Automatic composition of transition-based semantic web services with messaging

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper we present Colombo, a framework in which web services are characterized in terms of (i) the atomic processes (i.e., operations) they can perform; (ii) their impact on the “real world ” (modeled as a relational database); (iii) their transition-based behavior; and (iv) the messages they can send and receive (from/to other web services and “human ” clients). As such, Colombo combines key elements from the standards and research literature on (semantic) web services. Using Colombo, we study the problem of automatic service composition (synthesis) and devise a sound, complete and terminating algorithm for building a composite service. Specifically, the paper develops (i) a technique for handling the data, which ranges over an infinite domain, in a finite, symbolic way, and (ii) a technique to automatically synthesize composite web services, based on Propositional Dynamic Logic. 1