Single-variable circumstancing

Applications often need to customize behavior to match the needs of a specific situation or circumstance. For example, a call center may need to enforce one set of performance objectives for clients with elite status and a different set of performance objectives for clients without elite status.

When the value of a single variable satisfies a condition, you can use single-variable circumstancing.  For example, if you specify the property to evaluate a comparison value when circumstancing a rule, and the value of the property matches the specified value for a case, the application applies the circumstanced variant of the rule rather than the base rule.

The following example shows a Flow Action rule that is circumstanced to run when the value of the .ServiceType property is "Auto". 

The Date property rule variant is effective when the value of a date property satisfies the circumstancing condition. This condition can be either a single date or a range of dates. If the value of the property is later than the specified date or falls within the range of dates, the application uses the circumstanced variant of the rule rather than the base rule.

You use the As-of date rule variant when the application must apply the circumstanced variant of the rule after a specified date or during a specified range. Unlike the Date property, which allows you to specify a comparison date such as a birth date, the As-of date property uses the system date/time as the date comparison.

Use the following table to configure the circumstancing condition to meet various business requirements.

You have two options for overriding a circumstanced rule: flag a base rule or withdraw a rule.

Base rule

To circumstance a rule, you first create a base rule and then create specialized versions. Each version is tailored to a specific exception in case behavior. 

Circumstanced rules have the same name as the base rule, so it is crucial to note the ruleset version for rule resolution. A rule can be copied to a higher ruleset version. You can select the Base check box to indicate that the rule resolution algorithm should ignore all previous occurrences of this rule in the same major but lower minor and patch versions at the time of rule resolution.

For the base rule to come into effect during rule resolution, the version containing the base rule must be accessible.

Withdrawn rule

When a circumstanced rule is withdrawn, all previous occurrences of this rule in the same major, but lower minor and patch versions having the same circumstance type get withdrawn. Rule resolution then selects the base rule despite meeting the circumstanced condition. 

In the following image, click the + icons to see examples of overriding a circumstanced mortgage loan rule.

In the Application Explorer, the circumstancing conditions for a rule are listed under each rule. Pega Platform indicates a circumstanced rule with a collapse arrow. You can expand the rule entry to display the supported circumstances. In the following example, the PromptForEnrollment rule includes a circumstance that is used when the value of .ServiceType is "Auto".

You can also use the Circumstanced link in the rule header to review the circumstancing condition for a rule.

Check your knowledge with the following interaction.