A Methodology for Graphical Modeling of Business Rules

This work proposes a novel methodology based on the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) standard capable of graphically modeling business rules. A set of new representation patterns allows business analysts to map processes described through BPMN into conditions and actions of business rules. Our approach exploits Domain Specific Language techniques in order to make the methodology independent from the programming language supported by the specific rule engine. Moreover, this work proposes a web graphical editor, instantiated on a specific sample scenario, where the selected rule engine is Drools, one of the most used open source products. The developed editor allows business analysts to graphically define business rules and to automatically generate executable code compliant with the selected rule engine. The case study and the resulting benchmarking show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.