Management of document versions in workflow systems

This paper proposes a new method of document version management for workflow management systems. Recently, a workflow management system is considered as an essential element for automation of complex business processes, particularly for those in an e-Business environment. A core element of such processes is the documents that flow over the processes. Therefore, it is very important to have a systematic management of document changes along with the process execution. We propose a version model that can take into account the structure of the underlying process over existing version management techniques. In this model, the components of a document and a process are associated each other, and this becomes the basis for automatic creation of document versions and automatic configuration of relevant document for a certain user at a certain stage of process. A prototype system has been implemented, and the potential advantages of the approach have been discussed.