Configuration

This page provides an overview of how to configure the Rule Engine for your specific needs.

Overview

The Rule Engine is designed to be highly configurable, allowing you to define complex rule sets using a structured array or JSON format. The configuration defines the conditions to evaluate and the actions to execute based on those evaluations.

Configuration Structure

A rule configuration typically consists of:

1. Node Type: Specifies the type of node (condition, collection, context, not, action)
2. Condition: The logic to evaluate
3. Actions: What to execute when conditions are met or not met

Basic Configuration Example

Here's a simple example of a rule configuration:

$config = [
    'node' => 'condition',
    'if' => [
        'node' => 'context',
        'contextName' => 'userAge',
        'operator' => 'greaterThanOrEqual',
        'value' => 18,
    ],
    'then' => [
        'node' => 'action',
        'actionName' => 'allowAccess',
    ],
    'else' => [
        'node' => 'action',
        'actionName' => 'denyAccess',
    ],
];

This configuration creates a rule that: - Checks if the user's age is greater than or equal to 18 - If true, executes the 'allowAccess' action - If false, executes the 'denyAccess' action

Node Types

The Rule Engine supports several node types, each with its own configuration options:

Condition Node

A condition node represents a conditional logic structure with 'if', 'then', and optional 'else' branches.

[
    'node' => 'condition',
    'if' => [...], // Condition to evaluate
    'then' => [...], // Action to execute if condition is true
    'else' => [...], // Optional: Action to execute if condition is false
]

Collection Node

A collection node groups multiple conditions together with a logical operator ('and' or 'or').

[
    'node' => 'collection',
    'type' => 'and', // or 'or'
    'nodes' => [
        [...], // First condition
        [...], // Second condition
        // More conditions...
    ],
]

Context Node

A context node retrieves a value from the context and evaluates it using an operator.

[
    'node' => 'context',
    'contextName' => 'fieldName', // Name of the field in the context
    'operator' => 'equal', // Operator to use for comparison
    'value' => 'expectedValue', // Value to compare against
]

Not Node

A not node negates the result of a condition.

[
    'node' => 'not',
    'condition' => [...], // Condition to negate
]

Action Node

An action node represents an action to execute.

[
    'node' => 'action',
    'actionName' => 'actionName', // Name of the action to execute
    'arguments' => [...], // Optional: Arguments to pass to the action
]

Operators

The Rule Engine supports various operators for comparing values:

• equal: Checks if values are equal
• greaterThan: Checks if a value is greater than another
• lessThan: Checks if a value is less than another
• greaterThanOrEqual: Checks if a value is greater than or equal to another
• lessThanOrEqual: Checks if a value is less than or equal to another
• startsWith: Checks if a string starts with a specific prefix
• endsWith: Checks if a string ends with a specific suffix
• contains: Checks if a string contains a specific substring
• arrayContains: Checks if an array contains a specific value
• arrayContainsAll: Checks if an array contains all specified values
• arrayContainsAny: Checks if an array contains any of the specified values
• inRange: Checks if a number is within a specified range

Configuration Methods

The Rule Engine provides multiple ways to configure rules:

Array Configuration

Using PHP arrays is the most common way to configure rules:

use Maniaba\RuleEngine\Builders\ArrayBuilder;

$config = [...]; // Your rule configuration
$builder = new ArrayBuilder();
$ruleSet = $builder->build($config);

JSON Configuration

You can also use JSON for configuration, which is useful for storing rules in a database or configuration file:

use Maniaba\RuleEngine\Builders\JsonBuilder;

$jsonConfig = '{"node":"condition","if":{...},"then":{...}}';
$builder = new JsonBuilder();
$ruleSet = $builder->build($jsonConfig);

Registering Custom Actions

You can register custom actions with the ActionFactory:

$builder = new ArrayBuilder();
$builder->actions()->registerAction('customAction', function(ArrayContext $context, string $param1 = '', int $param2 = 0) {
    // Your custom action logic here
    return true;
});

Next Steps

Now that you understand how to configure the Rule Engine, you can:

1. Learn about basic usage of the Rule Engine
2. Explore advanced usage techniques
3. Check out examples of rule configurations