Inferring Business Rules from Natural Language Expressions

Abstract

This paper proposes a mapping technique for automatically translating rules expressed in a format based on natural language, i.e. Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Business Rules (SBVR) standard, into production rules that can be executed by a computer (i.e. Rule engine). The proposed approach achieves a twofold purpose: on the one hand non IT skilled people (i.e. Domain expert) can effectively focus on business rules definition by using statements in natural language, and on the other hand the IT staff will have to manage business rules in a format ready to be executed by a rule engine. The main goal is to overcome some weaknesses in the software development process that could produce inconsistencies between the domain requirements identification and the implemented software functionalities. An exhaustive analysis of the mapping technique is provided and a real case study is presented in order to prove the validity of our work.