Taplytics Roku SDK

An SDK for A/B Testing, Analytics, and Feature Flags on Roku Channels

Quick Access
Installation & Initialization
Experiment Information
Dynamic Variables
Feature Flags
User Attributes
Analytics
Sessions

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Installation

To add the Taplytics SDK to a roku channel, first copy the taplytics folder into the channel's /components directory.

Initialization

Define the Taplytics API and SDK key in the scene component XML file of your channel:

<children>
<TaplyticsAPI
   id="TaplyticsAPI"
   key="90391ad033b0ffa48e36f0b4d5bacbe552b6f834" />
</children>

Additional Options: HTTP_RETRIES="5": The number of retries all HTTP calls will make if necessary. Default 5

Then, at the beginning of a Scene's BRS init function:

sub init()
	m.TaplyticsAPI = m.top.FindNode("TaplyticsAPI")
	m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("startTaplytics", {})
end sub

Global Reference

Globally referencing the Taplytics SDK can be acheived by using a global data scoping. The implementation of this depends on the setup of your Roku channel. See the following for more information:

https://sdkdocs.roku.com/display/sdkdoc/SceneGraph+Data+Scoping

Running Experiment Information

Running Experiments and Variations

If you would like to see which variations and experiments are running on a given device, there exists a getRunningExperimentsAndVariations function which provides a map of the current experiments and their running variations. An example:

expVars = m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("getRunningExperimentsAndVariations")
print "Experiments And Variations: ", expVars

Output:

{
    "Experiment 1": "Variation 2"
    "My great experiment: "Variation 4"
}

Specific Experiment Info

To get the variation a user is in for a specific experiment, simply use getVariationForExperiment. An example:

variation = m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("getVariationForExperiment", "Experiment Name")
print "Experiments And Variations: ", variation

Output:

"Variation Name"

Dynamic Variables

Taplytics variables are values in your app that are controlled by experiments. Changing the values can update the content or functionality of your app. Variables are reusable between experiments and can be of type: boolean, number, string, or JSON.

To retrieve a variable's value, use the getValueForVariable method.

The method takes two parameters: name, and default

For example:

variableValue = m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("getValueForVariable", {name: "Foo", default: "Bar"})
print "variableValue : ", variableValue

Output (String example):

"Some variable Value"

The name parameter is the name of the variable set up in the dashboard

The default parameter is what the method will return if the user is not in an experiment containing the variable, or something goes wrong with the request.

Feature Flags

Running Feature Flags

If you would like to see which feature flags are running on a given device, there exists a getRunningFeatureFlags function which provides an array of the currently running feature flags. An example:

runningFeatureFlags = m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("getRunningFeatureFlags")
print "Running Feature Flags: ", runningFeatureFlags

Output:

[
    {
        "_id": "featureFlagId"
        "enabled": true,
        "key": "featureFlagKey",
        "status": "active",
        "variable": "Foo"
    }
]

Return if Feature Flag Enabled

If you would like to see if a feature flag is currently enanbled for the device, there exists a getFeatureFlagEnabled function returns a boolean value to indicate whether or not the feature flag is active AND enabled. If the flag is not active OR not enabled, it will return the default value. An example:

isFeatureFlagKeyEnabled = m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("getFeatureFlagEnabled", { key: "featureFlagKey", default: false })
print "Feature Flag isFeatureFlagKey Enabled?: ", isFeatureFlagKeyEnabled

Setting User Attributes

It's possible to send custom user attributes to Taplytics using a JSONObject of user info. These attributes can be used to identify users as well as segment users into experiments on the Taplytics dashboard.

For example:

m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("setUserAttributes", {firstName: "YourNewName", user_id:"abcdefg"})

Resetting user attributes or Logging out a user

Once a user logs out of your app, their User Attributes are no longer valid. You can reset their data by calling resetUser. This will get a new config for the user with updated experiment and variation data.

m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("resetUser")

Analytics Events

To track events in Taplytics, use the logEvent function

m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("logEvent", {eventName: "eventName"})

These events will be tracked towards Goals in taplytics and will be available in all data exports.

Sessions

By default, Taplytics defines a session as when a user is using the channel. If the user exits the channel and re-opens it, that will be considered a new session.

Starting a New Session

To manually force a new user session (ex: A user has logged in / out), there exists Taplytics.startNewSession

If there is an internet connection, a new session will be created, and new experiments/variations will be fetched from Taplytics if they exist.

It can be used as follows:

m.TaplyticsAPI.callFunc("startNewSession")