Because Corticon Studio is a visual environment, patterns often appear in the Rulesheet that provide insight into the decision logic. After rule writers recognize and understand what these patterns mean, they can often accelerate rule modeling in the Rulesheet. The Compression Tool is designed to reproduce Rulesheet patterns in some common cases.

For example, take the following rule statement:



Applying modeling techniques, you might implement rule 1 as:

Figure 1. Implementing the 747 rule


Now let's have the Completeness Checker populate any missing columns:

Figure 2. Remaining columns produced by the Completeness Checker


Click Expand to fill out the Rulesheet so you can examine the 17 cross-product subrules:
Figure 3. Underlying subrules produced by the Completeness Checker


The 17 new columns (counting both rules and subrules) include an optimization that combined <> 'N312UA' and null into not 'N312UA'. So, the number of combinations is 3*3*2 = 18. Subtracting the rule in column 1, 17 new columns were added.

Now, click Compress.

There are now just 4 rules. Fill in the Actions for the new columns, DC-10, as shown:

Figure 4. Missing Rules with Actions assigned


Because the added rules are non-overlapping, you can be sure they won't introduce any ambiguities into the Rulesheet.

To be sure,  click the Conflict Checker .

Figure 5. Proof that no new conflicts were introduced by the Completeness Check


This pattern tells you that the only case where the aircraft type is a 747 is when max cargo volume is greater than 300 AND max cargo weight is greater than 200,000 AND tail number is N123UA. This rule is expressed in column 1. In all other cases, specifically where max cargo volume is 300 or less OR max cargo weight is 200,000 or less OR tail number is something other than N123UA will the aircraft type be a DC-10. 

The characteristic diagonal line of Condition values in columns 2-4, surrounded by dashes indicates a classic OR relationship between the 3 Conditions in these columns. The Compression algorithm was designed to produce this characteristic pattern whenever the underlying rule logic is present. It helps the rule writer to better see how the rules relate to each other.