Temporal Variables for Time Modeling in...

The modeling of temporal aspects in business processes is based on the representation of time as a mere property of control-flow constructs. Other timepoints cannot be represented, which limits the types of temporal constraints that modelers can express. Additionally, such representation of time hinders modularization and support for privacy in distributed processes. Here we propose a new process metamodel in which temporal aspects are explicitly modeled with temporal variables. We show that our metamodel gives modelers increased expressiveness to represent temporal constraints. We then give indications on how our metamodel can be used for overcoming the identied gaps.