U.S. patent application number 12/566456 was filed with the patent office on 2010-04-01 for computer software.
This patent application is currently assigned to SAVVION, INC.. Invention is credited to M. A. Ketabchi, Ajay Khanna, Kamyar J. Sadeghi, Steve Wilber.
Application Number | 20100082498 12/566456 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42058514 |
Filed Date | 2010-04-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100082498 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sadeghi; Kamyar J. ; et
al. |
April 1, 2010 |
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Abstract
A business process related computer software that displays a
tabular view of a business process. Also, assigning types and/or
attributes to worksteps of a business process and filtering the
view of the business process based on the workstep types and/or
workstep attributes. Also: (i) method for searching for worksteps
based on a string pattern; (ii) a method for bulk update of
worksteps satisfying search/filter criteria; (iii) a method for
combining consecutive tasks into sub-tasks, or elevating sub-tasks
to higher level tasks; (iv) a method for automatically setting the
successor(s)/predecessor(s) workstep(s) as new worksteps are added
or existing worksteps are removed; (v) a method for drilling down
through a path in the process flow; (vi) a method for computing
estimated duration for reaching a workstep along a path through the
process flow; (vii) a method for identifying sequential and
parallel worksteps and/or total duration through a timeline
diagram; (viii) a method for printing process summary in tabular
format; and/or (ix) methods of importing and exporting Microsoft
projects.
Inventors: |
Sadeghi; Kamyar J.;
(Tiburon, CA) ; Ketabchi; M. A.; (San Jose,
CA) ; Khanna; Ajay; (Fremont, CA) ; Wilber;
Steve; (Menlo, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BOND, SCHOENECK & KING, PLLC
ONE LINCOLN CENTER
SYRACUSE
NY
13202-1355
US
|
Assignee: |
SAVVION, INC.
Santa Clara
CA
|
Family ID: |
42058514 |
Appl. No.: |
12/566456 |
Filed: |
September 24, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61099763 |
Sep 24, 2008 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/301 ;
715/771 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/103 20130101;
G06Q 10/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/301 ;
715/771 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 10/00 20060101
G06Q010/00; G06F 3/048 20060101 G06F003/048 |
Claims
1. A set of one or more tangible computer readable storage media
having stored thereon a business process software for working with
a model of a business process made up of an ordered and
hierarchically organized set of tasks, the business process
software comprising: a business process editing module programmed
to allow a user to edit the model of the business process; and a
tabular view module programmed to generate a tabular view of at
least a portion of the model of the business process.
2. The set of claim 1 further comprising: a business process model
creation module programmed to allow a user to create a new model of
a business process; and a business process characterization module
that allows features of the model of the business process to be
characterized in ways suitable for a collection of interrelated
tasks that is designed to be performed repeatedly and further
designed to achieve a commonly arising objective or goal.
3. The set of claim 1 further comprising a diagram view module
programmed to generate a diagram view of the business process.
4. The set of claim 1 further comprising a properties pane module
programmed to generate a properties pane that provides a visual
representation of detailed information associated with a selected
task in the tabular view generated by the tabular view module.
5. The set of claim 1 further comprising a pattern based filter
module programmed to filter tasks shown in the tabular view
generated by the tabular view module based on a pattern entered by
the user.
6. The set of claim 1 further comprising an attribute based filter
module programmed to filter tasks shown in the tabular view
generated by the tabular view module based on one or more
attribute(s) chosen by the user.
7. The set of claim 1 further comprising a task sorting module
programmed to sort tasks shown in the tabular view generated by the
tabular view module based upon respective values for an task field
selected by the user.
8. The set of claim 1 further comprising a path analysis mode
module programmed to display a timeline view for each task
displayed in the tabular view generated by the tabular view
module.
9. The set of claim 8 wherein the path analysis mode module is
further programmed to display a start time for each task displayed
in the tabular view generated by the tabular view module.
10. The set of claim 8 wherein the path analysis mode module is
further programmed to display parallel timelines in the timeline
view for tasks that run in parallel.
11. The set of claim 1 further comprising an MS Project import and
export module programmed to: (i) import the model of the business
process from a file formatted as an MS Project file, and (ii)
export the model of the business process to a file formatted as an
MS Project file.
12. A set of one or more tangible computer readable storage media
having stored thereon a business process software for working with
a model of a business process made up of a hierarchically organized
set of tasks, the business process software comprising: a business
process editing module programmed to allow a user to edit the model
of the business process; a view module programmed to generate a
view of at least a portion of the model of the business process;
and a pattern based filter module programmed to filter tasks shown
in the view generated by the view module based on a pattern entered
by the user.
13. The set of claim 12 further comprising: a business process
model creation module programmed to allow a user to create a new
model of a business process; and a business process
characterization module that allows features of the model of the
business process to be characterized in ways suitable for a
collection of interrelated tasks that is designed to be performed
repeatedly and further designed to achieve a commonly arising
objective or goal.
14. The set of claim 12 further comprising a pattern based filter
module programmed to filter tasks shown in the view generated by
the view module based on a pattern entered by the user.
15. The set of claim 12 further comprising an attribute based
filter module programmed to filter tasks shown in the view
generated by the view module based on one or more attribute(s)
chosen by the user.
16. The set of claim 12 further comprising a task sorting module
programmed to sort tasks shown in the view generated by the view
module based upon respective values for an task field selected by
the user.
17. A set of one or more tangible computer readable storage media
having stored thereon a business process software for working with
a model of a business process made up of a hierarchically organized
set of tasks, the business process software comprising: a business
process editing module programmed to allow a user to edit the model
of the business process; a business process view module programmed
to generate a view of at least a portion of the model of the
business process; and an attribute based filter module programmed
to filter tasks shown in the view generated by the view module
based on one or more attribute(s) chosen by the user.
18. The set of claim 17 further comprising: a business process
model creation module programmed to allow a user to create a new
model of a business process; and a business process
characterization module that allows features of the model of the
business process to be characterized in ways suitable for a
collection of interrelated tasks that is designed to be performed
repeatedly and further designed to achieve a commonly arising
objective or goal.
19. The set of claim 17 further comprising a pattern based filter
module programmed to filter tasks shown in the view generated by
the view module based on a pattern entered by the user.
20. The set of claim 17 further comprising a task sorting module
programmed to sort tasks shown in the view generated by the view
module based upon respective values for an task field selected by
the user.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application claims priority to U.S. provisional
patent application No. 61/099,763, filed on 24 Sep. 2008; all of
the foregoing patent-related document(s) are hereby incorporated by
reference herein in their respective entirety(ies).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to computer software for
working with business processes and workflows ("business process
related computer software").
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] One conventional piece of software is called MS Project.
(Note: the term(s) "MS PROJECT" may be subject to
registration-based and/or commonlaw trademark rights in various
jurisdictions throughout the world, possibly including the United
States.) MS Project is a project management software program which
is designed to assist project managers in developing plans,
assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing budgets
and analyzing workloads. MS Project includes a tabular view
environment where plans and the like (but not workflows or models
of business processes) are displayed to the business user in the
form of a table, specifically a text based table. The tabular view
is familiar and comfortable to regular users of MS Project.
However, MS Project conventionally deals with business projects
(see DEFINITIONS section) and not business processes (see
DEFINITIONS section).
[0006] Business process related computer software is conventional.
Conventionally, business process related software displays the
business process or business process model to the user in the form
of a diagram view and/or through a graphical user interface. For
example visual editing tools such as Microsoft Visio and IDS Scheer
allow modeling of a business process. (Note: the term(s)
"MICROSOFT," "VISIO," and "IDS SCHEER" may be subject to
registration-based and/or commonlaw trademark rights in various
jurisdictions throughout the world, possibly including the United
States.) These visual editing tools provide a stencil of graphical
shapes to use in defining the process. To effectively use the
visual editing tools (also known as diagramming tools), a learning
curve is involved whereby each business user needs to learn the
usage and semantics of the various graphical shapes, as well as how
to do effective layouts to generate nice looking, easily
interpreted diagrams.
[0007] As a further example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,968,343 ("Charisius")
discloses methods and systems for integrating process modeling and
project planning to provide workflow modeling and project planning
integration tool that allows a user to model a business process or
workflow, to create and activate a project plan based on the
workflow, and to track the progress of the activated project plan
using a diagram view and/or GUI.
[0008] US Patent Application 2008/0215389 ("Heidasch") discloses a
computer implemented method and system for monitoring a business
process of an executing business application. A representation of
the business process associated with the business process element
is generated to determine a problem in the business process of the
executing business application. The Heidasch monitoring system
collects information and provides a list of business processes and
their status. The list contains a runtime view of the relevant
business processes. The list is configured for display in an
analytical UI. A particular business process can be selected from
the list in the analytical UI, and then the monitoring system opens
the business process model and configures the business process
model with states that were reported by the particular business
element to generate a graphical state view. Heidasch discloses
that: (i) the graphical state view includes a representation of the
state of particular business objects and process steps that
participated in the business process execution; (ii) the
representation of the state can include such graphical elements as
a traffic light format with red (error), yellow (caution) and green
(normal) states; and (iii) other types of representations can be
used.
[0009] United States Patent Application 2001/0011366 ("Beck")
discloses a GANT chart for a process executable by an operating
system, which is an interactive input and display and editing
interface wherein a programmer may program a business process
having discrete steps and sub-steps. Beck states that such an
interface is but one of a number of interfaces that would be
suitable. Broadly speaking, by listing steps of a process in this
chart along with parameters to be described more fully below, an
application module is created which, by execution, performs the
process step by step, and tracks completion of individual tasks, as
well as providing reminders when and if allotted completion times
are pending or exceeded, and so forth. Beck further states that
GANT processes may also be illustrated by flow diagrams (typically
PERT charts), and, that a chart depicted in FIG. 14 of Beck may be
converted to an editable GANT flow chart as well. Beck discloses
that standard products like MSProject Planner may be used to
generate a PERT or GANT chart, and by using certain labels both for
steps and resources, the generated file may directly become an IPM
Object.
[0010] United States Patent Application 2009/0125359 "Knapic")
discloses systems and methods for integrating a methodology
management system with a project management system ("the system").
In some embodiments, the system can generate a project plan based
on a project template. A project template can include a project
task, an education component corresponding to the project task, a
compliance factor, and a document creation rule. In various
embodiments, the system includes a project management template for
use with a project management tool; a synchronization engine that
synchronizes data of the project management tool with an external
data source; and a workflow engine that causes a workflow step to
be performed based on a state of the project task.
[0011] Description Of the Related Art Section Disclaimer: To the
extent that specific publications are discussed above in this
Description of the Related Art Section, these discussions should
not be taken as an admission that the discussed publications (for
example, published patents) are prior art for patent law purposes.
For example, some or all of the discussed publications may not be
sufficiently early in time, may not reflect subject matter
developed early enough in time and/or may not be sufficiently
enabling so as to amount to prior art for patent law purposes. To
the extent that specific publications are discussed above in this
Description of the Related Art Section, they are all hereby
incorporated by reference into this document in their respective
entirety(ies).
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] For relatively complex business processes, a large amount of
time is spent in designing the process layout because it uses
graphical icons and shapes and the like. Consider the example where
a business user wants to quickly put together the outline of a
large business process with a large number of tasks. With
conventional business process modeling software using a graphical
user interface (GUI), the business user must jump to a diagram view
and proceed to drag and drop various shapes, define their
properties, connect the shapes to each other, etc. However, it is
believed that many business user would prefer to work with a
project-like view of the process where he or she can outline the
process by defining a set of tasks, defining the task/subtask
relationships, and continue defining additional details. In some
preferred embodiments of the present invention, the project-like
view is used exclusively in defining a business process so that the
process designer never needs to switch to the diagram view and/or
GUI. In other preferred embodiments of the present invention, the
process designer may switch between a plan-like view and other
view(s), such as a GUI view, while designing the business process.
The diagram view may still be a useful view, especially for complex
flows. In other words, according to some embodiments of the present
invention, the plan-like view will be the only view that works with
the process creator and/or editor, while in other embodiments of
the present invention, the process creator and/or editor can work
with multiple views, including, but not limited to, the plan-like
view.
[0013] The present invention is directed to business process
related computer software that has one or more of the following
features and/or methods: (i) displays a tabular view (see
DEFINITIONS section) of a business process (see DEFINITIONS
section); (ii) assigns types and/or attributes to worksteps of a
business process and to filter the view of the business process
based on the workstep types and/or workstep attributes; (iii)
method for searching for worksteps based on a string pattern; (iv)
a method for bulk update of worksteps satisfying search/filter
criteria; (v) a method for combining consecutive tasks into
sub-tasks, or elevating sub-tasks to higher level tasks; (vi) a
method for automatically setting the successor(s)/predecessor(s)
workstep(s) as new worksteps are added or existing worksteps are
removed; (vii) a method for drilling down through a path in the
process flow; (viii) a method for computing estimated duration for
reaching a workstep along a path through the process flow; (ix) a
method for identifying sequential and parallel worksteps and/or
total duration through a timeline diagram; (x) a method for
printing process summary in tabular format; and/or (xi) methods of
importing and exporting Microsoft projects.
[0014] Various embodiments of the present invention may exhibit one
or more of the following objects, features and/or advantages:
[0015] (i) the tabular view carries increasing level of detail
about the process, including priority of tasks, their duration,
performer, etc, that is not available in the diagram view;
[0016] (ii) provides an easier way of designing a process that
naturally lends itself to breakup of process to tasks and
sub-tasks. Using the familiar environment of MS Project, should
make Business users feel comfortable defining a complex business
process;
[0017] (iii) ability to generate a nice looking process diagram
directly from the tabular view, without requiring the business user
to re-arrange and optimize the layout, or learn about the existing
shapes in the drawing toolbar, serves as a tremendous productivity
boost;
[0018] (iv) the bi-directional support of editing in either of the
views, provides user with the choice of switching from tabular view
to diagram view, at any point in the design and analysis process
without compromising the benefits of either view.
[0019] (v) the extensive filtering and sorting capabilities
available in Tabular view, make it the preferred view for enhancing
and improving the process flow as it undergoes change.
[0020] (vi) greater level of detail about the process, including
priority of tasks, their duration, performer, etc.;
[0021] (vii) provides an easier way of designing a process that
naturally lends itself to breakup of process to tasks and
sub-tasks; using the familiar environment of MS Project, should
make Business users feel comfortable defining a complex business
process;
[0022] (viii) ability to generate a nice looking process diagram
directly from the tabular view, without requiring the business user
to re-arrange and optimize the layout, or learn about the existing
shapes in the drawing toolbar, serves as a tremendous productivity
boost;
[0023] (ix) provides user with the choice of switching from tabular
view to diagram view, at any point in the design and analysis
process without compromising the benefits of either view;
[0024] (x) improved view for enhancing and improving the process
flow as it undergoes change; and/or
[0025] (xi) helps user focus on an iterative approach to process
design.
[0026] According to one aspect of the present invention, a set of
one or more tangible computer readable storage media has stored
thereon a business process software for working with a model of a
business process made up of an ordered and hierarchically organized
set of tasks. The business process software includes: a business
process editing module; and a tabular view module. The business
process editing module is programmed to allow a user to edit the
model of the business process. The tabular view module is
programmed to generate a tabular view of at least a portion of the
model of the business process.
[0027] According to a further aspect of the present invention, a
set of one or more tangible computer readable storage media has
stored thereon a business process software for working with a model
of a business process made up of a hierarchically organized set of
tasks. The business process software includes: a business process
editing module; a view module; and a pattern based filter module.
The business process editing module is programmed to allow a user
to edit the model of the business process. The view module is
programmed to generate a view of at least a portion of the model of
the business process. The pattern based filter module is programmed
to filter tasks shown in the view generated by the view module
based on a pattern entered by the user.
[0028] According to a further aspect of the present invention, a
set of one or more tangible computer readable storage media has
stored thereon a business process software for working with a model
of a business process made up of a hierarchically organized set of
tasks. The business process software includes: a business process
editing module; a business process view module; and an attribute
based filter module. The business process editing module is
programmed to allow a user to edit the model of the business
process. The business process view module is programmed to generate
a view of at least a portion of the model of the business process.
The attribute based filter module is programmed to filter tasks
shown in the view generated by the view module based on one or more
attribute(s) chosen by the user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] FIG. 1 is a screenshot of a first display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention;
[0030] FIG. 2 is a screenshot of a second display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention;
[0031] FIG. 3 is a screenshot of a third display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention;
[0032] FIG. 4 is a screenshot of a fourth display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention;
[0033] FIG. 5 is a screenshot of a fifth display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention;
[0034] FIG. 6 is a screenshot of a sixth display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention;
[0035] FIG. 7 is a screenshot of a seventh display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention;
[0036] FIG. 8 is a screenshot of a eighth display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention; and
[0037] FIG. 9 is a screenshot of a ninth display generated by an
embodiment of business process software according to the present
invention;
[0038] FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a
computer system including an embodiment of business process
software according to the present invention;
[0039] FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a
computer system including an embodiment of business process
software according to the present invention; and
[0040] FIG. 12 is a schematic view of an embodiment of business
process software according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0041] One aspect of the present invention is software herein
called a Mixed Mode Designer for Defining Business Processes.
Modeling a business process is currently only possible through
visual editing tools such as Microsoft Visio or IDS Scheer. These
tools provide a `stencil` of shapes to use in defining the process.
To effectively use the diagramming tool, a learning curve is
involved where business user needs to understand the usage and
semantics of the shapes as well as optimal layout for generating
nice looking diagrams. The mixed mode designer enables business
user to design a process in either the diagram or the tabular view.
The tabular view provides a more familiar environment of the MS
Project. Moreover, MS Project documents may be directly imported to
in to the designer for further development of the process model in
either the tabular or the diagram view. The modification to the
process model is possible in both views.
[0042] FIG. 1 is a screenshot 100 of an Integrated Development
Environment ("IDE") generated by an embodiment of business process
software according to the present invention. Screenshot 100
includes: tabular business process view portion 102 and properties
pane 104; design buttons 106; and business process view chooser
menu 108. The business process being modeled by the business
process software is show in tabular form at tabular business
process view portion 102. In the tabular business process view
portion, each task is assigned a row of the table. The reason that
the business process is shown in the tabular view in screenshot 100
is because the option "Tabular" is selected in business process
chooser menu 108.
[0043] The design buttons 106 on a design button toolbar allow a
user to create new tasks (green cross button), delete existing
tasks (red X button), group tasks into subtasks, view the task in
diagram view or ungroup subtasks into tasks. Properties pane 104
allows a user to view and edit the extensive set of properties
associated with a selected item from the tabular view. For example,
in screenshot 100, the row corresponding to the "check credit" item
is shaded, with the result that the properties of the "check
credit" item are shown in properties pane 104 of screenshot
100.
[0044] Many variations are possible for the screenshot 100 display.
For example, the properties pane could be omitted. As a further
example, the properties pane could be in the form of a pop-up
window selectively activated by the user. As a further example, the
properties pane could be a separate (full screen) view, selectable
through business process view chooser menu 108. As a further
example, the information of the properties pane could be integrated
directly into the tabular view itself, perhaps with a show or hide
button associated with each task and sub-task. As a further
example, the may be more than one layer of sub-tasks, such as
sub-sub-tasks or sub-sub-sub-tasks. As a further example, sub-tasks
could be visually represented as a third dimension (that is, depth
dimension) in the tabular view, making the view a 3D matrix form of
a table. Despite the numerous variations possible in presenting a
tabular view of a business process, one important feature of some
embodiments of the present invention to recognize is the fact that
the business process is in tabular view. In tabular view 102, the
business process that has been modeled by the business process
software includes the following tasks (or items) in the following
order: start order, create order, high order, approve order, legal
review, process order and end order. The process order task
includes the following sub-tasks in the following order: Start,
check credit, ship order, and End 1. In screenshot 100, the columns
associated with each task are as follows: Type, Successors,
Milestone Alerts, Phase, Duration, Priority and Performer.
[0045] The tabular view mode of design also helps user focus on a
hierarchical approach to process design. First step is to flesh out
the top level "tasks" that need to be completed to achieve the end
result. Each task is then broken into its constituent sub-tasks.
Sub-tasks may then be broken into sub-sub-tasks, and so on. This
iterative, hierarchically-organized process continues until at the
lowest level(s), yielding the concrete worksteps can be associated
with performers and resource and time can be allocated to each
workstep. (Note: not all worksteps need be at the same hierarchical
level--for example, some worksteps may be sub-tasks, while others
may be sub-sub-tasks). Designing a process in a hierarchical, top
down fashion as promoted by the tabular view, is a very common
technique used by business users when using outlining or
requirements gathering tools.
[0046] Yet another approach to designing a business process could
be a hierarchical, bottom up approach where designing a process in
tabular view may involve brainstorming sessions where all the
concrete tasks that need to be completed to reach the desired
results are added, then they are grouped into lower level tasks and
a hierarchy of tasks is derived. Exception flow elements and loops
are then added to complete the design process. It is believed that
the tabular views of the present invention are more amenable to a
hierarchical approach, whether top down, bottom up or some mixture
of the two approaches.
[0047] Once the tasks and their relationships are defined, the next
step is to associate the attributes for each of the tasks. This
could be a painstaking activity, specially for processes with large
number of worksteps. Thanks to the advanced filtering capabilities
of the Tabular view, this stage of process design is greatly
simplified. User may filter a subset of activities with common
attributes, then select the set and using the common properties
pane of the tabular view set the duration, priority or the
performer of the worksteps in bulk. It is also possible to quickly
set the values of the properties individually directly from the
tabular view itself. For example, clicking on the Priority cell of
a of the tasks can trigger a combo-box that presents the user with
options for the setting the value of the priority. (See FIG. 1 at
priority column of tabular view 102.)
[0048] FIG. 2 is another screenshot 120 of an IDE generated by the
business process software. Screenshot 120 includes: diagram
business process view portion 122; and properties pane 124.
Clicking the `Show workstep in Diagram` button of business process
view chooser menu 108 (see FIG. 1) switches the view from
screenshot 100 to screenshot 120. It is also noted that a different
task (specifically "legal review") is highlighted in diagram
business process view portion 122 and set forth in detail in
properties pane 124. Preferably, switching views between tabular
and diagram will not switch the identity of the highlighted task,
but a user will generally switch between tasks frequently in either
or both views while working with a model of a business process.
[0049] FIG. 3 is another screenshot 140 of an IDE generated by the
business process software. Screenshot 140 includes: tabular
business process view portion 142; properties pane 144; and
filtering pulldown menu 146. As shown in FIG. 3, the business
process software includes a filter feature so that fewer than all
tasks and/or sub-tasks are shown in the tabular view. In screenshot
140, the filter choice of "Activity" has been selected by the user,
meaning that all but Activity tasks (or worksteps) are filtered
out. In this example, the user can see all the tasks assigned to
individuals without the intermediate gateways and adapters. As
shown at the filtering pulldown menu 146, other filtering criteria
may be chosen in this embodiment of the business process software.
Still other filtering criteria (now known or to be developed in the
future) may be (additionally or alternatively used. Some filters
may act in an inverse way to the "Activity" filter shown in
screenshot 140--for example, a "Not Activity" filter could filter
out only Activity tasks and show all non-Activity tasks.
[0050] FIG. 4 is another screenshot 160 of an IDE generated by the
business process software. Screenshot 160 includes: tabular
business process view portion 162; properties pane 164; and filter
pattern entry bar 166. As shown in FIG. 4, a user as entered the
pattern "approve" in filter pattern entry bar 166. This causes all
worksteps to be filtered out, except for those worksteps matching
the user's chosen pattern. In this example, all worksteps that
include the pattern approve as part of their name, successor,
predecessor, or phase are shown in the tabular view 162. In other
words, the business process is searchable as a text-based database.
This can help a user find a portion of interest in a lengthy
business process for editing or the like. In some embodiments of
the present invention, this pattern based filtering may
additionally be available in the diagram view. In other, not
necessarily preferred, embodiments of the present invention, there
may not even be a tabular view at all, but only a graphical or
diagram view and pattern based filtering.
[0051] FIG. 5 is another screenshot 180 of an IDE generated by the
business process software. Screenshot 180 includes: tabular
business process view portion 182; properties pane 184; and
attribute filtering entry bar 186. As shown in FIG. 5, a user has
chosen the attribute "that generate alerts" in attribute filtering
entry bar 186. This causes all worksteps to be filtered out, except
for those worksteps having attributes matching the user's chosen
attribute selection. In this example, all worksteps that generate
alerts are shown in the tabular view 182. In other words, the
business process is searchable as an attribute-based database. This
can help a user find a portion of interest in a lengthy business
process for editing or the like. In some embodiments of the present
invention, this attribute based filtering may additionally be
available in the diagram view. In other, not necessarily preferred,
embodiments of the present invention, there may not even be a
tabular view at all, but only a graphical or diagram view and
attribute based filtering.
[0052] Each activity worksteps in one exemplary IDE, called BPM
Studio by Savvion, may have over 15 attributes associated with it.
(Note: the term(s) "BPM STUDIO" and "SAVVION" may be subject to
registration-based and/or commonlaw trademark rights in various
jurisdictions throughout the world, possibly including the United
States.) An exemplary and non-exhaustive set of attributes are
listed below:
[0053] Has a skip condition
[0054] Is a looping workstep
[0055] Has pre-condition
[0056] Has pre-script
[0057] Has post-script
[0058] Is an alert generating workstep
[0059] Has overdue action
[0060] Has on-error action
[0061] Has performer exclusion list
[0062] Has activation rules
[0063] With only the diagram view at his/her disposal, a user will
generally have a hard time in identifying the subset of worksteps
that have a specific attribute. For example, to find all the
worksteps that have overdue actions, user must click each and every
activity workstep in the flow, to view the attribute in the
properties pane. Using the exemplary IDE, BPM Studio, with the
enhanced Tabular view support, user need only select the option
`have overdue actions` from the Show worksteps combo-box and the
worksteps that have overdue actions are readily filtered. Note that
user may also easily identify the filtered workstep(s) in the
diagram by selecting the workstep and clicking the `show workstep
in the diagram` button of the tabular view toolbar.
[0064] FIG. 6 is another screenshot 200 of an IDE generated by the
business process software. Screenshot 200 includes: tabular
business process view portion 202; and properties pane 204. As
shown in FIG. 6, the order of the tasks (and sub-tasks) in a table
may be sorted according to their respective values with respect to
a chosen field. For example, in screenshot 200, a user has chosen
to sort the tasks based on the values in the "Duration" field in
descending order (that is, longest to shortest duration). Any
column can be sorted on. Sorting can be ascending or descending.
Sorting may be alphabetical, numerical or other (for example, based
on the length of the character string in a chosen field).
[0065] FIG. 7 is another screenshot 220 of an IDE generated by the
business process software. Screenshot 220, as shown in FIG. 7,
includes: tabular business process view portion 222; properties
pane 224; and path mode button 228. The tabular view 222 shows path
analysis mode, which has been activated by a user's selection of
path mode button 228. In path analysis mode, a user can drill down
a path and view an estimated time until activation of each of the
worksteps along the path. The Timeline column of tabular view 222
helps identify sequential and parallel execution tasks as well as
their relative time distance from the start of the instance.
[0066] A typical business process, such as an order processing
process, may have several paths through the process. Examples
include expedited processing based on customer's level, special
handling for certain orders, credit check for amounts over a limit,
etc. As part of analyzing the process, user may want to drill down
through a path and identify steps involved in reaching a certain
step along the path and additionally an estimate of how long it
might take to reach that step from the point of instance creation.
The path analysis mode of the present invention makes it easy for
users to do static path analysis. Starting from root node user may
continue to expand along a path. At each node being able to
identify estimated time for arriving at that node, the duration
associated with nodes completion and the timeline status of the
instance at the point of the node's activation.
[0067] FIG. 8 is a variation on screenshot 220 of an IDE generated
by the business process software. Screenshot 220, as shown in FIG.
8 includes: tabular business process view portion (not separately
numbered in FIG. 8); properties pane 224; export window 226; path
mode button (not separately numbered in FIG. 8); and export button
230. Clicking export button 230 allows a user to export the
business process to a file formatted as a Microsoft Project File.
Import from MS Project is also supported (see button with red arrow
next to export button 230 in FIG. 8).
[0068] FIG. 9 is another screenshot 240 of an IDE generated by the
business process software. Screenshot 240, as shown in FIG. 9,
includes: tabular business process view portion 242; properties
pane 244; and pop-up checklist 246. Clicking any of the column
headers of the tabular view pops up a checklist 246 of all the
supported attributes that can be shown or hidden as part of the
view. For example, assume that a user needs to know which task
takes the longest to complete. In the absence of tabular view
support in the IDE, this is a relatively difficult thing to do. The
user of a conventional diagram-view-only IDE would need to click
each task to reveal its duration in the properties pane, and must
also record the duration to determine whether it is in fact the one
that takes longest to complete. With the tabular view of the
present invention, all a user needs to do is to right click the any
of the column headers of the tabular view and select duration, if
not already visible, and click the column to sort the activities
based on their duration. Each click toggles the mode to ascending,
descending or no sorting.
[0069] FIG. 10 shows a first exemplary computer system 300 that
includes business process software according to the present
invention. System 300 includes: personal computer 320; display
output device 310; audio speaker output device 312; microphone
input device 314; camera input device 316; keyboard input device
318 and mouse input device 320. Personal computer 302 includes:
processor device 304; and internal and/or external storage media
306. Internal and/or external storage media are preferably a
tangible medium (or media) capable of storing computer readable
data thereon and/or therein. Internal and/or external storage media
306 includes business process software 308 (which will be further
discussed below in connection with FIG. 12). In system 300, a user
(not shown) uses the components of system 300 to run business
process software 308 and to thereby work with business
processes.
[0070] FIG. 11 shows a second exemplary computer system 400 that
includes business process software according to the present
invention. System 400 includes: communication network 402; server
computer system 404; and client computer system 412. Server
computer system 404 includes: internal and/or external storage
media 406. Internal and/or external storage media 406 includes:
business process software first portion 408. Client computer system
412 includes: internal and/or external storage media 416. Internal
and/or external storage media 416 includes: business process
software second portion 418. In system 400, the business process
software is distributed over multiple hardware components at
locations remote from each other. The user is present at client
computer system 412, but at least a portion of the hardware and/or
software capabilities for running the business process software are
delivered from server computer system 404 through communication
network 402.
[0071] FIG. 12 shows business process software 308, including:
tabular view module 350; diagram view module 352; properties pane
module 354; pattern based filter module 356; attribute based filter
module 358; task sorting module 360; path analysis mode module 362;
and MS project import and expert module 364. Tabular view module
350 generates a tabular view of a model of a business process as
shown and discussed above in connection with FIGS. 1 and 9. Diagram
view module 352 generates a graphical or diagram view of a business
process as discussed above in connection with FIG. 2. Properties
pane module 354 generates a properties pane as discussed above in
connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. Pattern based filter module 356
filters business process views based on a pattern entered by the
user as discussed above in connection with FIG. 4. Attribute based
filter module 358 filters business process views based on an
attribute(s) chosen by the user as discussed above in connection
with FIG. 5. Task sorting module 360 sorts tasks in the tabular
view according to user preferences as discussed above in connection
with FIG. 6. Path analysis mode module 362 effects path analysis
mode as discussed above in connection with FIG. 7. MS Project
import and export module 364 performs import from and export to
files formatted as MS Project files, as discussed above in
connection with FIG. 8.
[0072] Although not separately shown in FIG. 12, business process
software 308 also includes: a business process model creation
module that allows a user to create a new model of a business
process; a business process characterization module that allows
features of the model of the business process to be characterized
in ways suitable for a collection of interrelated tasks that is
designed to be performed repeatedly and further designed to achieve
a commonly arising objective or goal; and a business process
editing module that allows a user to add, delete and edit tasks
(and sub-tasks and sub-sub-tasks and so on) of an existing business
process model.
Definitions
[0073] Any and all published documents mentioned herein shall be
considered to be incorporated by reference, in their respective
entireties, herein to the fullest extent of the patent law. The
following definitions are provided for claim construction
purposes:
[0074] Present invention: means at least some embodiments of the
present invention; references to various feature(s) of the "present
invention" throughout this document do not mean that all claimed
embodiments or methods include the referenced feature(s).
[0075] Embodiment: a machine, manufacture, system, method, process
and/or composition that may (not must) meet the embodiment of a
present, past or future patent claim based on this patent document;
for example, an "embodiment" might not be covered by any claims
filed with this patent document, but described as an "embodiment"
to show the scope of the invention and indicate that it might (or
might not) covered in a later arising claim (for example, an
amended claim, a continuation application claim, a divisional
application claim, a reissue application claim, a re-examination
proceeding claim, an interference count); also, an embodiment that
is indeed covered by claims filed with this patent document might
cease to be covered by claim amendments made during
prosecution.
[0076] First, second, third, etc. ("ordinals"): Unless otherwise
noted, ordinals only serve to distinguish or identify (e.g.,
various members of a group); the mere use of ordinals implies
neither a consecutive numerical limit nor a serial limitation.
[0077] Receive/provide/send/input/output: unless otherwise
explicitly specified, these words should not be taken to imply: (i)
any particular degree of directness with respect to the
relationship between their objects and subjects; and/or (ii)
absence of intermediate components, actions and/or things
interposed between their objects and subjects.
[0078] Business process: a collection of interrelated tasks that is
designed to be performed repeatedly and further designed to achieve
a commonly arising objective or goal.
[0079] Business project: a unique endeavor with a beginning and an
end, undertaken to achieve a unique objective or goal.
[0080] Tabular form/table: an information set that is visually
represented as a two dimensional or three dimensional matrix of
fields which primarily hold (but are not necessarily limited to)
information in the form of numbers and/or alphanumeric
characters.
[0081] Tasks: unless otherwise explicitly stated, "tasks" shall
collectively refer to proper tasks, sub-tasks, sub-sub-tasks and so
on.
[0082] Hierarchically organized set of tasks: does not necessarily
mean that there is more than one level in the hierarchy; for
example, a business process model that had only proper tasks, with
no sub-tasks under any of the tasks, is herein considered as a
hierarchically organized set of tasks.
[0083] To the extent that the definitions provided above are
consistent with ordinary, plain, and accustomed meanings (as
generally shown by documents such as dictionaries and/or technical
lexicons), the above definitions shall be considered supplemental
in nature. To the extent that the definitions provided above are
inconsistent with ordinary, plain, and accustomed meanings (as
generally shown by documents such as dictionaries and/or technical
lexicons), the above definitions shall control. If the definitions
provided above are broader than the ordinary, plain, and accustomed
meanings in some aspect, then the above definitions shall be
considered to broaden the claim accordingly.
[0084] To the extent that a patentee may act as its own
lexicographer under applicable law, it is hereby further directed
that all words appearing in the claims section, except for the
above-defined words, shall take on their ordinary, plain, and
accustomed meanings (as generally shown by documents such as
dictionaries and/or technical lexicons), and shall not be
considered to be specially defined in this specification. In the
situation where a word or term used in the claims has more than one
alternative ordinary, plain and accustomed meaning, the broadest
definition that is consistent with technological feasibility and
not directly inconsistent with the specification shall control.
[0085] Unless otherwise explicitly provided in the claim language,
steps in method steps or process claims need only be performed in
the same time order as the order the steps are recited in the claim
only to the extent that impossibility or extreme feasibility
problems dictate that the recited step order (or portion of the
recited step order) be used. This broad interpretation with respect
to step order is to be used regardless of whether the alternative
time ordering(s) of the claimed steps is particularly mentioned or
discussed in this document.
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