Features

User Friendly Engine

Business Oriented

Create rules in easy table format similar to usual business documents. Highlight, colorize and strengthen your rules. Use any styles and formats you need.

Excel Based

All versions of Excel are supported starting from 97. Work with Excel 97-2003 and Excel 2007 and 2010 formats.

Simple Rules Definition Language

The majority of rules won’t require any complex constructions. All common cases are assumed by default. Just indicate what data to use and sometimes what calculations to do.

Errors Discovery

The type safe approach uncovers the majority of errors while authoring. An error reporting with links to the exact cell with a mistake in it makes fixes easy.

High Performance

Optimized execution engine ensures rules performance and productivity.

Easier Code Than Java

If rules employ sophisticated logic, they can be written using Java language with many simplifications and productivity enhancements called BEX grammar extension.

Different Rules Formats

Decision Tables

Associate conditions with actions to perform and values to return. Make complex decisions with absolute clarity.

Lookup Tables

You can create a multidimensional version of a decision table.

Simplified Decision and Lookup Tables

Just name your simple rules, and OpenL will understand the rest. Lots of simplifications are possible for common rules.

Spreadsheet Calculations

Create Excel-like calculations rules. Any calculations can be flexibly captured in this format.

Decision Trees

Use the ColumnMatch component to capture rules as a decision tree.

Algorithms and Flows

TBasic (table basic) and method tables can handle sophisticated logic.

Versioning

Rules Versioning

Define effective and expiration dates, line of business, state, and other business dimension properties for your rules. Appropriate rule version is called during execution using context with properties which user defines.

Files Versioning

Version control management is available through the rules repository.

Multi-module and Multisource

Rules versioning will work even for multi-module and multisource deployments.

Powerful Environment

Web Interface

Give anyone access to the rules platform, from any web browser.

Search

Use search to find anything in your rules and residing documentation. Full text search and indexes are available for all Excel and Word documents. Look for rules by their metadata.

Rules Repository

Store rules in a centralized repository. Collaborate using the repository to prevent rules conflicts. The rules repository supports versions, metadata and WebDAV access.

Any File in Rules Repository

Store any file along with your rules in rules repository.

Role-Based Access Control

Control access and allow operations to any rules assets through fine-grained security policies.

Live Deployment

Deployment Management

Manage your rules deployments with the rules repository.

Isolated Datasource

Create local versioned datasources that are isolated.

Live Rules Updates

Change rules instances from one version to the next, as you work.

Consistency Checking

Verify that all deployed rules artifacts are consistent and properly integrated.

Easy Staging Support

Run rules in a sandbox environment before promoting to production.

Repository Interface

Manage rules projects and deployments from third-party tools using the rules repository API.

Development Support

Maven Integration

Use rules in any maven-based project. Create new project with rules using archetype.

Full Java Integration

Any Java classes, their methods and attributes can be easily accessed and called from rules. Java and rules seamlessly interoperate. Call rules from code as usual Java methods.

Extensibility

There are many ways to customize and extend OpenL Tablets.

Integration

SOA Ready

Expose rules as efficient, scalable and standardized services using Service Frontend.

Java Wrappers

Use rules as usual Java methods from your code.

Editing

Wizards

Create tables with assistance of guided wizards.

Powerful Editor

Use powerful table editor with inline cell editors matching cell type and Excel like formatting.

Cool Features

What If Analysis

Try hypothetical rules and develop relevant insight.

Gap Analysis

Switch on gaps and overlaps checks for conditions of decision and lookup tables. Versioned rules are always checked for gaps and overlaps.

Model

Domain Model

Create description of domain with intuitive wizard. Reuse it in services and application.

Extensible Type System

Create data types directly in rules. Inherit them from other data types or even Java classes. Define vocabulary types.

Data

Store data in rules files and access it from application. Maintain it in database like structure.

Debug and Testing

Trace

See how your rules execute with all intermediate results and values.

Explanation

Explore how the value was calculated.

Unit Tests

Check rules’ correctness for predefined test cases with expected results or errors.

Benchmarks

Measure rules’ execution speed.

Runs

See rules’ execution results for predefined list of input values.

Test Data

Store test data directly in rules files.