Patent ID: 7870091

Claim:
A method for determining and applying rules to data, the method comprising: receiving, using a processor, an electronic signal that a shipment comprising a container holding an object has been received; reading, using the processor, a container indicia associated with the received container, and an object indicia associated with the received object; establishing, using the processor, a first hierarchical data structure associated with an actual state of the received shipment, the established first hierarchical data structure comprising a top-level element and a lower-level leaf element, the top-level element corresponding to the container indicia associated with the received container, and the lower-level leaf element corresponding to the object indicia associated with the received object, the top-level element and the lower-level leaf element having respective attributes, wherein the respective attributes comprise characteristics; evaluating, using the processor, the characteristics of the top level element; selecting, using the processor, a condition table based on at least the evaluated characteristics of the top-level element; selecting, using the processor, a first ruleset from the selected condition table; evaluating, using the processor, the characteristics of the lower-level leaf element; selecting, using the processor, a second ruleset based on at least the selected first ruleset and the evaluated characteristics of the lower-level leaf element; obtaining, using the processor, a second hierarchical data structure associated with an expected state of the received shipment, the obtained second hierarchical data structure comprising a top-level element corresponding to an expected container indicia, and a lower-level leaf element corresponding to an expected object indicia; and applying, using the processor, respective rules defined by the selected first ruleset and the selected second ruleset to the established first hierarchical data structure and the obtained second hierarchical data structure, wherein the applying the respective rules comprises: determining whether the actual state of the received shipment corresponds to the expected state of the received shipment, wherein the determining comprises: reconciling the container indicia associated with the received container with the expected container indicia by comparing the top-level element of the established first hierarchical data structure and the top-level element of the obtained second hierarchical data structure; and reconciling the object indicia associated with the received object with the expected object indicia by comparing the lower-level leaf element of the established first hierarchical data structure and the lower-level leaf element of the obtained second hierarchical data structure.