Transforming Process Models: Executable Rewrite Rules versus a Formalized Java Program

Abstract. In the business process management community, transformations for process models are usually programmed using imperative languages (such as Java). The underlying mapping rules tend to be documented using informal visual rules whereas they tend to be formalized using mathematical set constructs. In the Graph and Model Transformation communities, special purpose languages and tools (such as GrGen1 ) are being developed to support the direct execution of such mapping rules. As part of our ongoing effort to bridge these two communities, we have implemented a transformation from petri-nets to statecharts (PN2SC) using both approaches. By relying on technical comparison criteria and by making the solutions available for online replay, we illustrate that rule-based approaches require less specification effort due to their more declarative specification style and automatic performance optimizations. From a tool perspective, GrGen has better visualization and debugging support whe...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: MODELS
• Authors: Pieter Van Gorp, Rik Eshuis
• Keywords: Informal Visual Rules, Mapping Rules, Mathematical Set Constructs, MODELS 2010, Natural Language Processing