7. In a general purpose computer, a method for automatically testing a business intelligence artifact in a business intelligence system, comprising: providing a business intelligence artifact in the business intelligence system, wherein the business intelligence artifact is a user-authored object that produces output when the business intelligence artifact is executed in the business intelligence system, and wherein the business intelligence artifact is selected from the group consisting of: a report specification and an analysis cube; creating at least one pre-execution or post-execution assertion with conditions to verify the desired function of the business intelligence artifact; testing, with an automated agent interfaced with the business intelligence system, the business intelligence artifact for problems by determining whether the business intelligence artifact satisfies the conditions of the at least one assertion before execution of the business intelligence artifact or by determining whether execution of the current version of the business intelligence artifact in the business intelligence system satisfies the conditions of the at least one assertion; and reporting errors in the business intelligence artifact if problems are detected during testing.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein providing the business intelligence artifact comprises authoring an original business intelligence artifact.