Providing support for process model enaction in the Metaview metasystem

Process modeling is a means of formally defining many aspects of the software development process through the use of models. Partial automation of a process model can help to improve the software process. Menial or tedious tasks, such as collecting metrics, no longer have to be the responsibility of the developer. Coordination of effort can also be enhanced through automation. Automation can be achieved through the development of a process modeling support environment and the appropriate CASE tools. This is one of the major goals of the Metaview project, which involves the design and development of a metasystem to generate such an environment. A key requirement for this type of support environment is to use an active database. Active databases can react through an action to events, such as changes to a particular data item, thereby giving them the flexibility needed for process modeling. The paper presents an execution model for the support of process model enaction in the Metaview system. The execution model is intended to support a wide variety of process models and process modeling languages. The model is based upon the event rule model used in active databases