SPA Conference session: From English to Executable Rules

One-line description:A case study on using the Natural Rule Language and UML to specify and execute process orchestration rules
 
Session format: Case study (75 mins) [read about the different session types]
 
Abstract:This case study will discuss how we used model-driven techniques to improve
the implementation, documentation and maintainability of a process
orchestration system at HSBC.

The session will provide a brief introduction to the Natural Rule Language
(NRL), an open language published on sourceforge, and how we added an action
language on top of the constraint language that it provides. It then discusses
how we parse and map the language, and in more detail the issues we
found when mapping it to the JESS rule engine for execution.

Our approach addressed a number of critical requirements, including: the need
for readability of business rules, which are hard to maintain in their rule
engine execution format; documentation that is more easily reviewed by
non-technical people; the ability to target other execution environments (for example Java) without changing the specification.

The goal of the session is to make participants aware of the work being done to
complement UML's modeling power with a constraint and action language that is
genuinely readable, and which is already mapped to a target execution language (JESS). Also to flag some of the issues we found when doing this in
practice.
 
Audience background:- Audience should be familiar with the UML
- Some familiarity with the NRL may help - tutorials are available on the web at http://nrl.sourceforge.net
- JESS knowledge useful, but not essential
 
Benefits of participating:- A deeper understanding of the problems involved in deploying a UML-based, model-driven architecture, on rule engines
- Exposure to the NRL, which is open source (including tools to parse and process) - enabling the audience to judge whether it is applicable in their line of work
 
Materials provided:- Slides
- Sample rules (anonymised or somehow obfuscated)
 
Process:The session will use a talk format, though it can obviously be interrupted at any time. Tool demonstrations will be used (participants will be given download links)
 
Detailed timetable:
 
Outputs:- Summary of feedback provided by participants
 
History:At SPA 2006, we ran a workshop on the constraint language of the NRL. Since then, we have greatly expanded the NRL's scope, adding an action language and also making it executable.
This session presents the results of our first application of our work at a project at HSBC.
 
Presenters
1. Christian Nentwich
Model Two Zero
2. Robert James
HSBC
3.