I've been playing with the new Ruleflow stuff in 4.0MR2 - which is cool - and it's raised a couple of questions and observations that I hope other users can answer. 1. Is there a way of specifying a constraint(s) on a Split node. I can see the Split node type property can be given an AND value, but there seems to be no way of specifying which output connections(s) should be traversed after the split. I quick peek at the source code did reveal that the core ruleflow stuff seems to have constraint attributes in the split node implementation, so is this still a "Todo", or is there a way of specifying constraints in 4.0MR2 release? 2. Am I correct in assuming that a rule can only ever belong to a single RuleFlowGroup node (i.e. ruleset), as the rules in a RuleFlowGroup seem to be specified by a rules (single) ruleflowgroup attribute? It appears that if you want to reuse a rule in another RuleFlowGroup node in the ruleflow then you have to redefine a copy of the rule and give it a different ruleflowgroup attribute. However, if a rule could belong to several ruleflow groups then you could reuse a rule in other RuleFlowGroup nodes in the same ruleflow, or even in a different ruleflow. In some the applications I've developed with commercial rules engines, it's common to have a number of ruleflows that implement different parts of a system, but where all the rules are defined against a common model, thus allowing some reuse of rules. 3. The Eclipse GUI ruleflow builder doesn't seem to allow loops in the flow. It may sound a bit perverse, but is there any reason why loops should not allowed (assuming the rule modeler is aware of the potential of infinite loops etc)? I've implemented applications with commercial rules engines, where looping in the ruleflow has proved useful. As I said, it may sound perverse, but several commercial rules engines are getting to the point where the ruleflow tools are essentially Business Process Management Systems (BPMS). These systems mix rules and process control flow, such as split conditions, looping and much more, to define applications within a single framework, but that's a whole different topic. Thanks Shahad ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ rules-users mailing list rules-users(a)lists.jboss.org https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/rules-users

1) Yes kris is still working on the decision stuff for ruleflow. >Some of

can define which path(s) to follow based on some conditions) is still on

2) A rule currently can only belong to one ruleflow-group, but a

can belong to multiple ruleflows ...

3) The Eclipse GUI ruleflow builder doesn't seem to allow loops in the

It does support the creation of loops: create an XOR split as the starting

of your loop, you can then always create nodes that link back to this starting point, resulting in a loop...

> 1) Yes kris is still working on the decision stuff for ruleflow. Some of the stuff is already partially implemented, but an (X)OR split (where you can define which path(s) to follow based on some conditions) is still on the TODO list. > 3) The Eclipse GUI ruleflow builder doesn't seem to allow loops in the flow. It does support the creation of loops: create an XOR split as the starting point of your loop, you can then always create nodes that link back to this starting point, resulting in a loop. Note that looping kind of depends on the (X)OR split as well, as that would allow you to exit the loop in specific conditions (now you will probably create an endless loop). I hope I'll be able to add that piece of functionality pretty soon to trunk. Kris _______________________________________________ rules-users mailing list rules-users(a)lists.jboss.org https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/rules-users

Erm, I'd already raised a JIRA for rule flow support in the BRMS:- Provide RuleFlow editing capabilities within JBRMS -------------------------------------------------- Key: JBRULES-851 URL: http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBRULES-851 Project: JBoss Rules Issue Type: Feature Request Security Level: Public (Everyone can see) Reporter: Michael Anstis Assigned To: Mark Proctor ------------------------------ *From:* rules-users-bounces(a)lists.jboss.org [mailto: rules-users-bounces(a)lists.jboss.org] *On Behalf Of *Shahad Ahmed *Sent:* 15 May 2007 00:37 *To:* Rules Users List *Subject:* Re: [rules-users] Using the Rule Flow Builder GUI Mark, Kris, Thanks for the replies. >1) Yes kris is still working on the decision stuff for ruleflow. >Some of the stuff is already partially implemented, but an (X)OR split (where you >can define which path(s) to follow based on some conditions) is still on the TODO list. I look forward to trying out the XOR decision node stuff. By the looks of the code in the trunk, the core stuff isn't to far for completion. >2) A rule currently can only belong to one ruleflow-group, but a ruleflow-group > can belong to multiple ruleflows ... Reuse of ruleflow-groups is a good start, but allowing rules to belong to more than one group is definitely worth considering at some point. I may just give this a go and see what it looks like:) What I've found is that when you use a decent BRMS (like the new BRMS in JBoss Rules) and have all your rules in one place, then the potential for reuse really starts to become apparent. Incidentally, is there any merit to adding ruleflow management into the BRMS, if only to allow them to be versioned and added to the repository. Perhaps they could be an additional element to a package (i.e like Business rules, models etc.). I can see that defining ruleflows is probably not something that could be done easily (if at all) in the BRMS web app itself. >3) The Eclipse GUI ruleflow builder doesn't seem to allow loops in the flow. >It does support the creation of loops: create an XOR split as the starting point >of your loop, you can then always create nodes that link back to this >starting point, resulting in a loop... Kris, I assume you meant create an XOR Join (not Split) as the starting point of the loop, in which case I can see how that would work - thanks. Regards Shahad On 5/14/07, Kris Verlaenen <kris.verlaenen(a)cs.kuleuven.be&gt; wrote: > > > 1) Yes kris is still working on the decision stuff for ruleflow. > Some of the stuff is already partially implemented, but an (X)OR split > (where you can define which path(s) to follow based on some conditions) is > still on the TODO list. > > > 3) The Eclipse GUI ruleflow builder doesn't seem to allow loops in the > flow. > It does support the creation of loops: create an XOR split as the > starting point of your loop, you can then always create nodes that link back > to this starting point, resulting in a loop. Note that looping kind of > depends on the (X)OR split as well, as that would allow you to exit the loop > in specific conditions (now you will probably create an endless loop). I > hope I'll be able to add that piece of functionality pretty soon to trunk. > > Kris > > > _______________________________________________ > rules-users mailing list > rules-users(a)lists.jboss.org > https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/rules-users > > _______________________________________________ rules-users mailing list rules-users(a)lists.jboss.org https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/rules-users