Using the Decision Step

You use the Decision step to decide between two or more possible outcomes. This step lets you branch the flow of control based on rules. Rules are expressions, as described in About the Expression Editor.

Using the Insert New Branch command, you can add branches to the Decision step. When you select a branch, the General and Options tabs appear in the Property Editor. The General tab provides a name and an optional description for the branch. The Options tab defines the rule associated with the branch. (The default branch, named Otherwise, has no rule. It is invoked if all the other branches are false.)

Procedure Summary

1. Select an orchestration workflow to display it in the orchestration workflow editor.

2. In the New Items section of the Step Palette, drag a Decision step onto the line between the Start and End steps.

3. On the General tab of the Property Editor, you can change the name of the Decision step and you can also enter a description.

4. To add a branch, right-click the Decision step, and then select Insert New Branch on the menu.

   A Branch is added above the Otherwise branch.

5. On the General tab of the Property Editor, you can change the name of the Branch and you can also enter a description.

6. On the Options tab of the Property Editor, in the Rule section, enter an expression that represents the rule for that branch. You can use any of the functions, logical operators, or arithmetic operators available on the Functions, Logical, and Operator menus, respectively.

   (For more information about expressions, see About the Expression Editor.)

7. Select the new (non-Otherwise) Branch.

8. Add a step or steps from the Step Palette to the Branch to define the actions that should be taken or the calculations that should be performed while the rule defined for the branch is true.

9. Repeat the previous step to add and configure other decision branches.

   Tip: You can switch from branch to branch by selecting a branch on the menu of the Property Editor. Also, when you right-click the name of a branch in the orchestration workflow editor, you can select menu items that let you duplicate and rename the branch, and to reorder branches.

10. Add a step or steps from the Step Palette to the Otherwise branch. You do not define a rule for this branch.

    Tip: To hide the branches as you work on another part of the orchestration workflow, click the minus sign to the left of the Decision step.