The Imixs-Workflow Core-API
The Imixs-Workflow Core-API provides a platform independent open source workflow API. This API is the basic library for all other components provided by the Imixs-Workflow project. The Imixs-Workflow Core-API defines a set of java classes and interfaces to develop a workflow management solution. The Core-API is used by the Imixs-Workflow Engine and also the Imixs-Workflow REST API. The following section gives a brief overview about the architecture and general concepts.
The Architecture
The Imixs-Workflow Core-API consists of a set of interfaces and classes providing the general functionality of a workflow management solution. The following section describes these components and their basic concepts. The Imixs-Workflow Core-API is independent from a specific platform or technology and can be used in all kinds of java applications.
The Workflow Manager
The WorkflowManager is the uppermost layer of each workflow system based on the Imixs-Workflow API. The interface org.imixs.workflow.WorkflowManager provides basic methods to create and control a process instance.
The Model
A process model describes the process flow of the business process. The interface org.imixs.workflow.Model provides methods to access a process model and navigate through the model. Each model consists of a set of process entities (Tasks) and activity entities (Events). A process entity defines the status of a process instance. In a graphical workflow model a process entity is typical represented by a node. An activity entity defines an action which can be performed on a workitem and also the transition to the new status. Each process entity and activity entity stores process information as also processing introductions. There are different ways a Model can be implemented by a Workflow Management System. The Imixs-BPMN Modeler provides an eclipse based graphical editor to define workflow models based on the BPMN 2.0 specification.
The Plug-ins
The Imixs-Workflow Core API provides a Plug-In concept to provide components implementing a concrete behavior inside a workflow management system. A Plug-in is called by the WorkflowManager when a process instance is processed. Plug-ins can implement application specific functionality and business logic. Plug-ins are reusable components in the Workflow Management System and typical used by the application developer to design the behavior of a business application. See the section Plug-Ins for more information.
The WorkflowKernel
The WorkflowKernel implements the core functionality of the Imixs-Workflow API. The WorkflowKernel can start a new process instance and process a running instance based on the definition of the process model. The WorkflowKernel validates the processing phase and coordinates the interaction between the model and the plug-ins. See the section WorkflowKernel for more information.
The ItemCollection
All data objects in the Imixs-Workflow API are encapsulated in a generic value object called ‘ItemCollection’. The ItemColleciton is a very flexible kind of document orientated data structure which can consist of a variable number of attributes (Items). Each Item in an ItemCollection is defined by the Item-Name and a Item-Value. The value of an Item can be any java based data object which is serializeable. See the section ItemCollection for further information and examples.
