Walkthrough of Policy Modeling

This topic is a basic walkthough of Policy Modeling. The walkthrough can be used to:

  • gain a rapid overview of how Policy Modeling works
  • practise using some basic Policy Modeling features
  • verify that Policy Modeling and the required prerequisites are correctly installed, and
  • verify any changes in system configuration (for example, upgrading to a later version of Microsoft Office).

During the walkthrough we will create a very simple Policy Modeling project with one policy rule and two interview screens.

To walkthrough the basic features of Policy Modeling:

  1. From the Windows start menu, select Oracle Policy Modeling in the list of apps, then Policy Modeling. Verify that Policy Modeling opens.

    The Welcome screen in Oracle Policy Modeling
  2. Click the New Project button.
  3. In the New Project dialog:
    1. Enter a Name for the project.
      Creating a new project in Oracle Policy Modeling called Verification
    2. Click Create. For more information on creating new projects, see Create a New Policy Modeling Project.
      The new project will open to show the Rules tab with a single Word rules document in the Rules folder.

      The default rules document created in a new project in Oracle Policy Modeling
  4. Double-click the rules document to open it in Microsoft Word. Since the document contains no rules, it will suggest using the Rule Assistant to get started.

    A new Microsoft Word rules document containing no rules.
  5. Click the Rule Assistant button and then:
    1. Type "the person is happy", then press Enter.
    2. Type "the sun is shining", then press Enter.

      The document will now contain a simple rule with a Boolean conclusion and a single Boolean condition.

      A simple rule in Microsoft Word
      For more information on basic rule writing, see Walkthrough of Creating a Word Rule.
  6. Click the Validate button to verify the rule and save the document.
  7. In Policy Modeling, click the Data tab. Verify that the two Boolean attributes used in the rule from Step 5 are shown.

    The Data view in Oracle Policy Modeling showing two new attributes

    We have now completed our rules. The next step is to create some screens so that we can interact with the rules via an interview.
  8. Click the Interview tab.

    Image of screen layout view on the Policy Modeling Interview tab, showing a blank screen in a new project
  9. In the left hand pane, click on Stage 1, and then click the New Screen button.

    A new screen being added to Stage 1 on the Interview tab in Policy Modeling

    A new screen is added to the screens list in the left hand pane.

    A new screen added to an interview in Policy Modeling
  10. In the right hand pane, click on New Screen and type the new screen name "Weather'.

    Image of the screen layout view on the Policy Modeling interview tab, showing a renamed blank screen
  11. Click the New Input button.

    Image of the New Input button on the Policy Modeling Interview tab Command bar
  12. Double-click the sun is shining in the drop-down window which appears.

    Image of the New Input drop-down window on the Interview tab in Policy Modeling showing the list of uncollected attributes/relationships
    The attribute the sun is shining appears on your interview screen, in the form of a question: Is the sun shining?.

    Image of the screen layout view on the Interview tab in Policy Modeling showing a new input added to the screen
  13. In the left hand pane, select the Interview Complete screen and then in the right hand pane click on Interview Complete and type a new screen name (for example, 'Outcome').

    Image of a final interview screen in the screen layout view on the Policy Modeling Interview tab, showing a new screen name
  14. Click the New Control button and select Explanation.

    Image of the New Control drop-down menu on the Interview tab in Policy Modeling, showing the Explanation option selected
  15. In the Add Explanation dialog, double-click the person is happy.

    Image of the Add Explanation dialog box on the Interview tab in Policy Modeling, showing one goal available for selection
    The explanation appears on your 'Outcome' screen, in the form of a statement the person is happy.

    Image of the screen layout view on the Interview tab in Policy Modeling, showing an explanation added to an interview screen
  16. Select the All Global Goals explanation control and click Delete Control.

    The Delete Control button with a control selected in the screen layout view
  17. Click the Debug button.

    Image of Debug button in Policy Modeling

    The Oracle Policy Modeling Debugger will open. This will step through an interview using the rule and screens you just created.
  18. Answer the question on the first screen, then click Next.

    Image of the Debugger in Policy Modeling showing an interview question screen

    The final screen displays.

    The Debugger in Policy Modeling showing an interview screen with an explanation
  19. Click the SHOW DETAILS link to see the reason for the interview outcome.

    The Debugger in Policy Modeling showing an interview screen with an explanation expanded

That’s it, you have now created your first policy model.

There are plenty of ways you can extend your policy model. For example, you can:

View the Example Policy Models installed with Policy Modeling for examples of what is possible with Intelligent Advisor.