RuleSpeak recommends avoiding words at once and either in lists with only two bulleted conditions. The reason for this is that if additional bullets are added later, the meaning of «both» or «either» is omitted. The use of bulleted lists is called tabulation (after the tab key on the keyboard used for indentation). Tabulation is a stylistic device often used in legal and other forms of writing for simplification and clarity. When writing stem, try to stick to a natural order that places the content in an order that has maximum readability and limits confusion: it is important that for the type of introduction closure, the alternatives (see below) are formulated in such a way as to complete the grammatically appropriate introduction – in other words, You should be able to: Read the introduction followed by each alternative. And that should make sense. As the tabular version shows, keeping the common theme as simple as possible provides a mental anchor for the reader to then go through the qualifications. Another advantage of such a revision is that the new vocabulary entry (e.g., special loans) can be used to express other business rules (none represented) that would otherwise have to contain the same enumeration. This allows derived logic to be reused from a single source (located in a single business rule statement) and by reference (using the new vocabulary entry as it now appears in the original business rule statement).

If the same enumeration is required frequently, this approach can significantly reduce the overall complexity. Sometimes a business rule statement that includes different verbal concepts in each of its bulleted conditions (e.g., live, eat, spend in the list above) can be simplified by introducing a generic or derived verb such as «imply» or «relate to». The second bullet in the list above contains two «or». The article is long and complex. A better approach is to eliminate the «or» with a nested «the following» clause. However, double tabulation structures can become cumbersome, especially if the number of enumeration conditions is relatively long. An enumeration can be eliminated by creating a second business rule that derives a new vocabulary entry. In the following example, the new vocabulary entry is a special trap loan. The stem and introduction must have the normal capitalization and punctuation of the sentence.

There are some special tips specific to multiple-choice questions: There are important reasons to use tabulation when writing business rules. It provides a structure for both thinking about business rules and shaping them in a way that is naturally suited to ask questions and identify ambiguities, gaps, and inconsistencies. Understanding the issues involved can greatly improve your business rule writing skills. Does the statement mean exactly one or at least one of the three points listed? Different readers may make different assumptions. Suppose at least one is planned. The introduction follows the stem and is used to tell the candidate exactly what is needed to answer the question correctly. It can be a question or a sentence to be completed. It is likely that additional conditions will be added to the current list of conditions in the future.

Therefore, RuleSpeak recommends replacing «both» with «all» as described below. This commercial statement could be interpreted to mean that a particular shipment can only be made in the two countries listed. Sending the same shipment to both countries is almost certainly not planned. The stem and introduction are the first parts of multiple-choice questions and are sometimes grouped into a short sentence or sentence. Original business rule with a new vocabulary instead of a second enumeration. Since the order in which bullets are listed is logically irrelevant, they may appear in random order – or rather, in the order that readers find most user-friendly. If a business rule statement contains trailing text that is beyond the scope of the enumeration, the statement can often be reworded to import that text into the common element (start text). The tabular version is more accessible and much easier for the reader to assimilate.

All correctly expressed business rules in RuleSpeak are declarative. Note that in the revised version of the example above, tabular conditions are bulleted rather than numbered or labeled (as was the case in the previous contract example). How far the unification of all common objects should go in a particular case is a verdict. The answer should depend on what turns out to be the most readable and user-friendly for businesses. Example with «at most» to initiate a statement. [4] In OMG standard semantics of vocabulary and business rules (SBVR), the underlying principle is called the severability clause. The divisibility clause is the commercial counterpart of what is often called in propositional logic a universal «and». In general, this assumption allows for individual statements of manageable size – a very good thing. In the strictly limited cases described here, however, this goes against general manageability. CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College • ME 4850. In this example, «any» is the implicit threshold that means «at least one». It logically expresses a non-exclusive OR for enumeration conditions.

«At least one» could be replaced in the operational rule statement, making the threshold explicit without changing the meaning of the statement. A slightly more complicated pattern and a slightly more complicated consolidation opportunity occur when something has to be true when one of the conditions is met. For example, the following five business rule statements each state that the same must be true for an order, that is, it will be verified for credit, if a certain condition is true. The general thresholds include all of the following and following thresholds. Natural language generally makes no assumptions about the primacy of «and» and «or» – that is, what should logically be applied first in a statement containing both. Consider the following statement of a menu for a restaurant. [3] This enumeration convention avoids any reference to order, importance or priority. (If priority is provided, priority must be explicitly stated in the statement.) Natural language generally makes no assumptions about whether an «or» should be exclusive or inclusive. The ambiguity can, of course, be eliminated by explicitly stating «exclusive» or «inclusive» in each case. For business rules, however, tabbing is usually much more efficient. As shown in the example above, the element of tabulation must be common to each subsequent element. In particular, the above sentence «For a period of one year after the mandate, the executive» applies equally and directly to each item below.

Displaying common topics at the beginning of a statement is a basic rule for tabulation. We will return to this issue in Section 3, which covers specific usage guidelines for «the following». Tabulation can be used in some cases to unify business rule statements that could stand on their own. [4] Such unification eliminates the fragmentation of business logic that might otherwise occur. It also provides central coordination points for associated business rules to ensure they can be found, reviewed, and possibly revised together. The RuleSpeak table does not replace or replace decision tables in any way. If a decision table can be used to represent certain business rules, it should be. [1] However, a very large number of business rules simply cannot be meaningfully represented in decision tables. A zone cannot contain more than one of the following: Often, there are many things that must be true for an object of interest. For example, the following six business rule statements specify all the things that must be true for claims.

This single business rule statement replaces the previous group of six. All enumeration conditions must be met. The declaration provides a single point of coordination for everything that needs to be declared for a claim.