ILOG Rules for .NET User Guides > Rule Studio > Writing Rules > Working with Decision Tables

Decision tables provide an alternative and more convenient way of viewing and managing large sets of similar business rules.

Decision tables are composed of rows and columns: each row corresponds to a single rule, with the columns defining the conditions and actions that apply to the rules:

images/dtable_callouts.png

You can add new rows to a decision table and fill in its cells to create new rules. When the conditions of a given row are met, the actions in that row are performed. It is also possible to add preconditions that apply to all the rules, as explained in section Preconditions.

Although decision tables are intuitive to use, new users may want to consult section Understanding Rows and Columns to understand some of the more subtle aspects of decision tables.

In addition to providing an editing environment more appropriate for large sets of similar rules, decision tables also make it easy to see whether you have taken all possible cases into account. Decision tables offer extra checking features to help you with this, as described in section Checking Decision Tables.

In This Section

Understanding Rows and Columns
Understand how the rows and columns of a decision table combine to express business policies.
Preconditions
Find out how preconditions work.
Creating Decision Tables
Learn how to create and complete a decision table.
Inserting & Removing Rows
Find out how to insert and remove the rows of a decision table.
Inserting & Removing Columns
Discover how to insert and remove the columns of a decision table.
Editing Cells
Learn how to edit cells and change the operator of a cell.
Enabling Decision Table Actions
Find out how to use the properties of a decision table to control how it executes.
Defining Preconditions
Discover how to define a precondition for a decision table.
Using Categories with Decision Tables
Discover how to use categories with decision tables.
Organizing Rows and Columns
Learn how to use features such as sort and move row to organize the rows and columns of a decision table.
Checking Decision Tables
Understand the different types of checking available, and how to apply them to a decision table.