Modeling Logic with Decision
Tables and Trees
Decision Trees and Decision Tables
• Often our problem solutions require decisions to be made
according to two or more conditions or combinations of
conditions
• Decision trees represent such decision as a sequence of steps
• Decision tables describe all possible combinations of
conditions and the decision appropriate to each combination
• Decision table: a matrix representation of the logic of a
decision which specifies the possible conditions for the
decision and the resulting actions.
• Best used for complicated decision logic.
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Example Decision Trees/Tables
Consider the following excerpt from an actual requirements
document:
If the customer account is billed using a fixed rate method, a minimum
monthly charge is assessed for consumption of less than 100 kwh.
Otherwise, apply a schedule A rate structure. However, if the account is
billed using a variable rate method, a schedule A rate structure will apply
to consumption below 100 kwh, with additional consumption billed
according to schedule B.
[taken from Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach by Roger Pressman]
3
Decision Tree for this Example
< 100 kwh minimum charge
fixed rate
>= 100 kwh schedule A
< 100 kwh schedule A
variable
rate
>= 100 kwh
?
4
Decision Tree for this Example
< 100 kwh minimum charge
fixed rate
>= 100 kwh schedule A
< 100 kwh schedule A
variable schedule A on
rate first 99 kwh
>= 100 kwh schedule B on
kwh 100 and above
5
Decision Table for Example – Version 1
Is this a
Rules valid
business
Conditions 1 2 3 4 5 case? Did
we miss
Fixed rate acct T T F F F something?
Variable rate acct F F T T F
Consumption < 100 kwh T F T F
Consumption >= 100 kwh F T F T
Actions
Minimum charge X
Schedule A X X
Schedule A on first 99 kwh, X
Schedule B on kwh 100 +
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Decision Table for Example – Version 2
Rules
Conditions 1 2 3 4
Account type fixed fixed variable variable
Consumption < 100 >=100 <100 >= 100
Actions
Minimum charge X
Schedule A X X
Schedule A on first 99 kwh, X
Schedule B on kwh 100 +
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Exercise
Consider the following description of a company’s matching
retirement contribution plan:
Acme Widgets wants to encourage its employees to save for retirement.
To promote this goal, Acme will match an employee’s contribution to the
approved retirement plan by 50% provided the employee keeps the
money in the retirement plan at least two years. However, the company
limits its matching contributions depending on the employee’s salary and
time of service as follows. Acme will match five, six, or seven percent of
the first $30,000 of an employee's salary if he or she has been with the
company for at least two, five, or ten years respectively. If the employee
has been with the company for at least five years, the company will
match up to four percent of the next $25,000 in salary and three percent
of any excess. Ten-year plus workers get a five percent match from
$30,000 to $55,000. Long-term service employees (fifteen years or
more) get seven percent on the first $30,000 and five percent after that.
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Exercise (cont’d)
1) Do one of the following (your choice):
a) Create a decision tree that captures the decision
rules in this policy.
b) Create a decision table that captures the decision
rules in this policy.
2) Did your analysis uncover any questions, ambiguities, or
missing rules?
3) If so, do you think these would be as easy to spot and to
analyze using only the narrative description of this
policy?
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More Complex Description of a
Decision Table
Modeling Logic with Decision Tables
FIGURE 7-18
Complete decision table for payroll system example
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Modeling Logic with Decision Tables (Cont.)
• Condition stubs: that part of a decision table
that lists the conditions relevant to the
decision
• Action stubs: that part of a decision table that
lists the actions that result for a given set of
conditions
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Modeling Logic with Decision Tables (Cont.)
• Rules: that part of a decision table that
specifies which actions are to be followed for
a given set of conditions
• Indifferent condition: in a decision table, a
condition whose value does not affect which
actions are taken for two or more rules
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Chapter 7
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Modeling Logic with Decision Tables (Cont.)
• Procedure for Creating Decision Tables
– Name the condition and the values that each
condition can assume.
– Name all possible actions that can occur.
– List all possible rules.
– Define the actions for each rule.
– Simplify the table.
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LAB EXERCISE
Modeling Logic with Decision Tables
(Cont.)
FIGURE 7-19
Reduced decision table for payroll system example
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Decision Table Construction
Decision Table Construction
Decision Table Construction – the final table
