9

Kendall & Kendall

Systems Analysis and Design,
Global Edition, 9e

Process Specifications
and Structured Decisions

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 Learning Objectives

• Understand the purpose of process

specifications.
• Recognize the difference between structured
and semistructured decisions.
• Use structured English, decision tables, and
decision trees to analyze, describe, and
document structured decisions.
• Choose an appropriate decision analysis
method for analyzing structured decisions and
creating process specifications.

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 Logic of Decisions

• Documenting and analyzing logic:

• Structured English
• Decision tables
• Decision trees
• Logic and structured decisions are
distinguishable from semistructured decisions
• Structured decision analysis methods promote
completeness, accuracy, and communication

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 Decision Tables

• A table of rows and columns, separated

into four quadrants:
• Conditions
• Condition alternatives
• Actions to be taken
• Rules for executing the actions

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 Example: Verify Order Process
• ________________________________________________
• Verify Orders Process
• ________________________________________________
• 1 2 3 4
_______________________
Credit status is OK Y Y N N
Product is in stock Y N Y N
__________________________________________________
Accept order X
Reject order X X X
__________________________________________________
Figure 1: A simple decision table showing the processing logic of VERIFY ORDER

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 Example: Verify Order Process (Continued)

• Note: an accepted order requires that; 1) credit status is OK, and 2)

the product is in stock.
• Otherwise, the order is rejected.
• The decision table is Figure 1 shows all the possibilities.
• Because each condition has two possible values, the number of rules
doubles each time you add a condition.
• For example, one condition creates only two rules, two conditions
create four rules, three conditions create eight rules, and so on.
• As shown in Figure, four possible combinations exist, but only one
rule- rule 1 permits an accepted order output.

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Example
• A mobile phone service provider will allow a
person to be a subscriber to their network
provided that the following conditions are met:
• They must have a bank or building society accounts
• They must have lived at the same address for at least
a year.
• They must be a home owner

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 Decision Table
• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
• _________
• Has a bank/building society ac Y Y Y N Y N N N
• Lived at the same address for greater than 1yr Y Y N Y N Y N N
• Is a home owner Y N Y Y N N Y N
• _____________________________________________________________
• Can subscribe X
• _____________________________________________________________
• Cannot subscribe X X X X X X X
• _____________________________________________________________

• 3 conditions
• The combinations we have are 2 cubed = 8
• There are two actions:
• Can subscribe – only when all the three conditions are met.
• Cannot subscribe

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 Structured English
• IF bank = “Yes” and lived here more than 1 year, and
homeowner = “Yes”. Then
• Output “They can subscribe”
• ELSE
• Output “you cannot subscribe”
• EndIF

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 Standard Format Used for Presenting
a Decision Table (Figure 9.7)

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 Customer Checkout Decision
Table (Figure 9.8)

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 Constructing a Decision Table for Deciding Which
Catalog to Send to Customers Who Order Only from
Selected Catalogs (Figure 9.9)

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 Developing Decision Tables

• Determine conditions that affect the

decision
• Determine possible actions that can be
taken
• Determine condition alternatives for
each condition
• Calculate the maximum number of
columns in the decision table

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 Developing Decision Tables

• Fill in the condition alternatives

• Complete table by inserting an X where
rules suggest actions
• Combine rules where it is apparent
• Check for impossible situations
• Rearrange to make more
understandable

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 Developing Decision Tables
Step 1
• Determine the number of conditions
that may affect the decision
• Combine rows that overlap, such as
conditions that are mutually exclusive
• The number of conditions becomes the
number of rows in the top half of the
decision table

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 Developing Decision Tables
Step 2
• Determine the number of possible
actions that can be taken
• That number becomes the number of
rows in the lower half of the decision
table

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 Developing Decision Tables
Step 3
• Determine the number of condition
alternatives for each condition
• In the simplest form of decision table, there
would be two alternatives (Y or N) for each
condition
• An extended entry table may have many
alternatives for each condition
• Make sure that all possible values for the
condition are included

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 Developing Decision Tables
Step 4
• Calculate the maximum number of
columns in the decision table by
multiplying the number of alternatives
for each condition
• If there were four conditions and two
alternatives (Y or N) for each of the
conditions, there would be 16
possibilities

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 Developing Decision Tables
Step 5
• Fill in the condition alternatives
• Start with the first condition and divide the
number of columns by the number of
alternatives for that condition
• If there are 16 columns and two alternatives
(Y or N), then 16 divided by 2 is 8
• Choose one of the alternatives, say Y, and
write it in the first eight columns
• Finish by writing N in the remaining eight
columns

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 Checking for Completeness and
Accuracy
• Four main problems:
• Incompleteness
• Impossible situations
• Contradictions
• Redundancy

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 Combining Rules to Simplify
the Decision Table (Figure 9.10)

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 Checking the Decision Table for
Impossible Situations (Figure 9.12)

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 Checking for Contradictions and
Redundancy (Figure 9.13)

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 Decision Table Advantages

• Help the analysis ensure completeness

• Easy to check for possible errors
• Impossible situations
• Contradictions
• Redundancy

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 Summary (continued)

• Decision tables
• Four quadrants are used to:
Describe the conditions
Identify possible decision alternatives
Indicate which actions should be performed
Describe the actions
• Decision trees
• Consist of nodes and branches

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 Summary (continued)

• Decision analysis advantages

• Structured English is useful when many actions
are repeated and when communicating with
others is important
• Decision tables provide complete analysis of
complex situations while limiting the need for
change attributable to impossible situations,
redundancies, or contradictions
• Decision trees are important when proper
sequencing of conditions and actions is critical and
when each condition is not relevant to each action

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