The Run-Time Rule Engine performs the following functions:

☛ Processes rules created as declarative statements without procedural instructions

☛ Groups all the rules that apply to a business process together (a policy) without having to arrange them in order of, or define them in terms of, relationships, contingencies, or dependencies

☛ Resolves rule conflicts arising from the simultaneous presence of multiple facts and conditions

☛ Supports forward chaining of rules that involves reevaluating rules in the executing policy based on changes to the fact base (addition/removal of facts or changes in state/data of existing facts). Forward chaining does not inherently span policies