Stage 2: XML document processing

The rule engine reads the XML document through an XML document driver, instantiates XML objects passed as ruleset parameters, and runs rules against these objects.

The process of converting an XML document to an object is called deserialization. The reverse process, which consists in saving or transmitting an object in either binary form, or in a human-readable text format such as XML, is called serialization.

At run time, the XML data driver uses the XOM to support the deserialization of the XML documents into dynamic objects (and the serialization back into XML documents).

The rule engine then carries out the following actions:

  1. Reads the XML document through an XML document driver (IlrXmlDocumentDriver). The XML document driver converts an XML document to dynamic data structures.

  2. Instantiates XML objects passed as ruleset parameters.

  3. Runs rules against these objects (similar to Java™ objects).

With the same tools and syntax, you can define rules that reference both Java objects and XML objects, even within the same rule.

Diagram showing how the rule engine processes XML documents