Rules engine test harness

Abstract

A system is provided. The system comprises a computer system, a builder component, and a test execution component. When executed by the computer system, the builder component promotes defining a plurality of test cases and a plurality of test scenarios. When executed by the computer system, the text execution component simulates at least one service application, invokes execution of plurality of rules on a rules engine with an input based on one of the test cases defined using the builder component, wherein the rules engine interacts with the simulated service application, and stores the result of the rule execution in a database.

1 . A system, comprising:
 a computer system;   a builder component that, when executed by the computer system, promotes defining a plurality of test cases and a plurality of test scenarios; and   a test execution component that, when executed by the computer system, simulates at least one service application, invokes execution of a plurality of rules on a rules engine with an input based on one of the test cases defined using the builder component, wherein the rules engine interacts with the simulated service application, and stores the result of the rule execution in a results file.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the test execution component further times execution of rules, rule sets, and rule flows and stores the execution time results and the result of the rule execution in the results file. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein defining test cases and test scenarios further comprises defining expected results of the test cases and the test scenarios. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein test scenarios are defined using the builder component as an ordered sequence of at least two test cases. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the service application comprises at least one of a data base management system, a message service, and a portal server. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a database, wherein the builder component stores test cases and test scenarios in the database and the test execution component stores the results file in the database. 
     
     
         7 . A method, comprising:
 providing a builder interface for building a plurality of test cases and a plurality of test scenarios, the interface comprising a list of rules and a plurality of input controls for defining a plurality of inputs for the test cases;   storing the test cases and the test scenarios in a database;   invoking the rules on a rules engine based on at least one of the test cases and the test scenarios;   simulating at least one service application, wherein the rules engine interacts with the service application when executing the rules;   collecting the results of the invocation of the rules on the rules engine; and   storing the results in the database.   
     
     
         8 . The method of testing rules of  claim 7 , further comprising timing the completion of the rules, wherein collecting the results of the invocation of the rules comprises collecting the timing results. 
     
     
         9 . The method of testing rules of  claim 7 , further comprising comparing the results of the invocation of the rules on the rules engine with results of a previous invocation of the rules on the rules engine stored in the database. 
     
     
         10 . The method of testing rules of  claim 7 , wherein the builder interface generates extensible markup language files based on user inputs defining test cases and test scenarios and wherein storing the test cases and test scenarios in the database comprises storing the extensible markup language files in the database. 
     
     
         11 . The method of testing rules of  claim 7 , wherein the builder interface further comprises input controls for defining expected results of test cases. 
     
     
         12 . The method of testing rules of  claim 7 , further comprising generating a success and fail report and storing the success and fail report in the database, wherein revising is further based on the success and fail report. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising timing the completion of the rules, wherein collecting the results of the invocation of the rules comprises collecting the timing results and revising is further based on the timing results. 
     
     
         14 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a test case editor, executable on a first computer system, that provides an environment for building a plurality of rule test cases by selecting an entry point from a list of available entry points, by defining a plurality of inputs for the rule, and by defining expected results for one of the test cases; and   a rule test manager, executable on the first computer system, that executes the rule test cases by simulating at least one service program, invoking a plurality of rules on a rules engine based on the rule test cases built using the test case editor, receives results from the rules engine, and stores the results, wherein the rules engine interacts with the simulated service program when executing the rules.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the rules engine executes on a second computer system and the rules test manager invokes the rules on the rules engine using JAVA remote method invocation. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the test case editor comprises a web interface. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , further comprising a database wherein the test case editor stores test cases in the database and the rule test manager stores the results in the database. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the test case editor communicates with the database using a test case data access object and the rule test manager communicates with the database using a reporting data access object. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one service program is one of a database management system and a message system. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the rule test cases comprise a plurality of healthcare claims.