Using Process Algebra to Control the Execution of Business Processes

Integrating information systems with tools that manage workflows and business processes is not always a simple task. This difficulty becomes more accentuated when the execution control assumes countless business processes. This work presents an alternative to control the execution of business processes. This alternative consists in a library of functions, called NavigationPlanTool, which can be easily integrated into the information systems and uses Navigation Plan Defnition Language (NPDL) as the language to define business processes. NPDL is a language for business processes specification that uses process algebra as formal foundation. The NavigationPlanTool implements NPDL language as a SQL extension and offers two other important services: processes instantiation and process instances execution monitor. The NavigationPlanTool combines the process algebra features with a relational database model to provide a scalable and reliable control in the execution of business processes.