Business Rule-Oriented Conceptual Modeling

This book is based on a PhD dissertation which was accepted by the faculty of Law and Economics at the University of Bern, Switzerland. The ideas presented were partially developed in a research project founded by the Swiss National Sci­ ence Foundation in 1993 and 1994. This research project was concerned with evaluating the application of database triggers and active databases for the im­ plementation of business rules. We recognized among other things the lack of a methodology for modeling such business rules on the conceptual level. Therefore, this became the focus of the follow-up research which resulted in this book. All this work would not have been possible without the help of several people. First of all, I would like to give special thanks to my thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. Gerhard Knolmayer. He not only initiated the research project and found an in­ dustry partner, but also provided very valuable ideas, and critically reviewed and discussed the resulting publications. Furthermore, I would like to express my thanks to the second thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. Sham Navathe from Georgia In­ stitute of Technology who influenced my work with results from a former re­ search project and who agreed to evaluate the resulting PhD Dissertation.

Inhalt

1 Introduction.- 2 Rules In Organizations And Information Systems.- 2.1 Rules in Organizational Theory.- 2.1.1 Introduction.- 2.1.2 Selected Organizational Approaches.- 2.1.2.1 Bureaucracy Model of Max Weber.- 2.1.2.2 Approach of Management Theory and Organizational Theories of Business Administration.- 2.1.2.2.1' scientific' Management.- 2.1.2.2.2 Business Process Reengineering.- 2.1.2.3 Human Relations Approach and Theory of Motivation.- 2.1.2.4 Approaches of the Behavioral Scientific Decision Theory.- 2.1.2.5 Comparison of the Selected Organizational Approaches.- 2.1.3 Formalization of Organizational Facts.- 2.2 Implementation of Rules in Information Systems.- 2.2.1 Rules in Program Code.- 2.2.1.1 Third Generation Languages.- 2.2.1.2 Fourth Generation Languages.- 2.2.1.3 Fifth Generation Languages.- 2.2.2 Rules in Database Management Systems.- 2.2.2.1 Overview on Current Research.- 2.2.2.2 Deductive Database Management Systems.- 2.2.2.3 Active Database Management Systems.- 2.2.2.3.1 Introduction.- 2.2.2.3.2 Rule Syntax.- 2.2.2.3.3 Open Research Questions in Active DBMS.- 2.2.2.4 Practical Relevance of Deductive and Active Database Management Systems.- 2.2.3 Comparison of the Implementation Alternatives.- 2.3 Summary.- 3 Business Rules.- 3.1 Case Studies.- 3.1.1 Overview.- 3.1.2 Case Study 'DOM-2'.- 3.1.3 Examples of Business Rules.- 3.2 Classification of Integrity Constraints and Business Rules.- 3.2.1 Types of Integrity Constraints.- 3.2.1.1 Number of Database States Involved.- 3.2.1.2 Number of Referred Database Constructs.- 3.2.1.3 Time Point of Evaluation.- 3.2.1.4 Relation to the Data Model.- 3.2.1.5 Type of (Re)Action.- 3.2.1.6 Database Schema.- 3.2.1.7 Interdependencies between the Classification Criteria.- 3.2.2 Types of Business Rules.- 3.2.2.1 Event Types.- 3.2.2.2 Condition Types.- 3.2.2.3 Action Types.- 3.3 Business Rules in their Organizational Environment.- 3.3.1 Origins of Business Rules.- 3.3.1.1 External Origins.- 3.3.1.2 Internal Origins.- 3.3.1.3 Conflict Situations.- 3.3.1.4 Origin Owner.- 3.3.2 Processors of Business Rules.- 3.3.2.1 Processor Types.- 3.3.2.2 View on Single Business Rules.- 3.3.2.3 Assignment of Business Rules to Specific Processors.- 3.3.2.4 View on Processes Specified Using Business Rules.- 3.3.3 Assignment of Business Rules to Organizational Units.- 3.4 Summary.- 4 Brocom: A Business Rule-Oriented Conceptual Modeling Approach.- 4.1 The Meta Model of the BROCOM Approach.- 4.1.1 Introduction.- 4.1.2 The Core of the Meta Model.- 4.1.2.1 Submodel 'Business Rule'.- 4.1.2.2 Submodel 'Process'.- 4.1.2.3 Submodel 'Data Model Components'.- 4.1.3 The Environment of Business Rules.- 4.1.3.1 Submodel 'Processor'.- 4.1.3.2 Submodel'Origin'.- 4.1.3.3 Submodel 'Organizational Unit'.- 4.1.4 Selected Meta Models.- 4.1.4.1 Description of the Selected Meta Models.- 4.1.4.1.1 IFIPWG 8.1.- 4.1.4.1.2 ESPRIT: CIM Open Systems Architecture.- 4.1.4.1.3 ARIS.- 4.1.4.1.4 RIM.- 4.1.4.2 Comparison of the Selected Meta Models.- 4.2 Steps of the BROCOM Approach.- 4.2.1 Step 1: Process Structure.- 4.2.1.1 Deliverables.- 4.2.1.2 Procedure.- 4.2.1.3 Application to DOM-2.- 4.2.2 Step 2: Process Specification.- 4.2.2.1 Deliverables.- 4.2.2.2 Procedure.- 4.2.2.3 Application to DOM-2.- 4.2.3 Step 3: Data Model.- 4.2.3.1 Deliverables.- 4.2.3.2 Procedure.- 4.2.3.3 Application to DOM-2.- 4.2.4 Step 4: Integrity Constraints.- 4.2.4.1 Deliverables.- 4.2.4.2 Procedure.- 4.2.4.3 Application to DOM-2.- 4.2.5 Step 5: Validation.- 4.3 Summary.- 5 Views on the Meta Model.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Process View.- 5.2.1 Petri Net.- 5.2.1.1 Introduction.- 5.2.1.2 Application.- 5.2.1.2.1 ECA2 Net.- 5.2.1.2.2 Simplified ECA2 Net.- 5.2.2 Conceptual Processing Model.- 5.2.2.1 Introduction.- 5.2.2.2 Application.- 5.3 View on the Data Model.- 5.3.1 Entity-Relationship Model.- 5.3.1.1 Introduction.- 5.3.1.2 Application.- 5.3.2 NIAM.- 5.3.2.1 Introduction.- 5.3.2.2 Application.- 5.4 View on the Relationship between Data Structure and Processes.- 5.4.1 Data Flow Diagrams.- 5.4.1.1 Introduction.- 5.4.1.2 Application.- 5.4.2 Entity-Relationship-Event-Rule Model.- 5.4.2.1 Introduction.- 5.4.2.2 Application.- 5.5 Data Object Behavior View.- 5.5.1 Petri Net and Entity Relationship Model.- 5.5.1.1 Introduction.- 5.5.1.2 Application.- 5.6 Summary.- 6 Burro: A Repository System for a Business Rule-Oriented Conceptual Modeling.- 6.1 Implementation of BURRO.- 6.1.1 Implementation of the Meta Model.- 6.1.1.1 Meta Meta Model.- 6.1.1.2 Physical Data Model.- 6.1.2 Implementation of the User Interface.- 6.1.3 Implementation of Graphical Views.- 6.2 Application of the Repository System to the Case Study "D0M-2".- 6.2.1 Process Structure.- 6.2.2 Process Specification.- 6.2.2.1 Process DOM-2-Damage-Administration.- 6.2.2.2 Subprocess Damage-Reception.- 6.2.2.3 Subprocess Damage-Registration.- 6.2.2.4 Subprocess Damage-Treatment.- 6.2.2.5 Subprocess Damage-Archiving.- 6.2.2.6 Final Process Structure.- 6.2.3 Data Model.- 6.2.3.1 Entity-Relationship Model.- 6.2.3.2 Entity-Relationship Event-Rules Model.- 6.2.4 Integrity Constraints.- 6.3 Summary.- 7 Summary and Outlook.- References.- Appendixes.- Appendix A: Syntax for Business Rules.- Appendix B: Document Types of BURRO.