Business rules user interface for development of adaptable enterprise applications

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for interacting with a user to define business rules in a declarative manner. The invention operates to display a set of business rules as editable conditions and editable actions, the conditions and the actions being linked to each other by a combination of editable if-values and editable then-values.

1 . A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer coupled to a display device to: 
 interact with a user to define one or more business rules in a declarative manner;    display a set of business rules as one or more editable conditions and one or more editable actions, the conditions and the actions being linked to each other by a combination of one or more editable if-values and one or more editable then-values, wherein if-values and then-values are explicitly linked to each other, conditions and if-values are explicitly linked to each other, and then-values and actions are explicitly linked to each other in the display, and wherein at least one condition or action includes a statement containing an operator;    receive from the user inputs editing one or more of the conditions, actions, if-values, or then-values; and    calculate, based on the statement, a value for the at least one condition or action that includes the statement.    
   
   
       2 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the statement is an assignment statement assigning a value to a field.  
   
   
       3 . The product of  claim 2 , wherein the statement calculates the value assigned to the field.  
   
   
       4 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein the operator is a comparison operator or an arithmetic operator.  
   
   
       5 . The product of  claim 1 , the product further comprising instructions to: 
 display business rule statements in plain language, each business rule statement being linked to a rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       6 . The product of  claim 1 , the product further comprising instructions to: 
 display one or more preconditions, where each precondition acts as an additional condition for each rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       7 . The product of  claim 1 , the product further comprising instructions to: 
 receive an input from the user setting an override precedence of one rule over another rule in the set of business rules; and    display the user-defined precedence.    
   
   
       8 . The product of  claim 1 , wherein at least one condition or action includes a complex business term, a complex business term being a business term having a specific scope within a vocabulary of business terms, the scope being determined by relationship traversals between entities in the vocabulary.  
   
   
       9 . A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer coupled to a display device to: 
 interact with a user to define one or more business rules in a declarative manner;    display a set of business rules as one or more editable conditions and one or more editable actions, the conditions and the actions being linked to each other by a combination of one or more editable if-values and one or more editable then-values, wherein at least one condition or action includes a complex business term, a complex business term being a business term having a specific scope determined by relationship traversals; and    receive from the user inputs editing one or more of the conditions, actions, if-values, or then-values.    
   
   
       10 . The product of  claim 9 , further including instructions to: 
 display the complex business term explicitly linked to a corresponding editable alias; and    display the alias in the at least one condition or action to represent the complex business term.    
   
   
       11 . The product of  claim 9 , further including instructions to: 
 display the complex business term in the at least one condition or action using a dot notation that gives the complex business term a specific context in a vocabulary of business terms.    
   
   
       12 . The product of  claim 9 , further including instructions to: 
 display the complex business term as a branch off of an entity node in a tree view of business terms.    
   
   
       13 . The product of  claim 12 , further including instructions to: 
 receive user input dragging the complex business term from the tree view of business terms and dropping the complex business term into the at least one condition or action.    
   
   
       14 . The product of  claim 9 , wherein the specific scope is within a vocabulary of business terms and the relationship traversals are between entities in the vocabulary.  
   
   
       15 . The product of  claim 9 , the product further comprising instructions to: 
 display business rule statements in plain language, each business rule statement being linked to a rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       16 . The product of  claim 9 , the product further comprising instructions to: 
 display one or more preconditions, where each precondition acts as an additional condition for each rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       17 . The product of  claim 9 , the product further comprising instructions to: 
 receive an input from the user setting an override precedence of one rule over another rule in the set of business rules; and    display the user-defined precedence.    
   
   
       18 . The product of  claim 9 , wherein at least one condition or action includes a statement containing an operator, the product further comprising instructions to: 
 calculate, based on the statement, a value for the at least one condition or action that includes the statement.    
   
   
       19 . A computer-implemented method comprising: 
 interacting with a user to define one or more business rules in a declarative manner;    displaying a set of business rules as one or more editable conditions and one or more editable actions, the conditions and the actions being linked to each other by a combination of one or more editable if-values and one or more editable then-values, wherein if-values and then-values are explicitly linked to each other, conditions and if-values are explicitly linked to each other, and then-values and actions are explicitly linked to each other in the display, and wherein at least one condition or action includes a statement containing an operator;    receiving from the user inputs editing one or more of the conditions, actions, if-values, or then-values; and    calculating, based on the statement, a value for the at least one condition or action that includes the statement.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the statement is an assignment statement assigning a value to a field  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the statement calculates the value assigned to the field.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the operator is a comparison operator or an arithmetic operator.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising: 
 displaying business rule statements in plain language, each business rule statement being linked to a rule in the rule set.    
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising: 
 displaying one or more preconditions, where each precondition acts as an additional condition for each rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising: 
 receiving an input from the user setting an override precedence of one rule over another rule in the set of business rules; and    displaying the user-defined precedence.    
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein at least one condition or action includes a complex business term, a complex business term being a business term having a specific scope within a vocabulary of business terms, the scope being determined by relationship traversals between entities in the vocabulary.  
   
   
       27 . A computer-implemented method comprising: 
 interacting with a user to define one or more business rules in a declarative manner;    displaying a set of business rules as one or more editable conditions and one or more editable actions, the conditions and the actions being linked to each other by a combination of one or more editable if-values and one or more editable then-values, wherein at least one condition or action includes a complex business term, a complex business term being a business term having a specific scope determined by relationship traversals; and    receiving from the user inputs editing one or more of the conditions, actions, if-values, or then-values.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 displaying the complex business term explicitly linked to a corresponding editable alias; and    displaying the alias in the at least one condition or action to represent the complex business term.    
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 displaying the complex business term in the at least one condition or action using a dot notation that gives the complex business term a specific context in a vocabulary of business terms.    
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 displaying the complex business term as a branch off of an entity node in a tree view of business terms.    
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising: 
 receiving user input dragging the complex business term from the tree view of business terms and dropping the complex business term into the at least one condition or action.    
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the specific scope is within a vocabulary of business terms and the relationship traversals are between entities in the vocabulary.  
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 displaying business rule statements in plain language, each business rule statement being linked to a rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 displaying one or more preconditions, where each precondition acts as an additional condition for each rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising: 
 receiving an input from the user setting an override precedence of one rule over another rule in the set of business rules; and    displaying the user-defined precedence.    
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein at least one condition or action includes a statement containing an operator, the method further comprising: 
 calculating, based on the statement, a value for the at least one condition or action that includes the statement.    
   
   
       37 . A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer coupled to a display device to: 
 interact with a user to define one or more business rules in a declarative manner;    display a set of business rules as one or more editable conditions and one or more editable actions, the conditions and the actions being linked to each other by a combination of one or more editable if-values and one or more editable then-values;    receive from the user inputs editing one or more of the conditions, actions, if-values, or then-values;    receive an input from the user setting an override precedence of one rule over another rule in the set of business rules; and    display the user-defined precedence.    
   
   
       38 . The product of  claim 37 , the product further comprising instructions to: 
 display business rule statements in plain language, each business rule statement being linked to a rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       39 . The product of  claim 37 , the product further comprising instructions to: 
 display a logical ambiguity in the set of business rules by highlighting business rules that can produce different actions for the exact same conditions.    
   
   
       40 . A computer-implemented method comprising: 
 interacting with a user to define one or more business rules in a declarative manner;    displaying a set of business rules as one or more editable conditions and one or more editable actions, the conditions and the actions being linked to each other by a combination of one or more editable if-values and one or more editable then-values;    receiving from the user inputs editing one or more of the conditions, actions, if-values, or then-values;    receive an input from the user setting an override precedence of one rule over another rule in the set of business rules; and    display the user-defined precedence.    
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 40 , further comprising: 
 display business rule statements in plain language, each business rule statement being linked to a rule in the set of business rules.    
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 40 , further comprising: 
 display a logical ambiguity in the set of business rules by highlighting business rules that can produce different actions for the exact same conditions.