Implementation of a YAWL Work-List Handler based on the Resource Patterns

The YAWL language is based on the so-called workflow patterns and is supported by an open-source workflow management system. Until recently, YAWL emphasized the process perspective, i.e., control-flow. As a result, YAWL is superior with respect to this perspective. However, issues associated with the resource perspective, i.e., the people and machines actually doing the work, have been largely neglected. Although the process perspective is of most significance, appropriate consideration of the resource perspective is essential for the successful implementation of workflow technology. To address this we have developed a set of 43 resource patterns. These patterns capture the various ways in which resources can be represented and utilized in workflows. This paper describes a work-list handler based on these patterns. The goal of this work-list handler is to make YAWL also superior with respect to the resource perspective. The work-list handler is named YAWL RA (YAWL resource allocation) and has been realized using the service-oriented architecture of the YAWL system