Determining the occurrence of events using decision trees

Abstract

The determination of whether an event, such as a taxable event for a commercial transaction, has occurred uses an executable decision tree. The decision tree includes a number of test nodes that each include a comparison field and at least one allowed value. A data value associated with the comparison field is accessed and compared to the allowed values. If the comparison field equals an allowed value, execution proceeds to a child node, and if not, execution proceeds to a sibling node. The child and sibling nodes are either another test node, a result node, or an error node. Execution of the decision tree proceeds until a result node or an error node is reached.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, for determining whether an event has occurred using a decision tree, the computer program product being operable to cause data processing apparatus to: 
 proceed to and execute a first of at least one test node of the decision tree, wherein each of the at least one test node comprises an identification of a comparison field and at least one allowed value, and the execution of each of the at least one test node comprises accessing a data value associated with the comparison field for the test node being executed, determining whether the accessed comparison field data value is equal to any of the at least one allowed value for the test node being executed, and if the comparison field data value equals any of the at least one allowed value, proceeding to a child node of the test node, and if the comparison field data value does not equal any of the at least one allowed value, proceeding to a sibling node of the test node, wherein the child and sibling nodes are either another test node, a result node, or an error node; and    execute any further test node to which execution of the decision tree proceeds until execution proceeds to a result node or an error node.    
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1  being further operable to cause data processing apparatus to: 
 identify for execution a set of a plurality of decision trees stored in a decision tree repository, wherein each decision tree corresponds to a different event; and  
 execute each of the identified set of decision trees.  
 
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 2  wherein the events that correspond to the plurality of decision trees are taxable events arising from a commercial transaction.  
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 2  wherein each of the plurality of decision trees stored in the repository embody a form comprising a mark-up language.  
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 4  wherein the mark-up language of each of the plurality of decision trees comprises an extensible mark-up language.  
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 1  wherein each of the at least one test node represents a question that forms a basis for a determination of whether or not the taxable event has occurred.  
     
     
         7 . The computer program product of  claim 1  wherein the event is a taxable event arising from a commercial transaction.  
     
     
         8 . The computer program product of  claim 7  wherein each of the at least one test node represents a question that forms a basis for a determination of whether or not the taxable event has occurred.  
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 1  wherein the event is a fiscal code to be printed on an invoice.  
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 1  wherein the event is an identification of a delivering plant according to certain optimization rules.  
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 1  wherein the event is an identification of bank and payment method for settlement.  
     
     
         12 . In a system that determines which of a plurality of different taxable events have occurred for a commercial transaction, a repository of a plurality of executable decision trees, each tree for determining whether a different taxable event has occurred, and each tree comprising: 
 at least one executable test node, wherein each executable test node comprises a question to be answered in a determination of whether or not the taxable event corresponding to the tree has occurred, and wherein each executable test node, when executed using information about a specified commercial transaction, yields an answer in one of a first form or a second form, wherein an answer in the first form causes a child node to be executed and an answer in the second form causes a sibling node to be executed, and further wherein each child and sibling node is either another test node, a result node or an error node; and    at least two result nodes corresponding to a determination of whether the taxable event corresponding to the tree has occurred.    
     
     
         13 . The repository of  claim 12  wherein each decision tree corresponds to a transaction tax type.  
     
     
         14 . The repository of  claim 13  wherein the transaction tax type for one of the at least one decision trees is a value added tax.  
     
     
         15 . The repository of  claim 13  wherein the transaction tax type for one of the at least one decision trees is a use tax.  
     
     
         16 . The repository of  claim 13  a decision tree corresponding to a transaction tax of a specified type is able to determine whether or not a taxable event of the specified type has occurred in a plurality of taxing locations.  
     
     
         17 . A computer-implemented method for generating a user interface for a decision tree, the method comprising: 
 associating a decision tree with a series of user interfaces to request decision tree information from a user;    displaying each user interface in the series of user interfaces associated with a particular decision tree;    receiving decision tree information from a user using at least one of the user interfaces; and    storing the decision tree information received from the user,    wherein the decision tree is a series of nodes, each node being one of a test node, a result node, or an error node.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising expanding and collapsing the nodes for display.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising adding a reference to a data field in another system and a list of values.