Introducing queries

Using queries, you can search through your workspace for rule artifacts and enforce actions on the artifacts found. You enter the search criteria in the condition part and, in the action part, the modification to carry out.

For example, if you have a modification to apply to a certain type of rule, you can create a query that searches for the rules corresponding to this type and modifies them. You can also create queries to find which rules have been affected by any modification you made.

Queries can be categorized according to the rule part that they search:

  • The condition part of a rule

  • The action part of a rule

  • Both the condition and action parts of a rule

You can use queries to evaluate the impact of changes to the object model or changes to rules.

You construct queries in the same way that you construct rules with a condition and an action. As the query condition, you define the criteria to match (see Query conditions) and as the action, you specify what to do. The default query action is to display the results in the Search window, but it is possible to have the query carry out other actions such as move the results of a query to another package (see Query actions).

You can use queries in Rule Designer and Decision Center. However, if you are synchronizing your rule projects between the two modules, you must be aware of some differences (see Query synchronization between Rule Designer and Decision Center).