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Workflows and Scripts

Table of contents

  1. Describing scripts and workflows
  2. Workflow Runtime and Programming Language
  3. Workflow diagram/sketch
  4. Complying with Bioschemas Computational Workflow profile
    1. Describing inputs and outputs
  5. Complete Workflow Example

Scientific workflows and scripts that were used (or can be used) to analyze or generate files contained in an RO-Crate MAY be embedded in an RO-Crate. See also the Provenance section on Software Used to Create Files.

Workflows and scripts SHOULD be described using data entities of type SoftwareSourceCode.

The distinction between SoftwareSourceCode and SoftwareApplication for software is fluid, and comes down to availability and understandability. For instance, office spreadsheet applications are generally available and do not need further explanation (SoftwareApplication); while a Python script that is customized for a particular data analysis might be important to understand deeper and should therefore be included as SoftwareSourceCode in the RO-Crate dataset.

Describing scripts and workflows

A script is a Data Entity which MUST have the following properties:

  • @type is an array with at least File and SoftwareSourceCode as values
  • @id is a File URI linking to the executable script
  • name: a human-readable name for the script.

A workflow is a Data Entity which MUST have the following properties:

  • @type is an array with at least File, SoftwareSourceCode and ComputationalWorkflow as values
  • @id is a File URI linking to the workflow entry-point.
  • name: a human-readable name for the workflow.

Short example describing a script:

{
  "@id": "scripts/analyse_csv.py",
  "@type": ["File", "SoftwareSourceCode"],
  "name": "Analyze CSV files",
  "programmingLanguage": {"@id": "https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-380/"}
}

Short example describing a workflow:

{
    "@id": "workflow/retropath.knime",  
    "@type": ["File", "SoftwareSourceCode", "ComputationalWorkflow"],
    "author": {"@id": "#thomas"},
    "name": "RetroPath Knime workflow",
    "description": "Retrosynthesis workflow calculating chemical reactions",
    "license": { "@id": "https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0"},
    "programmingLanguage": {"@id": "#knime"}
}

There is no strong distinction between a script and a workflow; many computational workflows are written in script-like languages, and many scripts perform a pipeline of steps.

Here are some indicators for when a script should be considered a workflow:

  • It performs a series of steps (pipeline)
  • The executed steps are mainly external tools or services
  • The main work is performed by the steps (script is not algorithmic)
  • The steps exchange data in a dataflow, typically file inputs/outputs
  • The script has well-defined inputs and outputs, e.g. file arguments

Here are some counter-indicators for when a script might not be a workflow:

  • The script contains mainly algorithms or logic
  • Data is exchanged out of bands, e.g. a SQL database
  • The script relies on a particular state of the system (e.g. appends existing files)
  • An interactive user interface that controls the actions

Workflow Runtime and Programming Language

Scripts written in a programming language, as well as workflows, generally need a runtime; in RO-Crate the runtime SHOULD be indicated using a liberal interpretation of programmingLanguage.

Note that the language and its runtime MAY differ (e.g. different C++ compilers), but for scripts and workflows, frequently the language and runtime are essentially the same, and thus the programmingLanguage, implied to be a ComputerLanguage, can also be described as an executable SoftwareApplication:

{
  "@id": "scripts/analyse_csv.py",
  "@type": ["File", "SoftwareSourceCode"],
  "name": "Analyze CSV files",
  "programmingLanguage": {"@id": "https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-380/"}
},
{
  "@id": "https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-380/",
  "@type": ["ComputerLanguage", "SoftwareApplication"],
  "name": "Python 3.8.0",
  "version": "3.8.0"
}

A contextual entity representing a ComputerLanguage and/or SoftwareApplication MUST have a name, url and version, which should indicate a known version the workflow/script was developed or tested with. alternateName MAY be provided if there is a shorter colloquial name, for instance “R” instead of “The R Project for Statistical Computing”.

It is possible to indicate steps that are executed as part of an ComputationalWorkflow or Script, by using hasPart to relate additional SoftwareApplication or nested SoftwareSourceCode contextual entities:

{
    "@id": "workflow/analyze.cwl",  
    "@type": ["File", "SoftwareSourceCode", "ComputationalWorkflow"],
    "name": "CWL workflow to analyze CSV and make PNG",
    "programmingLanguage": {"@id": "https://w3id.org/cwl/v1.1/"},
    "hasPart": [
      {"@id": "scripts/analyse_csv.py"},
      {"@id": "https://www.imagemagick.org/"}
    ]
}

Workflow diagram/sketch

It can be beneficial to show a diagram or sketch to explain the script/workflow. This may have been generated from a workflow management system, or drawn manually as a diagram. This diagram MAY be included from the SoftwareSourceCode data entity by using image, pointing to an ImageObject data entity which is about the SoftwareSourceCode:

{
  "@id": "workflow/workflow.knime",  
  "@type": ["File", "SoftwareSourceCode", "ComputationalWorkflow"],
  "name": "RetroPath2.0 workflow",
  "image": {"@id": "workflow/workflow.svg" } 
},
{
  "@id": "workflow/workflow.svg",
  "@type": ["File", "ImageObject"],
  "encodingFormat":  "image/svg+xml",
  "name": "Diagram of RetroPath2.0 workflow",
  "about": {"@id": "workflow/workflow.knime"}
}

The image file format SHOULD be indicated with encodingFormat using an IANA registered media type like image/svg+xml or image/png. Additionally a reference to a Pronom identifier SHOULD be provided, which MAY be described as an additional contextual entity to give human-readable name to the format:

{
  "@id": "workflow/workflow.svg",
  "@type": ["File", "ImageObject"],
  "encodingFormat":  ["image/svg+xml"],
  "name": "Diagram of RetroPath2.0 workflow",
  "about": {"@id": "workflow/workflow.knime"}
},

A workflow diagram may still be provided even if there is no programmatic SoftwareSourceCode that can be executed (e.g. because the workflow was done by hand). In this case the sketch itself is a proxy for the workflow and SHOULD have an about property referring to the RO-Crate dataset as a whole (assuming the RO-Crate represents the outcome of a single workflow), or to other Data Entities otherwise:

{
  "@id": "workflow/workflow.svg",
  "@type": ["File", "ImageObject"],
  "encodingFormat":  ["image/svg+xml"],
  "name": "Diagram of an ad hoc workflow",
  "about": {"@id": "./"}
}

Complying with Bioschemas Computational Workflow profile

Data entities representing workflows (@type: ComputationalWorkflow) SHOULD comply with the Bioschemas ComputationalWorkflow profile, where possible.

When complying with this profile, the workflow data entities MUST describe these properties and their related contextual entities: name, programmingLanguage, creator, dateCreated, license, sdPublisher, url, version.

The ComputationalWorkflow profile explains the above and list additional properties that a compliant ComputationalWorkflow data entity SHOULD include: citation, contributor, creativeWorkStatus, description, funding, hasPart, isBasedOn, keywords, maintainer, producer, publisher, runtimePlatform, softwareRequirements, targetProduct

A data entity conforming to the ComputationalWorkflow profile SHOULD declare the versioned profile URI using conformsTo:

{ "@id": "workflow/alignment.knime",  
  "@type": ["File", "SoftwareSourceCode", "ComputationalWorkflow"],
  "conformsTo": 
    {"@id": "https://bioschemas.org/profiles/ComputationalWorkflow/0.5-DRAFT-2020_07_21/"},
  "..": ""
}

Describing inputs and outputs

The input and output parameters for a workflow or script can be given with input and output to FormalParameter contextual entities. Note that this entity usually represent a potential input/output value in a reusable workflow, much like function parameter definitions in general programming.

If complying with the Bioschemas FormalParameter profile, the contextual entities for FormalParameter, referenced by input or output, MUST describe: name, additionalType, encodingFormat

The Bioschemas FormalParameter profile explains the above and lists additional properties that can be used, including description, valueRequired, defaultValue and identifier.

A contextual entity conforming to the FormalParameter profile SHOULD declare the versioned profile URI using conformsTo, e.g.:

{
  "@id": "#36aadbd4-4a2d-4e33-83b4-0cbf6a6a8c5b",
  "@type": "FormalParameter",
  "conformsTo": 
    {"@id": "https://bioschemas.org/profiles/FormalParameter/0.1-DRAFT-2020_07_21/"},
  "..": ""
}

input, output and FormalParameter are at time of writing proposed by Bioschemas and not yet integrated in Schema.org

Complete Workflow Example

The below is an example of an RO-Crate complying with the Bioschemas ComputationalWorkflow profile 0.5:

{ "@context": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1/context", 
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "CreativeWork",
      "@id": "ro-crate-metadata.json",
      "conformsTo": {"@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1"},
      "about": {"@id": "./"}
    },
    {
      "@id": "./",
      "@type": "Dataset",
      "hasPart": [
          { "@id": "workflow/alignment.knime" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@id": "workflow/alignment.knime",  
      "@type": ["File", "SoftwareSourceCode", "ComputationalWorkflow"],
      "conformsTo": 
        {"@id": "https://bioschemas.org/profiles/ComputationalWorkflow/0.5-DRAFT-2020_07_21/"},
      "name": "Sequence alignment workflow",
      "programmingLanguage": {"@id": "#knime"},
      "creator": {"@id": "#alice"},
      "dateCreated": "2020-05-23",
      "license": { "@id": "https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0"},
      "input": [
        { "@id": "#36aadbd4-4a2d-4e33-83b4-0cbf6a6a8c5b"}
      ],
      "output": [
        { "@id": "#6c703fee-6af7-4fdb-a57d-9e8bc4486044"},
        { "@id": "#2f32b861-e43c-401f-8c42-04fd84273bdf"}
      ],
      "sdPublisher": {"@id": "#workflow-hub"},
      "url": "http://example.com/workflows/alignment",
      "version": "0.5.0"
    },
    {
      "@id": "#36aadbd4-4a2d-4e33-83b4-0cbf6a6a8c5b",
      "@type": "FormalParameter",
      "conformsTo": {"@id": "https://bioschemas.org/profiles/FormalParameter/0.1-DRAFT-2020_07_21/"},
      "name": "genome_sequence",
      "valueRequired": true,
      "additionalType": {"@id": "http://edamontology.org/data_2977"},
      "format": {"@id": "http://edamontology.org/format_1929"}
    },
    {
      "@id": "#6c703fee-6af7-4fdb-a57d-9e8bc4486044",
      "@type": "FormalParameter",
      "conformsTo": {"@id": "https://bioschemas.org/profiles/FormalParameter/0.1-DRAFT-2020_07_21/"},
      "name": "cleaned_sequence",
      "additionalType": {"@id": "http://edamontology.org/data_2977"},
      "encodingFormat": {"@id": "http://edamontology.org/format_2572"}
    },
    {
      "@id": "#2f32b861-e43c-401f-8c42-04fd84273bdf",
      "@type": "FormalParameter",
      "conformsTo": {"@id": "https://bioschemas.org/profiles/FormalParameter/0.1-DRAFT-2020_07_21/"},
      "name": "sequence_alignment",
      "additionalType": {"@id": "http://edamontology.org/data_1383"},
      "encodingFormat": {"@id": "http://edamontology.org/format_1982"}
    },
    {
      "@id": "https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0",
      "@type": "CreativeWork",
      "name": "Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International",
      "alternateName": "CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0"
    },
    {
      "@id": "#knime",
      "@type": "ProgrammingLanguage",
      "name": "KNIME Analytics Platform",
      "alternateName": "KNIME",
      "url": "https://www.knime.com/whats-new-in-knime-41",
      "version": "4.1.3"
    },
    {
      "@id": "#alice",
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Alice Brown"
    },
    {
      "@id": "#workflow-hub",
      "@type": "Organization",
      "name": "Example Workflow Hub",
      "url":"http://example.com/workflows/"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://edamontology.org/format_1929",
      "@type": "Thing",
      "name": "FASTA sequence format"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://edamontology.org/format_1982",
      "@type": "Thing",
      "name": "ClustalW alignment format"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://edamontology.org/format_2572",
      "@type": "Thing",
      "name": "BAM format"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://edamontology.org/data_2977",
      "@type": "Thing",
      "name": "Nucleic acid sequence"
    },
    {
      "@id": "http://edamontology.org/data_1383",
      "@type": "Thing",
      "name": "Nucleic acid sequence alignment"
    }
  ]
}