Arrangement for guiding user design of comprehensive product solution using on-the-fly data validation

1. A computer-implemented method of guiding a user in designing a product defined by data, the method comprising:

examining, by a processor, items of data to detect whether each item conforms to rules;

performing, by the processor, an action in response to a detection of a rule violation;

displaying, by the processor, the data items in a tabular format including cells and in a manner emphasizing a first data item that caused the rule violation and emphasizing a second data item that existed prior to the first data item but that is associated with the rule violation caused by the first data item, the action comprising the displaying;

receiving, by the processor, a control input from a user; and

in response to receiving the control input from the user, automatically changing, by the processor, the second data item to one of a plurality of possible values for the second data item, the one of the plurality of possible values being selected by the processor to cause the rule violation to be corrected.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the rules constitute respective statements including first clauses that describe data patterns and second clauses that specify actions to perform if respective data matches the respective patterns; and

the examining comprises using an inference engine in a rule-based expert system to apply the rules to the data items.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the performing of the action includes:

performing actions specified in the second clauses of the rules.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the performing of the action includes:

performing plural actions in parallel using server applets.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the displaying further includes displaying data detected to have caused the rule violation in a first manner that is visibly distinct from a second manner of displaying other data that is not detected to have caused the rule violation; and

the displaying further includes displaying the data detected to have caused the rule violation using a distinguishing emphasis in a manner selected from a group of distinguishing emphases consisting essentially of color, font, font size, cell outlining, and italicization.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the action includes:

without regard to any new data input from the user, automatically changing a third data item that caused a second rule violation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the product is a telecommunication service;

the rules include requirements that define characteristics of a telecommunication network underlying the telecommunication service; and

the examining includes examining customer requests that have been input as part of the data items and that define desired characteristics of the telecommunication service.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein:

the rule includes requirements taken from a group consisting essentially of network technical requirements, customer account requirements, cost requirements, and pricing requirements.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

inputting rule definitions to form the rules by which the data items are examined.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after automatically changing the second data item to the one of the plurality of possible values selected by the processor, displaying the second data item without emphasizing the second data item.

11. A tangible machine readable storage medium comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

examining items of data defining a product to detect whether the item conform to rules or violate the rules;

performing an action in response to a detection of a rule violation;

displaying the data items in a tabular format including cells and in a manner emphasizing a first data item that caused the rule violation and emphasizing a second data item that existed prior to the first data item but that is associated with the rule violation caused by the first data item, the action comprising the displaying;

receiving a control input from a user; and

in response to receiving the control input from the user, automatically changing the second data item to one of a plurality of possible values for the second data item, the one of the plurality of possible values being selected by the machine to cause the rule violation to be corrected.

12. The storage medium of claim 11 , wherein:

the rules constitute respective statements including first clauses that describe data patterns and second clauses that specify actions to perform if respective data matches the respective patterns; and

the examining operation comprises using an inference engine in a rule-based expert system to apply the rules to the data items.

13. The storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the performing of the action operation includes:

performing actions specified in the second clauses of the rules.

14. The storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise, after automatically changing the second data item to the one of the plurality of possible values selected by the machine, displaying the second data item without emphasizing the second data item.

15. The storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the performing of the action operation includes:

without regard to any new data input from the user, automatically changing a third data item that caused a second rule violation.

16. A system for guiding a user in designing a product defined by data, the system comprising:

memory having machine readable instructions stored thereon; and

a processor to execute the instructions to perform operations comprising:

examining items of data to detect whether each item conforms to rules or violates the rules;

performing an action in response to a detection of a rule violation;

displaying the data items in a tabular format including cells and in a manner emphasizing a first data item that caused the rule violation and emphasizing a second data item that existed prior to the first data item but that is associated with the rule violation caused by the first data item, the action comprising the displaying;

receiving a control input from a user; and

in response to receiving the control input from the user, automatically changing the second data item to one of a plurality of possible values for the second data item, the one of the plurality of possible values being selected by the processor to cause the rule violation to be corrected.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise, after automatically changing the second data item to the one of the plurality of possible values selected by the processor, displaying the second data item without emphasizing the first data item.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the performing of the action operation includes:

without regard to any new data input from the user, automatically changing a third data item that caused a second rule violation.