Rule Builder > Introduction to the Rule Builder > User Roles and the Rule Builder

Each Rule Builder mode is associated with one of the specific user roles developer, business analyst, or policy manager as shown in Table 1.3.

Table 1.3   Rule Builder Modes and User Roles
Rule Builder Mode 
User Role 
Developer  Developer 
Modeler  Business Analyst 
Manager  Policy Manager 

The Rule Builder can be used to create and deploy a ruleset by combining the three different user roles according to the following sequence:

  1. The policy manager produces the policy statements that determine the particular business policies of a given enterprise.
  2. If necessary, the developer extends the Business Action Language (BAL) to enable rules to be written that implement the business policy of the enterprise. If this is the case, the Rule Builder must be customized to enable rules to be written in this new language. For more information about BAL and Rule Builder customization, see the Business Rule Language Support User's Manual and the Rule Builder Customization User's Manual.
  3. The business analyst and developer create the repository and define its projects and libraries.
  4. The business analyst and developer work on the Business Object Model (BOM) to create the objects that satisfy the requirements for rule vocabulary defined by the policy manager. The developer works on the Execution Object Model (XOM) and ensures the mapping between models.
  5. The business analyst adds user friendly text to the BOM members to enable them to be selected by non technical rule writers.
  6. The business analyst creates rule and decision table templates that rely on the objects that have been created in the BOM in a template library. Templates may be set up for more than one template library each with its own BOM.
  7. The business analyst sets up a ruleflow that enables the order of execution of the rules to be managed.
  8. The business analyst or policy manager creates new rules using the defined templates and adds them to the existing projects maybe creating new packages.
  9. Once the project contains some rules, the business analyst checks rule syntax and consistency using the checking features of the Rule Builder.
  10. The developer tests execution of the rules and debugs or profiles their execution by the engine. Then the developer deploys the resulting ruleset(s) in a business rule application running on a particular target platform.
  11. The developer deploys a final tested ruleset by extracting the ruleset or RuleApp (on an embedded engine or BRE Server respectively).
  12. Once a ruleset has been deployed, the maintenance phase starts, when policy managers and business analysts will mainly be involved with existing rules or in adding new rules.

Note that there may be some overlap between these user roles. For example, depending on their level of technical knowledge, business analysts may perform tasks that are currently described as developer tasks. In general, we can say that the business analyst will generally be carrying out tasks in the Builder, whereas the developer will be required to implement the supporting code of the business rule application using the JRules APIs.

In addition, the actual tasks performed by a policy manager may cross over with the business analyst, in which case the appropriate Rule Builder mode should be used.


Customer Support | Copyright © 1987-2004 ILOG S.A. All rights reserved. Legal terms. PREVIOUS   NEXT