Task: Build Rule Project Structure

Create projects structure

Using Eclipse for Java project or Visual Studio for .Net development, the developer needs to create the project structure with at least the following projects:

A java project for the Executable object model that supports the Domain Object Model as described in the Logical Data Model
Rule projects. By design the rule project, the architect needs to try to map one rule set per rule project.
A java project for the Core business application, including service interface definition of the rule services
GUI project like web interface using the code business application

Within a rule project defines:

The rule set parameters
The references to the object model used
The rule flow structure, at least a first simple version that will be enhanced during the future iterations
Some initialization method or function to be able to unit test the rule project

For each rule projects, specify the objects to be manipulated by the ruleset

This includes rule set parameters, but also the underlying object model used by the rules.

Create a Natural Language Layer on top of the data model

Define rule meta properties

The development team need to define each rule's meta properties to be used during rule management and rule execution (filtering of rules or reporting on rule execution.

The common properties are:

Rule ID, author, owner: to trace the rule changes
Expiration date, Effective date: to filter the rule according to time
The status to manage the rule life cycle to avoid deploying rule in development stages
Business motivation, Policy reference, requirement reference: to reference rule back to the requirements
Product reference, states, geographies: to manage rule per type of deployment or other dimension of application

The following tables lists some example of properties an analyst can design to manage a rule:

*Property name*	*Type*	*Possible Value*	*Description*	*Null able*	*Changeable*	*Extractable*	*Required*
Rule ID	Int or string		Unique identifier for the rules	No	No	Yes	Yes
BusinessMotivation	String	""	Link the rule to the business motivation	Yes	Yes	No	No
PolicyReference	String	""	Link the rule to a business policy	Yes	Yes	No	No
Status	String	New, Defined, Deployable, Deployed	Support the life cycle of the rule	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rule Owner	String		Department team – no named person	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Expiration Date	Date		Date when the rule will not be extracted	Yes	Yes	No	No
Effective Date	Date		Date from when the rule will be extracted	Yes	Yes	No	No

Document Rule Set interface

Use the rule set table template to present how the rule services are designed