BotBuilder Template

Sample template for building bots using Microsoft Bot Framework

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Concepts

• A Skill is a mapping of Intents to Dialogs

When I say 'Login' I want the 'LoginDialog'

Prerequisites

• VSCode

Setup

1. Clone repo
2. Install packages
3. Build project
4. Start server
5. Testing

Clone

git clone git@github.com:User1m/botbuilder-template.git

Installing

npm i

Building

npm run build

Running

npm start | npm run server

Using Template

Key Files & Folders

• package.json - Look in the scripts section for commands you can run currently. This will give you a good idea of how to use this template

• src/console.ts - Starting your bot with a Console Connector

  Connects a UniversalBot to the command line via a console window.

• src/server.ts - Starting your bot with a Chat Connector (used for Bot Framework Emulator)

  Connects a UniversalBot to multiple channels via the Bot Framework.

• src/bot.ts - The core of your bot logic

• src/Skills/ - The core of your bot Dialogs

• src/test/ - Add your bot unit tests

Workflow

1. Clone botbuilder-template

2. Copy Start to <NewSkill>

3. Rename occurrences of the name "Start" to <NewSkill> in copied folder

4. Remove Login, Start skill imports from bot.ts

5. Register <NewSkill> dialogs in bot.ts

6. Change occurrences of Start with <NewSkill> in bot.ts

7. Add your custom dialogs to <NewSkill>.Dialogs.ts

   NOTE:

   When you find yourself adding hard-coded bot response strings - move them to NewSkill.Messages.ts

   Cards & Attachments should be put in to NewSkill.Messages.ts

   Remember to break dialogs up to mini-modules - allows you to easily replace and swap out dialogs

   Api calls should live in a service

   When you want to add a BF component but don't know how... do a quick google search (i.e "Bot Framework Cards") - there are tons of sample code online

8. Configure Root/Root.Dialog.ts to lead into your starting dialog

9. Remove Login, Start from Root/Root.Dialog.ts

10. Delete Login & Start Skills folders

11. npm run clean

12. npm run build

13. npm run watch - runs a typescript watcher to compile your code in the background

14. npm run server - runs the non-webpacked emulator code so that you can edit your .ts files and see changes realtime

15. npm run test - test your bot code

Testing

1. Running tests

npm test

2. Writing tests

New

npm run jasmine

Using botbuilder-unit you can write unit test as bot / user scripts like:

hiScript.ts

export = [
  {
    "user" : "hi"
  },
  {
    "bot" :"How should I call you?"
  },
  {
    "user" : "Timmy"
  },
  {
    "bot" : "Nice to meet you, \"Timmy\"!"
  }
];

and update the src/specs/botSpec.ts to use your conversation scripts:

botSpec.ts

it('Test start flow', (done) => {
        const messages = require('./hiScript');
        unit(bot, messages).then(function () {
            done();
        }).catch((error) => {
            console.log(error);
        });
    });

Old

Writing tests requires a good understanding on the testing concept of "mocking". Because the MS Bot Framework employs a lot of complex under-the-hood magic - which is coupled to your code, the best way to do unit testing is just to mock the Bot Framework classes and test for the invocation of methods you write.

This template used SinonJS for mocking.

On a high level:

A Sinon spy allows you to wiretap a function. You can get information about the number of times a function was called, what arguments it was called with, and numerous other details. When using a spy, the original function will behave just as normal.

A Sinon stub provides the same inspection functionality of a spy, but it allows you to replace the stubbed function with one of your own (often simply returning some fake data).

You'll need a good understanding of Sinon to write effective tests.

As a debugging benefit (if you're using VSCode - highly suggested), there are Mocha Tests and Run mocha run configurations that allow you to step through your tests.

Deploy to Azure

See Azure branch for an example

Build the project which will compile your typescript (.ts) files and Webpack the project for your into a bundle.js.

Commit the bundle.js file and connect your Azure Web App Deployment Option to your repo (local git, github, etc.).

This will pull the bundle.js and run right away (No need to npm i).

Built With

• Microsoft BotFramework - The bot framework used
• SWELL Generator
• transmute-bot

Press

Facilitating Growth Capital Funding in Africa with Bots

Authors

• Claudius Mbemba - Maintainer - user1m
• Lilian Kasem - LilianKasem

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License