Building a complex dialog

Duration

This tutorial will take approximately 2 to 3 hours to complete.

Prerequisite

Before you begin, complete the Getting Started tutorial.

You will use the dialog skill that you created, and add nodes to the simple dialog that you built as part of the getting started exercise.

Add the #about_restaurant intent

1. From the Intents tab, click Create intent.

   

2. Enter about_restaurant in the Intent name field, and then click Create intent.

   

3. Add the following user examples:

   Tell me about the restaurant
   i want to know about you
   who are the restaurant owners and what is their philosophy?
   What's your story?
   Where do you source your produce from?
   Who is your head chef and what is the chef's background?
   How many locations do you have?
   do you cater or host functions on site?
   Do you deliver?
   Are you open for breakfast?
   

4. Click the Close icon to finish adding the #about_restaurant intent.

You added an intent and provided examples of utterances that real users might enter to trigger this intent.

Add a dialog node that is triggered by the #about_restaurant intent

Add a dialog node that recognizes when the user input maps to the intent that you created in the previous step, meaning its condition checks whether your assistant recognized the #about_restaurant intent from the user input.

1. Click the Dialog tab.

2. Find the #General_Greetings node in the dialog tree.

   You will add a node that checks for questions about the restaurant after this initial greeting node to reflect the flow you might expect to encounter in a normal conversation. For example, Hello. then Tell me about yourself.

3. Click the More icon on the #General_Greetings node, and then select Add node below.

   

4. Start to type #about_restaurant into the If assistant recognizes field of this node. Then select the #about_restaurant option.

5. Add the following text as the response.

   To copy the text, click the copy icon that is associated with the text block:

   Truck Stop Gourmand is the brainchild of Gloria and Fred Smith. What started out as a food truck in 2004 has expanded into a thriving restaurant. We now have one brick-and-mortar restaurant in downtown Portland. The bigger kitchen brought with it new chefs, but each one is faithful to the philosophy that made the Smith food truck so popular to begin with: deliver fresh, local produce in inventive and delicious ways. Join us for lunch or dinner seven days a week. Or order a cake from our bakery.
   

6. Let's add an image to the response also.

   Click Add response type. Select Image from the drop-down list. In the Image source field, add https://www.ibmlearningcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IBM-Learning-Center-Food4.jpg.

7. Move the image response type up, so it is displayed in the response before the text is displayed. Click the Move up arrow to reorder the two response types.

   

8. Click to close the edit view.

Test the #about_restaurant dialog node

Test the intent by checking whether user utterances that are similar to, but not exactly the same as, the examples you added to the training data have successfully trained your assistant to recognize input with an #about_restaurant intent.

1. Click the icon to open the "Try it out" pane.

2. Enter, I want to learn more about your restaurant.

   Your assistant indicates that the #about_restaurant intent is recognized, and returns a response with the image and text that you specified for the dialog node.

   

Congratulations! You have added a custom intent, and a dialog node that knows how to handle it.

The #about_restaurant intent is designed to recognize a variety of general questions about the restaurant. You added a single node to capture such questions. The response is long, but it is a single statement that can potentially answer questions about all of the following topics:

• The restaurant owners
• The restaurant history
• The philosophy
• The number of sites
• The days of operation
• The meals served
• The fact that the restaurant bakes cakes to order

For general, low-hanging fruit types of questions, a single, general answer is suitable.

Add a #menu intent

1. Click the Intents tab.

2. Click Create intent.

   

3. Enter menu in the Intent name field, and then click Create intent.

   

4. Add the following user examples:

   I want to see a menu
   What do you have for food?
   Are there any specials today?
   where can i find out about your cuisine?
   What dishes do you have?
   What are the choices for appetizers?
   do you serve desserts?
   What is the price range of your meals?
   How much does a typical dish cost?
   tell me the entree choices
   Do you offer a prix fixe option?
   

5. Click the Close icon to finish adding the #menu intent.

Add a dialog node that is triggered by the #menu intent

Add a dialog node that recognizes when the user input maps to the intent that you created in the previous step, meaning its condition checks whether your assistant recognized the #menu intent from the user input.

1. Click the Dialog tab.

2. Find the #about_restaurant node in the dialog tree.

   You will add a node that checks for questions about the menu after this node.

3. Click the More icon on the #about_restaurant node, and then select Add node below.

   

4. Start to type #menu into the If assistant recognizes field of this node. Then select the #menu option.

   

5. Add the following text as the response:

   In keeping with our commitment to giving you only fresh local ingredients, our menu changes daily to accommodate the produce we pick up in the morning. You can find today's menu on our website.

6. Add an option response type that provides a list of options for the user to choose from. In this case, the list of options includes the different versions of the menu that are available.

   Click Add response type. Select Option from the drop-down list.

   

7. In the Title field, add Which menu do you want to see?

   

8. Click Add option.

9. In the List label field, add Standard. The text you add as the label is displayed in the response to the user as a selectable option.

10. In the Value field, add standard menu. The text you specify as the value is what gets sent to your assistant as new user input when a user chooses this option from the list, and clicks it.

11. Repeat the previous two steps to add label and value information for the remaining menu types:

    Option response type details

    List label	Value
    Vegetarian	vegetarian menu
    Cake shop	cake shop menu

    

12. Click to close the edit view.

Add a @menu entity

To recognize the different types of menus that customers indicate they want to see, you will add a @menu entity. Entities represent a class of object or a data type that is relevant to a user's purpose. By checking for the presence of specific entities in the user input, you can add more responses, each one tailored to address a distinct user request. In this case, you will add a @menu entity that can distinguish among different menu types.

1. Click the Entities tab.

   

2. Click Create entity.

3. Enter menu into the entity name field.

   

4. Click Create entity.

5. Add standard to the Value name field, and then add standard menu to the Synonyms field, and press Enter.

6. Add the following additional synonyms:

   • bill of fare
   • cuisine
   • carte du jour

7. Click Add value to add the @menu:standard value.

8. Add vegetarian to the Value name field, and then add vegetarian menu to the Synonyms field, and press Enter.

9. Click the empty Add synonym field, and then add these additional synonyms:

   • vegan
   • plants-only

10. Click Add value to add the @menu:vegetarian value.

11. Add cake to the Value name field, and then add cake menu to the Synonyms field, and press Enter.

12. Add the following additional synonyms:

    • cake shop menu
    • dessert menu
    • bakery offerings

13. Click Add value to add the @menu:cake value.

14. Click the Close icon to finish adding the @menu entity.

Add child nodes that are triggered by the @menu entity types

In this step, you will add child nodes to the dialog node that checks for the #menu intent. Each child node will show a different response depending on the @menu entity type the user chooses from the options list.

1. Click the Dialog tab.

2. Find the #menu node in the dialog tree.

   You will add a child node to handle each menu type option that you added to the #menu node.

3. Click the More icon on the #menu node, and then select Add child node.

   

4. Start to type @menu:standard into the If assistant recognizes field of this node. Then select the @menu:standard option.

5. Add the following message in the response text field, To see our menu, go to the <a href="https://www.example.com/menu.html" target="blank">menu</a> page on our website.

   

6. Click to close the edit view.

7. Click the More icon on the @menu:standard node, and then select Add node below.

8. Start to type @menu:vegetarian into the If assistant recognizes field of this node. Then select the @menu:vegetarian option.

9. Add the following message in the response text field, To see our vegetarian menu, go to the <a href="https://www.example.com/vegetarian-menu.html" target="blank">vegetarian menu</a> page on our website.

   

10. Click to close the edit view.

11. Click the More icon on the @menu:vegetarian node, and then select Add node below.

12. Start to type @menu:cake into the If assistant recognizes field of this node. Then select the @menu:cake option.

13. Add the following message in the response text field, To see our cake shop menu, go to the <a href="https://www.example.com/menu.html" target="blank">cake shop menu</a> page on our website.

    

14. Click to close the edit view.

15. The standard menu is likely to be requested most often, so move it to the end of the child nodes list. Placing it last can help prevent it from being triggered accidentally when someone asks for a specialty menu instead the standard menu.

    Click the More icon on the @menu:standard node, and then select Move.

    

16. Select the @menu:cake node, and then choose Below node.

    

You have added nodes that recognize user requests for menu details. Your response informs the user that there are three types of menus available, and asks them to choose one. When the user chooses a menu type, a response is displayed that provides a hypertext link to a web page with the requested menu details.

Test the menu options dialog nodes

Test the dialog nodes that you added to recognize menu questions.

1. Click the icon to open the "Try it out" pane.

2. Enter, What type of food do you serve?

   Your assistant indicates that the #menu intent is recognized, and displays the list of menu options for the user to choose from.

   

3. Click the Cake shop option.

   Your assistant recognizes the #menu intent and @menu:cake entity reference, and displays the response, To see our cake shop menu, go to the cake shop page on our website.

   

4. Click the cake shop hyperlink in the response.

   A new web browser page opens and displays the example.com website.

5. Close the example.com web page.

Well done. You have succesfully added an intent and entity that can recognize user requests for menu details, and can direct users to the appropriate menu.

The #menu intent represents a common, key need of potential restaurant customers. Due to its importance and popularity, you added a more complex section to the dialog to address it well.

Adding an order number pattern entity

You want the assistant to recognize order numbers, so you will create a pattern entity to recognize the unique format that the restaurant uses to identify its orders. The syntax of order numbers used by the restaurant's bakery is two uppercase letters followed by 5 numbers. For example, YR34663. Add an entity that can recognize this character pattern.

1. Click the Entities tab.

2. Click Create entity.

3. Enter order_number into the entity name field.

4. Click Create entity.

   

5. Add order_syntax to the Value name field, and then click the down arrow next to Synonyms to change the type to Patterns.

   

6. Add the following regular expression to the Pattern field: [A-Z]{2}\d{5}

   

7. Click Add value.

   

8. Click the Close icon to finish adding the @order_number entity.

   

Add a cancel order intent

1. Click the Intents tab.

2. Click Create intent.

3. Enter cancel_order in the Intent name field, and then click Create intent.

4. Add the following user examples:

   I want to cancel my cake order
   I need to cancel an order I just placed
   Can I cancel my cake order?
   I'd like to cancel my order
   There's been a change. I need to cancel my bakery order.
   please cancel the birthday cake order I placed last week
   The party theme changed; we don't need a cake anymore
   that order i placed, i need to cancel it.
   

   

5. Click the Close icon to finish adding the #cancel_order intent.

Add a yes intent

Before you perform an action on the user's behalf, you must get confirmation that you are taking the proper action. Add a #yes intent to the dialog that can recognize when a user agrees with what your assistant is proposing.

1. Click the Intents tab.

2. Click Create intent.

3. Enter yes in the Intent name field, and then click Create intent.

4. Add the following user examples:

   Yes
   Correct
   Please do.
   You've got it right.
   Please do that.
   that is correct.
   That's right
   yeah
   Yup
   Yes, I'd like to go ahead with that.
   

   

5. Click the Close icon to finish adding the #yes intent.

Add dialog nodes that can manage requests to cancel an order

Now, add a dialog node that can handle requests to cancel a cake order.

1. Click the Dialog tab.

2. Find the #menu node. Click the More icon on the #menu node, and then select Add node below.

3. Start to type #cancel_order into the If assistant recognizes field of this node. Then select the #cancel_order option.

4. Add the following message in the response text field:

   If the pickup time is more than 48 hours from now, you can cancel your order.
   

   

   Before you can actually cancel the order, you need to know the order number. The user might specify the order number in the original request. So, to avoid asking for the order number again, check for a number with the order number pattern in the original input. To do so, define a context variable that would save the order number if it is specified.

5. You define a context variable in the context editor. From the response section of the node, click the More icon, and then select Open context editor.

   

6. Enter the following context variable name and value pair:

   Order number context variable details

   Variable	Value
   $ordernumber	<? @order_number.literal ?>

   The context variable value (<? @order_number.literal ?>) is a SpEL expression that captures the number that the user specifies that matches the pattern defined by the @order_number pattern entity. It saves it to the $ordernumber variable.

   

7. Click to close the edit view.

   Now, add child nodes that either ask for the order number or get confirmation from the user that she wants to cancel an order with the detected order number.

8. Click the More icon on the #cancel_order node, and then select Add child node.

   

9. Add a label to the node to distinguish it from other child nodes you will be adding. In the name field, add Ask for order number. Type true into the If assistant recognizes field of this node.

10. Add the following message in the response text field:

    What is the order number?
    

    

11. Click to close the edit view.

    Now, add another child node that informs the user that you are canceling the order.

12. Click the More icon on the Ask for order number node, and then select Add child node.

13. Type @order_number into the If assistant recognizes field of this node.

14. Open the context editor. Click the More icon, and select Open context editor.

15. Enter the following context variable name and value pair:

    Order number context variable details

    Variable	Value
    $ordernumber	<? @order_number.literal ?>

    The context variable value (<? @order_number.literal ?>) is a SpEL expression that captures the number that the user specifies that matches the pattern defined by the @order_number pattern entity. It saves it to the $ordernumber variable.

16. Add the following message in the response text field:

    OK. The order $ordernumber is canceled. We hope we get the opportunity to bake a cake for you sometime soon.
    

    

17. Click to close the edit view.

18. Add another node to capture the case where a user provides a number, but it is not a valid order number. Click the More icon on the @order_number node, and then select Add node below.

19. Type true into the If assistant recognizes field of this node.

20. Add the following message in the response text field:

    I need the order number to cancel the order for you. If you don't know the order number, please call us at 958-234-3456 to cancel over the phone.
    

    

21. Click to close the edit view.

22. Add a node after the initial order cancellation request node that responds in the case where the user provides the order number in the initial request, so you don't have to ask for it again. Click the More icon on the #cancel_order node, and then select Add child node.

23. Add a label to the node to distinguish it from other child nodes. In the name field, add Number provided. Type @order_number into the If assistant recognizes field of this node.

24. Add the following message in the response text field:

    Just to confirm, you want to cancel order $ordernumber?
    

    

25. Click to close the edit view.

    You must add child nodes that check for the user's response to your confirmation question.

26. Click the More icon on the Number provided node, and then select Add child node.

27. Type #yes into the If assistant recognizes field of this node.

28. Add the following message in the response text field:

    OK. The order $ordernumber is canceled. We hope we get the opportunity to bake a cake for you sometime soon.
    

    

29. Click to close the edit view.

30. Click the More icon on the #yes node, and then select Add node below.

31. Type true into the If assistant recognizes field of this node.

    Do not add a response. Instead, you will redirect users to the branch that asks for the order number details that you created earlier.

32. In the And finally section, choose Jump to.

    

33. Select the Ask for order number node's condition.

    

34. Click to close the edit view.

35. Move the Number provided node before the Ask for order number node. Click the More icon on the Number provided node, and then select Move. Select the Ask for order number node, and then click Above node.

    

36. Force the conversation to evaluate the child nodes under the #cancel_order node at run time. Click to open the #cancel_order node in the edit view, and then, in the And finally section, select Skip user input.

    

Test order cancellations

Test whether your assistant can recognize character patterns that match the pattern used for product order numbers in user input.

1. Click the icon to open the "Try it out" pane.

2. Enter, i want to cancel my order number TW12345.

   Your assistant recognizes both the #cancel_order intent and the @order_number entity. It responds with, If the pickup time is more than 48 hours from now, you can cancel your order. Just to confirm, you want to cancel order TW12345?

3. Enter, Yes.

   Your assistant recognizes the #yes intent and responds with, OK. The order TW12345 is canceled. We hope we get the opportunity to bake a cake for you sometime soon.

   

   Now, try it when you don't know the order number.

4. Click Clear in the "Try it out" pane to start over. Enter, I want to cancel my order.

   Your assistant recognizes the #cancel_order intent, and responds with, If the pickup time is more than 48 hours from now, you can cancel your order. What is the order number?

5. Enter, I don't know.

   Your assistant responds with, I need the order number to cancel the order for you. If you don't know the order number, please call us at 958-234-3456 to cancel over the phone.

   

Add nodes to clarify order number format

If you do more testing, you might find that the dialog isn't very helpful in scenarios where the user does not remember the order number format. The user might include only the numbers or the letters too, but forget that they are meant to be uppercase. So, it would be a nice touch to give them a hint in such cases, correct? If you want to be kind, add another node to the dialog tree that checks for numbers in the user input.

1. Find the @order_number node that is a child of the Ask order number node.

2. Click the More icon on the @order_number node, and then select Add node below.

3. In the condition field, add input.text.find('\d'), which is a SpEL expression that says if you find one or more numbers in the user input, trigger this response.

4. In the text response field, add the following response:

   The correct format for our order numbers is AAnnnnn. The A's represents 2 uppercase letters, and the n's represent 5 numbers. Do you have an order number in that format?
   

5. Click to close the edit view.

6. Click the More icon on the input.text.find('\d') node, and then select Add child node.

7. Type true into the If assistant recognizes field of this node.

8. Enable conditional responses by clicking Customize, scrolling down, and then setting the Multiple conditioned responses switch to On.

9. Click Apply.

10. In the newly-added If assistant recognizes field, type @order_number, and in the Respond with field, type:

    OK. The order $ordernumber is canceled. We hope we get the opportunity to bake a cake for you sometime soon.
    

11. Click Add response.

12. In the If assistant recognizes field, type true, and in the Respond with field, type:

    I need the order number to cancel the order for you. If you don't know the order number, please call us at 958-234-3456 to cancel over the phone.
    

    

13. Click to close the edit view.

Now, when you test, you can provide a set of number or a mix of numbers and text as input, and the dialog reminds you of the correct order number format. You have successfully tested your dialog, found a weakness in it, and corrected it.

Another way you can address this type of scenario is to add a node with slots. See the Adding a node with slots to a dialog tutorial to learn more about using slots.

Add a node that handles questions about the bot

Add a dialog node that can recognize the user's interest in the bot, and respond.

1. Click the Dialog tab.

2. Find the Welcome node in the dialog tree.

3. Click the More icon on the Welcome node, and then select Add node below.

4. Start to type #General_About_You into the If assistant recognizes field of this node. Then select the #General_About_You option.

5. Add the following message in the response text field:

   I am a virtual assistant that is designed to answer your questions 
   about the Truck Stop Gourmand restaurant. What should I call you?
   

   

6. Click to close the edit view.

7. Click the More icon on the #General_About_You node, and then select Add child node.

8. In the If assistant recognizes field of this node, enter true.

9. Add the following message in the response text field:

   Hello, <? input.text ?>! It's lovely to meet you. How can I help you today?
   

10. To capture the name that the user provides, add a context variable to the node. Click the More icon, and select Open context editor.

11. Enter the following context variable name and value pair:

    User name context variable details

    Variable	Value
    username	<? input.text ?>

    The context variable value (<? input.text ?>) is a SpEL expression that captures the user name as it is specified by the user, and then saves it to the $username context variable.

12. Click to close the edit view.

If, at run time, the user triggers this node and provides a name, then you will know the user's name. If you know it, you should use it! Add conditional responses to the greeting dialog node you added previously to include a conditional response that uses the user name, if it is known.

Add the user name to the greeting

If you know the user's name, you should include it in your greeting message. To do so, add conditional responses, and include a variation of the greeting that includes the user's name.

1. Find the #General_Greetings node in the dialog tree, and click to open it in the edit view.

2. Click Customize, scroll down, and then set the Multiple conditioned responses switch to On.

   

3. Click Apply.

   

4. Click Add response.

5. In the If assistant recognizes field, type $username, and in the Respond with field, add a new response:

   Good day to you, $username!
   

6. Click the up arrow for response number 2 to move it so it is listed before response number 1 (Good day to you!).

   

7. Click to close the edit view.

Test personalization

Test whether your assistant can recognize and save a user's name, and then refer to the user by it later.

1. Click the icon to open the "Try it out" pane.

2. Click Clear to restart the conversation session.

3. Enter, Who are you?

   Your assistant recognizes the #General_About_You intent. Its response ends with the question, What should I call you?

4. Enter, Jane.

   Your assistant saves Jane in the $username variable.

5. Enter, Hello.

   Your assistant recognizes the #General_Greetings intent and says, Good day to you, Jane! It uses the conditional response that includes the user's name because the $username context variable contains a value at the time that the greeting node is triggered.

You can add a conditional response that conditions on and includes the user's name for any other responses where personalization would add value to the conversation.