Method for building UML activity diagrams from event logs

UML Activity Diagrams are widely used models for representing software processes. Models built from event logs, recorded by information systems, can provide valuable insights into real flows in processes and suggest ways of improving those systems. This paper proposes a novel method for mining UML Activity Diagrams from event logs. The method is based on a framework that consists of three nested stages involving a set of model transformations. The initial model is inferred from an event log using one of the existing mining algorithms. Then the model, if necessary, is transformed into an intermediate form and, finally, converted into the target UML Activity Diagram by the newly proposed algorithm. The transforming algorithms, except one used at the last stage, are parameters of the framework and can be adjusted based on needed or available models. The paper provides examples of the approach application on real life event logs.