Decision table: How to use it in software testing?

However, knowing about the advantages of the decision table is not sufficient when you have to start with it. Having a good idea of its disadvantages can guide you to ways to optimize the decision table. Each condition (A, B, C, D) directly maps to a specific action or outcome https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ (X, Y, Z). Some time ago, my team reviewed test scenarios for a medical prescription upload feature where the user could upload PDF, JPG, or JPEG files, up to 2 Mb in size. Express conditions and resulting actions in a list so that they are either TRUE or FALSE.

• It’s a great technique and gives great value but what’s confuses me is the outcomes of TC3 and TC4.
• They provide a clear method to verify testing of all pertinent combinations to ensure that all possible conditions, relationships, and constraints are handled by the software under test.
• Each condition (A, B, C, D) directly maps to a specific action or outcome (X, Y, Z).
• It is a technique that not only the testers can use but can also be utilized by anyone to break down any complex requirement with just a straightforward table of input combinations vs. expected results.
• This testing is a very effective tool in testing the software and its requirements management.

For this condition, we can create 8 different test cases and ensure complete coverage based on the above table. With LambdaTest, you can leverage parallel test capabilities using different automation testing frameworks and languages and execute multiple test cases simultaneously. You can also detect errors and bugs in the software application by LambdaTest’s in-built debugging tools, thus making it easier to report and fix them efficiently. Before digging into the exact way to create a decision table, we will understand its features. Below is the decision table of the program for determining the largest amongst three numbers in which its input is a triple of positive integers (x,y, and z) and values are from the interval [1, 300].

Best Practices of Decision Table

Decision table testing is a systematic approach that allows testers to evaluate various combinations of inputs and conditions, ensuring comprehensive test coverage for complex business rules. In this article, we will explore decision table testing in-depth, providing practical examples to illustrate its application and benefits in real-world scenarios. A Decision Table is a tabular representation of inputs versus rules/cases/test conditions. It is a very effective tool used for both complex software testing and requirements management. A decision table helps to check all possible combinations of conditions for testing and testers can also identify missed conditions easily.
Once you map out all the condition variations and actions, it will be easy to determine if the expected result for a given rule is unclear or not specified in the requirements. The article makes good points about decision tables and cutting down the number of cases,  but the example leaves too much room for interpretation to ensure we have all the scenarios covered. Now that you have understood Decision Table in Software Testing, check out the Software Testing Fundamentals Course by Edureka.

A decision table is an excellent tool to use in both testing and requirements management. Essentially it is a structured exercise to formulate requirements when dealing with complex business rules. They can make it easy to see that all possible combinations of conditions have been considered and when conditions are missed, it is easy to see this. In this tutorial, we have discussed in great detail the decision and way to construct those, which will eventually help you get started with it. A decision table is an effective way to manage different types of combinations of inputs along with their expected outcome related to software testing and others. They are also used for any business purpose to break down any complex requirements and give the visual appearance to the expected outcome in the form of a table.

Cypress Testing

Of course, in decision tables, we can use Yes/No or True/False – which are analogous to 0/1 values. We can use number value (for example, temperature), words, or pictograms (or whatever we need). An example of such a decision table may be a table containing information about access to various locations of the application by users, depending on the type of user. Decision table testing is also an excellent method for identifying gaps in requirements.

We can also combine cases 1 and 5 if the email is invalid (it doesn’t matter if the password is). Let’s see what the table looks like now, after simplifying and removing a few cases. In this technique, the combinations are pared down to those that will produce differing outputs by removing sets of conditions that are not relevant for the outcome.

Advantages of Decision Table in Software Testing

It gives a way to figure out all the possible scenarios for testing and their expected outcome. The testers use these to seek clarity on the decision-making process during the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) as they provide a structured way to handle decision logic and have expected outcomes. A decision table is a black-box test technique that visually presents combinations of inputs and outputs, where inputs are conditions or cases, and outputs are actions or effects. A full decision table contains all combinations of conditions and actions. On the contrary, optimized one excludes impossible combinations of conditions and combinations of inputs that don’t have any effect on outputs.
The importance of decision table testing becomes clear as the number of inputs increases. A decision table in software testing is a reliable approach for managing diverse combinations of inputs and their corresponding outputs. To put it differently, a decision table serves as a tabular representation that captures inputs in relation to rules, cases, or test conditions. Here, input denotes the factors or conditions needed to evaluate the behavior of the software application.

Taking the next step and applying the concepts described to reduce the possible conditions and create a collapsed decision table make it easy to further show management how effective and efficient this test technique can be. Decision tables allow you to create a graphical representation of the possible interactions and provide the information you need to develop an effective, efficient set of test cases. This decision table is mainly specialized in the optimization of test cases as it allows a reduction in the number of test cases for better test coverage. This can be done while still testing crucial combinations of conditions. My name is John Antunes and I am passionate about helping others succeed in the field of software testing. Whether you’re just starting out in the industry or looking to enhance your skills, I am here to guide you every step of the way.
A decision table is a systematic approach or representation for detailing different combinations of conditions or aspects and their diverse outcomes and actions. In simple terms, in software testing, a decision table analyzes the functionality and behavior of a software application or system by systematically documenting various combinations of inputs in a tabular format. Decision tables are used in various engineering fields to represent complex logical relationships. This testing is a very effective tool in testing the software and its requirements management. The output may be dependent on many input conditions and decision tables give a tabular view of various combinations of input conditions and these conditions are in the form of True(T) and False(F).

A well-created decision table can help to sort out the right response of the system, depending on the input data, as it should include all conditions. It simplifies designing the logic and thus improves the development and testing of our product. With design tables, the information are presented in a clear, understandable way so it’s easier to find them than in the text describing the logic of the system. And finally, of course, creating using this technique helps to find edge cases and to identify missing signals in the system.
The initial step in constructing a table is pinpointing and defining the problem. This involves recognizing the relevant factors and determining the necessary next steps. We are Merixstudio – neither Jedi nor gurus (nor any other kind of superheroes). From a business perspective, we’re an agile software team crafting and launching fully-fledged web and mobile apps for clients worldwide. But in our geeky day-to-day life, we’re a bunch of friends fully committed to our passions. It’s a great technique and gives great value but what’s confuses me is the outcomes of TC3 and TC4.

Such test scenarios can be tested and leveraged across various real-world environments by executing them in a cloud-based platform like LambdaTest. In this decision table, all the included and possible combinations of conditions and their actions are considered. It is valuable as it ensures exhaustive test coverage by verifying and validating every possible test scenario of software applications. This decision table is leveraged to handle a large number of conditions and actions.

Using a decision table for software testing is recommended when a large combination of test cases is involved. As a tester, it becomes easy for them to create and execute test cases without missing any test cases. Hence, it is advised that you should make a decision table at an early stage of software development; then, it will become useful for developers, end-users, testers, and requirement specialists. The tabular representation of the outcome eases the analysis process of test cases of the software application’s features and components.