SWML: A Workflow Modeling Language Based on Stochastic Activity Networks

The existing workflow modeling languages have some limitations and drawbacks. The aim is to introduce a new workflow modeling language based on stochastic activity networks (SANs). SANs are a powerful extension of Petri nets, which have been used in a wide range of applications. SAN-based workflow modeling language (SWML) has some high-level modeling primitives for easily modeling workflow patterns. For analysis of the modeled workflow systems with SWML, we have introduced the transformation techniques from SWML models into ordinary SANs. The transformed models can be analyzed using the existing tools for SANs, such as the Möbius modeling tool. In this paper, we present definitions of SWML modeling language and its primitives and an example of SWML models