Documentation of Finite State Machine / Workflow

Question

In my database, I store task data (id, timestamp, input data), and information about the state of the multi-step processing (e.g. prepare, execute, summarize). The program moves from one state to another. If the program breaks, the last state remains persistent. I am thinking in terms of a finite state machine (fsm).

Now I am looking for an easy text format to document the fsm. I want to be able to define the input (available data) that can be expected for a given state, and several possible next states (e.g. finished, failed).

I was looking for over an hour on common workflow language (cwl) and could not figure out whether they have more than one output states or not and so I am asking here.

Any hints appreciated!

EDIT: According to your answer, I realize that this is a too small problem for a standard text format. I guess I was looking for a ready-to-go solution of this. Thanks!

Answer 1

I agree with Hans-Martin Mosner on this: nothing beats a graphical representation for workflows. Not sure how complex your workflows are and how many parameters on each state, but try having a look at the dot language. You might be able to build a graph that displays everything you need.

It's not all that much of a complex language and many times I used to generate graphs by dumping states from the database with SQL queries into a file.

https://graphviz.org/Gallery/directed/fsm.html

Answer 2

For FSMs (unless they have too many states) nothing beats a graphical representation of the states and transitions. A textual description of each state and transition is also needed, of course, but that may well be informal as the formal structure is completely described in the graph.

Just had a look at the CWL page, it doesn't seem to be well suited to describe FSMs, but mainly targeted towards workflows involving multiple programs, file data, etc.