Expressions for Variable Values
You can use FreeMarker expressions for values of variables in your dialog flows.
Handy Expressions
Tip:
Autocompletion guides you through writing these (and other) Apache FreeMarker expressions.Operation | Freemarker Expression | Result Type |
---|---|---|
Get name of parent flow | ${system.parentFlow} |
String |
Get event payload | ${skill.system.event.value.EVENT_NAME} |
JSON object |
Access NLP result | ${skill.system.nlpresult.value} |
JSON object |
Access skill-scope variable | ${skill.VAR_NAME} |
|
Access flow-scope variable | ${VAR_NAME} |
|
Access flow input param | ${INPUT_PARAM_NAME} |
|
Access user-scope variable | ${user.VAR_NAME} |
|
Access profile-scope variable | ${profile.VAR_NAME} |
|
Get Answer Intent answer | ${skill.system.event.value.intent.answer} Note:
You can also use
|
|
Get intent name |
|
String |
Get error message | ${skill.system.event.value.dialogError.errorMessage} |
String |
Access Resource bundle entry | ${skill.system.rb.RB_ENTRY_NAME} |
Resource Bundle |
Access the value of a custom parameter | ${skill.system.config.CUSTOM_PARAMETER_NAME} |
String |
For more on FreeMarker in your components, see Apache FreeMarker Template Language Syntax.
Apache FreeMarker Template Language Syntax
${...}
. You can incorporate FTL into the property definitions
for various dialog flow components.
Note:
You can also define the expressions using the if directive (<#if>...</#if>
).
To do this... | ...Do this |
---|---|
Read values from variables. | Add the value property using dot
notation:
For
example:
|
Read values from variables defined by complex entities. | Use dot notation to add an additional
property:
For
example:
If you
use an expression like ${MyMoney} in a
System.Output component in a skill with a YAML-based dialog
flow, you will see all the properties of the referenced currency JSON
object.
|
Return the set of values that are defined for a value list entity. | Use the built-in type and
enumValues variable in the following
syntax:
|
Use built-ins for strings, arrays (sequences), numbers, and dates. See Apache FreeMarker Reference. | Follow the value property with a question mark
(? ) and the operation
name:
|
Concatenate FTL expressions. | String the operations together using a question mark
(? ):
|
Referencing Entity Values in Multi-Language Skills
When you have multi-language skills, you should make sure the component that is
resolving your entities has Use Full Entity Matches
set to true
. This enables you to write the following kinds
of expressions:
- Expressions that reference the entity value in the language of the
conversation. You can use such expressions to do things
such as display the entity values to users in buttons, confirmation
messages, etc.
For such expressions, you append
value
to get the value in the language of the conversation. For example, if you have defined a dialog flow variable,pizza
, and want to reference the PizzaSize entity value in a prompt, you would use the following in the expression:pizza.value.PizzaSize.value
(instead of justpizza.value.PizzaSize
). - Expressions that reference the value of the entity in the primary language.
The primary language value serves as a kind of key for the corresponding values in
all of the entity's languages. You can reference this value for business logic
purposes without having to worry about which language the conversation is in.
For these expressions, you append
primaryLanguageValue
(e.g.pizza.value.PizzaSize.primaryLanguageValue
).