Decision Table Maker: Generate All Possibilities

Not sure what decision tables are or how to use them? No worries — here's a quick explanation and an example to help you understand what this tool is for and how it works. It's much simpler than it sounds.

What is Decision Table Maker?

Have you ever faced a decision where the answer depends on several "if this, then that" situations? That's exactly where a decision table can help.

You don't need to be a scientist or data expert to use one. In fact, people make decisions like this all the time — like planning dinner, choosing what to wear, or deciding when to water the plants.

A decision table is a simple way to lay out all the possible situations (based on conditions) and decide what to do in each one. This tool helps you list your conditions, automatically shows you every possible combination, and gives you space to write your decision for each one.

The Decision Table Maker doesn't decide for you — it just creates all combinations as table rows and lets you add your decisions as the last column(s).

A Simple Example

Suppose you're deciding what to cook based on two simple factors:

• Do you have bananas at home? (Yes or No)
• Do you feel like cooking? (Yes or No)

Rather than juggling all possible scenarios in your head, you can organize them systematically. The Decision Table Maker starts with two default variables, Variable A and Variable B (you can add more if needed). Rename Variable A and Variable B to some meaningful names, like Bananas Available and Mood to Cook. Set their possible values as Yes and No. The tool instantly generates a table with all combinations, like this:

| Bananas Available | Mood to Cook | Decision     |
| ----------------- | ------------ | ------------ |
| Yes               | Yes          |              |
| Yes               | No           |              |
| No                | Yes          |              |
| No                | No           |              |

Next, rename the Decision column to What to Cook for clarity. Then, fill in your choices for each scenario:

| Bananas Available | Mood to Cook | What to Cook         |
| ----------------- | ------------ | -------------------- |
| Yes               | Yes          | Bake banana bread    |
| Yes               | No           | Ask relative to cook |
| No                | Yes          | Bake sourdough bread |
| No                | No           | Visit a local bakery |

Your decisions may vary, but the process remains the same: map out all scenarios and assign an action to each.

This method works for all kinds of decisions — not just cooking. Speaking of cooking, there's a handy recipe tool called Portion Master. You might want to check it out. Especially if you ever need to scale up your banana bread batch for a crowd 😉

What is a Decision Table

A decision table is a way of visual mapping of possible flows of some decision, when there are a lot of variable conditions involved. The brain of an ordinary human has a quite narrow focus and we often fall short of keeping track of various combinations of things we are trying to form our decision for.

The usage of decision table may help in visualizing, not missing and organizing all possible variants of something complex you are trying to get a grasp on.

The decision tables are mostly used by business analysts, developers, and philosophers. But once you know how helpful this method could be, you start to use it in everyday life: from deciding when should you go for a milk, to understanding how to act in complex life situations.

Just write down all available variants in a few lines and put your opinion right next to each one - you have your first decision table. This works terrific when dealing with a few choices, but becomes unbearable having a lot of them. This is when automated decision table software becomes really useful.

Automated Decision Table Benefits

This free online decision tabler maker is pretty much the same as your piece of paper and a pen when you have all your variants. But it comes with an irreplaceable feature: it maps all possible combinations for you. This unbearable and prone to error task is done seamlessly by a computer.

How to Use This Tool

Overview

1. Configure your variables: Use the configuration toolbar to add or remove variables and decision columns. You can have as few as 1 variable with 1 option, or up to 8 variables with 8 options each.
2. Set variable options: Click on variable headers to rename them, and add options by typing in the fields below each variable column. The tool automatically generates all possible combinations.
3. Make decisions: Fill in your decisions for each combination in the decision columns. Use row colors, notes, and archiving to organize and prioritize your scenarios.
4. Manage and share: Reorder columns and rows, use undo/redo to experiment freely, and export your table in multiple formats for sharing or further analysis.

Configuration Toolbar

The toolbar at the top provides comprehensive control over your decision table:

• Undo/Redo: Revert or reapply changes with the undo/redo buttons or keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y). Perfect for experimenting with different configurations.
• Reset Options: Start fresh with predefined templates (empty, default, No/Yes, or FALSE/TRUE) or clear your current table.
• Variable Management: Add or remove variables using the + and − buttons. When adding, you can choose from dynamic templates that learn from your existing variables, making it easy to create similar variables with the same option sets.
• Decision Management: Add, remove, or rename decision columns to track multiple decision criteria. You can also clear all decisions and styles from a decision column at once.
• Combination Counter: See the current number of generated combinations in real-time at the right side of the toolbar.

Making Decisions

The table interface provides a rich editing experience:

• Type decisions directly: Click in any decision cell and type your decision for that combination.
• Row color coding: Use the color palette in the style column to color-code rows. Available colors include Gray (for archiving), Green, Yellow, Red, Blue, and Purple. This helps visually categorize and prioritize scenarios.
• Row archiving: Click the archive button next to any row to archive it. Archived rows are visually muted and moved to the bottom, helping you focus on active scenarios while keeping others for reference.
• Row reordering: Drag rows by the handle to reorder them manually. The tool automatically switches to manual sorting mode when you drag, allowing you to organize rows in any order you prefer.
• Automatic sorting: By default, rows are sorted in the canonical mathematical order. You can switch to manual mode anytime to preserve custom ordering.
• Row notes: Add detailed notes to any decision cell for additional context or explanations.
• Column management: Use the three-dot menu on variable or decision column headers to reorder columns (move left/right) or delete columns entirely.

Share and Export

Five sharing options are available to suit different needs:

• Share via URL: Generate a shareable link that contains your entire table configuration. Perfect for sharing with others who can load your exact table setup.
• Share via QR Code: Generate a QR code containing the shareable URL. Great for quick sharing in presentations or printed materials.
• Export as CSV: Copy the table in tab-separated format, ideal for pasting into Excel, Google Sheets, or other spreadsheet applications.
• Export as Markdown: Copy the table in Markdown format. This is perfect for documentation, GitHub, or sharing with AI assistants like ChatGPT for analysis, insights, or explanations of your decision logic. The structured markdown format is perfectly readable by AI models.
• Copy Plain Table: Export a plain text table compatible with text processors like Microsoft Word, making it easy to include in documents or reports.

Full Screen Mode

Click the full screen button in the table header to enter full screen mode for an immersive editing experience. Press Escape to exit full screen mode.

Tips

• Name your table: Click on the title above the table to edit it and give your decision table a meaningful name.
• Rename columns: Click on any variable or decision column header to rename it with a descriptive name.
• Add options dynamically: Start typing in an empty field below the last option in a column, and it will automatically be added to your combinations.
• Use variable templates: When adding a new variable, the tool suggests templates based on your existing variables, making it easy to create similar option sets.
• Experiment freely: Use undo/redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y) to try different configurations without fear of losing your work.
• Organize with colors: Use the six available row colors (Gray, Green, Yellow, Red, Blue, Purple) to visually categorize scenarios.
• Archive unused rows: Archive rows you don't need right now but want to keep for reference. They'll be moved to the bottom and visually muted.
• Try example templates: Use the example buttons (Banana Bread, XOR, Discount, Unit Test, or Golf Weather) to see pre-configured decision tables and learn different use cases.

Change Log

Version 2.1.0 (November 2025) — Extended Editing Flexibility

Improvements:

• Streamlined row style palette experience.
• Improved indication of column types.
• Optimized state autosave format.
• Improved style of editable fields.
• Cleaner layout styles.
• Fixed support of keyboard shortcuts for undo/redo function.

Features:

• Variable and decision columns can be reordered by moving left or right using the three-dot menu from both config and table.
• Chosen variable and decision columns can be deleted from the table using the three-dot menu from the config.
• All column reordering and deletion actions are supported by undo.
• Row styles and notes are optimistically preserved when changing the variable configuration.
• Rows are auto-sorted following the canonical mathematically correct combination order by default.
• Row sorting can be switched to manual mode any time to prevent auto-sorting when necessary.
• Rows can be manually reordered using drag-and-drop, with automatic switching to a manual mode.
• New row archiving/un-archiving button near each row to quickly throw away any uninteresting combination, or bring it back.
• All row reordering actions are supported by undo.

Thanks to Sergio and Anton for their excellent feature proposal! 🎉

Version 2.0.0 (October 2025) — Performance Overhaul & Requested Features

Improvements:

• Faster, reorganized internals for smoother editing and better performance.
• A cleaner Markdown schema for broader compatibility (including Azure DevOps).
• Extended example templates.
• Improved tooltips across the screen.
• Fixed textual share fields font and wrapping.

Features:

• New configuration toolbar.
• Added undo/redo functionality with keyboard shortcut support.
• Detailed table resetting options.
• Support of dynamic variable templates for ease of creation of repeated values.
• New blue and purple row styles.
• Plain table export option that is compatible with text processors such as Microsoft Word.
• Ability to clear the entire column of row decisions and styles.
• Allow users to have as little as 1 variable and 1 option.
• Display of the current number of generated combinations.

Special thanks to Alexander, Sergio, and Anton for their valuable suggestions! 🎉

Version 1.1.0 (April 2025) — UX Improvements

• Move onto a modern design system with a light/dark design.
• Replace tracking table header with the simple full screen mode.

Version 1.0.0 (October 2022) — Initial Release

The very first version of the decision maker tool allowing user to easily generate decision tables based on multiple conditions.

Features:

• Auto-combination Generation: Automatically generates all possible condition combinations.
• Interactive Decisions: Add decisions for each combination and color-code rows.
• Export & Share: Copy to Excel/Sheets, or share directly with others.
• Templates: Predefined templates for common decision scenarios.

This release introduces an initial volume of core features for easy decision mapping and visualization.

About

This tool is developed by Max Jakeins for the RenderSnail tools collection.

Feel free to report any problems and express your ideas for fixes and features, just let us know.