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This is one of the possible Use Cases.

1. Abstract

An organization using a rule-based system wants to switch from using one set of rule products to another, expending much less effort than starting over again. ("No Vendor Lock-In".)

2. Status

Proposed, without a lot of thought, by SandroHawke

Request from an ILOG prospect, representative of this use case, added as a narrative by ChristianDeSainteMarie (20Dec05)

3. Impact

4. Breakdown

4.1. Actors and their Goals

4.2. Main Sequence

  1. User obtains Producer1's product
  2. User develops rulesets using Producer1's product family
  3. User decides to switch to Producer2's family
  4. User performs an Export-to-RIF function on the ruleset
  5. Using Producer2's software, User performs an Import function
  6. User can now use Producer2's software

4.3. Alternate Sequence: Just Being Able To Switch

Sometimes just being able to switch makes it posible to justify the original investment (in the product, but mostly in ruleset development).

4.4. Alternate Sequence: Using Both In Combination

Sometimes Users want to use multiple rule products, because they have somewhat different features. RIF lets them move their rules around, or maybe even use them at the same time, accessing a rule storage server of some kind.

5. Narratives

5.1. Typical request from an ILOG prospect

(added by ChristianDeSainteMarie, 20Dec05)

"In general they are interested in decoupling among rule engines, rule repositories, and rule authoring tools. So for example, they may already have an existing set of centralized rules, and they purchase/build a software component that comes with an embedded rule engine, and would like to use some of the existing rules within the new rule engine."

This is quoted from an email by Greg Imirzian, senior technical account manager at ILOG, reporting a discussion with a prospect that asked about our position wrt XML-based standard rule languages. We receive requests like this increasingly frequently.

6. Commentary

Is this too obvious? Does it need a Use Case?

The "typical request from an ILOG prospect" scenario shows that this use case corresponds to a real and increasingly frequent demand from users. (added by ChristianDeSainteMarie, 20Dec05)