A.1. Translating a Conceptual Process to an EKM Process

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## A.1. Translating a Conceptual Process to an EKM Process

A process is often represented conceptually as a diagram or flowchart with tasks and links connecting the tasks. It can also be a list of steps that have been captured on a piece of paper. An example of a conceptual process diagram is shown in Figure 1: Conceptual Process Diagram. This process begins with the collection of files for a CFD simulation. Next, a validation is setup as an iterative process. If the validation is approved, the CFD simulation is run by a batch process. Otherwise, the setup is evaluated and modified if it is not approved, and the process loops back and repeats until validation is approved.

Figure 1: Conceptual Process Diagram

Now, let's translate this conceptual diagram to an EKM process implementation. Refer to the modified diagram shown in Figure 2: Translation of Conceptual Process — Showing Nodes and Block. Because EKM processes are defined by node and transition elements, we will need to translate each task to a node type. The “Collect Files” task is a simple manual task where a user supplies files for the CFD analysis. This is modeled as a simple Node type. The “Setup Validation” task is the initial condition step in an iterative loop and is modeled as an iteration node. Because the iteration loop contains a set of tasks that are performed if the “Setup Validation” iteration condition is not approved, these tasks are defined as a block in the EKM process construct, where the block is used to code the logic for the Evaluate Setup and Modify Setup tasks. Rules for block usage require that a block can have one and only one start and end node. So, to satisfy this rule, an auto node named End Node must be added to the end of the block. Note that another difference between these two diagrams is that the Setup Validation task is an iteration node in the EKM model. The iteration node will cause the task to persist until the iteration condition is satisfied. This eliminates the need to add a transition from the End Node back up to the Setup Validation (shown as the dotted line in Figure 2: Translation of Conceptual Process — Showing Nodes and Block, because this happens automatically based on built-in logic in the iteration node. The “CFD Analysis” task is defined by a Batch node.

Figure 2: Translation of Conceptual Process — Showing Nodes and Block

Now the translated diagram is coded in XML, saved as an EKM process template with the .pt.xml extension and uploaded to an EKM repository. The graph that is displayed in the EKM user interface is shown in Figure 3: Sample Process Graph — EKM Implementation.

Figure 3: Sample Process Graph — EKM Implementation

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