Patent ID: 7174342

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for presenting a user interface for construction of an executable sequence to automate a decision-making process based on a collection of data, the method comprising: displaying representations in the user interface of a plurality of discrete executable directives encapsulating their respective logic associated with the decision-making process, wherein at least one of the discrete executable directives defines a query against the collection of data, at least one of the discrete executable directives defines an analysis directive to analyze information derived from the query, and at least one of the discrete executable directives defines a distribution directive to distribute information based on analysis performed by the analysis directive; and accepting user input to assemble a set of the discrete executable directives into a schedulable executable sequence, wherein at least one of the discrete executable directives is selected from a menu, and wherein the executable sequence comprises: at least one discrete executable directive defining a query against the collection of data, followed at some time by at least one discrete executable analysis directive operable to analyze information derived from the at least one discrete executable directive defining the query, and followed at some time by at least one discrete executable distribution directive operable to distribute information based on analysis performed by the at least one discrete executable analysis directive.