Intermediate Representation

Abstract

In this chapter, we introduce the intermediate representation (IR) that serves as an abstraction for concrete process modeling languages to enable change management of process models independent of language-specific details. In Section 3.1, we discuss general options for an IR. We describe challenges that need to be addressed by such an IR and derive requirements for it in Section 3.2. Based on the requirements, we then present the syntax and semantics of the intermediate representation in Section 3.3. In Section 3.4, we focus on the decomposition into fragments as an integral part of the IR. In Section 3.5, we map exemplary a core subset of the BPMN to the IR. Finally, we conclude the chapter with a summary and discussion. The following sections of this chapter are partially based on our earlier publication [Gerth et al., 2009].