9. In a general purpose computer, a method for automatically testing a business intelligence artifact in a business intelligence system, comprising: providing a version of 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, an analysis cube, and a metadata model; creating at least one assertion 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 execution of the current version of the business intelligence artifact in the business intelligence system satisfies the conditions of the at least one assertion; reporting errors in the current version of the business intelligence artifact if problems are detected during testing; and recording one or more corrections made to the current version of the business intelligence artifact as a subsequent version of the business intelligence artifact.
9. In a general purpose computer, a method for automatically testing a business intelligence artifact in a business intelligence system, comprising: providing a version of 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, an analysis cube, and a metadata model; creating at least one assertion 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 execution of the current version of the business intelligence artifact in the business intelligence system satisfies the conditions of the at least one assertion; reporting errors in the current version of the business intelligence artifact if problems are detected during testing; and recording one or more corrections made to the current version of the business intelligence artifact as a subsequent version of the business intelligence artifact. 14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the conditions of the at least one assertion comprise expectations pertaining to the data content in a business intelligence output generated by execution of the current version of the business intelligence artifact.