Kendall PPT 09
Kendall PPT 09
Process Specifications
and Structured Decisions
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Learning Objectives
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Logic of Decisions
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Major Topics
• Process specifications
• Business rules
• Structured English
• Decision tables
• Decision trees
• Horizontal balancing
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Process Specifications
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Goals of Producing Process
Specifications
• Reduce process ambiguity
• Obtain a precise description of what is
accomplished
• Validate the system design
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Process Specifications Are Not
Created for
• Processes that represent physical input
and/or output
• Processes that represent simple data
validation
• Processes that use prewritten code
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How Process Specifications Relate to the
Data Flow Diagram (Figure 9.1)
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Process Specification Format
Information
• The process number
• The process name
• What the process accomplishes
• Input data flow(s)
• Output data flow(s)
• Type of process (Online/Batch/Manual)
• Subprogram/Function Name (pre-written code ID)
• Process logic description
• Logic method reference
• Unresolved issues
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Process Logic Description
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Common Business Rule Formats
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List Any Unresolved Issues
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An Example of a Completed Process Specification Form
(Figure 9.2)
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Structured English
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Writing Structured English
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Examples of Structured English Types
(Figure 9.3)
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Advantages of Structured
English
• Clarifying the logic and relationships
found in human languages
• An effective communication tool, it can
be taught to and understood by users in
the organization
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Data Dictionary and Process
Specification
• The data dictionary is a starting point
for creating structured English:
• Sequence—a simple sequence of
statements MOVE, ADD, and SUBTRACT
• Selection—[] entries become
IF…THEN...ELSE statements
• Iteration { } entries become DO WHILE,
DO UNTIL, or PERFORM UNTIL
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Decision Tables
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Data Structure for Shipping
Statement (Fig. 9.5)
• Shipping statement
is made up of
Customer Name,
Address, and Order
Item Lines
• There may be 1 to 5
Order Item Lines
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Structured English for Shipping
Statement (Fig. 9.6)
• Structured English
specifies process for
moving information
to shipping
statement
• Underlined items are
defined in the Data
Dictionary
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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
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Developing Decision Tables
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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
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Decision Trees
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Drawing Decision Trees
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Drawing a Decision Tree to Show the Noncash
Purchase Approval Actions for a Department
Store (Figure 9.14)
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Decision Tree Advantages
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Selecting a Structured Decision
Analysis Technique
• Use structured English when there are many
repetitious actions or when communication to end
users is important
• Use decision tables when a complex combination of
conditions, actions, and rules are found or you
require a method that effectively avoids impossible
situations, redundancies, and contradictions
• Use decision trees when the sequence of conditions
and actions is critical or when not every condition is
relevant to every action (the branches are different)
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Summary
• Process specifications
• Decision analysis
• Structured English
• Logic is expressed in sequential structures,
decision structures, case structures, or
iterations
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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)
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Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.
Publishing as Prentice Hall
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