pp108 : Properties of a Decision Table

Properties of a Decision Table
This topic describes the fields of the decision table properties pane.

Table 1. Basic Properties. The following table describes the basic properties to be assigned while building a decision table|Building a Decision Table|This topic describes the procedure to build a decision table..

Field

Description

Rule Group

Name of the rule group. This is automatically populated if you are building a decision table on a rule group. Click to associate the decision table to a rule group or change another rule group.

Rule Type

Type of rule. You can select either Constraint Rule or Business Rule from the list.

  • A Constraint Rule is used to validate objects before they are persisted in CoBOC. It works within the context of a transaction. The rule may relate to business constraints and partner agreements that come into force at the beginning or during the data modeling process. This type of rule is recommended, when defining Assignment or Abort actions.
  • A Business Rule is used to determine the behavior of objects after a transaction is committed to the database. The business rules are executed after the constraint rules. This type of rule is recommended, when defining external actions, such as Invoking a Web service, Triggering a Business Process, or Sending Notifications.
    CAUTION: Rule types do not have any impact, if this Decision Table is used in a business process model.

Priority

States the priority based on which the decision table is executed.Let us consider the following:

  • For instance, when a schema fragment has two decision tables defined on it, the decision table with highest priority is executed first.
  • Also considered is the priority of the rule group that has these decision tables. When decision tables of two different rule groups are to be triggered, the priority of the rule group will be considered first. The decision table in the rule group with the highest priority is executed first.
  • Within a rule group, the priority of an individual decision table is considered.
    Priority levels for a decision table range from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). The default value is 5.

Is Active

Selecting Is Active check box allows the decison table to be executed at run-time based on the object's operation.

Triggers


  • If you want the decision table to trigger when an object is inserted, select On Insert.
  • If you want the decision table to trigger when an object is updated, select On Update.
  • If you want the decision table to trigger when an object is deleted, select On Delete.
    CAUTION: Triggers do not have any impact, if this decision table is used in a business process model.

Effective From

The date from which the decision table comes into effect. For more information on specifying the dates refer to Guidelines for Setting Effective and Expiry Dates.

Expires On

The date from which the rule is no longer effective. For more information on specifying the dates refer to Guidelines for Setting Effective and Expiry Dates.

Show Expression

Displays the expression of the corresponding conditions or actions selected. Click the required condition or action in the decision table. If the Show Expression field is selected, the expression is displayed in the text box below.



Remember: When the decision table is used in a business process, the decision table is executed based on the input and output actions of the preceding and succeeding activities. Hence, triggers as well as the type of rules set on the corresponding schema fragment or Ws-AppServer classes are ignored.