Strict validation of inference rule based on abstraction environment

• US 20070112853A1
• Filed: 11/10/2005
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dettinger, Richard, Kolz, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 7,444,332 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A method, system and article of manufacture for processing rule sets and, more particularly, for processing abstract rule sets. One embodiment provides a computer-implemented method of managing execution of an analysis routine configured to process one or more inputs. The analysis routine is defined by at least one abstract rule set having one or more abstract rules each having a conditional statement and a consequential statement. The method comprises determining, from the retrieved analysis routine, a predefined validating condition that needs to be satisfied by at least one of the inputs, and validating a particular data value defining the at least one of the inputs on the basis of the predefined validating condition. If the particular data value is not validated, a predefined action configured to avoid execution of the analysis routine on invalid inputs is performed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of managing execution of an analysis routine, comprising:

accessing an analysis routine configured to process one or more inputs;

wherein the analysis routine is defined by at least one abstract rule set having one or more abstract rules each having a conditional statement and a consequential statement;

wherein the consequential statement defines a particular recommendation that is returned when the conditional statement is satisfied;

wherein the conditional statement and the consequential statement are defined using logical field definitions defined in an abstraction model that models underlying physical data in a manner making a schema of the physical data transparent to a user of the abstraction model;

determining, from the retrieved analysis routine, a predefined validating condition that needs to be satisfied by at least one of the inputs;

validating a particular data value defining the at least one of the inputs on the basis of the predefined validating condition; and

if the particular data value is not validated, performing a predefined action configured to avoid execution of the analysis routine on invalid inputs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a predefined action comprises issuing a notification to a user indicating that the particular data value is invalid and providing the user a command prompt from which the user may make a selection requesting that the analysis routine be executed using the at least one of the inputs despite the notification.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined action comprises one or more of:

(i) disabling execution of the analysis routine on the invalid inputs;

(ii) issuing a notification indicating that the particular data value is invalid; and

(iii) replacing the particular data value with a valid data value that satisfies the predefined condition.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined validating condition is defined by at least one abstract rule of the at least one abstract rule set that defines the analysis routine.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing a query against a database to obtain a query result; and

retrieving the particular data value from the query result, and then performing the validating of the retrieved particular data value.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined validating condition is satisfied only if the particular data value is included within a valid value range for the at least one of the inputs.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined validating condition is satisfied only if the particular data value was obtained at a valid point in time.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the particular data value was obtained at the valid point in time only if the particular data value is a most recent value of a series of values related to a given data field in an underlying database.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

generating a query against the underlying database including a specific result field that references the given data field, the query being configured to retrieve a most recent value for the specific result field;

executing the query against the underlying database to retrieve the most recent value; and

comparing the most recent value with the particular data value, wherein the particular data value is validated if it equals the most recent value.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predefined action comprises, if the most recent value is distinct to the particular data value:

replacing the particular data value with the most recent value.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

(i) the one or more inputs of the analysis routine describe aspects of a medical condition of a patient of a medical institution;

(ii) the at least one of the inputs describes a test result obtained by a medical test which was performed on the patient; and

(iii) the analysis routine is configured to provide a recommendation for treatment of the patient.

12. A computer-readable medium containing a program which, when executed by a processor, performs operations for managing execution of an analysis routine, the operations comprising:

accessing an analysis routine configured to process one or more inputs;

wherein the analysis routine is defined by at least one abstract rule set having one or more abstract rules each having a conditional statement and a consequential statement;

wherein the consequential statement defines a particular recommendation that is returned when the conditional statement is satisfied;

wherein the conditional statement and the consequential statement are defined using logical field definitions defined in an abstraction model that models underlying physical data in a manner making a schema of the physical data transparent to a user of the abstraction model;

determining, from the retrieved analysis routine, a predefined validating condition that needs to be satisfied by at least one of the inputs;

validating a particular data value defining the at least one of the inputs on the basis of the predefined validating condition; and

if the particular data value is not validated, performing a predefined action configured to avoid execution of the analysis routine on invalid inputs.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein performing a predefined action comprises issuing a notification to a user indicating that the particular data value is invalid and providing the user a command prompt from which the user may make a selection requesting that the analysis routine be executed using the at least one of the inputs despite the notification.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the predefined action comprises one or more of:

(i) disabling execution of the analysis routine on the invalid inputs;

(ii) issuing a notification indicating that the particular data value is invalid; and

(iii) replacing the particular data value with a valid data value that satisfies the predefined condition.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the predefined validating condition is defined by at least one abstract rule of the at least one abstract rule set that defines the analysis routine.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

executing a query against a database to obtain a query result; and

retrieving the particular data value from the query result, and then performing the validating of the retrieved particular data value.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the predefined validating condition is satisfied only if the particular data value is included within a valid value range for the at least one of the inputs.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the predefined validating condition is satisfied only if the particular data value was obtained at a valid point in time.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the particular data value was obtained at the valid point in time only if the particular data value is a most recent value of a series of values related to a given data field in an underlying database.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating a query against the underlying database including a specific result field that references the given data field, the query being configured to retrieve a most recent value for the specific result field;

executing the query against the underlying database to retrieve the most recent value; and

comparing the most recent value with the particular data value, wherein the particular data value is validated if it equals the most recent value.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the predefined action comprises, if the most recent value is distinct to the particular data value:

replacing the particular data value with the most recent value.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein:

(i) the one or more inputs of the analysis routine describe aspects of a medical condition of a patient of a medical institution;

(ii) the at least one of the inputs describes a test result obtained by a medical test which was performed on the patient; and

(iii) the analysis routine is configured to provide a recommendation for treatment of the patient.