Own Your Business Logic With Business Rule Framework Plus

PMC163

Own Your Business Logic With

Business Rule Framework Plus

Wolfgang Schaper, BRFplus, Corporate Functions Platform, SAP AG

Carsten Ziegler, BRFplus, Corporate Functions Platform, SAP AG

Jeff Gebo, SAP Technology RIG, SAP Labs LLC

Claudia Pacheco, SAP Technology RIG, SAP Labs Canada

Susan Keohan, Information Services Department, MIT Lincoln Laboratory

October 20, 2010

© 2010 SAP AG. All rights reserved. / Page 2

Agenda

1. About Business Rules

2. Business Rule Framework plus

3. Exercises

Exercise 1: Create an Application, Function, and Ruleset

Exercise 2: Define a Simple Rule

Exercise 3: Define more Complex Rules

Exercise 4: Run the Rules

Exercise 5: Call the Function

4. Summary and Outlook


Agenda



3. Exercises








What are Business Rules?

Procurement

Planning and

Analysis

Procurement

Purchase Order

Processing

Goods Receipt

and Service Entry

Invoice

Processing

Payment

Demand /

Request Creation

RFx can be created manually or by a predecessor document. RFx specific information (e.g. submission deadline, suppliers) is maintained.

RFx is sent to the selected suppliers to obtain a bid.

Bids are received and can be evaluated according to different criteria (e.g. best price).

Best source of supply is selected and notification of acceptance is sent to the supplier. Rejection is sent to other suppliers.

Optimized process output Adherence to regulations/policies Process automation

Business Rules

A set of decisions / calculation mechanisms applied to a business process:

RFx

Processing

Purchase

Request

Processing


Problems with Conventional Methods

Rules inside Code

Business

User

Rules

Roles

UI

Workflow

& Task

Event

Data

Process Context

Create Claim

Analyze Budget Impact

Analyze Resource Impact

Rules

Roles

UI

Workflow

& Task

Event

Data

Process Context

Create Claim



Out

of

stock

Product

15 min

Reple-

nish-

ment

order

Out

of

stock

Product

15 min

Reple-

nish-

ment

order

Business

Expert

Rules

Roles

UI

Workflow

& Task

Event

Data

Process Context

Create Claim



Rules

Roles

UI

Workflow

& Task

Event

Data

Process Context

Create Claim



Out

of

stock

Product

15 min

Reple-

nish-

ment

order

Out

of

stock

Product

15 min

Reple-

nish-

ment

order

Business

Analyst

Rules

Roles

UI

Workflow

& Task

Event

Data

Process Context

Create Claim



Rules

Roles

UI

Workflow

& Task

Event

Data

Process Context

Create Claim



Out

of

stock

Product

15 min

Reple-

nish-

ment

order

Out

of

stock

Product

15 min

Reple-

nish-

ment

order

Rules as Tacit Knowledge

Rules in Documents

Rules inside Database

Sales Commissions

Premium Calculations

…Triggers

Stored

Procedures

Costs, archiving, backups, compliance?Agility, visibility for business, changes?


Business Rules Management

Flexible & agile business systems Precise & informed decision making

Faster turnaround times for changes Improved visibility for the business

Reduced cost for changes

Benefits of Using Business Rules ManagementRules

Roles

UI

Workflow

& Task

Event

Data

Process Context

Create Claim



Rules

Roles

UI

Workflow

& Task

Event

Data

Process Context

Create Claim



Out

of

stock

Product

15 min

Reple-

nish-

ment

order

Out

of

stock

Product

15 min

Reple-

nish-

ment

order

Model

Refine

Automate

Manage

Business Rules Management Benefit

Separation of business rules

and code

Agile and maintainable systems

Modeling of complex business

logic

Automation of key business

decisions

Central management of

business rules

Consistent application of

corporate policy and

government regulations

Business Experts can find,

change and test critical

business rules

Visibility, accountability and

error-free business


Ubiquitous Business Rules

Banking: Relationship based Pricing,

Scorecards, Credit Decisioning

Education: Fee Calculations,

Course Selections

Healthcare: Claims, Patient

Monitoring, Fraud Detection

Logistics and Shipping: Parts

Management, Duties Calculations,

Pricing Calculations

Public Sector: Tax Calculations,

Customs Duties, Land Regulations,

License Fee Calculations

Insurance: New Products, Claims

Settlement, Agent Commissions


Agenda



3. Exercises








Rules Creation Process

Create and Assign Rules

Create and Assign Rule Set(s)

Create and Assign Expressions

Create and Assign Actions

Create Function

Create and Assign Context Data Objects

Create and Assign Result Data Object

Start

End

Create Application

Implement Function Call

Simulate Function

Activate Objects


Mode of Operation

Function

Application Code

Ruleset

Application Code calls BRFplus

Function

Only 6 lines of code needed

Context input data

Result output data

BRFplus Function processes

rules from assigned ruleset(s)

Rules can evaluate

conditions, change data and

perform actions


Ruleset

Name, text, documentation, version

overview, change tracking, release

information, technical ID

Variables for intermediate values,

initializations (code, DB, values, rules)

Ruleset precondition, priority,

function assignment

Rule validity information and description

Rules to change data by value assignment, variable

assignment, and expressions (decision tables, formulas, …)

Rules to trigger actions (email, workflow, message log)


Selected Action and Expression Types

Decision/

Search Tree

Traverses a binary/non-binary tree with nodes

being conditions and leafs being results

Decision

Table

Sequentially processes a table of value

ranges and returns the first row/all rows for

which all ranges returned true

Database

Lookup

Performs a database select to retrieve values

for processing

Formula Allows the definition of complex formulas to

be evaluated at run-time

Loop Process the array of data in the loop and

performs operation based on the rules

Table

Operations

Operates on entire tables to carry out

aggregations, existence checks, line counts…

Routine Call Calls an ABAP routine (method or function

module)

Email Sends Email

Message

Log

Writes message into message log

Workflow Triggers Business Workflow

Expression Types

Expression types define a

self-contained

computational unit with a

well-defined logic

Expressions use context

data or nest other

expressions to calculate,

determine or derive result

Action Types

Instead of returning a

result value, action types

trigger an action in

response to incoming data


Decision Table

Decision Tables

Powerful visualization - compact and structured

Completeness and consistency – error prevention made easier

Modular knowledge organization - rules grouped into a single table

Column definition: condition, result or action,

comparison options, mandatory columns

Table definition: any number of condition or

result columns, return of first or all matches

Rows: Checks for

overlaps or gaps

Cells: include/exclude,

enumerations, many

options (equals, greater,

less or equals, pattern

matching, between, …)

Powerful cell options

reduce amount of data

compared to DB table

DemoDEMO

Setting up an Application with SAP Business Rule Framework plus

https://ldciui2.wdf.sap.corp:44378/sap/bc/webdynpro/sap/fdt_wd_workbench?sap-language=EN&sap-client=000


Building a Sample Application

Use Case Hotel Room Rate

For given check-in and check-out dates the total rate

for a specific room type is being calculated

A check for check-out date later than check-in date is

included

A notification mail with the relevant data is triggered


Agenda



3. Exercises








Exercises

In the exercises we want to set up a sample

application (exercise 1)

that derives the price of some product (exercise 2),

adds shipping costs of 5%, but at least 2$, if the price

is under 100$ (exercise 3) and

sends a notification mail if a product is not found in

the price list (exercise 3)

Then we test the application (exercise 4)

Finally we implement the function call in backend

(exercise 5)


Login Information

Please log on to system M34, client 800

Your user is BRFPLUS_<nn>, where nn is the

number of your seat, e.g. BRFPLUS_07

The password is “Hands-On” (case sensitive)

That system is a SAP NetWeaver 7.02 SP04 system

In Ramp-Up, starting in Q4/2010, we will ship SP05

Be aware that SP04 is a preliminary version

Please keep that in mind in case you experience any

issues


Findings of the Exercises

Within one hour we set up an application

that is business driven and is based on a business

model

that checks for product prices and availability

that applies context sensitive logic

that triggers a follow up action

that can be adapted or extended at any time

that may have role based authorization

that is fully integrated with the backend

without one line of coding

modification free

without any previous training or upskilling

that can be called from backend very easily


Summary

Business User Empowerment

Graphical approach for intuitive rule composition and management (modeling rather than programming)

Transparency of rule execution and tracing for audit

Personalization and segmentation of rules (object catalogs, filters, personal configuration, etc.)

Zero Administration

Seamless integration with ABAP applications and ABAP server (ABAP, DDIC, Change and Transport System,

Web Service and RFC Generator)

High performance and nearly no footprint (<100 kB)

Zero setup effort before rule modeling (no installations, no plug-ins, no business vocabulary setup, no additional

sizing, browser-based UI)

Rapid Time-to-Value

Rapid prototyping with feedback-based build cycle (build, simulate, optimize) leading to lower project cycle

times (up to 60% reduction)

Business users can work with the rules in business semantics while IT experts can technically modify the

rules.

Both business and IT can work in the same environment.


Further Information

SAP Public WebBusiness Rules in SDN: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/nw-rules-management

BRFplus in SDN: https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/index?rid=/webcontent/uuid/90754865-f283-2b10-

6d9f-b10f3c28c3a0

Related Workshops/Lectures at SAP TechEd 2010

PMC103, Business Rules Management with SAP (Overview of BRFplus and SAP NetWeaver BRM),

Lecture

PMC260, Accelerating Business Rules with SAP NetWeaver BRM,

Hands-On Session

PMC100, Overview of SAP NetWeaver BPM and SAP NetWeaver BRM,

Lecture (Las Vegas only)

PMC301, Orchestration using SAP NetWeaver BPM and SAP NetWeaver BRM,

Lecture (Las Vegas only)

MediaCarsten Ziegler, Thomas Albrecht: BRFplus – Business Rule Management

for ABAP Applications, SAP Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-59229-293-6,

http://www.sap-press.com/products/BRFplus-%E2%80%93-Business-Rule-

Management-for-ABAP-Applications.html

Thank You!

ContactFeedback

Please complete your session evaluation.

Be courteous — deposit your trash,

and do not take the handouts for the following session.

Own Your Business Logic With Business Rule Framework Plus

Documents

corporate functions platform

business rule framework

sap technology rig

expression types

decision tables

process context

business rules 2

business rules