Rules bases and methods of access thereof

Abstract

A rules base according to the invention comprises multiple entries encoded in a storage medium, e.g., optical disk, magnetic disk, or read-only memory or random access memory. Each entry is encoded to include, or is otherwise associated with, an objective and with a circumstance. Each entry is also marked to reflect its respective status, e.g., via status fields encoded in the records. These statuses include, inter alia, 'valid,' reflecting that information encoded in, or otherwise associated with, the entry corresponds to a rule for corresponding objective/circumstance; 'inheritance,' reflecting that the rule for the corresponding objective/circumstance is to be sought elsewhere, e.g., in another entry in the rules base; and 'invalid,' reflecting that the corresponding combination of objective and circumstance is invalid. The rules base also includes an 'inheritance' structure that, too, is encoded in a storage medium. A method for determining a rule for a designated objective and circumstance responds to identification, e.g., via a search of the rules base, of a valid entry that is associated with the designated objective/circumstance for generating a rule based on information associated with that entry. The method also responds to (i) the identification of an entry that is marked for inheritance and is associated that objective/circumstance, or (ii) the failure to identify an entry associated with that objective/circumstance, for generating a rule based on information associated with another an entry in the rules base--particularly, an entry that is an associated with the same objective and with an immediate or prior ancestor of the designated circumstance. The method constructs a rule from data elements collected from ancestor entries.