Abstract:

The existing Public-To-Private approach to cross-enterprise workflow has lwo weaknesses. First, it is based on the projection inheritance only. Second   , the workflow instance can only transfer from superclass process definition to its subclass process definition. To overcome the two weaknesses, this paper introduces protocol inheritance in the Public-To-Private approach and defines the applicable scope for the new approach. With the new approach, enterprises are able to use all the four basic branches when they make extension to the cross-enterprise workflow. To make the Public-To-Private approach mo   re powerful, it also develops a reverse operation of inheritance transformation, which makes workflow instance able to transfer between superclass proce ss definition and its subclass process definition （two way transformation）. Finally an example is described for illustration.

Key words: Public-To-Private approach, crossrenterprise workflow, projection inheritance, protoco l inheritance, workflow instance