Defining Params
Params are the input data received from the user, in order to complete an action. If we consider the execution of an action analogous to filling a form, then the fields in the form shall be considered as params for the action.
For example, the params for an action to create an event would typically be,
- Title of the event
- Start time of the event
- End time of the event and so on
Users can give value to each of these params in a conversational way in their natural language and Zia Skills will extract the apt value for the params from the conversational user input and would convert into a computational value as per the declared data type of the param. An action can have a maximum of 20 params.
To add a new param to an action, click the 
option under the PARAMS section or 
option under the SET PARAM dialog box (that would appear while marking params in sample sentences).
In the NEW PARAM pop-up window, fill the following information.
- Param Name - A valid name for the param should comply with the following points..
- It should begin with a lower case alphabet.
- No characters other than alphabets and numbers are allowed.
- A param name can contain a maximum of 50 characters.
- It must be unique for an action.
- The following names cannot be used as a param, since they are reserved words in Zia Skills - userInput, previousParam, additionalParams, sessionData, broadcast, previousUserMsgs, cache, org, and user.
- Param Type - Choose an apt data type for the param. The following data types are supported by Zia Skills.
- String
- Integer Number
- Integer Number Range — two inputs representing the start and end range of integers.
- Decimal Number
For this param type, you have to enter the following additional information. - Precision — Specify the number of digits to be rounded off for a decimal number; the maximum precision allowed is five.
Note: The optimal efficiency of Zia's Integer and Decimal number detection algorithm would be for numbers less than 15 digits (including decimals).
- Decimal Number Range — two inputs representing the start and end range of decimals.
- Date
- Date Range — two inputs representing the start and end range of dates.
- Date/Time
- Date/Time Range — two inputs representing the start and end range of date/time.Note:
- An action cannot have any date or time params if it has a date range or time range param.
- An action cannot have any integer or decimal params if it has an integer range or decimal range param.
- An action cannot have any date or time params if it has a date range or time range param.
- Boolean — a YES or NO input.
- Email
- Amount — amount input with currency code / currency symbol.
- Form — a form to be displayed to the user to fill up and submit. Additionally, to allow users to make multiple submissions for this param, you need to turn on the Allow multiple entries toggle switch.
For this param, you need to configure the properties of this form like fields, data types, default values, buttons, etc. in the Context handler function. To know more about configuring the form param, refer to this document.Availability of the 'Form' param
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.4.0.
- Not available for bots in other Zoho services.
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.4.0.
- File — a file to be uploaded as user input. For this param, you can specify what file types the user can upload. Select the specific file types from the Allowed Types drop-down.
- Single selection List — a list of available options from which the user can select one.
- Multiple selection List — a list of available options from which the user can select more than one.
For Single and Multiple selection List params, you have to enter the following additional information. - Options — These are the list of available options from which the user can select either one or multiple choices. Click the drop-down adjacent to the Options field, and select any of the following based on your requirements.
- Enter manually — to configure the options statically without using any code.
- Fetch in runtime — to configure the options dynamically in the runtime.
- If you have selected Enter manually, then it is recommended to give every option as distinct value and understandable to the user. Every option also has an ID, which is used to uniquely identify an option programmatically. Either you can enter the ID for every option manually or use the auto-generated ID as you type in the options. A valid name and ID for the selection list options should comply with the following points.
- ID supports only alphanumeric, hyphen and underscore.
- Both support a maximum of 150 characters.
- A selection list param can have up to 50 options.
- ID supports only alphanumeric, hyphen and underscore.
- If you have selected Fetch in runtime, then you can choose either Context Handler or Autocomplete Handler to define the relevant options based on your requirements. By defining the options in any of these handler functions, you can also configure the previews for those options accordingly.Availability of fetching the options in runtime
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.4.0.
- Not available for bots in other Zoho services.
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.4.0.
- Allow values other than these options — It allows the user to submit their own value(s) rather than selecting from the list of options defined by you. If this option was enabled, then the IDs of such values will be set as 'null'.
Availability of allowing values other than the configured options
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.4.0.
- Not available for bots in other Zoho services.
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.4.0.
- Buttons — Buttons represent the actions to be executed on the selected selection list options. The default action is to submit these selected selection list options, if no buttons are configured.The following are the steps to configure a button.
- Click the Configure option beside the Buttons label and the CONFIGURE BUTTONS screen appears.
- Enter the following mandatory properties for each button.
- Label — The display text of the button.
- Id — An identifier for the business logic to uniquely identify which button is chosen during conversation.
- Theme — The colour scheme that reflects the appearance of the button in the conversation. The following three themes are supported.
- Positive —
- Negative —
- Neutral —
- A valid name and ID for the buttons should comply with the following points.
- A button name and ID can include all alphanumeric and special symbols.
- They can contain a maximum of 150 characters.
- A selection list param can have up to 3 buttons.
-
The Preview option can be used to see how the button might appear in the bot during conversation.
To add another button, clickand once the required buttons are successfully added, click DONE.
Availability of buttons
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.2.0.
- Not available for bots in other Zoho services.
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.2.0.
-
Mode of Input – It specifies the way in which a user can provide a value to the param. It can either be Textual or Visual. If Textual is chosen, the user will be able to type (in case of chat) or speak (in case of voice) the preferred value that they want to assign for the param. In case of Visual, the user have to select their input from the available options. The options will be displayed as a radio button (in case of single selection), check box (in case of multiple selection) or a date/time picker (in case of date/time range).
Note: Mode of input is available only for range (time and date), single select and multiple select list params.
-
Prompt Message – It is the question that bot would ask the user to get the input for the param as a part of a bot conversation with the user. For example, to get the value for the start time of an event in the create event action, the prompt message shall be set as "At what time the event starts?" or "From when is the event?". This field should not be left empty and it should comply with the following points.
-
It includes all alphanumeric and special symbols except #, /, \, &, *, +, = and parenthesis.
-
It can contain a maximum of 255 characters.
For range params, Prompt Message field is split into, -
Start of the Range — Prompt message to get the start value of the range.
-
End of the Range — Prompt message to get the end value of the range.
-
Allow to Skip - It enables the user to bypass answering a param while conversing with a bot.
Availability of Skippable params
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.2.0.
- Not available for bots in other Zoho services.
- Supported Minimum client SDK version - 2.2.0.
Reordering params
The conversational flow of bot depends on the order of the defined params. Once an action is detected, bot will prompt all the unfilled params one by one with its respective prompt message, in the order that they are defined. You can rearrange the params under the PARAMS section by just dragging and dropping an individual param at the desired position.
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