BPMN Analyzer 2.0: Instantaneous, Comprehensible, and Fixable Control Flow Analysis for Realistic BPMN Models

TL;DR

This paper tackles control-flow errors in BPMN models, such as deadlocks and livelocks, which impede correct execution. It introduces BPMN Analyzer 2.0, a tool with instantaneous on-the-fly state-space analysis implemented in Rust and integrated into a bpmn.io-based UI. Key contributions include real-time error detection, in-model visualization and interactive executions, and a library of quick fixes with reversibility. Benchmark results on synthetic and realistic BPMN models demonstrate near-instantaneous analysis for typical models and competitive performance against prior approaches, highlighting practical impact for developers and BPMN tool vendors.

Abstract

Many business process models contain control flow errors, such as deadlocks or livelocks, which hinder proper execution. In this paper, we introduce a new tool that can instantaneously identify control flow errors in BPMN models, make them understandable for modelers, and suggest corrections to resolve them. We demonstrate that detection is instantaneous by benchmarking our tool against synthetic BPMN models with increasing size and state space complexity, as well as realistic models. Moreover, the tool directly displays detected errors in the model, including an interactive visualization, and suggests fixes to resolve them. The tool is open source, extensible, and integrated into a popular BPMN modeling tool.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Overview of the BPMN Analyzer 2.0
• Figure 2: Execution visualization (left) and suggested quick fixes (right) in the BPMN Analyzer