Rule Groups

LF‑ET offers, with its rule groups, a kind of “meta-combination form” that integrates the classical combination forms into a single, powerful modeling paradigm.

Each rule group can be regarded as a separate decision table.

Here is an example of a decision table with 4 rule groups:

rule groups 01

With an aid of rule groups…​

  • processes, loops, nested loops, state machines, etc. can be described;

  • many small decisions, such as all validation rules for a form input, can be systematically collected in a decision table and arranged in the optimal order ("everything laid out on one sheet");

  • linking forms of decision tables: sequence, branch and loop can be reproduced. Only the nesting form can now be mapped via links to 'real' sub-decision tables.

In order for LF‑ET to be able to independently identify and deal with rule groups, a few formal requirements must be observed, which are described in the following chapters.

Contents of this chapter