Introduction to Microsoft Bot Framework

In May 2017 I did a talk in Ottawa .NET User Group on Introduction to Microsoft Bot Framework, it was a interesting turnout and lots of conversation on what a bot can do for a business and how to use them.

Below you will find the slides for my talk on Microsoft Bot Framework. The sample demo code can be find on github https://github.com/Microsoft/BotBuilder-Samples, where we demo searching of Real Estate, image search, etc.

Ottawa IT Meetup Community: https://www.meetup.com/ottawaitcommunity/events/235920172/

If you are interested in more on bot framework and like to see more articles on it, please let me know 🙂

Transcript

1. Introduction to Bot Framework Taswar Bhatti @taswarbhatti http://taswar.zeytinsoft.com
2. What is a Bot? • In this context Microsoft Bot Framework, bots are computer assistants or think of it as just a web api (ASP.NET Web App) • Bots appear in your favorite messaging app including Facebook Messenger and Skype • You use bots for booking flights, hotels, ordering takeaway and much, much more • Purchase Request Api to build commerce enabled bot
3. Not, not this Bot!
4. Bot Framework Overview • The Microsoft Bot Framework consists of: • Bot Builder SDK(.NET, Node.js, REST Api) • Bot Framework Emulator for Windows, Linux and Mac • Bot Connector • Developer Portal (http://dev.botframework.com) • Bot Directory
5. High Level view of Bots
6. Bot Connector
7. Deep Vision of Bot
8. An Echo Bot Code • [BotAuthentication] • public class MessagesController : ApiController{ • public async Task Post([FromBody]Activity activity) { • if (activity.Type == ActivityTypes.Message) { • ConnectorClient connector = new ConnectorClient(new Uri(activity.ServiceUrl)); • // return our reply to the user • Activity reply = activity.CreateReply($”Echo {activity.Text}”); • await connector.Conversations.ReplyToActivityAsync(reply); • } else { • HandleSystemMessage(activity); • } • var response = Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK); • return response; • } • }
9. Bot Emulator • The Bot Famework Emulator is a desktop application that allows bot developers to test and debug their bots on localhost • It is supported on Windows, Linux and Mac
10. Bot Emulator Screenshot
11. Demo Bot Framework
12. Bot Builder Dialog and Sessions • Bot builder uses dialogs to manage a bot conversation between a user • Session Objects are passed to the dialog handlers • Session Objects are the primary mechnics between bots and users
13. Types of Dialogs • Prompts – Text, Confirm, Number, Time, Choice, etc • Waterfall dialogs – collection and use sequence of steps • User Data – Store data of user, conversation (private data) Payload max is 32k • Intent Dialog – listen to keywords or phrases using NLP (e.g LUIS) • Attachments and Cards – For Rich Objects (media or images)
14. Demo Search Image and Card • Using cognitive vision api
15. Guideline for bots • Don’t send a bot to do a webpages’s job • Bots are just apps • Don’t abuse Natural Language Processing • Sometimes buttons do everything you need • Its all a matter of User Experience
16. Resources • Microsoft Bot Framework Resources (http://aka.ms/botresources) • LUIS (https://www.luis.ai) • Azure Trail (https://azure.Microsoft.com/services/bot-services) • Books (Building Bots with Microsoft Bot Framework PACKT) • Books (Programming the Microsoft Bot Framework MSPress) • An introduction to Microsoft Bot Framework
17. Questions • Questions?????