Active database systems transform passive database processing into active environments by using rules as alerters and triggers. This research is investigating two complementary aspects of active database development environments: the analysis of rules for termination and confluence properties and the run-time testing and debugging of active rules. The research is addressed in the context of an active, deductive, and object-oriented database. The rule analysis process is a static approach, applying termination/confluence analysis techniques from conditional term rewriting to identify rule problems before execution. The run-time environment is a dynamic approach allowing users to step through the rule triggering process, observing rule behavior and testing different rule triggering sequences. The execution model includes a propagation algorithm for monitoring changes to derived data. The integration of rule analysis with rule generation and transaction development to support specification and analysis of rules prior to rule execution is also being investigated. The significance of this work is found i n the integration of active, deductive, and object-oriented concepts as well as the supportive environment provided to address the correctness and predictability of active rules in the development of complex database applications.
