Chatbot::Alpha - A simple chatterbot brain.
use Chatbot::Alpha; # Create a new Alpha instance. my $alpha = new Chatbot::Alpha(); # Load replies from a directory. $alpha->load_folder ("./replies"); # Load an additional response file. $alpha->load_file ("./more_replies.txt"); # Input even more replies directly from Perl. $alpha->stream ("+ what is alpha\n" . "- Alpha, aka Chatbot::Alpha, is a chatterbot brain created by AiChaos Inc.\n\n" . "+ who created alpha\n" . "- Chatbot::Alpha was created by Cerone Kirsle."); # Get a response. my $reply = $alpha->reply ("user", "hello alpha");
The Alpha brain was developed by AiChaos, Inc. for our chatterbots. The Alpha brain's language is line-by-line, command-driven. Alpha is a simplistic brain yet is very powerful for making impressive response systems.
Creates a new Chatbot::Alpha object. Pass in any default arguments (in hash form). Avoid arguments with underscores and the "stream" key. These are reserved.
Returns a Chatbot::Alpha instance.
Returns the version number of the module.
Loads a directory of response files. The directory name is required. TYPES is the file extension of your response files. If TYPES is omitted, every file is considered a response file.
Just as a side note, the extension agreed upon for Alpha files is .CBA, but the extension is not important.
Loads a single file. The "load_folder" method calls this for each valid file. If STREAM is 1, the current contents of the stream cache will be loaded (assuming FILE_PATH is omitted). You shouldn't need to worry about using STREAM, see the "stream" method below.
Inputs a set of Alpha code directly into the module ("streaming") rather than loading it from an external document. See synopsis for an example.
Sets up a default response in case there is no trigger for the message in your reply code. Separate random replies using pipes. See "Tips and Tricks" below for some clever ways to handle default_reply.
Sorts the replies already loaded: solid triggers go first, followed by triggers containing wildcards. If you fail to call this method yourself, it will be called automatically when "reply" is called.
Sets an internal variable. These are used primarily in conditionals in your Alpha responses.
Removes an internal variable.
Clears all internal variables (only those set with set_variable).
Scans the loaded replies to find a response to MESSAGE. ID is a unique ID for the particular person requesting a response. The ID is used for things such as topics and conversation holders. Returns a reply, or one of default_reply if a better response wasn't found.
The Alpha response language is a line-by-line command-driven language. The first character on each line is the command (prepent white spaces are ignored). Everything following the command are the command's arguments. The commands are as follows:
The + symbol indicates a trigger. Every Alpha reply begins with this command. The arguments are what the trigger is (i.e. "hello chatbot"). If the message matches this trigger, then the rest of the response code is considered. Else, the triggers are skipped over until a good match is found for the message.
The - symbol indicates a response to a trigger. This and all other commands (except for > and <) always go below the + command. A single + and a single - will be a one-way question/answer scenario. If more than one - is used, they will become random replies to the trigger. If conditionals are used, the -'s will be considered if each conditional is false. If a conversation holder is used, the - will be the first reply sent in the conversation. See the example code below for examples.
The @ symbol indicates a redirection. Alpha triggers are "dead-on" triggers, meaning pipes can't be used to make multiple matchibles for one reply. In the case you would want more than one trigger (i.e. "hello" and "hey"), you use the @ command to redirect them to eachother. See the example code below.
The * command is for conditionals. At this time conditionals are very primative:
* if variable = value::this reply is sent back
More/better support for conditionals may or may not be added in the future.
The & command is for conversation holders. Each & will be called in succession once the trigger has been matched. Each message, no matter what it is, will call the next one down the line. This is also the rare case in which a "<msg>" tag can be included in the response, for capturing the user's message. See the example code.
The # command is for executing actual Perl codes within your Alpha responses. The # commands are executed last, after all the other reply handling mechanisms are completed. So in this sense, it's always a good idea to include at least one reply (-) to fall back on in case the Perl code fails.
The > starts a labeled piece of code. At this time, the only label supported is "topic" -- see "TOPICS" below.
This command closes a label.
// Test Replies // A standard reply to "hello", with multiple responses. + hello - Hello there! - What's up? - This is random, eh? // A simple one-reply response to "what's up" + what's up - Not much, you? // A test using <star1> + say * - Um.... "<star1>" // This reply is referred to below. + identify yourself - I am Alpha. // Refers the asker back to the reply above. + who are you @ identify yourself // Conditionals Test + am i your master * if master = 1::Yes, you are my master. - No, you are not my master. // Perl Evaluation Test + what is 2 plus 2 # $reply = "2 + 2 = 4"; // A Conversation Holder: Knock Knock! + knock knock - Who's there? & <msg> who? & Ha! <msg>! That's a good one! // A Conversation Holder: Rambling! + are you crazy - I was crazy once. & They locked me away... & In a room with padded walls. & There were rats there... & Did I mention I was crazy once? // Topic Test + you suck - And you're very rude. Apologize now!{topic=apology} > topic apology + * - No, apologize for being so rude to me. // Set {topic=random} to return to the default topic. + sorry - See, that wasn't too hard. I'll forgive you.{topic=random} < topic
As seen in the example code, Chatbot::Alpha has support for topics.
To set a topic, use the {topic} tag in a response:
+ play hangman - Alright, let's play hangman.{topic=hangman}
Use the > and < commands (labels) to specify a section of code for the topic to exist in.
> topic hangman + * - 500 Internal Error. Type "quit" to quit. # $reply = &main::hangman ($msg); + quit - Done playing hangman.{topic=random} < topic
The default topic is "random" -- setting the topic to random breaks out of code-defined topics. When in a topic, any triggers that aren't in that topic are not available for reply matching. In this way, you can have the same trigger many times but under different topics without them interfering with one another.
One trick you can do with default_reply is set it to something totally random like "alpha no reply matched". When you're getting a reply, if the reply turns out to be "alpha no reply matched" you can go back into Alpha with another reply call, but call something like "wildcard" as the trigger. In your response code, you could then add a trigger that would be called when nothing else could be found.
- Conversation holders aren't always perfect. If a different trigger was matched 100% dead-on, the conversation may become broken. - If a bogus topic is started (a topic with no responses) there is no handler for repairing the topic.
Version 1.61 - Chatbot::Alpha::Sort completed. Version 1.6 - Created Chatbot::Alpha::Sort for sorting your Alpha documents. Version 1.5 - Added "stream" method, revised POD. Version 1.4 - Fixed bug with wildcard subsitutitons. Version 1.3 - Added the ">" and "<" commands, now used for topics. Version 1.2 - "sort_replies" method added Version 1.1 - Fixed a bug in reply matching with wildcards. - Added a "#" command for executing System Commands. Version 1.0 - Initial release.
- Add a command for long responses so that they can continue on multiple lines. For example: + hello bot - Hello there human. This reply is_ ^ very very long and needs to span_ ^ across multiple lines. - Create a Chatbot::Alpha::Sort module for taking your already existing external Alpha documents and sorting the triggers, i.e. to make them alphabetic, like standard AIML is.
Chatbot::Alpha::Sort
Cerone J. Kirsle, cjkirsle "@" aichaos.com
Chatbot::Alpha - A simple chatterbot brain. Copyright (C) 2005 Cerone J. Kirsle This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
To install Chatbot::Alpha, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.
cpanm
cpanm Chatbot::Alpha
CPAN shell
perl -MCPAN -e shell install Chatbot::Alpha
For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.