1. In a data processing system, a method for managing and controlling the flow of imaged documents comprising work items from one function to the next in an application process to achieve the complete processing of said work items, comprising the steps of: assigning in the data processing system, a unique submission identifier to each incoming submission; establishing in the data processing system, a repository for work-in-process (WIP) submissions, having an attribute-based file system for WIP submission attributes, and an attribute-based file system for said WIP submission contents; establishing in the data processing system, a data base of WIP submission attributes that for each submission includes a current state attribute; storing in the data processing system, said WIP submission contents as files in a distributed file system; establishing in the data processing system, a repository for archived submissions, having an attribute-based file system for archived submission attributes, and an attribute-based file system for archived submission contents; defining in the data processing system, when to archive submission contents, when to archive submission attributes, and when to erase submissions from the repository of WIP submissions; partitioning in the data processing system, an application process into distributed software services and defining a remote procedure call (RPC) interface for each component application service; defining in the data processing system, an application work flow process with: a state transition diagram (STD) that uses said application work flow process; a list of the STD-using application work flow processes; a service-specific structure of work queues; for each service, a structure of the work queue, and policy parameters for the assignment of work queues to services; executing in the data processing system, a software, work flow, system architecture with functions for a WIP manager, to process incoming work items in priority order from a recoverable priority queue and to move WIP submissions through STD defined states; a work queue manager, to manage application and service-specific, recoverable work queues and a work queue assignment table, and to assign work queues to services; a WIP submission attributes data base manager, to maintain the state of each WIP submission; and performing in the data processing system, a common pull system protocol for the WIP manager and work queue manager together to communicate with application services.