Business rule
A condition that data must meet because of how the organization works, not because of its format: a ship date cannot be earlier than its order date.
Business rules catch values that are well formed and still wrong. They live in people's heads more often than in documents, so writing them down is part of the work.
Where it comes up
- Impossible datesA value is shaped like a date but names a day that does not exist or could not have happened.
- Outliers from entry errorsA value sits far outside the rest because of a slipped key, an extra zero, or a misplaced decimal point.
See also
- ConstraintA rule that a database or file format enforces on a column, such as not blank, unique, or within a range. Data that breaks the rule is rejected.
- ValidationChecking values against rules, such as a date being in the past or a state code being on the allowed list, and reporting what fails.
- ValidityWhether a value follows the rules for its column: the right type, the right format, and within the allowed range or list. A date of February 30 is invalid.