Test instructions for rules

Test instructions at a rule level are only provided for in exceptional cases.

Test steps that belong to a rule usually result in specific occurrences of condition and action values. Test steps are also automatically adjusted following changes to a rule.

Test instructions that are determined exclusively for a rule spare the risk that they are only valid with the condition or action values that are entered when the decision table is created. In certain circumstances the test analyst does not know that something has changed in the rule types as the specifications are usually made by change management.

There is an additional risk that a rule is deleted and thus these instructions will also be deleted. Deletion of a rule in the case of changes is much more probable than deletion of a condition or an action.

It should thus be precisely considered whether test instructions must actually be defined at a rule level.