摘要： 为了实现工作流管理功能，首先要把业务过程从现实世界抽象出来，并用一种形式化方法对其进行描述，其结果就是工作流模型。该文讨论利用并行自动机对工作流的形式化问题。基于对工作流和并行自动机的分析，提出了将工作流的概念映射到并行自动机概念上的方法，该方法可以把工作流联盟提出的工作流的4种结构映射到并行自动机的结构上。给出了并行自动机的结点转化图，即给出了工作流引擎的框架。并行自动机是一种图形的、数学化的计算模型，当工作流的模型——并行自动机建立起来后，为工作流的静态特性和动态特性的分析打下不坚实的基础，为进一步的研究作好了准备。

关键词: 工作流模型, 形式化方法, 工作流引擎, 并行自动机, 计算模型

Abstract: To achieve the function of workflow management, the business process must be abstracted from the real world and described by a kind of formal method. The result is workflow model. This paper discusses workflow models and their formal descriptions using parallel finite automata(PFA)theory. Based on the analysis of workflow and PFA, it proposes the method of mapping workflow management concepts onto PFA, and this method can map four types of routing constructs advocated by WfMC onto the structure of PFA. An executing process description of PFA is given, that is, a framework of workflow engineer is given. Because PFA is a graphics and mathematics computing model, after PFA has been built up, it has grounded for the analysis of workflow static and dynamic characteristic, thus makes the preparation for the further research.

Key words: Workflow model, Formal method, Workflow engine, Parallel automata, Computing model