Automatic reuse of process patterns in process modeling

Abstract

Process pattern concept was proposed as a promising approach to reuse process knowledge. However, their general and practical use has been handicapped by the lack of formalization and supporting tools. In order to facilitate process patterns reuse, we aim at an (semi)automatic approach that can assure correct patterns' applications and reduce process modeling time. In our previous works, we developed a UML-based meta-model allowing pattern-based process modeling. In this paper, we present a set of reuse operators that enable automatic applications of process patterns for generating and (re)structuring process models. These operators are defined with operational semantics and implemented in a prototype of pattern-based process modeling tool.