ISTQB ATA Exam - Topic 1 Question 91 Discussion

Actual exam question for ISTQB's ATA exam

Question #: 91
Topic #: 1

A specification states: "If the fossil is Jurassic in origin then it must be catalogued under Mesozoic post Triassic and cross referred to politic limestone.

If it is a tooth, then it must be catalogued under Dental remains. If the fossil is both Jurassic in origin and a tooth it will be catalogued under Mesozoic post Triassic and cross referred to politic limestone only. ''

The tester analyses this for decision table testing and finds the following conditions and actions:

C1: Jurassic C2: tooth A1: Catalogue as Mesozoic post Triassic A2: Cross refer to politic limestone A3: Catalogue as

Dental remains

How many test cases will a collapsed decision table have?

[K3] 2 credits

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: B

by Kerry at Jun 12, 2025, 10:37 PM

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Deeanna

5 months ago

I counted 4, but I might be missing something.

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Rory

5 months ago

Wait, are we sure about that? Seems like it could be more.

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Letha

6 months ago

Totally agree, 3 seems right!

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Deeanna

6 months ago

Definitely 3, the logic checks out!

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Robt

6 months ago

I think it’s 3 test cases based on the conditions.

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Denna

6 months ago

I vaguely recall that if both conditions are true, it simplifies the cases, so maybe it's just 2 test cases?

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Margot

7 months ago

I feel like the answer is 3 because we have to account for the overlapping conditions, but I could be wrong.

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Sommer

7 months ago

I think there are 4 test cases if we consider all combinations of Jurassic and tooth, but I might be mixing it up with another example we practiced.

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Davida

7 months ago

I remember we discussed decision tables in class, but I'm not entirely sure how to collapse them correctly.

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Yoko

7 months ago

I've got a strategy - I'll start by listing out all the possible combinations of the two conditions, then match them to the actions. That should give me the right number of test cases.

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Scarlet

7 months ago

Okay, let me think this through step-by-step. I need to identify the possible combinations of conditions and determine the corresponding actions.

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Tamra

8 months ago

Hmm, the conditions and actions are a bit confusing. I'll need to carefully go through the decision table to figure this out.

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Loreta

8 months ago

This question seems straightforward, I think I can handle it.

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Carolynn

10 months ago

This question is a real fossil of a decision table problem. I'm surprised they didn't ask for the number of test cases in an expanded decision table, which would have been 8. But hey, at least they didn't ask us to dig up some actual fossils, right? *chuckles*

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Barabara

10 months ago

I'm a little confused by this question. Does the fossil have to be both Jurassic and a tooth to be catalogued under Mesozoic post Triassic and cross referred to politic limestone? Or can it be one or the other? I'm going to go with C) 4, but I'm not 100% sure.

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Brigette

10 months ago

User 2

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Shawnee

10 months ago

User 1

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Lenna

11 months ago

I'm not sure, but I think the answer might be C) 4. Can someone explain why it's not 4?

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Shelba

11 months ago

This is a classic decision table problem. The number of test cases in a collapsed decision table is determined by the number of unique combinations of the conditions. In this case, there are two conditions (Jurassic and tooth), so the number of test cases should be 2^2 = 4. The answer is C) 4.

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Jacquelyne

11 months ago

I think the answer is C) 4. The question states that there are two conditions (Jurassic and tooth) and three actions (Catalogue as Mesozoic post Triassic, Cross refer to politic limestone, and Catalogue as Dental remains). When you collapse the decision table, you'll have four possible combinations: Jurassic and tooth, Jurassic and not tooth, not Jurassic and tooth, and not Jurassic and not tooth.

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Aja

10 months ago

That's correct, there are four possible combinations when you collapse the decision table.

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Barrie

10 months ago

I agree with you, the answer is C) 4. It makes sense when you break it down like that.

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Coleen

11 months ago

That makes sense, C) 4 is the correct answer.

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Vincenza

11 months ago

So, the decision table will have 4 test cases.

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Renea

11 months ago

I agree, there are four possible combinations.

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Jackie

11 months ago

I think the answer is C) 4.

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Krystal

11 months ago

I agree with Meaghan, because there are 3 possible test cases based on the conditions and actions given.

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Meaghan

11 months ago

I think the answer is B) 3.

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Sharita

11 months ago

The question is asking for the number of test cases in a collapsed decision table, and the answer options are 2, 3, 4, and 6. From the given information, it seems like there are 2 conditions (Jurassic and tooth) and 3 actions (Catalogue as Mesozoic post Triassic, Cross refer to politic limestone, and Catalogue as Dental remains). Therefore, the correct answer should be 4.

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