Strict validation of inference rule based on abstraction environment

• US 8,145,628 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2008
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kolz, Daniel P., Dettinger, Richard D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Badawi, Sherief
• Application Number:
  US12/259,516
• Publication Number:
  US 20090055438A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,246 Days
• Field of Search: 707/769, 707/603, 707/600, 707/708, 707/739, 707/804, 707/781, 707/694, 707/700, 707/763, 707/783, 707/761, 707/718
• US Class Current: 707/718
• 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

An article of manufacture for processing rule sets and, more particularly, for processing abstract rule sets. One embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium containing a program which, when executed by a processor, performs operations for managing execution of an analysis routine. The operations comprise accessing 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 operation further 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-readable storage 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, wherein the logical field definitions each specify at least a logical field name and an access method mapping the logical field name to corresponding underlying physical data;

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

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

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

2. The computer-readable storage medium 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 one or more inputs despite the notification.

3. The computer-readable storage medium 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 computer-readable storage medium 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 computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, 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.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the predefined validating condition is satisfied only when the particular data value is included within a valid value range for the at least one of the one or more inputs.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the predefined validating condition is satisfied only when the particular data value was obtained at a valid point in time.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the particular data value was obtained at the valid point in time only when 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 computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, 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 when it equals the most recent value.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the predefined action comprises, when the most recent value is distinct to the particular data value:

replacing the particular data value with the most recent value.

11. The computer-readable storage medium 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 one or more 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.