Circumstancing Rules

Situational Processing

1. Business processes must account for exceptions to typical case behavior. 
2. Exceptions make a business process more complex and difficult to maintain.
3. Adding decisions and expanding processes make these exceptions difficult to model   and maintain. 

Model complex exceptions through circumstancing.

With circumstancing, you create a variant of a rule tailored to a specific circumstance.

Customize each rule variant to address a specific exception condition you identify rather than creating one complex, difficult-to-maintain rule.

When an application uses a circumstanced rule, the system determines which rule variant best satisfies the need. 

How to Circumstance a Rule 

Start by creating a base rule to define the expected behavior, such as a service level to enforce response time rules. Then identify the exceptions, such as a quicker response time for customers with silver and gold status.  

Types of Circumstancing Conditions

1. Single Value

Specify the property to evaluate and a comparison value when circumstancing a rule.

2. Multiple Value

Multiple value circumstances are based on a circumstance template and circumstance definition.

3. Date property

This condition can be either a single date or a range of dates.

 4. As-of date 

After the specified date or during the specified range, the application applies the circumstanced variant of the rule, rather than the base rule