An Open ECA Server for Active Applications

Event monitoring and active behaviors are important aspects in many software systems and application domains, not only in database management systems. In this paper, we propose an Event-Condition-Action (ECA) approach that spans from application data to application components and behaviors. Starting from an exception manager we previously developed in the context of a workflow management system, we derived an autonomous active component capable of handling a variety of events and of enacting actions in response to detected events. The ECA server runs as an autonomous engine and can be seamlessly integrated with existing systems, thus enhancing the systems’ functionalities and maintainability by separating active and non-active design concerns.