Testing_Business_Processes_with_i Log_Business_Rules

This morning (Oct 28, 2009) I attended a iLog Business Rules Management System (BRMS) Demo and it gave me an idea.

iLog has a great tool for testing rules. It allows to design test cases using MS Excell that are sent to the Rules Engine in order to determine if a rule set provides the expected decision.

In the past I ave been involved with the difficult exercice of generating test data for Business Processes. Using the iLog testing tool, this could be realized like this :

1. Before the process is designed, use the BRMS to design the process vocabulary.

2. Create some basic rules which from process inputs produce process outputs. In fact these rules simulate the process.

3. Create the rules test cases such that the rule responds the right process output from a given process input. In fact the rules set must simulates the process for the foreseen test cases.

4. Communicate the rules and their test cases to the Process developpers so they can design and build the process using the test cases.

5. For automating the tests, at the end of the process (or at intervals if the process is composed of serveral parts), send the process inputs to the business rules and ask the rules engine to compare process results with the expected process results (this requires a comparison rule which allows to determine of two result sets are considered equivalent).

To illustrate this, I used the opportunity to test gliffy to make a diagram:


http://www.gliffy.com/publish/1872505/