Workflow Discovery Through Semantic Constraints: A Geovisualization Case Study

Abstract

The construction of computational pipelines, for example automated cartographic workflows for the construction of thematic maps, typically requires detailed knowledge about the available tools for the individual steps and the technicalities of their composition. It is a time-consuming process and comes with the risk of missing meaningful workflows because many possible pipelines are never taken into account. Automated workflow composition techniques can facilitate comprehensive workflow discovery based on semantic constraints: The users express their intention about the workflows by means of high-level constraints, and receive possible workflows that meet their request. The successful application of such methods essentially depends on the availability and quality of semantic domain models that describe the tools and data types in the domain. In this paper, we present an exemplary domain model for a geovisualization use case, and show how it enables the abstract specification and automated composition of a complex cartographic workflow.