Forced Decision methods for the PHP SDK

These methods will help test and debug various flows of your client applications by forcing users into a specific variation.

The PHP SDK will check forced decisions before making any decisions. If a matching item is found for the requested flag, the PHP SDK will return the forced decision immediately (audience conditions and traffic allocations are ignored) before making normal decisions.

The following describes specific scenarios the PHP SDK will follow:

Flag-to-Decision

• SDK will look up at the beginning of any decide call for the given flag. If a matching Flag-to-Decision forced decision is found for the flag, it returns the decision.

Experiment-Rule-to-Decision

• SDK will look up at the beginning of the decision for the given experiment rule (of the flag key). If a matching Experiment-Rule-to-Decision forced decision is found for the flag, it returns the decision.

Delivery-Rule-to-Decision

• SDK will look up at the beginning of the decision for the given delivery rule (of the flag key). If a matching Delivery-Rule-to-Decision forced decision is found, it returns the decision.

❗️

Warning

You must associate your variation(s) to a flag rule before calling any Forced Decision methods.

On forced decisions, the PHP SDK will fire impression events and notifications just like other normal decisions (unless disabled by the disableDecisionEvent option).

📘

Note

These forced decisions are not persistent and will be cleared when the OptimizelyUserContext is re-initialized.

For more information about each method review:

• setForcedDecision
• getForcedDecision
• removeForcedDecision
• removeAllForcedDecisions

OptimizelyDecisionContext

class OptimizelyDecisionContext
{
    private $flagKey;
    private $ruleKey;

    public function __construct($flagKey, $ruleKey);

    // get flag key
    public function getFlagKey();

    // get rule key
    public function getRuleKey();
}

OptimizelyForcedDecision

class OptimizelyForcedDecision
{
    private $variationKey;

    public function __construct($variationKey);
  
  	// get varaition key
    public function getVariationKey();
}

Set Forced Decision Method - setForcedDecision()

Version

3.9.0

Description

Sets a forced decision (variationKey) for a given OptimizelyDecisionContext.

Parameters

This table lists the required and optional parameters for the PHP SDK.

Returns

A boolean value that indicates if setting the forced decision (variationKey) was completed successfully.

Example

See the complete PHP SDK example.

Get Forced Decision Method - getForcedDecision()

Version

3.9.0

Description

Returns the forced decision (variationKey) for a given OptimizelyDecisionContext. Returns the OptimizelyForcedDecision instance or null if there is no matching item.

Parameters

This table lists the required and optional parameters for the PHP SDK.

Returns

A forced decision OptimizelyForcedDecision instance for the context or null if there is no matching item.

Example

See the complete PHP SDK example.

Remove Forced Decision Method - removeForcedDecision()

Version

3.9.0

Description

Removes the forced decision (variationKey) for a given OptimizelyDecisionContext.

Parameters

This table lists the required and optional parameters for the PHP SDK.

Returns

A success/failure boolean status if the forced decision (variationKey) was removed.

Example

See the complete PHP SDK example.

Remove All Forced Decisions Method - removeAllForcedDecisions()

Version

3.9.0

Description

Removes all forced decisions (variationKey) for the user context.

Parameters

This table lists the required and optional parameters for the PHP SDK.

Returns

A success/failure boolean status.

Example

See the complete PHP SDK example.

Full Code Example

$optimizelyClient = OptimizelyFactory::createDefaultInstance($sdkKey);

$user = $optimizelyClient->createUserContext('test_user', $attributes);

$flagContext = new OptimizelyDecisionContext('flag-1', null);
$flagAndABTestContext = new OptimizelyDecisionContext('flag-1', 'ab-test-1');
$flagAndDeliveryRuleContext = new OptimizelyDecisionContext('flag-1', 'delivery-1');
$variationAForcedDecision = new OptimizelyForcedDecision('variation-a');
$variationBForcedDecision = new OptimizelyForcedDecision('variation-b');
$variationOnForcedDecision = new OptimizelyForcedDecision('on');

# set a forced decision for a flag
$success = $user->setForcedDecision($flagContext, $variationAForcedDecision);
$decision = $user->decide('flag-1');

# set a forced decision for an ab-test rule
$success = $user->setForcedDecision($flagAndABTestContext, $variationBForcedDecision);
$decision = $user->decide('flag-1');

# set a forced variation for a delivery rule
$success = $user->setForcedDecision($flagAndDeliveryRuleContext, $variationOnForcedDecision);
$decision = $user->decide('flag-1');

# get forced variations
$forcedDecision = $user->getForcedDecision($flagContext);
echo "[ForcedDecision] variationKey = {$forcedDecision}";

# remove forced variations
$success = $user->removeForcedDecision($flagAndABTestContext);
$success = $user->removeAllForcedDecisions();

See Also

OptimizelyUserContext