[rules-users] Help with my understanding

Hi, We are using Jboss-rules 3.0.5 and I have written a simple rule: rule "Valid Format" when $status : RuleResult() $id : Identifier() eval ($id.getValue() != null) eval (!$id.getValue().matches("^([0-9]{9})$")) then $status.addErrorMessage("Identifier does not match required format"); end In my unit test, I create an instance of the Identifier object and do not set the Value, therefore it is null by default. I have an earlier rule that checks for this null value and places an error message in the result object appropriately. I would expect this error to fail and not see this error message in the result, but instead see the missing value error message. The problem is that I see both. It appears as though the eval null check is failing. Am I misunderstanding how this rule should work? Any insight and/or answers are really appreciated. Thanks, John