Rules Management and Automation With Common Knowledge

Rete Rules

The Common Knowledge Rete Rules Extender is used to represent business rules in an intuitive and declarative manner and to evaluate those business rules using a forward chaining inference mechanism based on the Rete algorithm. The Rete algorithm was invented by Dr Charles L. Forgy of Carnegie Mellon University in 1979.

Rete based systems are also referred to as "Production Systems". Production systems are used to process a set of "Production Rules". A production rule is a term used to describe a rule that performs a specified set of actions given a specific set of matched input conditions. A production rule has two sides, a left hand side which contains the conditions and the right hand side which contains the actions.

The Rete Rules Extender allows business rules to be represented in Production System format. Rules may also be grouped together into rule sets, which allow for better organisation of large numbers of rules. Execution of Rete Rules by the Common Knowledge Rules Engine is quick and efficient by virtue of a sophisticated implementation of the Rete algorithm.

Like all Common Knowledge Rule Extenders, the Rete Rules Extender seamlessly integrates with Common Knowledge Studio and the Common Knowledge Rules Engine and can be easily combined with other business rule formats to create powerful solutions to complex business rule problems.

Overview of Capabilities
The Common Knowledge Rete Rules Extender provides capabilities in a number of areas to enable you to create powerful and flexible inferencing rules to represent the rules that govern your business:

Interactive Editor - Interactive, visual editor for the creation of production rulesets to be executed using the well-known Rete algorithm
Interactive Execution - Standalone execution of Rete Rules entirely within Common Knowledge Studio
Explanations - Add explanations, known within Common Knowledge as Reason Strings, to any rule within the Rete Rules
Documentation - Ability to attach custom information to your rules which will be included in generated documentation

Feature List
The Common Knowledge Rete Rules Extender incorporates an ever-growing list of features that assist you during the design, authoring, execution and testing of your Rete Rules Rules. Features include:

Rete Algorithm - Inferencing power and permutational capabilities of the Rete algorithm
Organising Rules - Group related rules together using Rete Rule extenders and Rete Rulesets
Rule Priorities - Assign execution priorities to rules
Rule Dwell - Define rules that will only activate after they have been satisfied for a specified period of time
Business Objects - Design custom User Classes to represent facts that will be asserted into the Rete network
Nested Rules - Ability to embed execution of any other Rule Extender anywhere within the Rete Rules
Complex Expressions - Ability to specify complex expressions as the conditions and actions within the Rete Rules to perform a range of operations including comparison (set, boolean and arithmetic), maths, statistics, string handling, financial, and date & time
Rule Execution Logging - Detailed logging to aid in the understanding of Rete execution
Multiple Actions - Specify multiple actions in the consequence of any given rule
One Shot Rules - Specify that a rule is "one shot" only; that is, it will activate at most, once
Recursion Control - Configure rules to prevent unwanted recursion

What's New in Version 3.1
The following features are new to version 3.1 of Common Knowledge and augment the existing capabilities of Rete Rules in their ability to represent your business rules:

Print & Preview - Print and Print Preview of the Rete Rules
Undo Redo - Full undo/redo of any rule edits
Search Replace - Full Search/Replace throughout all Rete Rule elements
Hide Unused Entries - Ability to hide all empty Using clauses in the Rete Rules
Colours - New colour scheme in the Rete Rules Designer greatly enhances readability and presentation

Video Demo
View an online video demonstrating how easy it is to build and test Rete Rules using Common Knowledge Studio.

Workflow
Read how the new Workflow Rule Extender can be used to represent business logic and processes in an intuitive and visual manner.