Technical rules

Technical rules are written using the ILOG Rule Language (IRL). IRL is a Java-like rule language that can be executed directly by the rule engine.

A technical rule is made of a condition part and an action part.

• The condition part, which begins with the keyword when, binds variables to objects and attribute values, and specifies tests on attribute values. This provides a filtering mechanism for objects.

  Examples of IRL condition keywords are:

  • collect
  • evaluate
  • exists
  • from
  • in
  • instanceof
  • not
  • where

• The action part, which begins with the keyword then, specifies the actions to be carried out if the rule is executed. It includes an optional second part which begins with the keyword else, that applies only if the last evaluated statement in the condition part is false.

  Examples of IRL action keywords are:

  • break
  • catch
  • continue
  • foreach
  • modify
  • retract
  • try
  • update
  • throw
  • while