[Enterprise Extensions only]
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BRBeans Rule Folders

Rule folders are similar to the directories that divide a computer's hard drive in that they split a large number of files into conceptual units. The rule folder adds its path to the fully qualified rule name, and allows two names with the same name to be stored in separate folders effectively avoiding name collisions. Like the directories on a hard drive, a rule folder can contain any number of rules of rule folders.

Although you can name the folders whatever you deem appropriate, it is recommended that you follow the Java package naming convention. That is, base the names on the domain name of the organization where the rules are developed. So, ACME's isSeniorCitizen rule's fully-qualified rule name, or full rule name, might be com/acme/ageRules/isSeniorCitizen. In this example, the com/acme path would be used by all rules developed by ACME, and the ageRules folder would be used to separate "age" rules from rules of other kinds. Note that the root folder has no name meaning that fully-qualified path names never start with a '/'.

When using the Rule Management APIs, a rule folder contains instances of IRules, which are also referred to as "rules". To begin working with rules, get the root rule folder by using the method getRootFolder on class RuleMgmtHelper. From the root rule folder you can add, delete, and retrieve folders and rules using methods on this interface.

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