Chapter 13 Using Business Rules in an OOM


What is a business rule in an OOM?

A business rule is a written statement specifying what the information system must do or how it must be structured to support business needs.

A business rule is a rule that your business follows. A business rule could be a government-imposed law, a customer requirement, or an internal guideline.

Starts as an observation

Business rules often start as simple observations, for example "customers call toll-free numbers to place orders." During the design process they develop into more detailed expressions, for example what information a customer supplies when placing an order or how much a customer can spend based on a credit limit.

Guides modeling

Business rules guide and document the creation of a model. For example, the rule "an employee belongs to only one division" can help you graphically build the link between an employee and a division.

Complements graphics

Business rules complement model graphics with information that is not easily represented graphically. For example, some rules specify physical concerns in the form of formulas and validation rules. These technical expressions do not have a graphical representation.

Check parameters

You can attach business rules to objects in an OOM. You can generate business validation rules as check parameters if the validation rules are attached to domains.

For more information on defining and using check parameters, see the "Defining check parameters" section, in the "Building Structural Diagrams" chapter.

 


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