Extracting and Pre-Processing Event Logs

Abstract: Event data is the basis for all process mining analysis. Most process mining techniques assume their input to be an event log. However, event data is rarely recorded in an event log format, but has to be extracted from raw data. Event log extraction itself is an act of modeling as the analyst has to consciously choose which features of the raw data are used for describing which behavior of which entities. Being aware of these choices and subtle but important differences in concepts such as trace, case, activity, event, table, and log is crucial for mastering advanced process mining analyses. This text provides fundamental concepts and formalizations and discusses design decisions in event log extraction from a raw event table and for event log pre-processing. It is intended as study material for an advanced lecture in a process mining course.