manuszep/chatbot

This sample demonstrates how to sub-class the Dialog class to create different bot control mechanism like simple slot filling.

To try this sample

• Clone the repository

  git clone https://github.com/microsoft/botbuilder-samples.git

• In a terminal, navigate to samples/javascript_nodejs/19.custom-dialogs

  cd samples/javascript_nodejs/19.custom-dialogs

• Install modules and start the bot

  npm i && npm start

Testing the bot using Bot Framework Emulator

Microsoft Bot Framework Emulator is a desktop application that allows bot developers to test and debug their bots on localhost or running remotely through a tunnel.

• Install the Bot Framework Emulator from here

Connect to bot using Bot Framework Emulator V4

• Launch Bot Framework Emulator
• File -> Open Bot Configuration and navigate to javascript_nodejs/21.custom-dialogs
• Select custom-dialogs.bot file

Deploy this bot to Azure

You can use the MSBot Bot Builder CLI tool to clone and configure any services this sample depends on.

To install all Bot Builder tools -

Ensure you have Node.js version 8.5 or higher

npm i -g msbot chatdown ludown qnamaker luis-apis botdispatch luisgen

To clone this bot, run

msbot clone services -f deploymentScripts/msbotClone -n <BOT-NAME> -l <Azure-location> --subscriptionId <Azure-subscription-id>

Custom Dialogs

Botbuilder provides a built-in base class called Dialog. By subclassing Dialog, developers can create new ways to define and control dialog flows used by the bot. By adhering to the features of this class, developers will create custom dialogs that can be used side-by-side with other dialog types, as well as built-in or custom prompts.

This example demonstrates a custom Dialog class called SlotFillingDialog, which takes a series of "slots" which define a value the bot needs to collect from the user, as well as the prompt it should use. The bot will iterate through all of the slots until they are all full, at which point the dialog completes.

Further reading

• Dialog class reference
• WaterfallDialog class reference
• Manage complex conversation flows with dialogs