YAWL Editor 1.4.1 User Manual
Contents
1. YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor Man_vl doc 11 Welcome to YAWL What is YAWL Based on a rigorous analysis of existing workflow management systems and workflow languages we have developed a new workflow language YAWL Yet Another Workflow Language To identify the differences between the various languages we have collected a fairly complete set of workflow patterns Based on these patterns we have evaluated several workflow products and detected considerable differences in expressive power Languages based on Petri nets perform better when it comes to state based workflow patterns However some patterns e g involving multiple instances complex synchronizations or non local withdrawals are not easy to map onto high level Petri nets This inspired us to develop a new language by taking Petri nets as a starting point and adding mechanisms to allow for a more direct and intuitive support of the workflow patterns identified YAWL can be considered a very powerful workflow language built upon experiences with languages supported by contemporary workflow management systems YAWL encompasses these existing workflow languages and in addition has a formal semantics Such an approach is in contrast with e g WIfMC s XPDL which takes commonalities between various languages as a starting point and does not have formal semantics YAWL provides support for the control flow perspective the data perspective and the resource persp2. Local can have initial values specified for them as depicted in the same figure As with the data type definition dialog parse errors will be listed when the initial value text is red 4 Update Net ariable Name jtestseek Type Geek 4 Usage Local Initial Value hanet Lindsays Nane lt Salary gt 6000 00x Salary gt C Done cancer Fig 23 A Geek task variable YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 29 Net Decomposition Detail Updating Net Variables You can add variables to a net to store information relating to that net that tasks within the net may need to read or update To add a variable to a Net 1 Choose Update Net Detail from the Net Menu S We will be setting up Net variables in the Attend University net S Go to the Attend University Net and choose Update Net Detail from the Net Menu 2 An Update Variables dialog box will appear Fig 24 3 Click on Create An Update Net Variable dialog box will appear Update Net Decomposition Attend University EA Decomposition Label Attend University Decomposition Variables Ma Type sage Create oa on Fig 24 Updating Attend University Net Variables YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 30 4 Enter the Name of your variable choose the Type of the variable from the list then click Done then Done again to close the Net Decomposition dia
3. Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 23 Advanced Specification Features Cancellation Sets Cancellation Sets allow you to nominate any number of tasks conditions or implicit conditions which exist on flow relations between tasks but are not drawn for cancellation upon the execution of a specified task That is once a specified task is executed in the workflow all state within that task s cancellation set is removed To create a Cancellation Set 1 First select the task that will initiate the Cancellation Set using the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button 4 from the Palette Bar 2 Right click on the task then choose View Cancellation Set The task will be coloured grey to indicate that this task is the cancellable task S Go to the My Career Net We are going to make the Attend University task a cancellable task to demonstrate in the workflow that if a person executes this task then they don t have time to perform the Study Privately task therefore it should be removed as an option S Right click on Attend University and choose View Cancellation Set as per Fig 19 F My Career Study P X Cut O K Begin My Career 1 Delete Lie Set Label Attend U F Decorate i O Wew Cancellation Set h Cancellation Set EH Task Decomposition Detail Update Parameters Fig 19 Viewing a task s cancellation set YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man
4. Composite Task We are going to replace our existing Go to University Atomic Task with a composite task so choose the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button on the Palette Bar click on the Go to University Atomic Task and press the Delete key on the keyboard We will add in the new composite task next Place your Composite Task in your Net Reconnect the Flow Relations from Begin My Career to the new Composite Task and from new Composite Task to Get a Job Create a new Net by clicking on the Create a new Net button BI on the Menu Toolbar or click on Net in the Menu and choose Create Net Choose a name for this Net by clicking on the Net Menu and choosing Update Net Detail We are going to call this new Net Attend University YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 14 5 Return to your original Net and right click on your Composite Task and choose Unfold to net You will then be given a drop down list with all the Nets available choose the Net this task is to represent and then click Done S Choose Attend University 6 You can now fill out the detail of your new Attend University Net Create the following Atomic Tasks in order and then link them with Flow S Relations as per and don t forget to check for validity e Enrol e Do Subjects e Pass All Subjects e Get Degree Enroll Do Subjects Pass All Subjects Get Degree Fig 9 A
5. Mode button E from the Palette Bar We will be setting up Output Parameters for the variables that we created in the Adding Updating Task Variables section Go to the Attend University Net and select the Enroll task S 2 Right click on the task and choose Update Parameters An Update Parameters dialog box will appear Fig 31 Update the Parameters for the Enroll task S 3 In the Output Parameters section click on Create An Update Net Parameter dialog box will appear similar to Fig 32 4 Ifyou have already set up a Task Variable for this task then the Existing Task Variable option will be activated and there will be a list of task variables to choose from Choose a variable from the list and click on Done then Done again to close the task parameters dialog If you haven t set up Net Variables then click on Create and return to the previous section in the manual for Adding a Net Variable YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor Man_vl doc 37 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc If you are familiar with XQuery syntax then you can paste in an XQuery to allow manipulation of the Output Parameters Syntactically well formed XQueries will be green and badly formed ones will be red For workflow designer convenience two XQuery buttons are supplied to generate XQuery expressions from available task variables The add XQuery of element s content only button w
6. constraints such which person or role is authorised and or allocated to process a task Fig 47 Resourcing constraints can be specified from a new popup menu item available for atomic tasks called Manage Resourcing YAWLEditor D YAWLSubyersionImage editor lib exampleEditorfiles simplenale O x Specification Net Edit Elements Tools View Help ESE Wakka kka ele een E E Manage Resourcing of Atomic Task Consultant a Task Authorisation All are authorised Only this person is authorised O Only this role is authorised Task Allocation O Allocate to anyone C Allocate directhy to person Allocate to the role Consultant Done Cancel Select a number of net elements to manipulate Fig 47 Managing Resourcing of a task YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 51 The dialog for managing resources depicted in Fig 47 shows an example of what happens when the editor fails to gain access to an organisation database but remembers what was last supplied to the editor when the specification was being designed The workflow designer can still choose between the default and the option where a value was remembered only When the editor successfully connects to the organisation database the drop down boxes for allocation and authorisation will be populated out of the database and will allow the workflow designer to select from the roles and in
7. drawn green in the Net Fig 34 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_Man_v1 doc 39 My Career Begin My Career Target Task Attend University study Privately true true i The bottom most flaw will be used as the default Done Fig 34 Updating the Flow Detail 2 To choose the flow ordering select the Target Task that you want as the change the order of use the Up and Down arrows on the right to position the flow The bottom most flow will be used as the default if some flow needs to be followed but no predicates evaluate to true S 3 To specify a predicate for a particular flow select the flow from the list and click on Predicate Enter a predicate as a boolean XQuery expression and choose Done YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 40 End of Scenario This is where our scenario ends The My Career Scenario was designed to explain all the functions of the Y AWL Editor and to provide you with a rudimentary understanding of designing a YAWL workflow specification But the complexity of the YAWL Editor does not stop with the current scenario If you are after something more challenging try adjusting your version of the scenario to expand into more sub Nets and more complex situations The completed example described in this scenario is supplied with the editor source distribution when you re ready to
8. experiment further Fig 35 YAWLEditor D AWLSubversionImage editor currentRelease lib exampleEditorFiles UserManualExample 1 4 yul Miel Specification Net Edit Elements Tools View Help Baloe eiee els ae i Study Privately ll Begin My Career Read A Book Knowledge Gained Feel Smarter Enroll Do Subjects Pass All Subjects Get Degree Problems identified in engine specification validation No desigqn time engine validation problems were found in this specification Select a number of net elements to manipulate Fig 35 The completed scenario specification YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor Man_vl doc 41 Set YAWL Engine Detail By specifying the location of a running instance of the YAWL Engine it is possible to have the editor generate specifications that take advantages of that YAWL engine s specific setup For this release of the editor the engine behaviour available is limited to a number of web services that the engine has been configured to interact with Further detail on specifying web services to have the workflow interact with can be found in the next section To set the YAWL Engine details 1 Click Engine on the Menu and choose the Set Engine Detail item 2 From the resulting dialog Fig 36 accept the default values or enter the following engine details e YAWL Engine URI e User Name e Password e Verify Password The YAWL Engine URI value will de
9. getting a job and starting their new career Creating Your First Specification 1 Click on the Create a New Specification button at the top left of the Menu Toolbar or click on Specification in the Menu and choose Create Specification This will bring up a blank Net called New Net 1 which will be by default the starting net of the workflow For details on selecting a starting net consult the Changing the Starting Net section in this manual 2 Alter the specification s properties as you feel appropriate Click on Specification in the Menu and choose Update Specification Properties A screen as per Fig 3 will appear YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_ Editor Man_vl doc 9 Specification ID lunnamedywl sd Specification Name _ SE Specification Description Mo description has been given sSY Specification Author Lindsay Bradford sd version Number 0 1 w always Specification valid from O the time of 02 49 57PM onthe date of 22 07 2005 always Specification valid until O the time of 02 49 57PM onthe date of 22 07 2005 eo Peer Fig 3 Specification Properties Dialog 3 Rename this Net by clicking on the Net Menu and choosing Update Net Detail 4 Enter the new name of the Net in the Decomposition Label field then click the Done button Decomposition Variables will be explained later in the Net Decomposition Detail section of this manual S Change the name of
10. has two variables StudentNumber and SubjectCode Update Task Yariable Name StudentNumber Type string 4 Usage Input amp Output 7 C Done cance Fig 30 Updating another Task Variable Adding Updating Task Parameters Both Input and Output Parameters can be assigned to any tasks to allow the passing of state between nets and their tasks and between tasks and workflow engine users and web services Input Parameters use an XQuery to massage net variable state across possible several net variables into a value that can be passed to a single selected task variable Output parameters use an XQuery to massage task variable state across possible several task variables into a value that can be passed to a single selected net variable For example if a task is called Place an Order then an Input Parameter could be the name of the person placing the order whereas the Output Parameter could be the corresponding identification number of that person To add an Input Parameter YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 34 S 1 First select the task that will require the parameter using the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button 4 from the Palette Bar We will be setting up Input Parameters for the variables that we created in the Adding Updating Task Variables section previously Go to the Attend University Net and select the Enrol task S 2 Right click
11. http inm ws org 200l s MLochena gt conplexType name Geek gt Sequence gt lt element name Wame type string gt lt element name Salary type double gt Sequence gt lt complexType gt lt schema gt C Done cancer Fig 21 Adding the Geek complex data type YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 28 When the text is red the split pane will reveal a table listing parse errors that were collected when determining the validity of the text supplied An example of this is shown in Fig 22 Update Data Type Definitions schema xulns http wm ws org 2001 MLichena gt lt complexType name Geek gt sequences lt element name Name type string gt element name Salary type double gt lt Sequence gt lt complexType gt lt r achen Error ln col 3 The element type schema must be terminated the matching end tag lt schemas pene cancel Fig 22 When the Geek complex data type schema is invalid Open the Data Type Definitions dialog and type in the XML text that appears in Fig 21 The above example creates a complex data type called Geek that has two separate sub components Name and Salary of type string and double respectively As depicted in Fig 23 the new data type Geek is available to choose when creating a task or net variable Variables with a usage of
12. s cancellation set YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 27 To remove an element from a Cancellation Set 1 First make sure you have the View Cancellation Set option ticked If it isn t ticked select the task that is initiating the Cancellation Set using the Enter Marquee Selection Mode tool from the Palette Bar and right click then choose View Cancellation Set 2 Select the element for removal using the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button 3 Click on the Remove Selected Items from Visible Cancellation Set button E on the Menu Toolbar Updating Data Type Definitions Version 1 1 of the YAWL Editor introduces the ability for workflow designers to specify data that is processed by a workflow XMLSchema is used to describe the valid data types that are available By default a number of simple XMLSchema data types are supplied for variable definition but if you need more complex data types you can supply your own XMLSchema definition to describe them 1 Select Update Data Type Definitions from the Specification Menu 2 Enter your XMLSchema Data Type Definition into the dialog box Fig 28 3 If the definition text is green your new data type is now available for defining Net or Task variables in your specification If the text is red there is something wrong with your data type definition and the data type will not be available 4 Update Data Type Definitions schema xnlns
13. the Menu and choose Create Net YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 18 6 Give the new Net a name by clicking on the Net Menu and choosing Update Net Detail a We are going to call this new Net Study Privately 7 Return to your original Net and right click on your Multiple Composite Task and choose Unfold to Net You will then be given a drop down list with all the Nets Available choose the Net for this task to initiate and then click Done A Choose Study Privately 8 You can now complete your new Study Privately Net represented by your Composite Task S Create the following Atomic Tasks in order and then link them with Flow Relations as per Fig 12 e Read a Book e Feel Smarter S Don t forget to validate your specification Enroll Do Subjects Pass All Subjects Get Degree Fig 12 Privately Study Multiple Composite Task and its Net YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 19 Conditions Conditions are ways to represent a state in between tasks for the workflow To create a Condition 1 2 3 4 5 Click on the Add a Condition button OJ in the Palette Bar or right click in the whitespace of the Net and choose Condition Go to the Study Privately Net We are going to place a loop Condition after the Read a Book Atomic Task to determine whether we gained any knowledge from the book We will add the new Condition n
14. Do Private Study This task will represent those students that choose not to go to University S Finally right click on your Get A Job task and decorate it with an Xor Join Then set the orientation to West 3 Split and Join decorators allow you to connect several Flow Relations from and to your task respectively a Create a flow relation from Begin My Career to Do Private Study then create another flow relation from Do Private Study to Get A Job as per Fig 8 4 Don t forget to check the validity of your specification Hint If you are having troubles with positioning your tasks the alignment tools are a big help YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 13 Get A Job Career Started Do Private Study Fig 8 XOR Split and Join When Begin My Career has been completed a choice must be made on which of the two tasks Go To University or Do Private Study will be followed XOR Split Get a Job will become available after the completion of the task Composite Tasks selected at the point of the XOR split Composite tasks are place holders for other YAWL Nets That is you can create another workflow in a separate Net which is represented by the composite task in other nets To create a Composite Task 1 gt 3 4 Click on the Composite Task button o in the Palette Bar or right click in the whitespace of the Net and choose
15. Use the reset net analysis algorithm Check for weak soundness property using coverability r Check for unnecessary cancellation regions r Check for unnecessary or joins w Check for soundness property using reachability results from bounded nets _ Show observations in analysis results These tests may overlap in identifying unreachable tasks in the specification potential deadlocks and possible unfinished work in completed workflow cases C Done cancer Fig 40 Specification analysis functions If the optional YAWL specification analysis utility wofyawl exe written by Eric Verbeek is supplied in the same directory as the editor an extra tab entitled WofY AWL Analysis will be enabled in this dialog allowing more analysis options than those supplied by default The default specification analysis algorithm was donated to the editor by Moe Wyn and is part of her research into using Reset Net analysis techniques within the setting of Y AWL YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 47 Illustrative Examples Multiple Instance Task Example The example save file below supplied with the editor source gives you an example of how to process a simple multiple instance task with its queries filled in Fig 41 YAWLEditor D AWLSubyversionImage editor currentRelease lib exampleEditorFiles simpleMultipleInstanceExample i 4 yu1 Miel Eg Speciication Net Edit Elements Tool
16. WL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 5 Palette Bar The Palette Bar contains seven selector buttons that assist with creation selection and positioning of objects within your specification This menu can be repositioned by dragging the left hand anchor bar The Palette bar is also accessible by right clicking anywhere on a net that does not contain a net element Once an element is selected it is possible to drop objects in the canvas by left clicking the mouse button Atomic Task ol Select this button to create an Atomic Task which represent a single task to be performed by a human or external application Composite Task o Select this button to create a Composite Task which is a container for another YAWL Net with its own set of Y AWL elements constrained by the same syntax Multiple Atomic Task a Select this button to create a Multiple Atomic Task which allows you to run multiple instances of a task concurrently Multiple Composite Tasks a Select this button to create a Multiple Composite Task which allows you to run multiple instances of a composite task concurrently Flow Relation Select this button to create a Flow from one task to another YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 6 Condition O Select this button to create a Condition which is a way to represent state for the Net Marquee Selection Select this button to activate the Marquee Selector which will allow y
17. YAWL Editor 1 4 1 User Manual Release 1 4 1 QUT Faculty of Information Technology YAWL Editor User Manual Release 1 YAWL_ Editor User _Man_vl doc Document Control Syne with Editor 1 4 1 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 1l Contents Document Contro lnierstare vie tate cue sealers E sacle eie Gaia easiad ae aden lich antec 1i Wok ometo TAW n E A E l Wa AW leg a ER E O l Obtaining the Latest Version of the YAWL Editor senessesssseoeensssssssseeeeees l The YAW Le Proje oinin e E usgsestnlodaenuet 2 NP WAG AC MC CEU C a E seas letaabusspiene anesceeoutaente 2 Gen Se e a a A a ele iee es 3 Copy ht NOCO creua a E a 3 Launching the Y AWL Editor ssessseeeeesssssssseerssssssseccrrssssssssecreessssssseceeessssss 3 The YAW EE Or WOrkS pieeo a a tan senses ane 4 Monu Too DIE rea EE E E E 4 Pale UGD oe a a era ee eee eae ee 6 SWS Babero eer er A ee 7 CAIN E Su ss ances at EN E E A E T E EE E 7 Menus OVENI W aeien n O 7 Creatine Your First Sp cification sssrinin a Geiealiaxs 9 OVENI OW er E E ode aaa ese eee 9 A Barca CENIO a E S 9 Creatine Your First SpeCiiCallOliny encase oon N i 9 AO AS KG ee E E Soe eu ee eueeatee 10 DECOratine a TASK ersen aieosnteuciniagiad E A 12 Composite TASS it narsceneprtesitsibanceannserneedtinciy ra asuaisaai Re abigbaniaawiomaeedarssinse dasaiensaitas nbenasnentat 14 Multiple Atomie TASKS earnan seca tee tana atone ete inet cam neene cn 15 Mu
18. _vl doc 26 P My Career gt 3 Next using the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button from the Palette Bar choose a task condition or implicit condition to add to the Cancellation set Hold down the shift key to select more than one object for cancellation Select the Study Privately task and the Flow Relation preceding it 4 Click on the Add Selected Items to Visible Cancellation Set button the Menu Toolbar Items will be coloured red to indicate belonging to the cancellation set see Fig 20 Add the Study Privately task and the preceding Flow Relation to the cancellation set 5 Once you have established the cancellation set you can right click on the cancellable task and tick off View Cancellation Set option study Privately i E O a R fl ko Begin My Career al _ GetAJob Career Started zl m Attend Universi i at Pe ee 4 Fig 20 Adding elements to a Cancellation Set Notes about Cancellation Sets e A Cancellation Set that has been created will remain in the workflow regardless of whether you have the View Cancellation Set option ticked e You can create multiple Cancellation Sets in your workflow by selecting another task and choosing the View Cancellation Set option e All flows leading to or from conditions are not valid cancellation set members Neither are the Input and Output conditions The editor will ignore them if you select them for inclusion in a task
19. a label task decompositions also allow the workflow designer to identify which web service the decomposition should invoke in a running workflow engine When two tasks share the same decomposition we are saying that the same activity is required in two different places in the workflow You can use the drop down list to select the task decomposition of a task or alternately you can press the Create button and generate a new one that will automatically become the task s decomposition Fig 27 Begin My Career a GetAJob Career Started Set decomposition to Getas 7 Get A Job J ee Create Career Started Look for an Easier Book Do Subjects Begin ity Career Feel Smarter Fig 27 Select Task Decomposition Task Decomposition Detail Updating Task Variables You can add variables to a task to store specific information relating to that task Task variables have several uses One use is to transferring information between workflow users and the workflow engine A second use is for passing data between web services that the running workflow engine invokes and the Net the task resides in YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 32 For example if your task is called Place an Order you may want to store the name or identification number of the person placing the order or maybe store the items being ordered Adding a Variable to a Task 1 First select the task that will require the variable u
20. ber text f studenthumber Update ETA Het Variables Task Variables Mame Type Usage Mame Type Usage aub Jectlode string Local 2ub Jectlode string Input Output studenthumber string Local studenthumber string Input Output Output Parameters Met Variable fEnroll SubjectCode textl sub yectCode fEnroll SubjectCode texti atudentWumber Fig 33 Established task parameters A brief introduction to XQuery e XQuery is a separate language that describes how to manipulate a given XML document to extract data from it For example the XQuery data my Task Variable number 5 is saying that there is some XMLSchema element in an engine XML document with an element called myTask Variable whose content is a number and that the resultant XQuery expression is that element s value with 5 added to it Updating Flow Detail When dealing with tasks that have XOR and OR splits we need some way of telling a running engine which flows should be activated By updating the flow detail you can specify the default flow path and also establish predicates for each flow direction Flows whose predicates evaluate to true in a running engine will execute those flows To update the flow detail of a task that has a split A 1 Right click on the task and choose Update Flow Detail The number of splits will be the number of Target Tasks The currently selected flow in the dialog will also be identified by being
21. dividuals listed When workflow specifications are exported to the engine SQL queries that identify users or roles authorised for or to allocated tasks will be automatically generated from the editor and passed into the engine XML Then engine can then use these queries to shortlist and pick from valid candidates More detail on engine run time user allocation and authorisation can be found in the YAWL Engine manual More detail on populating the organisation database of the engine can be found in the YAWL administration tool manual YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 52 Known Issues Users cannot type double quote characters in XQuery and XPath expressions this is a deliberate restriction to stop oddities in engine export manifesting Workflow designers are to use single quote characters when manipulating string literals in XQuery XPath expressions There are intermittent reports of editor save file corruption occurring with versions of the editor up to and including version 1 2 The 1 3 release of the editor fixes some bugs that could lead to save file corruption If you get version 1 3 or later editor save file corruption we d appreciate you supplying as much detail to us as possible on when where how it occurred to help us nail this problem once and for all Obviously working on backup copies of a workflow specification is suggested to avoid any wailing and gnashing of teeth in the meantime If you
22. eceived S Set the Instance Creation type to Static 8 Click Done With the values set in the scenario the Do Private Study task is indicating that a maximum of 100 instances of this task can be executed before triggering the task s outgoing flow A minimum of five instances will be created and once 50 instances have completed the outgoing flow relations to Get A Job will trigger The Queries tab of the Multiple Instance dialog will be explained later in the Setting Multiple Instance Queries section of this manual Multiple Composite Tasks Multiple Composite Tasks allow you to run multiple instances of the Net represented by a multiple composite task concurrently YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor Man_vl doc 17 To create a Multiple Composite Task 1 Click on the Add Multiple Composite Task button in the Palette Bar or right click in the whitespace of the Net and choose Multiple Composite Task S Go to the My Career Net We are going to replace our existing Do Private Study Multiple Instance Task with a Multiple Composite task so choose the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button 4 on the Palette Bar click on the Do Private Study Task and press the Delete key on the keyboard We will add in the new Multiple Composite task next 2 Place your Multiple Composite Task in your Net Reconnect the Flow Relations from Begin My Career to the new Multip
23. ective The design environment also provides sophisticated analysis support Obtaining the Latest Version of the YAWL Editor As new versions of the YAWL Editor are released to the public they will be available for download at the YAWL website http www yawl system com a Developers interested in obtaining the YAWL Engine can download the files from the YAWL website above The source code for all of the YAWL components can be downloaded through the SourceForge Website http sourceforge net projects yawl a YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 1 The YAWL Project For more information and progress on the YAWL project visit the YAWL Homepage on Queensland University of Technology s Centre for Information Technology Innovation website http www yawl system com a YAWL Architecture The following image Fig 1 depicts the interaction between components of the YAWL Engine Fig 1 The Apac h e TO m cat yawl war YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 2 Getting Started Copyright Notice Copyright to this software and its source code is granted under the GNU Lesser General Public Licence v2 1 For detail on the permissions this licence grants you please refer to http www gnu org copyleft lesser html z This editor makes use of JGraph 3 1 This version of the JGraph library 1s covered under a BSD style licence and is available separately from http w
24. enu can be repositioned by dragging the left hand anchor bar This group of buttons provides you the standard options to create save open and close YAWL specification files YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc Specification Verification Analysis Exporting amp Importing Y Y e These four buttons allow you to validate your specification again YAWL Engine workflow requirements analyse your specification for deadlocks and other issues export your workflow diagram into an XML file for uploading to the YAWL Engine and import a YAWL Engine XML file into the editor for further alteration respectively Net Maintenance EE Your workflow diagrams are captured within Nets of which a specification could contain many You can use these buttons to create a new Net or remove existing Nets within your specification Edit Options alem This group of buttons provides the standard Undo and Redo options as well as the option to delete the currently selected objects Alignment Options RE These buttons can be used to assist with the alignment of objects within your specification when multiple objects have been selected Object Sizes BIE To increase the size of an object within your specification select the object s and then use these buttons Cancellation Sets These buttons allow you to include in and or exclude elements from the cancellation set of a task YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YA
25. epeat the process for the Flow Relation between Look For an Easier Book and Read A Book tasks see Fig 17 You can now reconnect flow relations to other elements of a net or different points on the same element When the pallet button Net Element Selection Mode il is selected left click on a flow and drag it to another element If a connection is possible it will be highlighted as described earlier Release the mouse button to attach the flow to its new home 4 Take the current flow relation and move it from the top of the task to its side as depicted in Fig 17 Read A Book Knowledge Gained Feel Smarter Fig 17 Adding knees to a Flow Relation It is also possible to add labels to flows To do so double click on a flow when the pallet button Net Element Selection Mode i is selected A small editor will appear over the flow Type your desired text and commit the flow label by pressing the ENTER key You may then drag that flow label around as desired YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_Man_vl doc 23 S 5 Take the two flow relations that have recently had knees added to them Attach the label yes to the flow relation going from the Knowledge Gained condition to the Feel Smarter atomic task Attach the label no to the flow relation going from the Knowledge Gained condition to the Look for an Easier Book atomic task Drag the labels abo
26. et the Minimum Instances value This is the minimum number of instances of this task that will be started when the task needs processing S Set the Minimum Instances to 5 5 Set the Maximum Instances value This is the maximum number of instances of this task that can be created Set the Maximum Instances to 100 6 Set the Continuation Threshold value The moment all instances created have completed or as many instances as the Continuation Threshold specified have completed the multiple instance task itself 1s considered completed which triggers relevant outgoing flow relations from this task Set the Continuation Threshold to 50 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 16 Multiple Atomic Task Do Private Study Instance Detail x Bounds Queries Minimum Instances s Maximum Instances gt is infinite is equal to Continuation Threshold gt is infinite is equal to Instance Creation Static O Dynamic Tone cancel Fig 11 Instance Bounds on Multiple Instance Tasks 7 Choose the Instance Creation If a multi instance task has static creation mode when the task 1s started the number of instances created is decided then and cannot be altered during the execution of the task Conversely if a task has dynamic creation mode then new instances of the task can start once the initial minimum instance number of tasks has started but before the maximum number has been r
27. ext Place your Condition in your Net and set the name by right clicking on the Condition and choosing Set Label Call this Condition Knowledge Gained Now link to the Condition using the Flow Relations object Select the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button from the Palette Bar and click on the Flow Relation going from the Read a Book Atomic Task to the Feel Smarter Atomic Task and press the Delete button on the keyboard Create a Flow Relation from Read A Book to Knowledge Gained Create a Flow Relation from your Condition to a task Set the Flow Relation from Knowledge Gained Condition to Feel Smarter Atomic Task Create another Flow Relation from your Condition to another task to signify the two possible flows from the Condition Before we create our second flow relation from our Condition create another Atomic Task and call it Look for Another Book Change the Join Decoration for Atomic Task Read a Book to an OR Join with the orientation being West by right clicking on Read a Book and choosing Decorate Click Done Finally create the Flow Relation from the Knowledge Gained Condition back to the OR Join of the Read A Book Atomic Task as per Fig 13 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 20 Read A Book Knowledge Gained Feel Smarter Fig 13 Condition Loop for Study Privately Net S 6 Validate your specification Valida
28. fault to a locally installed YAWL Engine administration URI The User Name and Passwords will default to the engine default admin user Specify Engine Detail TAWL Engine URI https 31 17851 105 45 5050hyawlia User Name admin Password eee Test Connection Verity Password fe Successfully connected to a running engine with the above detail pone cancer Fig 36 Specifying the YAWL Engine Details As auser convenience a button called Test Connection is supplied which will attempt to connect to a running engine with the detail supplied before the user commits to using those details for any further editor engine interactions YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 42 Connecting a Decomposition to a registered YAWL Service You can use task decompositions within your workflow to make a connection to custom YAWL services that have been registered with a running engine For example a decomposition may be set up to place an order with an external company Upon execution of any task using this decomposition data could be transmitted via a Web Service invocation to this company To have a decomposition invoke custom YAWL service do the following 1 Right click on a task the choose Task Decomposition Detail An Update Task Decomposition dialog box will appear see the YAWL Registered Service Detail box of Fig 28 2 Enter the following details regarding the Web Serv
29. g to my mouse clicks and it is beeping every time I click the mouse Check to see if you have any YAWL Editor dialog windows open These windows don t appear in the Windows Taskbar To check if you have any open dialog windows hold down the ALT key and press the TAB key With the ALT key held down press TAB until you reach the dialog window and let go of the ALT key Close the dialog window and you should be able use the YAWL Editor again Dialog windows appear as the Java icon blue coffee cup I can t connect two elements with a flow Why If the editor does not allow you to connect one element to another it is steering you away from building an invalid net Typical examples include e Trying to connect a second flow to an undecorated task e Trying to point an incoming flow to a split decorator or an outgoing flow from a join decorator Se the troubleshooting entry How do I find out more about elements and principles for more detail When I validate my Net I get the following validation message The net may complete without any generated work Should all atomic tasks in the net be unlabelled This message appears if you have not labelled any of your tasks To label a task and thus ensure that the engine will get a user to handle the task at this point in the workflow right click on the task and choose Select Task Decomposition Choose Create and in the following window Update Task Decomposi
30. he Import YAWL Engine file button on the Menu Toolbar or click Specification on the Menu and choose import from YAWL Engine File 5 A window will appear asking you specify the engine XML file 6 Select a location and choose Open This engine XML file is then loaded into the editor As there is no layout and graphing detail on the engine XML file the editor will apply basic layout to the imported specification YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 46 Specification Analysis Verification of specifications for the engine only determines whether the specification will be executed by the engine In contrast the analysis tool can be used to test for deeper issues in the specification The analysis toolbar button EJ and matching Analyse Specification menu item under the Specification menu allows workflow designers to analyse their specifications A number of potential problems with the workflow can be automatically spotted with analysis Examples include spotting potential deadlock situations unnecessary cancellations set members and unnecessary or join decorators at run time or joins require significant processing effort and should be removed if they are not actually needed A configuration dialog for the specification analysis is available under the Tools menu by the name of Configure Analysis Tool see Fig 40 Configure Specification Analysis Reset Net Analysis Worrall Analysis er
31. ice e YAWL Service the Service registered with the YAWL Engine 3 Click Done to finish If a valid running YAWL Engine instance can be connected to via the detail supplied in the section above the YAWL Service Dropdown Box will contain entries for all custom YAWL services the engine has registered Otherwise only the default manual Worklist Y AWL service will be available When you select a YAWL Service the editor will query this running engine for the input and output variables required and populate the decomposition variables of the selected task with those variables Base custom services that are supplied with the engine include one for RPC Style Web Service Invocation and one for making and receiving mobile phone SMS messages Later in this manual an example editor save file showing the usage of a custom time service 1s supplied Setting Multiple Instance Queries Multiple Instance Tasks need extra detail for data manipulation The Queries tab available by right clicking on a multiple instance task and selecting Set Instance Detail The Queries tab allows you to manipulate multiple instance data for the task Right click on the task and choose Ensure that you are viewing the Queries tab of the dialog as per Fig 37 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 43 it Multiple Atomic Task Instance Detail Multiple Instance Variable Create Accessor Query Res
32. ill return just the content of the XML element for this variable which is useful for simple state transfer between two variables of the same XMLSchema type and expected to be the typical button that users will start out with The other button add XQuery of entire element will return the entire XML element of the selected variable which is useful for times when you want to create a complex type expression from individual variable elements Experience with XMSchema and XQuery are necessary to understand the effects this button will have on runtime YAWL engine State From the list of task variables select the SubjectCode task variable and click add XQuery of element s content only From the list of net variables select the SubjectCode variable Click Done Create another Task Parameter and map the task StudentNumber to the net variable of the same name using this technique Click Done and Done again These Output Parameters were set up to demonstrate a simple transfer of state from a net to a task and back to the net Perhaps the task would allow a user to change the values of one of the variables which would eventuate in the net s values changing The Update Parameters dialog box should appear as in Fig 33 38 4 Update Parameters for Atomic Task Enroll Input Parameters Task variable Creat sAttend_University SubjectCode text SubjectCade eae fdttend University Studenthum
33. lation set of Time limited task expiry even though the Time limited Task is cancelled there could still a token on the flow going to Time limited task Users may suddenly find that there is a time limited task available after the expiry time that triggers cancellation Fig 46 shows a user selecting the time service currently registered with a running YAWL engine as they generate their specification One of the differences between this release of the editor and previous releases is that custom services registered with a running engine will tell the editor what input and output variables that service 1s expecting The editor supplies these variables to workflow designers automatically in this release Note that the variables defined by custom services are the minimum required Extra user defined variables can still be defined and some custom service may make use of these option variables YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 50 Update Task Decomposition Time limited task expiry Task Decomposition Label le limited task expiry Task Decomposition Variables Input Only TAWL Registered Service Detail TAWL Semice Time Serice a Done Cancel Fig 46 Assigning a registered YAWL service from a running engine Resource Management Example The example save file below supplied with the editor source gives you an example of how to build a tasks that specifies resourcing
34. le Composite Task and from the new Multiple Composite Task to Get a Job 3 You will now need to set the parameters of the Multiple Composite Task Right click on the task and choose Set Instance Detail 9 Set the Minimum Instances value This is the minimum number of instances of this task that will be started when the task needs processing S Set the Minimum Instances to 5 10 Set the Maximum Instances value This is the maximum number of instances of this task that can be created a Set the Maximum Instances to 100 11 Set the Continuation Threshold value The moment all instances created have completed or as many instances as the Continuation Threshold specified have completed the multiple instance task itself is considered completed which triggers relevant outgoing flow relations from this task S Set the Continuation Threshold to 50 12 Choose the Instance Creation If a multi instance task has static creation mode when the task is started the number of instances created is decided then and cannot be altered during the execution of the task Conversely 1f a task has dynamic creation mode then new instances of the task can start once the initial minimum instance number of tasks has started but before the maximum number has been received A Set the Instance Creation type to Static 4 Click Done 5 Create a new Net by clicking on the Create a new Net button BI on the Menu Toolbar or click on Net in
35. log A Type in StudentNumber for the name of the variable and choose its type as String Set the Usage to Local Fig 25 Click Done Create another Net Variable with the name SubjectCode and Type of string Leave the Initial Value blank and set the Usage to Local Click Done 4 Update Net Yariable StudentNumber Name StudentNumber Type string Usage Local Initial Value Fig 25 The Net Variable StudentNumber 5 The Net Variables should now appear in the Update variables of Net Attend University dialog box Fig 26 Update Net Decomposition Attend University Net Decomposition Label Attend University Net Decomposition Variables SubjectCode string Local Create Update atudenthumber string Local i Ee date i ra Fig 26 Updated Attend University Net Variables YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 31 Select Task Decomposition By choosing the Select Task Decomposition option when you right click on a task you have the ability to identify which decomposition this task represents Like nets tasks have decompositions where you can specify variables and a label to associate with the task or net Unlike nets which cannot share net decompositions there is a 1 N relationship between task decompositions scoped to the entire specification and their tasks scoped to nets Besides variables and
36. ls toggle whether diagrams should be drawn anti aliased and toggle whether grids should be drawn with diagrams Finally it allows users to iconify all nets or deiconify all nets at once Help The Help Menu provides details of the YAWL Editor copyright as well as Acknowledgements for all the dedicated YAWL contributors Included is an About the Editor dialog which describes which components were used in the editor s construction compatibility issues and a list of contributors who ve added source code to the editor YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 8 Creating Your First Specification Overview This next chapter will lead you through the process of creating a YAWL specification from beginning to end through a series of brief lessons following a scenario You can either follow all the instructions including the scenario provided from beginning to end or skip straight to the section that you are interested in and follow the instructions S Look for the blue S next to the instructions for specific details of the scenario The Scenario a The scenario that we will be following throughout this manual is the workflow of a student who has just completed their secondary study and is now looking to start their career This scenario will follow the path of a student who either enrols in a University to complete their tertiary eduction or undertakes private study which will eventually lead them to
37. ltiple Composite Tasks susisdstnsincnisctwun verti eii 17 COU GOI senne E T E 20 Chanoine the Starine ING rssicaksc cove neers teeta eceeaas 22 Changing the Appearance of Your Specification ccccccccccceeeesseeeeeeeeeeeeeees 23 Improving the Look of Flow Relations ccccccssssssseeeeeceeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeaas 23 EGO OCIS ceun a a a seanacuueddessuieanese 24 Chano ma Font S17 erupe EEEE A EEE 24 Adyanced Specificato FeaT OS iann 26 Cance laton SEIS ina a a raged suet aout lead eeduaatacaderweedtexeioes 26 Updating Data Type Definitions ec cccccccccccceseeseeeeeeeeeeaeeeeseeeeeeeeeeaaas 28 Net Decomposition Detail Updating Net Variables eeceeeeeeeeeeees 30 Task Decomposition Detail Updating Task Variables eeeeeceeeeeeeees 32 Adding Updating Task Parameters cccccccccccsessseeeecccceeeeseeeececeeenees 34 Updating Flow Det leennsriciccrscin a 39 End Orsen O ser E E 4 Set Yu LxBne ine Detaitcststntcesetoner winter ec ieriaeia Neto es 42 Setting Multiple Instance Queries cccccccssesesecccccceceaeeeeseeeeceeeeaeaeeeeeeeess 43 Validating and Exporting ccccccccccccccccsssseeseecceeceeeaeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeaaas 45 M staiye Example Se a A 48 Multiple Instance Task EXample rissie aa 48 Time Sevice EX AUC tases toss cass ode a A 50 ITO WA oue seasea a el oat E E 5I TOUTS POON a T ye uaesauel heme abe aswaiemen cen 54 PNCKMOW Ie GS CINCIUS orse a a E a eae accords 55
38. mposition to which the task 1s tied 5 Select the Flow Relation button gt in the Palette Bar or right click in the whitespace of the Net and choose Flow Relation S 6 Connect the Input Condition to your Atomic Task by finding the flow connectors indicated by two parallel blue lines on the sides of the objects and hold the left mouse button down and draw a line from the flow connector on the Input Condition to the one on the Atomic Task The editor will indicate which connection points are valid by drawing a blue box around suitable connectors as your mouse passes over them Begin My Career Fig 5 An established Flow Relation That s it Your Atomic Task is set S 7 Repeat the process for the following Atomic Tasks in order e Go to University e Get A Job e Begin My Career S 8 Link the Begin My Career task to the Output Condition the symbol as per Fig 6 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 11 a 9 Finally check the validity of specification by clicking on the Validate this Specification button I in the Menu Toolbar or click on Specification in the Menu and choose Validate Specification If all things are going to plan then you should receive a confirmation saying that there were no errors detected Begin My Career Go To University GetAJob Career Started Fig 6 The My Career Net Decorating a Task Decorating a task is the process of adding splits or join condition
39. nd resize the currently selected net It also provides options to export a net to a PNG image file and for directly printing out the net Edit The Edit Menu provides the standard options of Undo Redo Cut Copy Paste and Delete objects within your specification Elements The Elements Menu allows you to align net elements within your specification modify their size or add or remove net elements from task cancellation sets Tools The Tools Menu allows you to specify a running engine that the editor should connect to so you can tailor your workflow designs to specific modules and web services installed in the engine Included in this menu is an option for configuring specification analysis With this release of the editor an amount of default specification analysis is offered as part of the editor If the wofyawl analysis utility is also supplied in the same directory as the editor the configuration dialog will allow specification designers to configure and use wofwawIl for additional specification analysis Also for resource allocation data this menu offers a dialog to identify an organisation database from which resourcing information can be retrieved View You can use this menu to turn off or on the Tooltips which provide useful hints when your mouse is positioned over a toolbar button or an option in a pop up dialog window obtained by right clicking on the canvas It also allows you to change the font size used for element labe
40. of net elements to manipulate Fig 15 Making the Study Privately task atomic Changing the Starting Net At any stage you can change the starting Net of the specification To change the starting Net 1 Select Net from the Menu 2 Choose Set Starting Net 3 From the Choose Starting Net window click on the drop down list and select a new starting Net 4 Click Done Execution of the workflow starts in net Fig 16 Changing the Starting Net Note that the starting net has an input condition symbol gt in its title frame and its mimimised icon All sub nets have a composite task symbol LI in their title frames and minimised icons YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 22 Changing the Appearance of Your Specification Improving the Look of Flow Relations You can control and improve the look of the Flow Relations by adding in knees 1 Select the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button t from the Palette Bar Go to the Study Privately Net 2 Right click on the position in the Flow Relation where you want to add a knee signified by a small square in the Flow Relation Right click somewhere on the Flow Relation going from Knowledge Gained Condition to Look for an Easier Book Atomic Task Then left click on the knee created and drag it out to a more desirable location You can add as many knees to a Flow Relation as you like 3 R
41. on the task and choose Update Parameters An Update Parameters dialog box will appear Fig 31 Update the Parameters for the Enrol task Task Variable Create Het Variables Task Variables Name Type Usage Name Type Usage Output Parameters Met Variable Fig 31 Updating Parameters for a Task a 3 In the Input Parameters section click on Create An Update Task Parameter dialog box will appear If you have already set up a Task Variable for this task then the Existing Task Variable option will be activated and there will be a list of task variables to choose from Choose a variable from the list and click on Done then Done again to close the task parameters dialog If you haven t set up Task Variables then click on Create and return to the previous section in the manual for Adding a Task Variable If you are familiar with XQuery syntax then you can paste in an XQuery YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_Man_vl doc 35 to allow manipulation of the Input Parameters Syntactically well formed XQueries will be green and badly formed ones will be red Again red text will be accompanied by a split pane table returning the parse errors that cause the text to be badly formed For workflow designer convenience two XQuery buttons are supplied to generate XQuery expressions from available net variables The add XQuery of element s content only button will return just the c
42. ontent of the XML element for this variable which is useful for simple state transfer between two variables of the same XMLSchema type and expected to be the typical button that users will start out with The other button add XQuery of entire element will return the entire XML element of the selected variable which is useful for times when you want to create a complex type expression from individual variable elements Experience with XMSchema and XQuery are necessary to understand the effects this button will have on runtime YAWL engine State Select the SubjectCode variable from the list of Existing Task Variables Select the SubjectCode net variable and click add XQuery of element s content only Fig 32 Click Done Create another Task Parameter and map the net StudentNumber to the task variable of the same name using this technique Click Done and Done again YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 36 2 Update Task Parameter SubjectCode from element of net variable SubjectCode x XQuery SubjectCode gt f Attend University oubjectCode textl add XQuery of element s content A add XQuery of entire element lt SubjectCode gt populates the task variable SubjectCode od Create one Fig 32 Passing a net s SubjectCode to a Task To add an Output Parameter S 1 First select the task that will require the parameter using Enter Marquee Selection
43. ou to select individual or multiple objects by clicking and dragging your left mouse button Status Bar The Status Bar provides useful hints throughout the creation of your specification and depending upon which object you are using in the Palette Bar Canvas The Canvas is where you will be creating and editing your workflow diagram s Specification Problem Table The Specification problem table is where you see what problems are currently outstanding in the specification you are building Background task progress bar The Background task progress bar shows work in progress for certain background tasks like the saving of specification files Menus Overview This section provides a brief overview of the YAWL Menus located along the top of the YAWL Editor specification Net Edit Elements Tools View Help Specification The Specification Menu provides all the standard file options of Create Open Save Close and Exit It also contains options to validate engine syntax analyse workflow semantics export the specification to the YAWL Engine XML format import specifications from the YAWL Engine XML format updating the specification s data type definition in XMLSchema format setting a specification s properties and for printing the specification YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 7 Net The Net Menu provides options to create remove set the starting net specify decomposition detail a
44. s View Help Verify list Show list Select a number of net elements to manipulate Fig 42 A simple specification showing how multiple instance tasks are done Fig 43 shows the core multiple instance queries used to manipulate a XMLSchema element defined for this specification The element has a complex type of PersonList which defines a sequence of lt PersonName gt someName lt PersonName gt elements YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 48 i Multiple Atomic Task Yerify list Instance Detail Fig 44 Example multiple instance queries YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_Man_v1 doc 49 Time Service Example The example save file below supplied with the editor source gives you an example of how to build a task that calls through to the optional timer service supplied with the engine Fig 45 YAWLEditor D AWLSubversionImage editor lib exampleEditorFiles simpleTimeServiceExample 1 1 741 Miel Ea specification Het Edit Elements Tools View Help elelele q ele lel lela FALE EAS Ei See Time limit setter Time limited task expiry Select a number of net elements to manipulate Fig 45 Example showing the usage of a custom YAWL service Note the inclusion of the flow between tasks Time limit setter and Time limited task Without including this flow in the cancel
45. s on task By putting a split on a task you are telling the task that when it has been completed it s succeeding task could be one or more tasks Here are the possible splits for a task e No split no split on task e AND split e OR split e XOR split By putting a join on a task you are telling the task that it could become available through the completion of one or more preceding tasks Below are some possible joins for a task e No join no join on task e AND join e OR join e XOR join For more information on join and split types please consult the YAWL technical papers on the YAWL website Creating Splits and Joins To create a split or join 1 Right click on your task and choose Decorate YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 12 You will be presented with the Decorate window for your task which is divided between Join Decorator and Split Decorator options see Fig 7 Decorate Atomic Task Begin My Career x Join Decorator Split Decorator No Join Or Join O No Split Or Split And Join C Xor Join C And Split Xor Split gt North s East O South Fig 7 Decorating a Task 2 Choose the required split or join and the orientation for the split or join to appear and then click Done A Right click on your Begin My Career task and change the split to Xor Split Then set the orientation to East as per Fig 7 a Create a new Atomic task called
46. sing the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button S from the Palette Bar A We will be setting up variables for the Enroll task S Go to the Attend University Net and select the Enroll task 2 Right click on the task and choose Task Decomposition Detail An Update Task Decomposition dialog box will appear Fig 24 S Retrieve the decomposition detail for the Enroll task Update Task Decomposition Enroll Task Decomposition Label Enroll Task Decomposition Variables Mame Type sage Create TAWL Registered Service Detail TAWL Serice C Done cance Fig 28 Updating variables for a task 3 Click on the Create button An Update Task Variable dialog box will appear 4 Enter the Name of your variable choose the Type of the variable from the list click Done then Done again to exit the task decomposition detail dialog S Type in StudentNumber for the name of the variable and choose the type string Leave the Initial Value blank Fig 29 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 33 Update Task ariable SubjectCode Name SubjectCode Type string x Usage Input amp Output a Done cancer Fig 29 Updating the Task Variable S 5 Create another variable for the same task called SubjectCode with the type being string and usage being Input amp Output Click Done Fig 30 S The Enroll task now
47. suspect editor save file corruption run your editor from the command line and be on the lookout for exception stack traces The detail of these stack traces 1s needed for tracking further problems of this nature Only the initial values defined for net Local variables will influence running engine workflows All other usage types Input Only Output Only and Input amp Output will not make use of initial values defined for them in the running engine The editor does not currently support XMLSchema elements when defining data to pass through a workflow Hand created engine specification files that use lt element gt tags for data transfer will fail on editor import attempts Convert these into their equivalent lt name gt lt type gt tags to get editor import working as expected Editor Import functionality does not currently import resource perspective detail from an engine XML specification file We need to find a way of getting the clipboard to notify listeners of updates Currently we kludge up whether the Paste action can be activated by simply turning it on when an editor user uses Cut or Copy in the same editor Editor elements cannot currently be cut paste across two running editors on the same machine The menu item Print Specification freezes if not used for some time YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 53 Troubleshooting The YAWL Editor is not respondin
48. that would stop the specification from running in the YAWL Engine in the specification problem panel Fig 38 shows an example valid specification Fig 39 shows an example invalid specification YAWLEditor OL x specification Net Edit Elements Tools View Help Problems identified in engine specification validation No de sigqn time engine validation problems were found in this specification Select a number of net elements to manipulate Fig 38 A valid specification YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 45 YAWLEditor Ioi x specification Net Edit Elements Tools View Help El Problems identified in engine specification validation Atomic Task ibroken test 4 The outgoing Clow number must be gt O Atomic Task broken test 413 not on a backward directed path between the input and ou Select a number of net elements to manipulate Fig 39 An invalid specification To Export your specification to an XML file 1 Click on the Export this specification to the YAWL Engine file format button E on the Menu Toolbar or click Specification on the Menu and choose Export to YAWL Engine File 2 A window will appear asking you where to save the file 3 Select a location and choose Save This specification save file can now be loaded into a running YAWL Engine and executed New for this release of the editor is the ability to import from an engine XML file 4 Click on t
49. the Net in the Decomposition Label to My Career This Net will be the primary net for our scenario 5 You are now ready to start drawing your specification Atomic Tasks 1 Click on the Add an Atomic Task button E in the Palette Bar or right click in the whitespace of the Net and choose Atomic Task 2 Position your mouse just to the right of the Input Condition the symbol and click the left mouse button once to place an Atomic Task 3 Set the decomposition of this task by right clicking on the Atomic Task and choosing Select Task Decomposition YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc om tt ot Set decomposition to Create Done Earca i l Fig 4 The Update Task Decomposition dialog 4 Press the Create button and in the following window Update Task Decomposition enter the decomposition s label See the Select Task Decomposition section of this manual for a full explanation of its features A Set the label to Begin My Career and click the Done button Note that by default a task takes on the label of the decomposition that it is tied to several tasks are allowed to share the same decomposition Once you ve task created your task you are free to relabel the task to whatever you like This can be done by right clicking on the task and choosing Set Label from the pop up menu This will not change the name of the deco
50. tion and enter the name of your task under Decomposition Label then click Done To label a Condition right click on a task and choose Set Label then type in a name for the label and click Done My specification won t validate without any errors and I don t know what to do First check the logic of your specification and exercise every branch of your workflow for correctness If you are sure of your workflow consult the YAWL website for the proper use of the YAWL elements YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_Man_vl doc 54 http www yawl system com a How do I find out more about the elements and principles of the YAWL workflow specifications For more information about the mechanics of the YAWL workflow elements please consult the YAWL website http www yawl system com a Acknowledgements Queensland University of Technology Dr Marlon Dumas Lindsay Bradford Lachlan Aldred YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 55
51. tion should fail and report errors as per Fig 14 The problem here is that the Study Privately multiple instance composite task needs to have more information specified for it to be valid For setting data detail of multiple instance tasks please see the Setting Multiple Instance Queries section of this manual O YAWLEditor D AWLSubyversionImage editor currentRelease lib exampleEditorFiles UserManualExample 1 4 yvl _ OW x Specification Net Edit Elements Tools View Help lel le ale lela Problems identified in engine specification validation Composite Task Study Privately 43iid Study Privately 43 the XQuery for param null cannot he equal to The task id Study Privately 43 claims to assign its output to a net variable named null However Select a number of net elements to manipulate Fig 14 Validation with unfinished Multiple Instance Tasks S 7 Remove the Study Privately multiple instance composite task and replace it with an atomic composite task using the same decomposition and re drawing flows from Begin My Career and to Get A Job tasks Your updated net should look like Fig 15 YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 21 O YAWLEditor D YAWLSubversionimage editor currentRelease lib exampleEditorFiles UserManualExample 1 4 ywl M E Specification Net Edit Elements Tools View Help eee keke Ele Plein a Select a number
52. ttend University Composite Task and its matching Net Multiple Atomic Tasks Multiple Atomic Tasks allow you to run multiple instances of a task concurrently To create a Multiple Atomic Task 1 Click on the Add Multiple Atomic Task button in the Palette Bar or right click in the whitespace of the Net and choose Multiple Atomic Task Go back to the My Career Net We are going to replace our existing Do Private Study Atomic Task with a Multiple Atomic task so choose YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 15 the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button on the Palette Bar click on the Do Private Study Atomic Task and press the Delete key on the keyboard We will add in the new Multiple Atomic task next 2 Place your Multiple Atomic Task in your Net and set the name of this task by right clicking on the task and choosing Select Task Decomposition S Call this task the same name as before by selecting the Do Private Study decomposition from the drop down list Reconnect the Flow Relations from Begin My Career to Do Private Study and from Do Private Study to Get A Job as per Fig 10 Do Private Study Fig 10 Adding a Multiple Atomic Task 3 You will now need to set the parameters of the Multiple Atomic Task Right click on the task and choose Set Instance Detail Ensure that you are viewing the Bounds tab of the dialog as per Fig 11 4 S
53. ult Net Variable ai Create pone cancer Fig 37 Data Manipulation for Multiple Instance Tasks To successfully specify multiple instance data manipulation you first need to select which of the task s decomposition variables will be used as the Multiple Instance Variable This variable needs to contain or can derive a number of unique values that will be separated with the Splitter query to pass a unique value per each instance task If the Multiple Instance Variable needs manipulation overall before the unique values are split out of it use the Accessor Query to do SO On the completion of an instance the Instance Query can be used to transform the XML document returned to a form suitable for the Aggregate query to finally generate an overall result The overall result will be assigned to the Result Net Variable on completion of the multiple instance task See Fig 44 for an example of this screen being filled out with valid XQuery expressions YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 44 Validating Exporting and Importing At any stage you can validate or export your specification to a YAWL Engine executable XML file To Validate your specification 1 Click on Validate this Specification button E on the Menu Toolbar or click Specification on the Menu and choose Validate Specification 2 A table listing problems will appear with details of any inconsistencies
54. ut to a desired position much like what has been done in Fig 17 Editing Objects You can edit more than one object at a time by using the Enter Marquee Selection Mode tool See Fig 18 1 Select the Enter Marquee Selection Mode button from the Palette Bar 2 Click on the first object that you want to edit 3 Hold down the shift key and then click on the other objects that you want to edit 4 Now choose the Edit option from the Menu or continue holding down the shift key and right click on the mouse button Below are the edit options e Cut Copy Delete e Align e Size Increase Decrease to change the appearance of the objects This can also be done using the CTRL key plus Up or Down arrow on your keyboard Look for an Easier Book no m E OA 4 Read A Book Feel Smarter Knowledge Gained Fig 18 Changing the Size of Multiple Objects Note also that whenever you have selected a number of net elements pressing one of the arrow keys will move the selected elements in the direction of the arrow key and pressing the CTRL key plus the A key will select all elements in the net with input focus Changing Font Size YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_ Editor Man_vl doc 24 You can change the size of the font used to label tasks and conditions 1 Change the font size by clicking on the View Menu and choosing the Label Font Size option S Change the font size to 18 YAWL Editor Manual
55. ww jgraph com s This editor also makes use of code from the YAWL Engine and its support libraries The engine and its support libraries are covered under their own individual copyright licences detail of which may be found at the YAWL website http www yawl system com a In accordance with this editor s copyright licence the source code may be obtained from the YAWL SourceForge website http sourceforge net projects yawl a Launching the YAWL Editor 1 Download the latest version from the Y AWL SourceForge website http sourceforge net projects yawl z 2 Double click on the YAWLEditor jar file to start the application and away you go YAWL Editor Manual Release 1 YAWL_Editor_ Man_vl doc 3 The YAWL Editor Workspace The first time you start the YAWL Editor you will be presented with a blank canvas with the instructions in the Status Bar asking you to open or create specification to begin Before you create your first specification let us take a brief tour of the Editor s workspace and the elements within YAWLEditor le Specification 00 Oemews Tools View Help Hel ale El vl gt lble ela alela reale a l IOO Tear away menu toolbar t a he CAnvasS i t Tear away palette bar Specification problem panel Menu Toolbar The Menu Toolbar contains six groups of buttons to assist you in maintaining your YAWL specification The m
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