Modified action rules

• US 6,606,616 B1
• Filed: 12/01/1998
• Issued: 08/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Selzer, Gary M.
• Primary Examiner(s): STARKS, WILBERT L
• Application Number:
  US09/203,631
• Time in Patent Office: 1,715 Days
• Field of Search: 706/47, 709/331, 713/1, 717/9
• US Class Current: 706/47
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/04 Inference or reasoning models

Abstract

A rule executing engine is modified to recognize, when present, a so-called “actionwrap”rule, which is a rule that is expanded and executed in place of the original rule, and the original rule is placed in the context of the actionwrap rule, so that it may operate upon the original rule. If the actionwrap rule is not present, the rule engine executes the original rule unmodified. An actionwrap rule may be defined to be present for some situations but not for others, and its presence or absence is defined by the user or users submitting the rules. Each defined actionwrap rule, when present, is applied in a uniform manner on each target rule. More than one actionwrap rule may be defined for use at any one time, and the various actionwrap rules in use at one time may be independent of each other or they be linked. If the actionwrap rules are linked, they must be activated in the correct order as specified by the actionwrap rule writer. Advantageously, a single, minimal change to the rule executing engine that user definable changes may be made to all of the rules in a substantially uniform manner. Additionally, an actionwrap rule that is active may, in operation, a) distinguish between the various rule types, or even specific rules, that it receives as context, and b) provide a different processing as a function of the received rule types, or specific rule.

Claims

1. A method for executing rules in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium on a rule engine, said rule engine being a processor capable of executing said computer program steps, comprising the steps of:

obtaining, by said rule engine, one of said rules to be executed;

determining if an actionwrap rule is active, said actionwrap rule being in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium;

executing the actionwrap rule in said rule engine by applying said actionwrap rule to said obtained rule so that said rule engine enters a post actionwrap rule execution state as a result of executing the actionwrap rule as applied to said obtained rule; and

supplying, by said rule engine, as an output any output specified by said actionwrap rule as applied to said obtained rule to be supplied.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said actionwrap rule is specified by a user.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said actionwrap rule is obtained from a source external to said rule engine.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said actionwrap rule is obtained from execution of at least one other rule by said rule engine.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said rule to he executed is dynamically generated.

6. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said actionwrap rule is dynamically changeable by operation of rules within a database of rules for execution by said rule engine.

7. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein operation of said actionwrap rule is a function of said rule to be executed.

8. A method for executing rules which are embodied in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium on a rule engine, said rule engine being a processor capable of executing said computer program steps, the method comprising the steps of:

when an actionwrap rule is active, said actionwrap rule being in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium, for each rule obtained for execution, instead of executing, by said rule engine, said obtained rule directly, executing, by said rule engine, the actionwrap rule by applying it to said obtained rule so that said rule engine enters a post actionwrap rule execution state as a result of executing the actionwrap rule as applied to said obtained rule rather than a post rule only state that would have resulted had said obtained rule been executed by said rule engine in lieu of actionwrap rule applied to said obtained rule.

9. The invention as defined in claim 8 wherein said action wrap rule is specifiable by a user specifying rules to be obtained and executed by said rule engine.

10. The invention as defined in claim 8 wherein said rule to be executed is dynamically generated.

11. The invention as defined in claim 8 wherein operation of said actionwrap rule is a function of said rule to be executed.

12. A method for executing rules in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium on a rule engine, said rule engine being a processor capable of executing said computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining a rule to be executed;

applying an actionwrap rule to said obtained rule when said actionwrap rule is active and executing said rule as part of executing said actionwrap rule , said actionwrap rule being in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium so that said rule engine enters a post actionwrap rule execution state as a result of executing the actionwrap rule as applied to said obtained rule; and

executing said obtained rule by said rule engine without applying said actionwrap rule when said actionwrap rule is not active so that said rule engine enters a post obtained rule execution state as a result of executing said obtained rule.

25. The invention as defined in claim 12 wherein said post actionwrap rule execution state of said rule engine and said post obtained rule state of said rule engine are different when said rule engine starts from the same state prior to execution of said applying and executing states.

26. The invention as defined in claim 12 wherein said rule engine starts from the same state prior to execution of said applying and executing states but said post actionwrap rule execution state of said rule engine and said post obtained rule state of said rule engine are the same but were achieved by said rule engine having performed different operations and having passed through different sets of states prior to arriving at said respective one of said post actionwrap rule execution state of said rule engine and said post obtained rule state.

13. The invention as defined in 12 operation of said actionwrap rule is a function of said rule to be executed.

14. A method for executing rules in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium on a rule engine, said rule engine being a processor capable of executing said computer program steps, comprising the steps of:

obtaining a set of rules to be executed;

applying, in said rule engine, an actionwrap rule to each rule of said set of rules when said actionwrap rule is active for each rule of said set, said actionwrap rule being in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium.

15. The invention as defined in claim 14 wherein said actionwrap rule is uniformly applied to each rule of said set.

16. The invention as defined in claim 14 wherein said actionwrap rule is external to said rule engine.

17. The invention as defined in claim 14 wherein said actionwrap rule is defined within a database of rules for execution by said rule engine.

18. The invention as defined in claim 14 wherein at least one rule of said set of rules is generated by said rule engine during rule execution.

19. The invention as defined in claim 14 operation of said actionwrap rule is a function of said rule to be executed.

20. The invention as defined in claim 14 wherein said actionwrap rule is dynamically changeable by operation of rules within a database of rules for execution by said rule engine.

21. A rule engine for executing rules in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium, said rule engine including at least a processor, each of said rules potentially having at least a target, a list of prerequisite rules as well as other attributes and parameters for the rule, and an action, comprising:

a software module embodied on computer readable medium for obtaining a particular rule to be executed when all prerequisites of said particular rule are met and for placing said particular rule into a rule context of said rule engine so that said rule action of said rule engine is set to said particular rule;

a software module embodied on computer readable medium for obtaining an actionwrap rule in the form of computer program steps embodied on computer readable medium when one is present without placing said actionwrap rule into said rule context, so that said rule context remains the same as for said particular rule which was last placed into said rule context; and

a software module embodied on computer readable medium for expanding an obtained rule for execution on said rule engine, whether or not said rule is an actionwrap rule.

22. The invention as defined in claim 21 further including a software module for executing said expanded rule.

23. A rule engine embodied in a computer executable medium for executing an actionwrap rule with a context of another rule for a plurality of rules.

24. A processor for executing rules as a rule engine, said rules being embodied as program steps in a computer readable medium, said processor implementing said rule engine so as to:

obtain one of said rules for execution; and

execute an actionwrap rule embodied as program steps in a computer readable medium by applying it to said obtained rule when said actionwrap rule is active.