XML-enabled workflow management for e-services across heterogeneous platforms

Advanced e-services require efficient, flexible, and easy-to-use workflow technology that integrates well with mainstream Internet technologies like XML and Web servers. This paper discusses an XML-enabled architecture for distributed workflow management that is implemented in the latest version of our Mentor-lite prototype system. The key asset of this architecture is an XML mediator that handles the exchange of business and flow control data between workflow and business-object servers on one side and client activities on the other side via XML messages over http. Our implementation of the mediator has made use of Oracle's XSQL servlet. The major benefit of the advocated architecture is that it provides seamless integration of client applications into e-service workflows with scalable efficiency and very little explicit coding, in contrast to an earlier, Java-based, version of our Mentor-lite prototype that required much more code and exhibited potential performance problems.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2001
• Where: VLDB
• Authors: German Shegalov, Michael Gillmann, Gerhard Weikum
• Keywords: Database, Easy-to-use Workflow Technology, VLDB 2001, XML Mediator, XML-enabled Architecture