Tweak custom booking conditions

Introduction

A new and advanced feature are the custom conditions. Condition expressions are a powerful tool that allows you to create custom booking conditions using rules. This allows you to define complex and custom conditions for when your customers can book boats.

Purpose

Condition expressions allow you to:

• Create custom booking restrictions based on various parameters
• Implement business rules specific to your rental operation
• Combine multiple conditions using logical operators

Setting up

• Go to Customer Types and select the type you want to apply the condition to.
• Under the Booking Conditions section, click add condition and choose custom condition.

From there, you use the syntax and variables described below. You can copy paste the variables manually or select them by pressing the green plus icon in the top right.

Available variables

Prefix: booking.

Variable	Description	Example
dock_id	The ID of the dock where the booking is made	booking.dock_id == "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000"
boat_model_id	The ID of the boat model being booked	booking.boat_model_id == "52248719-c7df-4762-b7b2-bf5867cafcd0"
passengers.total	The total number of passengers for the booking	booking.passengers.total <= 5
boats	The boats included in the booking	booking.boats > 0
booked_at	The date and time when the booking was made	is_after(booking.booked_at, "2025-06-01")

Rental period

Prefix: booking.rental_period.

Variable	Description	Example
pickup	The pickup date and time	is_before(booking.rental_period.pickup, "2025-06-01")
return	The return date and time	is_before(booking.rental_period.pickup, "2025-06-01")
dates	The dates included in the rental period	"2023-06-15" in booking.rental_period.dates
in_hours	The rental period duration in hours	booking.rental_period.in_hours <= 4
in_days	The rental period duration in days	booking.rental_period.in_days <= 2
day_count	The number of days in the rental period	booking.rental_period.day_count == 1
days	The days of the week in the rental period	"sat" in booking.rental_period.days
overlaps_weekend	Whether the rental period includes weekend days	booking.rental_period.overlaps_weekend and booking.passengers.total <= 5

Booking timing

Prefix: booked_ahead.

Variable	Description	Example
in_hours	How many hours in advance the booking was made	booked_ahead.in_hours >= 24
in_days	How many full days (24h) in advance the booking was made	booked_ahead.in_days >= 1
day_count	The number of days between booking and pickup	booked_ahead.day_count >= 1

Prefix: time_until_pickup.

Variable	Description	Example
in_hours	Hours remaining until pickup	time_until_pickup.in_hours >= 24
in_days	Days (of 24h) remaining until pickup	time_until_pickup.in_days >= 1
day_count	Number of days until pickup	time_until_pickup.day_count >= 1

Future bookings

Prefix: future_bookings.

Variable	Description	Example
count_of	Number of future bookings for the customer	count_of_future_bookings < 3
total_duration.in_hours	Total duration of future bookings in hours	future_bookings.total_duration.in_hours <= 12
total_duration.in_days	Total duration of future bookings in days (24h)	future_bookings.total_duration.in_days <= 5
total_duration.day_count	Total number of days of future bookings	future_bookings.total_duration.day_count <= 5

Future bookings by day

Prefix: future_bookings.count_per_day.

Variable	Description	Example
mon	Number of future bookings on Mondays	future_bookings.count_per_day.mon <= 1
tue	Number of future bookings on Tuesdays	future_bookings.count_per_day.tue <= 1
wed	Number of future bookings on Wednesdays	future_bookings.count_per_day.wed <= 1
thu	Number of future bookings on Thursdays	future_bookings.count_per_day.thu <= 1
fri	Number of future bookings on Fridays	future_bookings.count_per_day.fri <= 1
sat	Number of future bookings on Saturdays	future_bookings.count_per_day.sat <= 1
sun	Number of future bookings on Sundays	future_bookings.count_per_day.sun <= 1
weekend	Number of future bookings on weekends	future_bookings.count_per_day.weekend <= 1
weekday	Number of future bookings on weekdays (mon thru fri)	future_bookings.count_per_day.weekday <= 2

Future booking duration by day

Prefix: future_bookings.total_duration_per_day_in_hours.

Variable	Description	Example
mon	Total hours of future bookings taking place on a Monday	future_bookings.total_duration_per_day_in_hours.mon <= 4
tue	Total hours of future bookings taking place on a Tuesday	future_bookings.total_duration_per_day_in_hours.tue <= 4
wed	Total hours of future bookings taking place on a Wednesday	future_bookings.total_duration_per_day_in_hours.wed <= 4
thu	Total hours of future bookings taking place on a Thursday	future_bookings.total_duration_per_day_in_hours.thu <= 4
fri	Total hours of future bookings taking place on a Friday	future_bookings.total_duration_per_day_in_hours.fri <= 4
sat	Total hours of future bookings taking place on a Saturday	future_bookings.total_duration_per_day_in_hours.sat <= 4
sun	Total hours of future bookings taking place on a Sunday	future_bookings.total_duration_per_day_in_hours.sun <= 4

Bookings in same month/year

Variable	Description	Example
count_of_bookings_in_month_of_pickup	Number of bookings in the same month as pickup	count_of_bookings_in_month_of_pickup <= 5
total_duration_of_bookings_in_month_of_pickup.day_count	Total number of days of bookings in the same month as pickup	total_duration_of_bookings_in_month_of_pickup.day_count <= 7
total_duration_of_bookings_in_month_of_pickup.in_hours	Total hours of bookings in the same month as pickup	total_duration_of_bookings_in_month_of_pickup.in_hours <= 24
total_duration_of_bookings_in_month_of_pickup.in_days	Total days (24h) of bookings in the same month as pickup	total_duration_of_bookings_in_month_of_pickup.in_days <= 3
count_of_bookings_in_year_of_pickup	Number of bookings in the same year as pickup	count_of_bookings_in_year_of_pickup <= 20

Variable availability

When creating condition expressions, it's important to understand that a condition cannot be evaluated if not all variables used in the expression are known. This is especially important when using logical operators like and and or .

For example: - With and operators: If one part of the condition uses an unknown variable, the entire condition might not be evaluable, even if other parts could be determined. - With or operators: Similarly, if one part of the condition uses an unknown variable, the entire condition might not be evaluable.

When the expression cannot be evaluated, we'll assume the condition passes.

Syntax and operators

The following operators are supported:

Comparison operators

• == : Equal to
• != : Not equal to
• < : Less than
• > : Greater than
• <= : Less than or equal to
• >= : Greater than or equal to

Logical operators

• and : Logical AND
• or : Logical OR
• not : Logical NOT

Mathematical operators

• + : Addition
• - : Subtraction
• * : Multiplication
• / : Division
• % : Modulo (remainder) - Note: This is not a percentage sign, but represents the remainder after division

Range or list operators

• in : Checks if a value is in an array or a range
• Example with array: booking.dock_id in ["123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000", "f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479"]
• .. : Creates a range between two numbers.
• Example with range: count_of_future_bookings in 0..2

Time comparison functions

• is_before(date_time, comparison_value) : Checks if a date and time is before another date/time
  • Example with date: is_before(booking.booked_at, "2025-06-16") - checks if booking was made before June 16, 2025
  • Example with time: is_before(booking.rental_period.pickup, "11:59") - checks if pickup is before 11:59 AM
  • Example with date-time: is_before(booking.booked_at, "2025-06-16 11:59") - checks if booking was made before 11:59 AM on June 16, 2025
• is_after(date_time, comparison_value) : Checks if a date and time is after another date/time
  • Example with date: is_after(booking.booked_at, "2025-06-16") - checks if booking was made after June 16, 2025
  • Example with time: is_after(booking.rental_period.pickup, "11:59") - checks if pickup is after 11:59 AM
  • Example with date-time: is_after(booking.booked_at, "2025-06-16 11:59") - checks if booking was made after 11:59 AM on June 16, 2025

Comments

You can write comments in the expressions using this syntax; /* this is a comment */

Complex examples

Let's implement the scenario described in the introduction:

Members can have 1 booking in the future on a weekend day and 1 on a weekday. > However, if they book a boat for the next day and they book before 3PM, they should always be able to book a boat, > regardless of whether it's for a weekend or a weekday.

This can be written as

(future_bookings.count_per_day.weekend <= 1
    and
  future_bookings.count_per_day.weekday <= 1)
or
(booked_ahead.day_count == 1 and is_before(booking.booked_at, '15:00'))

Best practices

1. Start simple: Begin with simple conditions and gradually add complexity.
2. Test thoroughly: Test your expressions with different scenarios to ensure they work as expected.
3. Use parentheses: When combining multiple conditions, use parentheses to make the order of operations clear.
4. Consider edge cases: Think about special cases and how your expression should handle them.
5. Document your expressions: Add comments or documentation to explain complex expressions to your future self.

Troubleshooting

If your expression isn't working as expected:

1. Check the expression for errors
2. Verify that you're using the correct variable names
3. Test with simpler expressions to isolate the issue
4. Ensure that the values you're comparing are of the same type (e.g., don't compare a date to a number)
5. Make sure the number formatting uses the English format (. as a decimal separator)

Conclusion

Expressions provide a flexible way to create custom booking conditions. By combining variables, operators, and functions, you can implement complex business rules without writing code.