are new or modified. The workflow execution engine is additionally configured to load and execute new or modified transitions, without reinstantiating the PE artifact, responsive to determining that at least one new or modified transitions exist.