Business Rules engine

A Business Rules release has the following components:

• workflow descriptors
• node descriptors
• task descriptors
• data descriptors
• table data that is retrieved from the database and copied into .TBL files

The user selects a release to modify by locking it. After the changes have been made to the new release, it is activated and assigned a new release ID. The active release is distributed, which means that the descriptors and tables are stored in the memory of the Business Rules Server instances and are available to client applications.

The number of releases that can be active depends on whether Business Rules effective dating is enabled.

Effective dating is enabled

There can be multiple active releases, each for a different date and grouped by calendar date. All of the descriptors and tables for each of the effective dated releases are available to client applications. If a change is made to a currently active release, all of its components are replaced when it is reactivated.

Effective dating is disabled

The current active release is closed and the new release becomes active.

The Business Rules engine supports the following types of activation:

• Normal activation, which activates an entire release.
• Tactical activation, which updates one or more tables for an active release.

It uses Business Rules Manager to distribute the releases when they are activated.