The Business Rule component in SOA Suite 11g is used to implement business logic. The logic is extracted from BPM or BPEL process definitions for from Java or other program code, exposed to be invoked from those contexts and defined in a way that makes it accessible to the business. That at least is the theory. Business Rules capture logic that ranges from the very simple – simple IF/THEN rules for allowing or disallowing based on one input parameter – to very complex, performing extensive ns and calculations, for example using the Decision Table. The Decision Table is a smart, compact way of clustering many IF/THEN rules together, as will be demonstrated in this article.

This article demonstrates how the decision table can be put to good use to implement the business logic behind the classical game of Rock, Paper and Scissors. (for a refresher on that game, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors).

Before even opening JDeveloper for working on the Business Rule, let’s briefly discuss the game itself: a simple game, played with two players. At the same time, they raise their hand, indicating either a rock, a pair of scissors or a piece of paper. The rules of the More >