Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
decision table in order to determine whether or not it is
possible, taking into account the current state value of the
address, to allow this modification.
This decision table is in itself master data governed by the
MDM system. It can therefore be subject to different
initializations and updates according to the use contexts
(head office, subsidiary, partner, country etc.) and versions.
Rather than hard-coding these rules and taking the risk of
delivering too rigid and heavy a bespoke software, it is more
judicious to put this decision table in place, and customizing
the MDM system by a simple setting of values within those
tables.
The state RTS (“Return To Sender”) is a super state which
encompasses the three sub-states “Undeliverable as
Addressed”, “Insufficient Address” and “No such number”.
By default, the sub-states inherit a set value from their
super state, which is the case in this example
3
. It would still
be possible to envisage that the datum “building number”
can be modified when the sub-state value is “No such
number”. In this case, the state machine should anticipate
the possibility of re-checking an address which has fallen
into RTS, which is not possible in our current state machine.
9.1.3.2.
State validation
The State machine also allows MDM, if we want it to take
on this task, to verify that the business lifecycle of the
master data “state” conforms to the specification. For
example, if the address is in the state “Valid” then the only
possible change of state is “Archive”. All other attempts to
change the state are rejected by the MDM system. Here, too,
a decision table is used to control the changes of state.
3
. The inherited data appear in italics in the decision table.
