What Is Decision Table ?

What is a Decision Table?

A Decision Table is a systematic and structured way of representing complex logic or decision-making processes. It is commonly used in software testing to derive and organize test cases for various scenarios based on combinations of inputs and conditions.

Components of a Decision Table:

Conditions (Inputs): These are the factors or variables that influence the outcome of a decision. Conditions are typically represented as columns in the Decision Table.
Actions (Outputs): These are the potential outcomes or actions resulting from different combinations of conditions. Actions are usually represented as rows in the Decision Table.
Rules: Each row in the Decision Table represents a specific combination of conditions and the corresponding action or outcome.

Example:

Let's consider a simple example of a Decision Table for a software application that determines the eligibility of customers for a promotional offer based on their age and membership status:

Conditions:

Condition 1: Age Category (Young, Middle-aged, Senior)
Condition 2: Membership Status (Member, Non-Member)

Actions:

Action 1: Eligible for Promotion
Action 2: Not Eligible for Promotion

Decision Table:

Condition 1	Condition 2	Action
Young	Member	Eligible for Promotion
Young	Non-Member	Not Eligible for Promotion
Middle-aged	Member	Eligible for Promotion
Middle-aged	Non-Member	Not Eligible for Promotion
Senior	Member	Eligible for Promotion
Senior	Non-Member	Eligible for Promotion

Explanation:

In this example, the Decision Table evaluates the eligibility of customers for a promotional offer based on their age category and membership status. Each row represents a unique combination of conditions and the corresponding action.

For instance, a young customer who is a member (Condition 1: Young, Condition 2: Member) is eligible for the promotion (Action: Eligible for Promotion).
On the other hand, a middle-aged non-member (Condition 1: Middle-aged, Condition 2: Non-Member) is not eligible for the promotion (Action: Not Eligible for Promotion).

Utilizing Decision Tables in Testing:

Decision Tables serve as a comprehensive guide for deriving test cases that cover various combinations of conditions and actions.
Test cases can be systematically generated from the Decision Table to ensure thorough testing of the software application's decision-making logic.

By employing Decision Tables, testers can efficiently design test cases to validate the software's behavior across different scenarios, enhancing test coverage and ensuring the reliability and accuracy of the application's decision-making processes.

Summary :

A Decision Table is a structured representation of decision logic, commonly used in software testing for creating test cases to cover different combinations of inputs and conditions.

In software testing, a Decision Table typically consists of:

Conditions: These are the inputs or variables that influence the outcome of a decision.
Actions: These are the possible outcomes or actions based on the combinations of conditions.
Rules: Each row in the table represents a specific combination of conditions and the corresponding action or outcome.

Decision Tables are particularly useful for testing complex decision-making logic where multiple inputs and conditions lead to different outcomes. They help testers identify and design test cases to ensure comprehensive coverage of various scenarios.

Here's a simple example of a Decision Table in software testing:

Condition 1	Condition 2	Condition 3	Action
True	True	True	Action 1
True	True	False	Action 2
True	False	True	Action 3
False	True	True	Action 4
False	False	True	Action 5
False	False	False	Action 6

In this example, the Decision Table represents different combinations of three conditions (Condition 1, Condition 2, and Condition 3) and the corresponding actions. Test cases can be derived from this table to ensure that each combination of conditions and actions is adequately tested.