I had a several-message discussion of the BP metamodel
in the ebXML-Awareness list with William Kammerer.
I'm sending excerpts to the BP list to see what we can
do about his main criticism, and also copying William
so he can add more (if I excerpted too little) and see
if he thinks any of the suggestions for improvement
will do any good.
If you want to read the whole discussion, go to the
Awareness list archives at:
http://www.xml.org/archives/ebxml-awareness/2000/06/
I think Mr. Kammerer is just what the metamodel document
needs right now: a critical reader. His main criticism
is that the UML diagrams are unreadable, especially
the first big one:
>Yes, I realize use of UML was "mandated. But pretty much all the UML
>diagrams give me a headache - perhaps I need to take the UML for Dummies
>class. And the ebXML Business Process Metamodel on Page 4 of the BP
>First Draft is out of this world; I would call it spaghetti-code.
I agree with him. The usual rule of thumb is about 7 elements
in one diagram; this one has more than 30 boxes, lots of
criss-crossed lines, no point of focus, no place to start,
no thread to follow, etc.
Now, all the members of the BP team knew this diagram
was too complicated, but to get our work done, we pretty much
needed one all-inclusive diagram. However, I think it is time
to figure out how to present the results for ease of reading.
Here is a suggestion:
Break the diagram up into sections, not according to the
current packages, but according to a narrative flow.
For example, maybe:
* A Party plays PartnerRoles in BusinessTransactions.
BusinessTransactions consist of InformationExchanges which
exchange BusinessMessages.
* BusinessTransactions may be grouped as StepDefinitions
in BusinessProcessDefinitions.
* BusinessTransactions may result in BusinessEvents which
affect BusinessEntitys.
* SomeBusinessEvents are EconomicEvents which transfer
ownership of EconomicResources.
* BusinessEntities may be Agreements, EconomicResources,
or EconomicResourceTypes.
* Some Agreements are Contracts. Contracts make Commitments
about future EconomicEvents.
I'm not saying this is the correct narrative flow, but I am
proposing narrative flows with storyboard-like visuals
as one alternative that may present the metamodel
more clearly.
William, BP team, what do you think?
(Later, I will summarize the discussion into formal comments
for the BP comments table.)
Regards,
Bob Haugen
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