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Difference between BPEL & Workflow [message #261752] Thu, 23 August 2007 09:00 Go to next message
agostino_neto
Messages: 180
Registered: July 2005
Senior Member
Hi all,

Can someone kindly explain the difference between BPEL & Workflow?
What are the improvements in R12 with the use of BPEL ?
Thanks.
Re: Difference between BPEL & Workflow [message #262528 is a reply to message #261752] Mon, 27 August 2007 07:02 Go to previous message
B.T.S.Ananth
Messages: 216
Registered: June 2006
Location: chennai / Hyderabad
Senior Member

BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) for Web services is an XML-based language designed to enable task-sharing for a distributed computing or grid computing environment - even across multiple organizations - using a combination of Web services.
Using BPEL, a programmer formally describes a business process that will take place across the Web in such a way that any cooperating entity can perform one or more steps in the process the same way. In a supply chain process, for example, a BPEL program might describe a business protocol that formalizes what pieces of information a product order consists of, and what exceptions may have to be handled. The BPEL program would not, however, specify how a given Web service should process a given order internally.
BPEL is emerging as the standard for assembling a set of discrete services into an end-to-end process flow, radically reducing the cost and complexity of process integration initiatives. Oracle BPEL Process Manager offers a comprehensive and easy-to-use infrastructure for creating, deploying and managing BPEL business processes.


Workflow:
Oracle Workflow lets you set up subscriptions to business events which can launch workflows or enable messages to be propagated from one system to another when business events occur. You can communicate events among systems within your own enterprise and with external systems as well. In this way, you can implement
point-to-point messaging integration or use Oracle Workflow as a messaging hub for more complex system integration scenarios. You can model business processes that include complex routing and processing rules to handle events powerfully and flexibly.

Oracle Workflow manages business processes according to rules that you define. The rules, which we call a workflow process definition, include the activities that occur in the process and the relationship between those activities. An activity in a process definition can be an automated function defined by a PL/SQL stored procedure or an external function, a notification to a user or role that may optionally request a response, a
business event, or a subflow that itself is made up of a more granular set of activities. A workflow process is initiated when an application calls a set of Oracle Workflow Engine APIs. The Workflow Engine takes over by driving the relevant work item defined by the application, through a specific workflow process definition. According to the workflow process definition, the Workflow Engine performs automated steps and invokes appropriate agents when external processing is required.



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