Dynamic external control of rule-based decision making through user rule

Abstract

A method for providing persistent, dynamic external control of rule-based decision making through inherited user defined rules (UDRs) within a computer controlled relational database management system (RDBMs). Within the novel system, objects are grouped together in a parent-child hierarchy where a child has one parent and each parent can have multiple children. Each object can have one or more pre-defined ('hardcoded') rules associated with it; these hardcoded rules are executed in a sequence to arrive at parameter values which, when applied, tune the database environment. The novel system provides a mechanism for creating UDRs which are associated with a particular object and used by particular hardcoded rules which process the particular object. For a given hardcoded rule, if a processed object does not have a UDR defined within, then a search is made up the object's ancestry (e.g., its parentage) until a defined UDR is located within an ancestor object; this value is then used to modify the behavior of the hardcoded rule. The root of the object hierarchy contains defined UDRs ('base UDRs') for all hardcoded rules, so the above search is effective for all user rules. Before a hardcoded rule is executed, it automatically allows its associated UDR to customize data and/or execute a procedure. The UDRs offer a mechanism for customizing the performance tuning session based on external (user supplied) information and defining the scope of the attribute represented by the UDR from different levels of the object hierarchy.