SCALE: process modelling formalism and environment framework for goal-directed cooperative processes

This paper presents the main process support features of SCALE, a process-centered software engineering environment framework for building computer-assisted process enactment environments. The process modelling formalism and the enactment engine composing the SCALE process support environment framework are described along with an example illustrating some of its main concepts and mechanisms. The SCALE process framework is based on a multi-agent paradigm as in multi-agent systems in the distributed artificial intelligence domain. It relies on the one hand on the goal-directed paradigm for process support and on the other hand on cooperative process elements to reach goals. SCALE provides languages policies, mechanisms and structures for designing, defining, customizing, instantiating, evolving and enacting process models. In particular, a complete software engineering environment is being built based on the SCALE process framework for supporting system composition processes explicitly based on the planned and intensive reuse of large-grain and fine-grain components