Rules engine can't find classes in DM

Question

I am working with the Oracle rules engine and can't get around what seems like a simple problem. I am following the example in chapter 18 of the BPEL developers guide (http://download-east.oracle.com/docs/cd/B31017_01/integrate.1013/b28981/decision.htm#sthref3129) and can't seem to run the rules.
I am creating the DM using the CreditRating.xsd provided in the example. I have created the RL function and ruleset as stated in the chapter. When I go to the RL tab and click on check RL syntax I get the following error:
A syntax error is found.
Error:'creditrating.RatingType' is undefined at line 4 column 14 in DM
1. ruleset DM
2.
3. {
4. fact class creditrating.RatingType supports xpath; <<<<
5. fact class creditrating.Rating supports xpath;
6. fact class creditrating.RatingrequestType supports xpath;
I also have a process that uses a decision node to execute the ruleset and it complains that the creditrating.objectFactory is undefined. I have to be missing a step somewhere that actually links in the classes that are auto-generated by JAXB.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris

Answer 1

I dug a little deeper and figured out what the gotcha is with the rules engine repository. So, when working with the rules engine there are two ways to access the repository file that holds the data model and business rules. You can either access the file directly from the hard drive or through the use of WebDAV.
I was using the rules author to access the repository directly on the hard drive since I didn't have WebDAV setup somewhere. I created my data model and my rules using the rules author.
As part of creating the BPEL process to use the rules in the repository, I created a Decision Service and pointed it at the repository file on the hard drive that I have been editing with the rules author. The act of doing this COPIES the repository to the JDev directory where the Decision Service resides.
During the deployment process, the Decision Service is deployed (auto-magically) as a separate ear file to the app server. This Decision Service ear file contains yet another copy of the rules engine repository file. The repository in the ear file, of course, is the repository that the BPEL server executes rules against when the BPEL process is run.
Needless to say, continuing to edit the original repository that you were editing with the rules author does not actually affect any of the rules that are running on the app server. There are a couple of ways that you can get around this:
1.) Edit the repository file (with the rules author) in the JDev directory directly and after making any changes save the repository and redeploy the BPEL process. Redeploying the BPEL process will redeploy the decision service which contains that copy of the repository.
2.) This one is not really recommended, but is an option. Edit the repository file that got deployed as part of the decision service deployment. This will make your rules changes effective immediately. One of the real big problems with doing this is when the BPEL process is redeployed the repository on the app server that you have been modifying will be overwritten.
3.) The real solution to this problem seems to be setting up a WebDAV deployment somewhere that you and the app server has access to.