Contexts

What are contexts in OpenDialog?

Contexts are information stores that conform to a specific way of behaving (the Context interface) and provide a generic way for the ConversationEngine and the ResponseEngine to store or retrieve attributes.

We support persistent contexts that will be automatically stored together with user information and retrieved as required. This enabes you to store information across multiple interactions.

What type of contexts can you use?

OpenDialog supports a set of contexts out of the box, also know as 'core contexts'. It is also possible to create your own custom contexts through code.

Core Contexts

"Out of the box" OpenDialog supports the following contexts

• user : The user context stores attributes in the database. As such attributes stored in the user context will persist across requests. Typically, unless otherwise defined any attributes you create for your conversational application will be stored in the user context and can be accessed by typing {user.<attribute_name>}.

• session : The session context is an in-memory context valid for a single request-response exchange. It is a convenient context to store application-specific attributes that are only required within the space of a single request. We use the session context to store messages coming back from external NLU interpreters, for example, so that they can be embedded within a message and displayed to the user.

• global : The global context is a read-only, persistent context that can be managed through the UI. By visiting admin/global-contexts you can add attributes to the global context. These attributes will then be available throughout your application by referencing global.attribute_name. The Global context is useful for any values that won't change during a conversation and are applied to all scenarios within your workspace, such as a company name or phone number.

• conversation : The conversation context is a read-only context that contains the current conversational state. Each attribute is a Conversation Object attribute which can be used with the select filter. The context has the following attributes:

  • current_conversation

  • current_scene

  • current_turn

  • current_intent

  • current_message_template

• history : The history context is a read-only context that contains attributes related the conversation history. The context has the following attributes:

  • transcript: A string attribute that represents a transcript of the conversation history.

  • intents: A string collection attribute that contains all user and application intents in the conversation history. This can be used with the where filter.

  • utterances: A string collection attribute that contains all user utterances and application messages in the conversation history. This can be used with the where filter.

Custom Contexts

Developers can create custom contexts to store and retrieve relevant information.