Restructuring BPMN diagrams using BPStruct

Complex BPMN diagrams with spaghetti-like structures are hard to read. BPStruct helps to simplify such diagrams. The underlying algorithms transform unstructured programs/service compositions/(business) process models into well-structured ones. A model is well-structured, if for every node with multiple outgoing arcs (a split) there is a corresponding node with multiple incoming arcs (a join), and vice versa, such that the fragment of the model between the split and the join forms a single-entry-single-exit (SESE) component; otherwise the model is unstructured. The transformation preserves concurrency in resulting well-structured models.

by Artem Polyvyanyy, Luciano García-Bañuelos, Dirk Fahland, Mathias Weske, Marlon Dumas

Information Flyer (PDF):

The motivations for well-structured process models are manifold:

• Well-structured models are easier to layout for visual representation.
• Well-structured models are easier to comprehend by humans.
• Well-structured models tend to have fewer errors than unstructured ones and it is less probable to introduce new errors when modifying them.
• Well-structured process models are better suited for analysis with many existing formal techniques applicable only for structured models.
• Well-structured models are better suited for efficient execution and optimization.

Consequently, some process modeling languages urge for structured modeling. However, one needs to be aware of the limitations that the well-structured process modeling implies: There exist concurrent processes that cannot be formalized as well-structured process models.