Writing Effective Business Rules

Chapter 2

How rules work

This chapter first distinguishes two fundamental types of rules: operative rules and definitional rules (or structural rules). It then describes the various ways in which rules govern an organization:

1. some rules govern the business processes performed by organizations, their employees, customers, suppliers, and partners;

2. other rules govern user interfaces and electronic messages;

3. other rules ensure database integrity;

4. still other rules govern human behavior other than business processes.

2.1 Operative rules

Operative rules state what must or must not happen in particular circumstances, as in the following examples:

R15. Each flight booking request for a return journey must specify the return date.