A method and associated system for automatically deriving context of a business rule that is being inferred from an information source, such as legacy computer-program source code, a system specification, or a description of a business function or operation. A first generation of context-dependent conditions upon the business rule is identified by analyzing the information source and other, related, sources, and the business rule is modified to account for this first generation of context-dependent conditions. Context-dependent conditions that place constraints upon the previously identified first-generation conditions are then identified and the business rule is further modified to account for this next generation of context-dependent conditions. This process repeats iteratively through multiple generations of identifications, until the business rule has been modified to accommodate all contextual information that may be gleaned from all analyzed information sources. These sources may include extrinsic sources like Web pages, standards, or public documents.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A method for inferring a context-sensitive business rule from a legacy business system, the method comprising: a processor of a computer system inferring a business rule from an element of business information retrieved from a legacy business system; the processor repeating an iterative procedure until a termination condition occurs, where the iterative procedure comprises a sequence of steps: the processor identifying a context of the most recently retrieved element of business information, where the context is associated with a context-sensitive characteristic of the most recently retrieved element; the processor retrieving, from a next information source, a next element of information that is associated with the context; and the processor refining the business rule as a function of the next element of information. 2. The method of claim 1, where the termination condition occurs when the processor is unable to retrieve a next element of information that is associated with the context of the most recently retrieved element. 3. The method of claim 1, where next information sources, from which different iterations of the iterative procedure retrieve next elements, are distinct. 4. The method of claim 1, where each information source is selected from a group consisting of: computer-software source code, computer-software logic, a specification associated with computer program code, data stored on a computer-readable medium, a description of a procedure, workflow, convention, or standard, a data structure, a data model, a business-process model, an ontology, an infrastructure description, and an other description of a characteristic of a business function. 5. The method of claim 1, where, during an iteration of the iterative procedure, the legacy business system comprises a first set of computer-program instructions, the most recently retrieved element comprises a first subset of the first set of computer-program instructions, and the next element is selected from a group consisting of: a data element that is directly or indirectly processed by the first subset, a data element that is otherwise associated with the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a time, platform, or manner of performance of the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a time, platform, or manner of performance of the first se of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a second set of computer-program instructions that comprises a reference to the first set of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a reference to the first set of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a reference to an extrinsic information source that is associated with a context of the first subset, a business process that is associated with a context of the first subset, and a business goal that is associated with a context of the first subset. 6. The method of claim 1, where, during an iteration of the iterative procedure, the legacy business system comprises a first set of computer-program instructions, the most recently retrieved element comprises a first subset of the first set of computer-program instructions, and the context identifies an association selected from a group consisting of: an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and the most recently retrieved element, an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and a processed element of data that is directly or indirectly processed by the business rule, an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and a schedule that is associated with a time or frequency of performance of the business rule, an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and a business function performed by the legacy business system, and an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and an element of information that determines a time, platform, or manner of performance of the business rule and that is capable of being retrieved by the processor from an extrinsic information source. 7. The method of claim 1, where, during two successive iterations of the iterative procedure, the contexts of two successively retrieved elements are each functions of one or more contextual parameters selected from a group consisting of: an element of information comprised by the legacy business system, an element of information comprised by either of the two next information sources, a characteristic of any element of data associated with the business rule, a performance schedule associated with the business rule, a business function associated with the business rule, and a characteristic of a software application upon which depends a performance of an operation performed by the business rule. 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing at least one support service for at least one of creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and deploying computer-readable program code in the computer system, where the computer-readable program code in combination with the computer system is configured to implement the inferring, the repeating, the identifying, the retrieving, and the refining. 9. A computer program product, comprising a computer-readable hardware storage device having a computer-readable program code stored therein, said program code configured to be executed by a processor of a computer system to implement a method for inferring a context-sensitive business rule from a legacy business system, the method comprising: the processor inferring a business rule from an element of business information retrieved from a legacy business system; the processor repeating an iterative procedure until a termination condition occurs, where the iterative procedure comprises a sequence of steps: the processor identifying a context of the most recently retrieved element of business information, where the context is associated with a context-sensitive characteristic of the most recently retrieved element; the processor retrieving, from a next information source, a next element of information that is associated with the context; and the processor refining the business rule as a function of the next element of information. 10. The computer program product of claim 9, where the termination condition occurs when the processor is unable to retrieve a next element of information that is associated with the context of the most recently retrieved element. 11. The computer program product of claim 9, where next information sources, from which different iterations of the iterative procedure retrieve next elements, are distinct. 12. The computer program product of claim 9, where each information source is selected from a group consisting of: computer-software source code, computer-software logic, a specification associated with computer program code, data stored on a computer-readable medium, a description of a procedure, workflow, convention, or standard, a data structure, a data model, a business-process model, an ontology, an infrastructure description, and an other description of a characteristic of a business function. 13. The computer program product of claim 9, where, during an iteration of the iterative procedure, the legacy business system comprises a first set of computer-program instructions, the most recently retrieved element comprises a first subset of the first set of computer-program instructions, and the next element is selected from a group consisting of: a data element that is directly or indirectly processed by the first subset, a data element that is otherwise associated with the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a time, platform, or manner of performance of the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a time, platform, or manner of performance of the first set of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a second set of computer-program instructions that comprises a reference to the first set of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a reference to the first set of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a reference to an extrinsic information source that is associated with a context of the first subset, a business process that is associated with a context of the first subset, and a business goal that is associated with a context of the first subset, and where the context identifies an association selected from a group consisting of: an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and the most recently retrieved element, an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and a processed element of data that is directly or indirectly processed by the business rule, an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and a schedule that is associated with a time or frequency of performance of the business rule, an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and a business function performed by the legacy business system, and an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule a an element of information that determines a time, platform, or manner of performance of the business rule and that is capable of being retrieved by processor from an extrinsic information source. 14. The computer program product of claim 9, where, during two successive iterations of the iterative procedure, the contexts of two successively retrieved elements are each functions of one or more contextual parameters selected from a group consisting of: an element of information comprised by the legacy business system, an element of information comprised by either of the two next information sources, a characteristic of any element of data associated with the business rule, a performance schedule associated with the business rule, a business function associated with the business rule, and a characteristic of a software application upon which depends a performance of an operation performed by the business rule. 15. A computer system comprising a processor, a memory coupled to said processor, and a computer-readable hardware storage device coupled to said processor, said storage device containing program code configured to be run by said processor via the memory to implement a method for inferring a context-sensitive business rule from a legacy business system, the method comprising: the processor inferring a business rule from an element of business information retrieved from a legacy business system; the processor repeating an iterative procedure until a termination condition occurs, where the iterative procedure comprises a sequence of steps: the processor identifying a context of the most recently retrieved element of business information, where the context is associated with a context-sensitive characteristic of the most recently retrieved element; the processor retrieving, from a next information source, a next element of information that is associated with the context; and the processor refining the business rule as a function of the next element of information. 16. The computer system of claim 15, where the termination condition occurs when the processor is unable to retrieve a next element of information that is associated with the context of the most recently retrieved element. 17. The computer system of claim 15, where next information sources, from which different iterations of the iterative procedure retrieve next elements, are distinct. 18. The computer system of claim 15, where each information source is selected from a group consisting of: computer-software source code, computer-software logic, a specification associated with compute program code, data stored on a computer-readable medium, a description of a procedure, workflow, convention, or standard, a data structure, a data model, a business-process model, an ontology, an infrastructure description, and an other description of a characteristic of a business function. 19. The computer system of claim 15, where, during an iteration of the iterative procedure, the legacy business system comprises a first set of computer-program instructions, the most recently retrieved element comprises a first subset of the first se of computer-program instructions, and the next element is selected from a group consisting of: a data element that is directly or indirectly processed by the first subset, a data element that is otherwise associated with the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a time, platform, or manner of performance of the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a time, platform, or manner of performance of the first set of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a second set of computer-program instructions that comprises a reference to the first set of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a reference to the first set of computer-program instructions, a computer-program instruction that imposes a condition upon a scope of the first subset, a reference to an extrinsic information source that is associated with a context of the first subset, a business process that is associated with a context of the first subset, and a business goal that is associated with a context of the first subset, and where the context identifies an association selected from a group consisting of: an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and the most recently retrieved element, an association between context-dependent characteristic if the business rule and a processed element of data that is directly or indirectly processed by the business rule, an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and a schedule that is associated with a time or frequency of performance of the business rule, an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and a business function performed by the legacy business system, and an association between a context-dependent characteristic of the business rule and an element of information that determines a time, platform, or manner of performance of the business rule and that is capable of being retrieved by the processor from an extrinsic information source. 20. The computer system of claim 15, where, during two successive iterations of the iterative procedure, the contexts of two successively retrieved elements are each functions of one or more contextual parameters selected from a group consisting of: an element of information comprised by the legacy business system, an element of information comprised by either of the two next information sources, a characteristic of any element of data associated with the business rule, a performance schedule associated with the business rule, a business function associated with the business rule, and a characteristic of a software application upon which depends a performance of an operation performed by the business rule.