Patent ID: 7603333

Claim:
A processor-implemented method for communicating between a rules engine implemented in a firewall and a plurality of criteria providers, the method comprising: (a) determining, via the processor, the plurality of criteria providers, wherein each criteria provider of the plurality is for resolving a respective criterion of a rule; (b) providing a call from the rules engine to each criteria provider of the plurality of criteria providers for information indicative of a criterion evaluation of a received evaluation request by a respective criteria provider, wherein: if the received evaluation request is adequate for completing the evaluation of the criterion by the respective criteria provider, providing the called for information from the respective criteria provider to the rules engine; and if the received evaluation request is not adequate for completing the evaluation of the criterion by the respective criteria provider, marking the respective criterion as unresolved; (c) repeating step (b) for each unresolved criterion, wherein if the received evaluation request by an unresolved criterion is adequate for completing the evaluation by the respective pending criteria provider, the called for information is provided to the rules engine and the unresolved criterion is no longer unresolved.