Unify
The Unify framework allows uniform modularization of all workflow concerns. Each workflow concern, be it regular or crosscutting, is independently specified, using a single language construct. In this respect, Unify is related to symmetric aspect-oriented approaches such as HyperJ and FuseJ. We identify a number of workflow-specific patterns according to which these independently specified concerns can connect to each other, and allow specifying such connections using the connector construct. The patterns we identify correspond to more expressive, workflow-specific advice types than those supported by general aspect-oriented languages or by Padus. Additionally, Unify is aimed at being applicable to several concrete workflow languages, and does not favor a specific implementation strategy.
Resources
A framework for advanced modularization and data flow in workflow systems
This research paper, which was presented at the 6th International Conference on Service Oriented Computing (ICSOC 2008), introduces the initial ideas behind the Unify framework.
Uniform modularization of workflow concerns using Unify
This research paper, which was presented at the 4th International Conference on Software Language Engineering (SLE 2011), provides a more comprehensive description of the Unify framework.
Semantics of the Unify composition mechanism
This technical report provides the semantics for the Unify composition mechanism, which is defined using the Graph Transformation formalism.
Concrete syntax of the Unify connector construct
This document specifies the concrete syntax of the Unify connector construct. This syntax has been elaborated into an ANTLR specification that can be downloaded from our Subversion repository at this URL.
XML syntax specification of the Access Control CSL
This document specifies the syntax of the Access Control concern-specific language using XML Schema.
XML syntax specification of the Parental Control CSL
This document specifies the syntax of the Parental Control concern-specific language using XML Schema.
WS-BPEL implementation of our example order handling workflow
This gzip-compressed tar file contains the WS-BPEL implementation of our example order handling workflow.
Unify Graph Transformation formalization and analysis
This gzip-compressed tar file contains the AGG Graph Transformation formalization of Unify, as well as Microsoft Excel workbooks describing the formalization's critical pairs analysis.
WS-BPEL, AO4BPEL and Unify implementations of example concerns
This gzip-compressed tar file contains the WS-BPEL, AO4BPEL and Unify implementations of the reporting, access control, preference saving, and bank account verification concerns of our example order handling workflow.
Unify proof-of-concept implementation
This URL can be used to check out the Unify proof-of-concept implementation directly from our Subversion repository. The implementation is an Eclipse project, and is released under a BSD license. The URL only allows read-only access to the Unify source code; if you are interested in contributing to the project, please contact us and we will provide you with the necessary information.