RetePlus, the ILOG JRules extension based on the Rete algorithm, is the default execution mode.

The RetePlus execution mode provides the means for the ILOG rule engine to minimize the number of rules and conditions that need to be evaluated, compute which rules should be executed, and identify in which order these rules should be fired. In RetePlus, the rule engine uses a working memory and an agenda for containing and manipulating application objects. The working memory contains references to the application objects, and the agenda lists and orders the rule instances that are eligible to be fired.

Consider the following diagram of RetePlus operation.

The rule engine matches the conditions of the rules in the ruleset against the objects in working memory. During the pattern matching process, RetePlus creates a network based on semantic relationships between rule condition tests (step 1). For each match, a rule instance is created and put into the agenda. Then the agenda, based on some ordering principles, selects the rule instance that should be fired (step 2).

Firing the rule instance executes the rule action. This action may modify the working memory (step 3), by:

The process continues cyclically until there are no further rule instances left in the agenda.

In RetePlus whenever the working memory is modified, the rule engine repeats the pattern matching process. It reassesses matches after each rule instance is fired and modifies the data. This may change the list of rule instances in the agenda. Thus RetePlus is incremental and data-driven. These execution characteristics give RetePlus superior performance on computation and correlation types of applications.

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