Stand-alone Business Rules

Readers must be able to understand each individual Business Rule independently of all other rules. If you have a rule "Negative amounts are highlighted on application screens using a contrasting color.", do not enter on the line below another rule "Otherwise, use a default grey color". Prefer to write one rule that expresses when red is used, and another that expresses when grey is used. If you want to group similar rules together, USoft TeamWork offers a variety of ways to do that.

One important reason why Business Rules should be stand-alone is that readers can query many cross-sections of the rule repository using ad-hoc query conditions. As a result, a writer cannot predict how a reader will group, view or order individual rules.