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Subject: Re: [wsbpel] Issue - 188 - Dead Path Elimination and Join Conditions


If you feel like doing the work to re-edit the text into something a 
little less confusing I wouldn't have any objections.
	Yaron

Danny van der Rijn wrote:
> Every time I read the following paragraph, my feeling is reinforced. 
> The only time that I would expect a join condition to evaluate to true
> (last sentence) is when an incoming link is true.  Yes, I am reading
> more into those words than exist.  Yet I still say that this is
> unclear.  The title of the section is about paths, which would make no
> sense otherwise.  However, I raised this point initially to gauge
> reactions, not to change opinions.  If the opinions are against me, I
> can accept that.  I guess we'll find out at the call.
> 
> Danny
> 
> 
> 12.5.2. Dead-Path-Elimination (DPE)
> 
> In cases where the control flow is largely defined by networks of links,
> the normal
> interpretation of a false join condition for activity A is that A should
> not be performed,
> rather than that a fault has occurred. Moreover, there is a need to
> propagate the
> consequences of this decision by assigning a negative status to the
> outgoing links for A.
> WS-BPEL makes it easy to express these semantics by using an attribute
> suppressJoinFailure on an activity. A value of "yes" for this attribute
> has the effect of
> suppressing the bpws:joinFailure fault for the activity and all nested
> activities, except
> where the effect is overridden by using the suppressJoinFailure
> attribute with a value
> of "no" in a nested activity. Suppressing the bpws:joinFailure is
> equivalent to the fault
> being logically caught by a special default handler attached to an
> implicit scope that
> immediately encloses just the activity with the join condition. The
> default handler
> behavior is an empty activity, that is, the handler suppresses the fault
> and does nothing
> about it. However, because the activity with the join condition was not
> performed, its
> outgoing links are automatically assigned a negative status according to
> the rules of Link
> Semantics. Thus within an activity with the value of the
> suppressJoinFailure attribute
> set to "yes", the semantics of a join condition that evaluates to false
> are to skip the
> associated activity and to set the status of all outgoing links from
> that activity to negative.
> This is called dead-pathelimination because in a graph-like
> interpretation of networks of
> links with transition conditions, these semantics have the effect of
> propagating negative
> link status transitively along entire paths formed by consecutive links
> until a join
> condition is reached that evaluates to true.
> 
> Yaron Y. Goland wrote:
> 
>  > Since the algorithm is an optimization (e.g. BPEL can run just fine,
>  > if slower, without it) and since it is not something that users should
>  > need be aware of I don't see a compelling case for changing the
>  > terminology. But I'm always open to a good argument.
>  >
>  >     Yaron
>  >
>  > Ron Ten-Hove wrote:
>  >
>  >> The problem may lie with interpretion of the phrase "dead-path
>  >> elimination", especially the term "path". This implies that something
>  >> pathlike is being eliminated. I for one think of paths in graphs as
>  >> usually having more than one node, which isn't really how DPE works.
>  >> The example shows that DPE is more accurately termed "dead activity
>  >> elimination,"  although more conventional use of links does indeed
>  >> lead to something pathlike being eliminated.
>  >>
>  >> Is the above holds true, then the question is, is the phrase
>  >> "dead-path elimination" so misleading that we should change it?
>  >>
>  >> -Ron
>  >>
>  >> Yaron Y. Goland wrote:
>  >>
>  >>> I gotta admit that I don't see the current state of the spec as
>  >>> being a bug. I think that the example in the issue is not
>  >>> pathological or even counter intuitive. Dead path elimination is
>  >>> simply an optimization that allows one to skip having to execute
>  >>> activities when one has sufficient information to determine that
>  >>> those activities can never execute. In the example given in this
>  >>> issue dead path elimination can clean up second but not third. That
>  >>> seems fine to me.
>  >>>
>  >>> I realize I'm quite likely being thick but I reviewed the entire
>  >>> thread on this issue and I just don't see a problem.
>  >>>
>  >>>         Yaron
>  >>>
>  >>> Tony Fletcher wrote:
>  >>>
>  >>>> This issue has been added to the wsbpel issue list with a status of
>  >>>> "received". The status will be changed to "open" if the TC accepts
>  >>>> it as identifying a bug in the spec or decides it should be
>  >>>> accepted specially. Otherwise it will be closed without further
>  >>>> consideration (but will be marked as "Revisitable")
>  >>>>
>  >>>> The issues list is posted as a Technical Committee document to the
>  >>>> OASIS WSBPEL TC pages
>  >>>> <http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/wsbpel> on a regular
>  >>>> basis. The current edition, as a TC document, is the most recent
>  >>>> version of the document entitled **in the "Issues" folder of the
>  >>>> WSBPEL TC document list
>  >>>> <http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/wsbpel/documents.php>
>  >>>> - the next posting as a TC document will include this issue. The
>  >>>> list editor's working copy, which will normally include an issue
>  >>>> when it is announced, is available at this constant URL
>  >>>> <http://www.choreology.com/external/WS_BPEL_issues_list.html>.
>  >>>>
>  >>>>   
>  >>>> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  >>>>
>  >>>>
>  >>>>
>  >>>>     Issue - 188 - Dead Path Elimination and Join Conditions
>  >>>>
>  >>>> *Status:* received
>  >>>> *Date added:* 29 Jan 2005
>  >>>> *Categories:* State management
>  >>>> <file:///C:/Perlscripts/wsbpel_issues30.html#category_state_management>
>  >>>>
>  >>>> *Date submitted:* 27 January 2005
>  >>>> *Submitter:* Danny van der Rijn <mailto:dannyv@tibco.com>
>  >>>> *Description:* This is a question dealing with a pathological
>  >>>> condition that the spec allows that I think we should disallow.
>  >>>> Currently, it is legal to have a joinCondition which negates
>  >>>> dead-path elimination. The simplest way to do this is to have an
>  >>>> activity with one incoming link and whose joinCondition is
>  >>>> not($incoming). A more detailed expression of this follows.
>  >>>> Apologies if the syntax isn't quite right.
>  >>>>
>  >>>> <flow suppressJoinFailure="yes">
>  >>>>     <links>
>  >>>>        <link name="first2second"/>
>  >>>>        <link name="second2third"/>
>  >>>>     </links>
>  >>>>
>  >>>>     <someActivityname="first">
>  >>>>        <sources>
>  >>>>           <source linkName="first2second">
>  >>>>              <transitionCondition>
>  >>>>                 false
>  >>>>              </transitionCondition>
>  >>>>        </sources>
>  >>>>     </someActivity>
>  >>>>
>  >>>>     <someActivityname="second">
>  >>>>        <sources>
>  >>>>           <source linkName="second2third">
>  >>>>        </sources>
>  >>>>        <targets>
>  >>>>           <target linkName="first2second"/>
>  >>>>        </targets>
>  >>>>     </someActivity>
>  >>>>
>  >>>>     <someActivityname="third">
>  >>>>        <targets>
>  >>>>           <joinCondition>
>  >>>>              not(getLinkStatus("second2third"))
>  >>>>           </joinCondition>
>  >>>>           <target linkName="second2third"/>
>  >>>>        </targets>
>  >>>>     </someActivity>
>  >>>> </flow>
>  >>>>
>  >>>> A flow from first to second to third. The transition from "first"
>  >>>> to "second" has some condition. If it is false, "second" will not
>  >>>> evaluate. Yet according to my reading of the spec this merely sets
>  >>>> the link status of "second2third" to false, which in turn causes
>  >>>> "third" to execute.
>  >>>>
>  >>>> This is in contradiction with my understanding of dead-path
>  >>>> elimination.
>  >>>>
>  >>>> *Submitter's proposal:* I would prefer to disallow joinConditions
>  >>>> whose expression does not require a true input in order that the
>  >>>> join condition evaluate to true. Comments?
>  >>>> *Links:*     Announcement, 29 Jan 2005
>  >>>> <http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/wsbpel/200501/msg00054.html>
>  >>>> *Changes:* 29 Jan 2005 - new issue
>  >>>>
>  >>>> 
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Best Regards,
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Tony/                           /
>  >>>>
>  >>>> / <http://www.choreology.com/>/
>  >>>>
>  >>>>    Tony Fletcher
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Technical Advisor
>  >>>> Choreology Ltd.
>  >>>> 68, Lombard Street, London EC3V 9L J   UK
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Phone:
>  >>>>    +44 (0) 1473 729537
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Mobile:
>  >>>>
>  >>>>    +44 (0) 7801 948219//
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Fax:     +44 (0) 870 7390077
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Web:
>  >>>>
>  >>>>    /www.choreology.com <http://www.choreology.com/>/
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Cohesions™
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Business transaction management software for application coordination
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Work: tony.fletcher@choreology.com
>  >>>>
>  >>>> Home: amfletcher@iee.org <mailto:amfletcher@iee.org>
>  >>>>
>  >>>> 
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>>
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>  >>> 
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>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>
>  >
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>  >
>  >
>  >
> 


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