Working With Decision Table Rules (Rows) and Columns

To manage and edit a decision table, Decision Manager provides various operations that can be performed on the rows and columns.

Creating Variables and Assigning to Them

You can create variables and assign to them in a rule function that is called from a condition. (Note that you cannot do this in a regular TIBCO BusinessEvents rule condition.)

Undo Operations on Edits

The following actions can be reverted by clicking Undo when working on decision tables:

  • Dragging a column into a decision table
  • Removing a column from a decision table
  • Adding a new row to a decision table
  • Removing an existing rule
  • Duplicating rules
  • Modifying condition/action cells

You cannot perform an Undo operation immediately after a Save operation.

Aliases in Table Cells Requires Parentheses

To use an alias in a table cell, enclose it in parentheses. For example if cust is the alias for the Customer concept, you would reference the Customer.address property as follows: (cust.address). If you omit the parentheses, the EAR file will not build.

  • Adding Decision Table Condition and Action Columns
    You can add any properties that are used as arguments as conditions or actions.
  • Defining Custom Columns Using Substitution
    You can specify complex entries in a column by using column substitution. This feature works where all the entries in a column follow a specific pattern.
  • Arrays in Columns
    You can create columns that use arrays, including nested (that is, contained or referenced) concept arrays and properties.
  • Moving Resizing and Sorting Columns
    Decision Manager provides function to perform cetain operations on columns that would help in working on decision table.
  • Setting Default Value in Decision Table Column
    Using the Field Settings option of the column, you can set a default expression for the column for all new rules.
  • Deleting Rows and Columns
    You can remove the rule as well as any condition or action that you do not require.
  • Duplicating Rules (Rows)
    When you require to add new rows which have almost same values as the existing rows, only with the minor changes, the duplicate function is very helpful.
  • Merging Rows
    In a large decision table, the merge function helps to merge any existing duplicate condition and thus makes the decision table more efficient.
  • Setting Rule (Row) Priorities
    Each row is like a separate business rule. You can control the order in which sets of rows are executed using the row priority setting.
  • Filtering Rows
    When you are working with large tables, it can be helpful to filter the rows so you can focus on certain ones.
  • Domain Models in Table Cells
    A domain model specifies the values that you may find useful for defining ontology item properties.
  • Catalog Functions in Table Cells
    You can also use the existing catalog functions in the table cells to perform some standard functions.
  • Setting the Date-Time Values Using the Calendar Dialog
    The Calendar dialog in Date-Time Cells enables you to set date time values. You can also set values manually, and you can use comparison operators with dates.
  • Supported Operators
    TIBCO BusinessEvents Decision Manager supports several operators for Decision Tables that you can use in the expressions.