Open Access

Konrad Schneid, Claus A. Usener, Sebastian Thöne, Herbert Kuchen, Christian Tophinke

• Process-Driven Applications (PDA) require less coding, for their business logic is defined by a business process model which can be executed by a process engine. However, inconsistencies between process model and dependent source code artifacts cause runtime errors and reduce development productivity. This paper targets at making the development of PDAs more efficient: It proposes a broader approach to statical analysis which also covers consistency constraints between model and code. When integrated into common analysis tools or a continuous integration pipeline, defects like broken code references or data-flow anomalies can be detected at an early stage without launching the entire application and its process interpretation engine. The approach is demonstrated by a prototype called viadee Process Application Validator (vPAV), which was developed for BPMN-based process models. The prototype has already been used in various BPM projects, attesting high benefit and potential.