Java-based workflow solutions

We currently use a sequential workflow to process documents. We have a total of 10 distinct workflow steps. We have re-analyzed the workflow and realized that we could restructure the workflow to process in parallel a number of the workflow steps. Basically we are able to process steps 1,2,3,4 in parallel, wait until steps 1-4 are completed and then process step 5, then process steps 6,7,8,9 in parallel wait until steps 6-9 are completed and then finally process step 10. If we were able to imple开发者_如何转开发ment this new workflow we could boost our processing throughput dramatically.

My question is: What java-based open-source workflow projects would you recommend? Do they typically support what I outlined above?

Thanks for all the replies. After taking a quick look at the the websites you all have listed I think I have more than enough to chew on for a while.

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I have used jBPM, and it's pretty nice. It has the parallel processing (forking) and waiting for tasks to be done (joining) the workflow.

The latest version supports a standard notation for business processes - BPMN 2.0

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There is a commercial one called Appian in case you are interested in.

http://www.appian.com/

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You could have a look at YAWL.

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Spring batch is really nice

http://static.springsource.org/spring-batch/

You can define the jobs right in XML. Has a fairly steep learning curve though, may be too much for a single process if you don't plan to do any more batch processing.

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I'd suggest that you check out Bonita Open Solution. It can do the parallel processing you describe, the provided IDE/Studio is pretty good and the out-of-the-box portal functionality is nice.

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I have worked on Appian BPM and jBPM. Both are good tools to choose. For complex requirements, Appian BPM should be a really nice option.