Set Algebra for Service Behavior: Applications and Constructions

Compatibility of behavior, i.e. the correct ordering of messages, is one of the core aspects for the interaction between services as parts of an inter-organizational business process. In previous work, we proposed formal representations for service behavior (including Petri nets and service automata) and finite representations of sets thereof (operating guidelines). In this article, we show how the basic set operations union, intersection, and complement, as well as membership and emptiness tests, can be implemented on finite representations of (typically infinite) sets of services. We motivate the operations by three examples of applications—service substitution, selection of behavior, and navigation in a behavioral registry.