Information Integrity Rules Framework

Abstract

An information integrity rules framework manages rules across heterogeneous enforcement systems by managing canonical rules that are mapped to native rules and enforcement system-specific rules. The information integrity rules framework discovers an existing native rule utilized by an enforcement system, which is written in an enforcement system-specific format. Next, the information integrity rules framework creates a mapping entry and maps the native rule to a canonical rule, which is independent from the enforcement system. When the information integrity rules framework detects a change to one of the rules managed by the framework, the information integrity rules framework propagates the change to other corresponding rules across enforcement systems managed by the framework.

1 . A method for managing a plurality of rules on a computer system, wherein the plurality of rules include one or more native rules and one or more canonical rules, the method comprising:
 discovering one of the native rules located at a first enforcement system, the discovered native rule written in a first enforcement system-specific format;   creating a mapping entry using a processor that maps the discovered native rule to a selected one of the canonical rules, the selected canonical rule written in a canonical format that is independent from the first enforcement system-specific format; and   managing the plurality of rules using one or more mapping entries that include the created mapping entry.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 generating an enforcement system-specific rule from the selected canonical rule, wherein the enforcement system-specific rule is generated in a second enforcement system-specific format that is different than the first enforcement system-specific format; and 
 deploying the enforcement system-specific rule to a second enforcement system that is different than the first enforcement system. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 detecting that a rule repository corresponding to the second enforcement system has a rule gap corresponding to the selected canonical rule; and 
 performing the generation and the deployment of the enforcement-specific 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the first enforcement system is a system type that is different than the system type of the second enforcement system, wherein the system type is selected from the group consisting of an optimistic enforcement system type and a pessimistic enforcement system type. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the first enforcement system enforces the discovered native rule on common data stored within a common database and the second enforcement system enforces the enforcement system-specific rule on the common data stored within the common database. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 verifying that the discovered native rule is unique compared to the one or more canonical rules; and 
 in response to verifying the discovered native rule is unique, creating the selected canonical rule by translating the discovered native rule into the selected one of the canonical rules. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 analyzing a data pattern at the first enforcement system; 
 generating a proposed rule based upon the analyzing, wherein the proposed rule is void from a rule repository corresponding to the first enforcement system; and 
 including the proposed rule in the plurality of rules. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 retrieving usage information corresponding to a subsequent native rule included in the plurality of rules; 
 analyzing the usage information; 
 in response to analyzing the usage information, determining to map the subsequent native rule to the selected one of the canonical rules; and 
 adjusting the created mapping entry by mapping the second native rule to the selected one of the canonical rules.