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Abstract

A Work Flow Manager (WFM), or process manager, is the software to manage and control the flow of work items from one function to the next in a well-defined application process to achieve the complete processing of those work items. Applications of WFMs include the processing of imaged or multimedia documents such as health and other insurance forms, filmless radiology, IRS tax submissions, and FBI fingerprint and voice identification. The invention WFM: a. provides an improved, scalable subsystem and method for work flow management; b. partitions the application (work flow) process into component distributed services, each represented by an OSF Distributed Computer Environment (DCE) service; c. defines the application process with a state transition diagram (STD); d. uses centralized control software with a work-in-process (WIP) manager, a work queue manager, and a WIP submission attributes data base manager; e. defines and uses a common 'pull system' protocol for communication between the WFM and the component distributed services; f. distinguishes WIP submissions from archived submissions; and g. uses an 'attribute-base file system' to store submissions, typically implemented with both a data base for submission attributes (including the current state of WIP submissions), and a distributed file system for submission contents files.

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First Claim