Multithreading And Concurrency Control For A Rule-Based Transaction Engine

• US 20100138842A1
• Filed: 12/03/2008
• Published: 06/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP SE
• Inventors: Balko, Soren, Miltz, Matthias
• Granted Patent: US 10,002,161 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/107
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24565 Triggers; Constraints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores

Abstract

The subject matter disclosed herein provides methods and apparatus, including computer program products for rules-based processing. In one aspect there is provided a method. The method may include, for example, evaluating rules to determine whether to enable or disable one or more actions in a ready set of actions. Moreover, the method may include scheduling the ready set of actions, each of which is scheduled for execution and executed, the execution of each of the ready set of actions using a separate, concurrent thread, the concurrency of the actions controlled using a control mechanism. Related systems, apparatus, methods, and/or articles are also described.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium containing instructions to configure a processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

evaluating rules to determine whether to enable or disable one or more actions in a ready set of actions; and

scheduling the ready set of actions, each of which is scheduled for execution and executed, the execution of each of the ready set of actions using a separate, concurrent thread, the concurrency of the actions controlled using a control mechanism.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the control mechanism comprises at least one of a state variable locking control mechanism, a fine-granular condition evaluation operator state locking control mechanism, and a condition-based, optimistic concurrency control mechanism.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an event, the event triggering, at a rules processor, an evaluation of event-condition action rules, the event-condition action rules parsed by the rules processor into an event, a condition, and a rule.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 further comprising:

enabling, based on whether the condition associated with a rule is satisfied, the action associated with that rule.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 further comprising:

including the enabled actions in a ready set, to be scheduled for execution.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 further comprising:

disabling, based on whether the condition associated with a rule is not satisfied, the action associated with that rule, the disabled actions removed from the ready set for execution.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 further comprising:

executing each of the ready set actions using the separate, concurrent thread, the threads executed separately.

8. A computer-implemented method comprising:

evaluating rules to determine whether to enable or disable one or more actions in a ready set of actions; and

scheduling the ready set of actions, each of which is scheduled for execution and executed, the execution of each of the ready set of actions using a separate, concurrent thread, the concurrency of the actions controlled using a control mechanism.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the control mechanism comprises at least one of a state variable locking control mechanism, a fine-granular condition evaluation operator state locking control mechanism, and a condition-based, optimistic concurrency control mechanism.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprising:

receiving an event, the event triggering, at a rules processor, an evaluation of event-condition action rules, the event-condition action rules parsed by the rules processor into an event, a condition, and a rule.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprising:

enabling, based on whether the condition associated with a rule is satisfied, the action associated with that rule.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprising:

including the enabled actions in a ready set, to be scheduled for execution.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprising:

disabling, based on whether the condition associated with a rule is not satisfied, the action associated with that rule, the disabled actions removed from the ready set for execution.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprising:

executing each of the ready set actions using the separate, concurrent thread, the threads executed separately.

15. A system:

a processor; and

a memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to provide a method comprising;

evaluating rules to determine whether to enable or disable one or more actions in a ready set of actions; and

scheduling the ready set of actions, each of which is scheduled for execution and executed, the execution of each of the ready set of actions using a separate, concurrent thread, the concurrency of the actions controlled using a control mechanism.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the control mechanism comprises at least one of a state variable locking control mechanism, a fine-granular condition evaluation operator state locking control mechanism, and a condition-based, optimistic concurrency control mechanism.

17. The system of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving an event, the event triggering, at a rules processor, an evaluation of event-condition action rules, the event-condition action rules parsed by the rules processor into an event, a condition, and a rule.

18. The system of claim 15 further comprising:

enabling, based on whether the condition associated with a rule is satisfied, the action associated with that rule.

19. The system of claim 15 further comprising:

including the enabled actions in a ready set, to be scheduled for execution.

20. The system of claim 15 further comprising:

disabling, based on whether the condition associated with a rule is not satisfied, the action associated with that rule, the disabled actions removed from the ready set for execution.