Workflow Terminology and Definitions

Workflow Terminology and Definitions

Work Flow	It's simple, it's the process of working from start to finish. A workflow consists of process logic and alignment rules. The process logic defines the order of tasks and the alignment rules that must be followed, as well as the deadlines and other business rules that are implemented by the workflow engine.
Process Definition	A graphical process definition or flowchart that represents the process logic elements of a workflow and the relationships between the elements.
Process Instance	A process instance, often called work, is a running instance of a process definition.
Workflow Management System	A software application that stores the process definition and runs its work based on these process definitions through its workflow engine components. The workflow engine is the run-time execution module.
Process Definition Tools	A software tool that is used to create and change process definitions. The tool can be a component of a business process management software, a standalone application, or a component of a workflow management system. The Process Definition tool provides the ability to reuse stored workflow elements and even all sub-processes, which makes workflow application developers more productive because they avoid reinventing these wheels (applications) when building workflows and integrating other applications into the workflow.
participants	One of the following types: A resource set, a specific resource, an organizational unit, a role (a person's role within the organization), a person, or a system (automatic proxy). It can be answered in the business process "who." "This question.
Events	A task that makes up a logical step in the process definition. can be automatic or manual. Automatically refers to the ability to define scripts and triggers during process operations. Specific activities in a process definition can be run as unattended tasks, and automation can execute business rules in manual or human-driven tasks. A common automatic activity is deadline management, which can automatically send a reminder message or trigger an extension program if a work item fails to complete before the scheduled deadline.
Event Owner	An activity owner is a participant who has the right to announce an event and then move on to the next activity in the process.
Work owner	The work owner is the participant who has the overall control over the process instance execution.
Work Item	Represents the work that an active participant in a process instance will perform