A framework for querying graph-based business process models

Abstract

We present a framework for querying and reusing graph-based business process models. The framework is based on a new visual query language for business processes called BPMN-Q. The language addresses processes definitions and extends the standard BPMN visual notations for modeling business processes for its concrete syntax. BPMN-Q is used to query process models by matching a process model graph to a query graph. Moreover, the reusing framework is enhanced with a semantic query expander component. This component provides the users with the flexibility to get not only the perfectly matched process models to their queries but also the models with high similarity. The query engine of the framework is built on top of traditional RDBMS. A novel decomposition based and selectivity-aware relational processing mechanism is employed to achieve an efficient and scalable performance for graph-based BPMN-Q queries.