Abstract: A rule executing engine is modified to recognize, when present, a so-called “actionwrap”rule, which is a rule that is expanded and executed in place of the original rule, and the original rule is placed in the context of the actionwrap rule, so that it may operate upon the original rule. If the actionwrap rule is not present, the rule engine executes the original rule unmodified. An actionwrap rule may be defined to be present for some situations but not for others, and its presence or absence is defined by the user or users submitting the rules. Each defined actionwrap rule, when present, is applied in a uniform manner on each target rule. More than one actionwrap rule may be defined for use at any one time, and the various actionwrap rules in use at one time may be independent of each other or they be linked. If the actionwrap rules are linked, they must be activated in the correct order as specified by the actionwrap rule writer.

Abstract: A sequence of manufacturing operations performed to manufacture products (22) may be analyzed and modified, as appropriate, by first encoding the operations into tokens, each indicative of a separate operation (and its attributes). The tokens are then assembled into strings, each representing the operations on an individual product. A pattern scanner and recognizer (26) reads each string to recognize whether one or more prescribed token patterns are present. Based on the token patterns that are recognized, a rule is established representing a variation in the sequence of manufacturing operations. After the rule is established, the sequence of manufacturing operations is modified accordingly.

Abstract: Successive graphical segments in a stream of graphical information are processed by first storing each segment within a storage register (12). Thereafter, the stored graphical segment is then acted upon by at least one combinational logic array (16) configured of at least one network (24-1 . . . 24-n), each network being comprised of at least one logic device (26,30). Each logic device performs a prespecified processing operation, such as, for example, a test or a modification, to the stored graphical segment. The prespecified processing operation is dictated by a separate one of a set of rules by which each network is to process the graphical segment. Once the graphical segment has been processed by the logic devices in each of the networks of the combinational logic array, the processed graphical segment is written to an output buffer for subsequent display or storage.