ABSTRACT
Decision tables have been used to represent and analyze complex logical relationships for decades. They are ideal for describing situations in which a number of combinations of actions are taken under varying sets of conditions. Some of the basic decision table terms are illustrated in Table 5.1
5.1 Definition and Notation A decision table has four portions: the part to the left of the bold vertical line is the stub portion; to the right is the entry portion. The part above the bold horizontal line is the condition portion, and below is the action portion. Thus, we can refer to the condition stub, the condition entries, the action stub, and the action entries. A column in the entry portion is a rule. Rules indicate which actions, if any, are taken for the circumstances indicated in the condition portion of the rule. In the decision table in Table 5.1, when conditions c1, c2, and c3 are all true, actions a1 and a2 occur (rule 1). When c1 and c2 are both true and c3 is false, actions a1 and a3 occur (rule 2).
