How to Build a Business Rules Engine (eBook)

Extending Application Functionality through Metadata Engineering

Malcolm Chisholm (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2004 | 1. Auflage
483 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-0-08-049147-9 (ISBN)

Infos

"?This is the only book that demonstrates how to develop a business rules engine. Covers user requirements, data modeling, metadata, and more.
?A sample application is used throughout the book to illustrate concepts. The code for the sample application is available online at http://www.refdataportal.com.
?Includes conceptual overview chapters suitable for management-level readers, including general introduction, business justification, development and implementation considerations, and more.

?This is the only book that demonstrates how to develop a business rules engine. Covers user requirements, data modeling, metadata, and more.
?A sample application is used throughout the book to illustrate concepts. The code for the sample application is available online at http://www.refdataportal.com.
?Includes conceptual overview chapters suitable for management-level readers, including general introduction, business justification, development and implementation considerations, and more."

Inhalt

Front Cover 1
How to Build a Business Rules Engine 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 8
FOREWORD 18
INTRODUCTION 20
Audience 23
Organization 24
The Sample Application 25
Chapter 1. WHAT ARE BUSINESS RULES AND BUSINESS RULES ENGINES? 28
Business Rules 28
Business Rules Engines 30
Business Rules in Business Rule Engines 31
Where Do Business Rules Come From? 31
Conclusion 34
Chapter 2. WHY BUILD A BUSINESS RULES ENGINE? 36
Cost and Scale 37
Building Software for Diverse Environments 38
Total Integration of Software 40
Specificity of Rules 42
Extension of Applications 43
How Easy Is It to Build a Rules Engine? 44
Conclusion 45
Chapter 3. DATA MODELING AND DATABASE DESIGN 48
Attributes and Entities 49
Relationships 50
Subtype Relationships 53
Conclusion 55
Chapter 4. WHO DEFINES BUSINESS RULES AND WHEN DO THEY DO IT? 56
The Actors 56
When Are Rules Defined? 61
What Kinds of Organizations Need a Business Rules Approach? 64
Conclusion 66
Chapter 5. THE ATOMICITY OF BUSINESS RULES 68
What Is Atomicity? 68
Levels of Abstraction of Business Rules and Rule Dependencies 72
Is Atomicity Important? 75
Implications of Atomicity—More Columns 76
Implications of Atomicity—Intermediate Results 80
When Are Calculations Atomic? 81
Conclusion 81
Chapter 6. THE BLACK BOX PROBLEM 82
User Resistance to Business Rules Engines 83
User Duplication of Rules 83
How, Not What 84
What Are the Rules? 85
Inflexibility beyond Rules 85
Support for the Users 86
Auditability 87
Conclusion 88
Chapter 7. THE COMPONENTS OF A BUSINESS RULES ENGINE 90
The Rules Engine Components 90
The Business Rules Repository 91
Rule Definition Interface and Executable Business Rules 97
Code Generation Routines 101
Rule Invocation Interface 111
Administrative Tools 111
Conclusion 112
Chapter 8. POPULATING TABLE DATA IN THE REPOSITORY 114
The Table Entity 115
Summary of Design for Table Entity 121
Extracting Table Data from the Data Modeling Tool 121
Screen Interface for Updating Table Metadata 135
Conclusion 137
Chapter 9. POPULATING COLUMN DATA IN THE REPOSITORY 138
Column Entity 139
Extracting Column Data from a Data Modeling Tool 152
Screen Interface for Updating Table Metadata 167
Conclusion 171
Chapter 10. POPULATING RELATIONSHIP AND SUBTYPE DATA IN THE REPOSITORY 172
The Relationship Entity 172
The Relationship Key Attribute Entity 174
Changes to Column Entity for Relationship Information 175
Relationships and Hidden Subtypes 176
Extracting Relationship Data from the Data Modeling Tool 186
Editing Relationships 201
Pathways 205
Defining Subtypes 210
Conclusion 212
Chapter 11. POPULATING REFERENCE DATA IN THE REPOSITORY 214
Standards for Reference Data 215
Extending the Table Entity 216
Extending the Column Entity 216
Populating the Reference Data Metadata 217
Reference Data Default Values 220
Conclusion 224
Chapter 12. DEFINING BUSINESS PROCESSES AND RELATED INFORMATION 226
Extensions to Business Rules Repository 227
Business Processes 229
Business Process Step 233
Conclusion 236
Chapter 13. EXTENDING THE DATABASE 238
Limits of Database Extension 240
Adding New Columns to Existing Tables 242
Dealing with Database Administrators 261
Conclusion 263
Chapter 14. MANAGING THE DATABASE 264
Viewing the Database Tables 265
Detailed Record Display 279
Synchronizing the Database and Business Rules Repository 290
Conclusion 304
Chapter 15. IMPLEMENTING A SIMPLE BUSINESS RULE 306
Rules Definition Interface 306
Defining Rules for the Investment Screen 308
Basic Repository Design for Holding Business Rules Metadata 309
Accessing the Rules Definition Interface for Rule Type Required Screen Fields 315
Interface to Define Rule Type for Required Screen Fields 317
Preliminary Processing 319
Details of the Rule Definition Interface 320
Integrating the Business Rules into the Application Screen 322
Generating the Code 325
The Generated Code 336
When Should Code Be Generated? 340
Examples of Business Rules 343
Design Review 348
Conclusion 348
Chapter 16. MORE EDIT VALIDATION RULES, RULE COMPONENTS, AND RULE VERSIONS 352
Valid Datatypes for Screen Fields 352
Screen Fields Valid Ranges 357
Introducing Rule Components 357
Introducing Rule Versions 362
Implementing the Rule Type for Screen Fields Valid Ranges 366
Conclusion 373
Chapter 17. RULE TYPES FOR CHECKING REFERENTIAL INTEGRITY 374
Prevention of Duplicate Records 376
Referential Integrity for Dependent Records 387
Conclusion 393
Chapter 18. WORKING WITH BATCH PROCESSES: SETTING INDICATORS AND REFERENCE DATA CODE VALUES 394
Setting a Value for an Indicator 395
Setting a Reference Data Table Value 422
Conclusion 431
Chapter 19. IMPLEMENTING RULE TYPES USING RELATIONSHIPS AND SUBTYPES 434
Definition Interface for Pay Pro Rata from Fund to Investment 437
Understanding Rule Types 439
Code Generation for Pay Pro Rata from Fund to Investment 441
Using Subtypes in the Rule Type 444
Conclusion 447
Chapter 20. RULES WITH SUBTYPES AND BUSINESS METADATA 448
Calculate A Fee 448
Setting Up the Rule Type and Selecting a Target Column 450
The Rule Definition Interface 451
Repository Design Changes 452
Subtypes in Calculate A Fee 454
Conclusion 454
Chapter 21. DEBUGGING IN BUSINESS RULES ENGINES 458
Viewing Data 458
Logging Rules Activity 460
Implementing Logging 463
Control of Logging 467
Viewing the Log 468
Conclusion 469
Chapter 22. MANAGING THE BUSINESS RULES ENGINE 470
Rules Reports 471
Column Reports 473
Subtype Reports 476
Relationship Reports 477
Business-Specific Reporting 478
Conclusion 480
Appendix A. USING THE SAMPLE APPLICATION 482
Installing the Sample Application 482
Database Tables Relevant to the Business 485
The Menu System 488
Modules of the Sample Application 491
Forms of the Sample Application 491
Tables of the Business Rules Repository 492
Steps to Add New Rules for a New Rule Type 492
Resources and Further Reading 498
Index 500

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 14.1.2004
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Informatik ► Datenbanken
• Themenwelt: Informatik ► Grafik / Design ► Digitale Bildverarbeitung
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Informatik ► Programmiersprachen / -werkzeuge
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Informatik ► Software Entwicklung
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management ► Unternehmensführung / Management
• ISBN-10: 0-08-049147-2 / 0080491472
• ISBN-13: 978-0-08-049147-9 / 9780080491479