Patent ID: 7401060

Claim:
A device for generating decision support for decisions which determine and/or control the behavior of an apparatus, a tangible system, or a machine comprising: a supervising unit arranged to handle a rule system for the behavior, wherein the supervising unit comprises at least one storage member in which a set of rules for the behavior is stored, a user interface including first means for presenting information to a user of the device and second means for inputting instructions to said supervising unit, the device being operable with a first automatic rule handler automatically executing said rules to control the behavior of the apparatus, the tangible system, or the machine according to a predetermined program for the rule handling, wherein each rule to control the behavior of the apparatus, the tangible system, or the machine includes at least one configurable premise having a plurality of states and at least one configurable conclusion that specifies a behavior to be performed when the at least one configurable premise is in a particular state, the device being operable with a second rule handler which enables a user, by instructions via said second means, to control the behavior of the apparatus, the tangible system, or the machine as an alternative to a behavior of the apparatus, the tangible system, or the machine that is to be carried out according to a rule in the set of rules that are automatically executed by the first rule handler, such that the second rule handler is activated and executes the rule in the set of rules with the alternative to the behavior in accordance with said instructions from the user at the same time that the first rule handler continues the automatic execution of the other rules in the set of rules to control other behavior of the apparatus, the tangible system, or the machine, the device being further operable such that said first means at the same time is able to present information concerning the rule handling which is carried out by the first rule handler and the rule handling which is carried out by the second rule handler.