Rule Builder > Business Rules > Business Rule Structure

A business rule is based on the idea of setting one or more conditions which, when met, result in one or more actions. Business rules achieve this by following a structure composed of conditions and actions:

The structure of a simple business rule expressed in BAL syntax could be:

 [Definitions]
      Variable(s)
 If
      Conditions on objects
 Then
      Actions on these objects
 [Else]
      Or execute this branch

The [Definitions] part of the BAL rule allows you to define variables and the [Else] part executes another branch, if the conditions are not met. The "[" and "]" characters indicate that the Definitions and Else parts of the rule are optional.

Figure 10.1 shows an example of a business rule written in BAL using the Rule Editor. In this example, the Definitions part defines the customer category as "Gold" thereby limiting discount to customers of this category. If the purchase value is greater than $100 (condition), the rule fires and the customer is awarded a 10% discount (action). If the purchase value is less than $100, the Else part is executed and the customer is awarded a 5% discount.
Note
How to write business rules using BAL is described in the Business Action Language User's Manual.

images/bal_ruledefelse.png

Figure 10.1    Business Rule Written Using the Rule Editor and BAL

Note
Business rules can also be written and edited using decision tables or decision trees.

See Also

Inspecting the Working Memory | Business Rule Checks | Managing Decision Tables | Managing Decision Trees | Reports


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