A rule project is a container for organizing rule artifacts and setting up the business object model (BOM) and rule authoring vocabulary. Each rule project item is associated with a folder.
You implement a rule project in Designer as an Eclipse project, as a container for organizing rule-related items. A rule project can contain different types of folders:
- source folder (rules)
A root container for the rule packages and artifacts.
- BOM folder (bom)
Contains the files related to the BOM. A BOM file that is stored in the BOM folder is part of the BOM path.
- query folder (queries)
Contains query files.
- template folder (templates)
Contains template files.
- resource folder (resources)
Contains resource files, that is, files or folders that are not part of the rule model.
The source, BOM, query, template, and resources folders are registered in the project properties. They must be located directly under the rule project. The source folder contains rule packages that contain rule artifacts. It also plays the role of root package, and as such can contain rule artifacts.
If you rename a folder or subfolder in Designer and synchronize with Decision Center, you obtain a new version in Decision Center for every artifact in that folder.
Each rule project item is associated with a folder, a file, or both. The following table describes these associations. The Decision Center column indicates which project items synchronize with Decision Center. The SCC column indicates which project items must be committed when using a source code control system:
| Item | Associated with | Comments | Decision Center | SCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rule project | The root folder | - |  |
|
| .project file | XML file that stores the general Eclipse project information, such as the nature of the project or the launch configuration. | - | |
|
| .ruleproject file | XML file that stores the project properties that are specific to a rule project: - Categories - BOM path - XOM path - Output location - Relative path of the source, BOM, query, template, and resources folders. Displayed with the “Project properties” label in the Synchronize view. |
|
|
|
| Rule package | A rule package folder | Called a folder in Decision Center. | |
|
| .rulepackage file | XML file that stores the information concerning the rule package. Displayed with the “Package properties” label in the Synchronize view. |
|
|
|
| Action rule | .brl file | XML file that stores the properties and the definition of an action rule. | |
|
| Decision table | .dta file | XML file that stores the properties and the definition of a decision table. | |
|
| Decision tree | .dtr file | XML file that stores the properties and the definition of a decision tree. | |
|
| Function | .fct file | XML file that stores the properties and the definition of a function. | |
|
| Ruleflow | .rfl file | XML file that stores the properties, the task definitions, and the description of a ruleflow diagram. | |
|
| Technical rule | .trl file | XML file that stores the properties and the definition of a technical rule. | |
|
| Variable set | .var file | XML file that stores a list of variables. | |
|
| Action rule template | .brt file | XML file that stores the template properties, and the properties and the definition of the action rule to instantiate. | |
|
| Query | .qry file | XML file that stores the properties and the definition of a query. | |
|
| BOM entry | .bom file | Plain text file that stores the structure of a BOM entry. | |
|
| _<locale>.voc file | Key-value property file that stores the verbalization information attached to BOM elements. The first part of the keys corresponds to the fully qualified name of the BOM elements. The second part defines the verbalization of the BOM elements. | |
|
|
| .b2x file | XML file that stores the functions that map the BOM to the XOM. | |
|
|
| Source folder | The source folder | The source folder is not a project item as such, but a container for the rule artifacts. | - | |
| BOM folder | The bom folder | The BOM folder is not a project item as such, but a container for the BOM entries. All the BOM entries that are directly under the BOM folder or under folders in the BOM folder are part of the BOM and are referred to as the BOM path. | - | |
| Query folder | The queries folder | The queries folder is a container for the queries that can be used in the project. | |
|
| Resource folder | The resources folder | The resource folder is a container for files that are not part of the rule model. (See Defining a structure for rule project items and Creating a resource). | |
|
| Template folder | The templates folder | The template folder is a container for the templates that can be used in the project and any dependent projects. The complete list of templates is computed by gathering the templates that are stored directly under the template folder or any of its subfolders. | |
|
| Output folder | The output folder | The output folder stores compiled files generated when you build the project. | - | - |
| Decision Center connection entry | The .syncEntries file | File used to share the synchronization state between Designer and Decision Center. | - | - |