Understand the Oracle Determinations Server

Oracle Determinations Server is a web service that provides the ability for remote client applications to send assessment data, perform inferencing based on the chosen rulebase, and return the outcomes of such inferencing back to the requesting client. It is built upon the Oracle Determinations Engine, the core of Oracle Policy Automation, and provides a simple-to-use interface via the industry standard, XML based SOAP protocol.

See diagram

The above diagram shows the components typically required to run the Oracle Determinations Server. These are:

Rulebase Archives:
These are the deployed rulebases. They include, not just the rulebase itself, but also language and screen files, and possibly custom functions. Rulebase Archive files are a compressed (zip) archive of several files and folders.

Server Service:
The Oracle Determinations Server provides a single Web service for such things as checking the Determinations Server version, listing the deployed rulebases and reloading a changed rulebase.

Generic/Specific Assess Service:
For every rulebase deployed, a Generic and a Specific Web Assess Service is provided. Each of these web services allow assessments to be performed using the related rulebase – data is input, inferencing is completed, and the outcomes of the assessment are returned. These Web Services The Generic and Specific Assess Services each provide the same functions, but vary in the way they are called.

Interview Service:

For every rulebase deployed, an Interview Service is provided. These are stateful web services that can be used to conduct interviews using a rulebase.

Custom Services:

Custom services can be written and deployed to the Determinations Server using the plugin architecture provided. An instance of a custom service will be created for each rulebase that has been deployed to the Determinations Server.

OPA API Layer:

The OPA API Layer consists of the various proprietary APIs upon which the Determinations Server is built. These APIs can be utilized when writing custom services.

Web Application Server:
This is the web application server that is capable of communicating via SOAP, and on which the Determinations Server runs. Examples include IIS for the .NET Determinations Server, or Apache Tomcat or the WebSphere Application Server for the Java Determinations Server.

Note: The Determinations Server for Java relies on the determinations-server.war file that contains the web services interface to the Oracle Determinations Engine.

What services does Oracle Determinations Server provide?

The Oracle Determinations Server is a way of utilizing one or more rulebases via HTTP protocols. It is a WS-I compliant Web Service using SOAP-formatted XML envelopes. Its servers are described by a WSDL.

When a rulebase is deployed to Oracle Determinations Server, a series of Web Services are created for that rulebase, each with its own WSDLs and Service End Points.

Oracle Determinations Server provides services split into two distinct areas:

Oracle Determinations Server is implemented for two frameworks: Java and .NET.

Oracle Determinations Server for Java

Oracle Determinations Server for Java is a standard web application file (.war), and can be run on J2EE Application servers such as Apache Tomcat, BEA WebLogic or IBM Web Sphere.

Oracle Determinations Server for .NET

The Oracle Determinations Server for .NET can be run on Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS).

Oracle Determinations Server Directory Structure

The Oracle Determinations Server directories into which messages and rulebase archives are placed (see the diagram below), each of which is described below in the following topics:

The Config directory

The Messages directory

The Rulebases directory

The Plugins directory

The Config directory

The Config directory contains the applications.properties file which can be edited in order to update the configuration of the Determinations Server.

For Java:

The Config directory can be found in the following location:

determinations-server/WEB-INF/classes/config

For .NET:

The Config directory defaults to a directory named 'config' in the Web Application directory.

See also:

Oracle Determinations Server configuration file

The Messages directory

This is where the language specific messages properties files are placed. By default the Oracle Determinations Server only comes with English language configuration (default), but different languages can be supported.

For Java:

The Messages directory can be found in the following location:

determinations-server/WEB-INF/classes/messages

For .NET:

The Messages directory defaults to a directory named 'messages' in the Web Application directory.

See also:

Oracle Determinations Server configuration file

The Rulebases directory

The Rulebases directory is where Rulebase Archives are placed to be deployed by default. Rulebase Archives (.zip files generated by Oracle Policy Modeling) placed here will be deployed when the Determinations Server starts and, depending on the configuration settings, while the Determinations Server is running. The Determinations Server can be configured to load its rulebases from another directory.

For Java:

The rulebases directory can be found in the following location:

determinations-server/WEB-INF/classes/rulebases

For .NET:

The Rulebases Directory defaults to a directory named 'rulebases' in the Web Application directory.

See also:

Oracle Determinations Server configuration file

The Plugins directory

The Plugins directory is where compiled determinations server plugins should be placed. From here they will be loaded and used by the determinations server.

For Java:

The plugins directory can be found in the following location:

determinations-server/WEB-INF/classes/plugins

.jar files containing determinations server plugins should be placed in this directory.

Note: Loading of classes placed in .jar files in this directory will not work on some application servers. In these situations, the plugin.libraries configuration property should be used in application.properties.

For .NET:

The Plugins directory defaults to a directory named 'plugins' in the Web Application directory.

.dll files containing determinations server plugins should be placed in this directory.

See also:

Oracle Determinations Server configuration file