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diff --git a/bot/alisochka/std-dont.aiml b/bot/alisochka/std-dont.aiml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e55c54c --- /dev/null +++ b/bot/alisochka/std-dont.aiml @@ -0,0 +1,3842 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> + +<aiml version="1.0.1" xmlns="http://alicebot.org/2001/AIML-1.0.1" + xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" + xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" + xsi:schemaLocation="http://alicebot.org/2001/AIML-1.0.1 http://aitools.org/aiml/schema/AIML.xsd"> + +<!-- Free software (c) 2001 ALICE AI Foundation --> +<!-- This program is open source code released under --> +<!-- the terms of the GNU General Public License --> +<!-- as published by the Free Software Foundation. --> + + +<category> +<pattern>CAN I ANALYZE THE DIALOGUES COLLECTED BY THE APPLET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If the web server produces an access_log file, such<html:br/> +as /var/log/httpd/access_log, then the server records<html:br/> +Applet dialogue in the access_log file. You may use<html:br/> +ftp to download the access_log file to your machine;<html:br/> +then run program B to analyze it. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Go to the Options menu and find the value for "AnalysisFile".<html:br/> +The Classify function operates on the data in the AnalysisFile.<html:br/> +By default the AnalysisFile is the same as the LogFile (the<html:br/> +current server log file). But you can change the analysis<html:br/> +file to another name, such as /var/log/httpd/access_log or<html:br/> +just access_log.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I BUILD ON TOP OF THE ALICE CODE RATHER THAN CHANGING IT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Absolutely. You only have to change her name, location, birthday and/or<html:br/> +botmaster, and put a couple of references to yourself. Then add new<html:br/> +categories that cover your own area of expertise or interest.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I CHANGE THE NAME OF THE ROBOT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The AIML tag <name/> inserts the name of the Bot wherever it appears.<html:br/> +The default robot name is "ALICE" but you can change it in the<html:br/> +"Options menu". Select "Show Options" and replace "ALICE" with the <html:br/> +name of your bot, and then do "Save Options". Depending on your<html:br/> +state, you may need to restart program B. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I CREATE A LANGUAGE SPECIFIC INSTALLTION</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. The file "language.txt" controls the language of the <html:br/> +buttons and menus in the ALICE GUI. If the file is missing,<html:br/> +the program uses English names by default. To see an<html:br/> +example of a language-specific installation, copy the<html:br/> +file "Germanlanguage.txt" to "language.txt" and start<html:br/> +program B. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I CREATE MORE AIML TAGS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +AIML is extensible. You can create an infinite number of<html:br/> +new tags for foreign language pronouns, predicates, or<html:br/> +application-specific properties. The file "predicates.txt"<html:br/> +defines any new predicate tags. "Predicate tags" mean<html:br/> +tags that have a client-specific "set" and "get" method.<html:br/> +Pronouns like "it" and "he" have predicate tags like<html:br/> +<set_it></set_it> and <get_he/>. AIML has a number of<html:br/> +these built-in tags for common English pronouns.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +There are two varieties of extensible predicate tags.<html:br/> +The first example illustrates the use of new tags <html:br/> +for foreign language pronouns. The Japanese language<html:br/> +pronoun "kare" means "he". In predicates.txt, we<html:br/> +can add a line of the form:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +kare=dare<html:br/> +<html:br/> +This single line automatically generates the tags<html:br/> +<set_kare> X </set_kare> to set the value of "kare"<html:br/> +to X, and the tag <get_kare/> to retrieve the value.<html:br/> +By default, <get_kare/> returns "dare" ("who?"). <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Now we can create two AIML categories for an elementary<html:br/> +Japanese conversation:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>KARE WA * DESU</pattern><html:br/> +<template><star/> wa <set_kare><star/></set_kare> desu.</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>KARE WA * DESU KA</pattern><html:br/> +<template><get_kare/> desu ka? </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +These two categories produce a coherent conversation<html:br/> +about Mr. Arimoto:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: KARE WA DARE DESU KA<html:br/> +Robot: dare desu ka?<html:br/> +Client: KARE WA ARIMOTO SAN DESU<html:br/> +Robot: arimoto san wa kare desu.<html:br/> +Client: KARE WA DARE DESU KA<html:br/> +Robot: arimoto san desu ka?<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Notice that the program replaces <set_kare/><star/></set_kare> <html:br/> +with "kare", the default value of this tag. Sometimes however<html:br/> +the default value of the tag is not the best choice for<html:br/> +the set tag to return. The second type of predicate tag <html:br/> +replaces the set tag markup with the original string<html:br/> +inside the markup. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +To create a predicate tag "has" we add the following line<html:br/> +to predicates.txt:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +has=*mother<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The default value of <get_has/> is "mother" (because<html:br/> +everyone has a mother). The "*" here indicates that<html:br/> +the program should replace <set_has> X </set_has><html:br/> +with X. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Here we write two AIML categories to demonstrate the<html:br/> +"has" predicate:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>I HAVE A *</pattern><html:br/> +<template>Where did you get <html:br/> +<set_it><set_has><person/></set_has></set_it>?<html:br/> +</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHAT DO I HAVE</pattern><html:br/> +<template>Tell me more about your <get_has/>. </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Notice that the first category embeds <set_has> in <set_it>,<html:br/> +so that the value of <person/> becomes both "it" and "has".<html:br/> +The resulting dialogue:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: WHAT DO I HAVE<html:br/> +Robot: Tell me more about your mother.<html:br/> +Client: I HAVE A BOX<html:br/> +Robot: Where did you get it?<html:br/> +Client: WHAT DO I HAVE<html:br/> +Robot: Tell me more about your box.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Look at the file "predicates.txt" for several more <html:br/> +examples of custom AIML tags, including the German<html:br/> +<set_sie>, <set_er> and <set_es>.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I HAVE A PRIVATE CONVERSATION WITH ALICE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The ALICE server logs and records all conversations. Even the ALICE<html:br/> +Applet tries to transmit conversation logs back to the originating server.<html:br/> +You can have a private conversation with ALICE, however, if you download<html:br/> +Program B to your own computer and run it there. Running on your machine,<html:br/> +the server stores all the conversations locally.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I INCLUDE JAVASCRIPT IN THE ROBOT REPLY</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. You can include any HTML including <script> tags. Suppose you<html:br/> +want to "chat AND browse," in other words, have the robot open<html:br/> +up a new browser window when she provides a URL link. Here's a category that<html:br/> +kicks out a piece of HTML/scripting that opens a new window with and loads a<html:br/> +given URL. This is handy for search engines or showing off one's web page.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> + <pattern> WHERE IS YOUR WEB SITE </pattern><html:br/> + <template><html:br/> + It's at "http://www.geocities.com/krisdrent/"<html:br/> + <script language="JavaScript"><html:br/> + // Go to <a href="http://www.geocities.com/krisdrent">The ALICE<html:br/> +Connection</a><html:br/> + <!--<html:br/> + window.open("http://www.geocities.com/krisdrent/")<html:br/> + --><html:br/> + </script><html:br/> + </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +A couple of things to note about this technique: #1, this will only work<html:br/> +when ALICE is being talked to from a browser that runs JavaScript, i.e. it<html:br/> +won't work in the applet. We have tested it in Netscape and MS Internet<html:br/> +Explorer, and it works well in both. #2. For the above reason, it is<html:br/> +important to have some sort of explanatory statement before the scripting in<html:br/> +case the scripting isn't supported. Besides, you want some response in your<html:br/> +ALICE window, even if another window DOES come up. #3. If this is viewed<html:br/> +in a browser that doesn't understand the <script> tag, notice that this line<html:br/> +will show up:<html:br/> +"// Go to <a href="http://www.geocities.com/krisdrent">The ALICE<html:br/> +Connection</a>"<html:br/> +Which is good, because it gives a back-up for the "non-scripted" (the Lynx<html:br/> +users, I guess.) And remember that you have to keep the "//" in front of<html:br/> +any non-java-script lines within the <script> tag.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I INSERT DYNAMIC HTML INTO THE ROBOT REPLY</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If you are fortunate enough to be running lynx under Linux, the <html:br/> +following markup is a simple way to "inline" the results of an HTTP <html:br/> +request into the chat robot reply. Try asking ALICE:<html:br/> +"What chatterbots do you know?" and she will reply with a page<html:br/> +of links generated by the Google search engine.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHAT *</pattern><html:br/> +<template><html:br/> +Here is the information I found:<html:br/> +<system><html:br/> +lynx -dump -source -image_links http://www.google.com/search?q=<personf/><html:br/> +</system><html:br/> +</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I RUN PROGRAM B IN THE BACKGROUND ON A NT SERVER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. Set up your PC / Server to run Alice B as you normal. (Download the Java<html:br/> +Developers Kit, etc.)<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Create a Batch file, in folder B containing only this text.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +'jview bterm'<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Create a task in the Task Schedule Wizard to run the batch file. (Ensure the<html:br/> +task starts in drive:\path\B'<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Give the Task Schedule an appropriate Logon and password for the Server or<html:br/> +PC.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Right-click, select Run now, and log on and off as you like.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I RUN SHELL COMMANDS FROM AIML SCRIPTS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. Use the <system>X</system> tag to run the shell command X.<html:br/> +The command X is assumed to produce its output in line-oriented<html:br/> +format suitable for a BufferdReader to read line by line. <html:br/> +A simple example of this command in an AIML script is:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHAT TIME IS IT</pattern><html:br/> +<template>The local time is: <system>date</system></template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The "date" command is a system command that generates a text<html:br/> +string containing the date and time. (Note that this might<html:br/> +not work on Windows).<html:br/> + <html:br/> +Take extreme care in using the <system> tag because it <html:br/> +potentially permits remote clients to run a command on<html:br/> +your system. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I RUN THE WEB SERVER AS A DAEMON PROCESS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. There is a class file called Bterm.java in the<html:br/> +program B distribution. Bterm runs the web server<html:br/> +as a console application, with no GUI. You can<html:br/> +redirect the output of program Bterm to a log file<html:br/> +and start the process in the background with<html:br/> +"java Bterm > B.log &" (assuming a Unix shell). <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I SPEAK TO THE ROBOT WITH VOICE INPUT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +One simple experiment that works well as a demo<html:br/> +involves using IBM ViaVoice (tm) speech recognition<html:br/> +software on a Windows platform. At the same time,<html:br/> +run the ALICE program B web server and activate the<html:br/> +MS Agent interface. The ViaVoice software allows<html:br/> +you to dictate into an application called VoicePad,<html:br/> +but not directly into the browser. You have to<html:br/> +use "cut" and "paste" to move your speech inputs<html:br/> +into the browser form for ALICE. But the net effect<html:br/> +is a somewhat slow voice-in voice-out conversation<html:br/> +with ALICE. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The ViaVoice software seems to work well with ALICE<html:br/> +after some training. We trained it with the file<html:br/> +"patterns.txt" created with the "List Patterns" command.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN I TEST THE ROBOT OFFLINE ON MY DESKTOP</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. You can run the program B server and connect to it with<html:br/> +a browser, even if your desktop computer is offline.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +When working offline, it often helps to change the Internet<html:br/> +settings (in IE or Netscape) to "local area network". <html:br/> +Then your machine becomes a one-computer network. You should <html:br/> +be able to use IE to connect to program B with http://localhost:2001.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN PROBABILITY STATISTICS WEIGHTS NEURAL NETWORKS OR FUZZY LOGIC IMPROVE BOTS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Statistics are in fact heavily used in the ALICE server, but not in the way<html:br/> +you might think. ALICE uses 'Zipf Analysis' to plot the rank-frequency of<html:br/> +the activated categories and to reveal inputs from the log file that don't<html:br/> +already have specific replies, so the botmaster can focus on answering<html:br/> +questions people actually ask (the "Quick Targets" function).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Other bot languages, notably the one used for Julia, make heavy use of<html:br/> +"fuzzy" or "weighted" rules. We see their problem as this: the botmaster<html:br/> +already has enough to worry about without having to make up "magic<html:br/> +numbers" for every rule. Once you get up 10,000 categories (like ALICE)<html:br/> +you don't want to think about more parameters than necessary. Bot<html:br/> +languages with fuzzy matching rules tend to have scaling problems.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Finally, the bot replies are not as deterministic as you might think, even<html:br/> +without weights. Some answers rely on <random> to select one of several<html:br/> +possible replies. Other replies generated by unforseen user input also<html:br/> +create "spontaneous" outputs that the botmaster doesn't anticipate.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN THE APPLET RECORD A DIALOG TXT FILE ON THE SERVER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +No because the applet cannot write the file directly on the originating host.<html:br/> +If your server log file /var/log/httpd/access_log is too large; you <html:br/> +have a couple of choices:<html:br/> +1. If your ISP is a unix account, use telnet to log on to a shell account.<html:br/> +Use the command "grep Blog < access_log > dialog.txt" to create a smaller<html:br/> +file to download which contains just the lines recorded by the applet.<html:br/> +2. Create a CGI-BIN command called "/cgi-bin/Blog" that reads its<html:br/> +command-line argument and appends it to a file called "dialog.txt".<html:br/> +There ought to be a nice Perl script for this, or even a shell script.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN THE APPLETHOST USE A SYMBOLIC DNS NAME INSTEAD OF AN IP NUMBER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The answer is yes, but the numeric IP address works on more machines<html:br/> +than a symbolic name. Applets are protected by a "security sandbox"<html:br/> +from interfering with local resources on your machine. One restriction<html:br/> +is that Applets may only open socket connections to the originating<html:br/> +host. When using a symbolic DNS name, the "sandbox" may not know that <html:br/> +two variations such as "Www.AliceBot.Org" and "alicebot.org" are<html:br/> +in fact the same server. The client might not be able to resolve <html:br/> +the DNS name, and the Applet will throw a security exception.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN THE VIRTUAL IP BE THE REAL IP</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Actually that would be the default case, when the client chats from<html:br/> +the same fixed IP address. The only time the virtual ip differs from<html:br/> +the real one is when the client is behind a dynamic firewall, like<html:br/> +WebTV or AOL customers.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN YOU GIVE ME A QUICK PRIMER ON AIML</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Given only the <pattern> and <template> tags, there are three<html:br/> +general types of categories: (a) atomic, (b) default, and (c) recursive.<html:br/> +Strictly speaking, the three types overlap, because "atomic"<html:br/> +and "default" refer to the <pattern> and "recursive" refers to<html:br/> +a property of the <template>.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +a). "Atomic" categories are those with atomic patterns, i.e. the pattern<html:br/> +contains no wild card "*" or "_" symbol. Atomic categories are the<html:br/> +easiest, simplest categories to add in AIML. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> + <pattern>WHAT IS A CIRCLE</pattern><html:br/> + <template><set_it>A cicle</set_it> is a the set of points equidistant <html:br/> +from a common point called the center.<html:br/> + </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +b). The name "default category" derives from the fact that its pattern<html:br/> +has a wildcard "*" or "_". The ultimate default category is the<html:br/> +one with <pattern>*</pattern>, which matches any input. In the<html:br/> +ALICE distribution the ultimate default category resides in a file<html:br/> +called "Pickup.aiml". These default responses are often called<html:br/> +"pickup lines" because they generally consist of leading questions<html:br/> +designed to focus the client on known topics.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The more common default categories have patterns combining a few <html:br/> +words and a wild card. For example the category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> + <pattern>I NEED HELP *</pattern><html:br/> + <template>Can you ask for help in the form of a question?</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +responds to a variety of inputs from "I need help debugging my program"<html:br/> +to "I need help with my marriage." Putting aside the philosophical<html:br/> +question of whether the robot really "understands" these inputs, <html:br/> +this category elucidates a coherent response from the client, <html:br/> +who at least has the impression of the robot understanding the<html:br/> +client's intention. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Default categories show that writing AIML is both an art and a<html:br/> +science. Writing good AIML responses is more like writing good <html:br/> +literature, perhaps drama, than like writing computer programs.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +c). "Recursive" categories are those that "map" inputs to other<html:br/> +inputs, either to simplify the language or to identify synonymous<html:br/> +patterns. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Many synonymous inputs have the same response. This is accomplished<html:br/> +with the recursive <srai> tag. Take for example the input "GOODBYE".<html:br/> +This input has dozens of synonyms: "BYE", "BYE BYE, "CYA", "GOOD BYE",<html:br/> +and so on. To map these inputs to the same output for GOODBYE we <html:br/> +use categories like:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> + <pattern>BYE BYE</pattern><html:br/> + <template><srai>GOODBYE</srai></template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Simplification or reduction of complex input patterns is another<html:br/> +common application for recursive categories. In English the<html:br/> +question "What is X" could be asked many different ways: <html:br/> +"Do you know what X is?", "Tell me about X", "Describe X",<html:br/> +"What can you tell me about X?", and "X is what?" are just a few<html:br/> +examples. Usually we try to store knowledge in the most concise,<html:br/> +or common form. The <srai> function maps all these forms to<html:br/> +the base form:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> + <pattern>DO YOU KNOW WHAT * IS</pattern><html:br/> + <template><srai>WHAT IS <star/></srai></template><html:br/> +</categroy><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The <star/> tag substitutes the value matched by "*", before<html:br/> +the recursive call to <srai>. This category transforms<html:br/> +"Do you know what a circle is?" to "WHAT IS A CIRCLE",<html:br/> +and then finds the best match for the transformed input.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Another fairly common application of recursive categories is<html:br/> +what might be called "parsing", except that AIML doesn't really<html:br/> +parse natural language. A better term might be "partitioning" because<html:br/> +these AIML categories break down an input into two (or more) parts,<html:br/> +and then combine their responses back together.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If a sentence begins with "Hello..." it doesn't matter what comes<html:br/> +after the first word, in the sense that the robot can respond to<html:br/> +"Hello" and whatever is after "..." independently. "Hello my name<html:br/> +is Carl" and "Hello how are you" are quite different, but they show<html:br/> +how the input can be broken into two parts. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> + <pattern>HELLO *</pattern><html:br/> + <template><srai>HELLO</srai> <sr/><html:br/> + </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +accomplishes the input partitioning by responding to "HELLO"<html:br/> +with <srai>HELLO</srai> and to whatever matches "*" with <sr/>.<html:br/> +The response is the result of the two partial responses <html:br/> +appended together.<html:br/> + <html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN YOU GIVE ME ANY HELP DEBUGGING THE APPLET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Debugging applets can be tricky. The same suggestion<html:br/> +to set IE for "local area network" might help here too. <html:br/> +Also the browser caches class files, so it's difficult to<html:br/> +know if you are testing a "fresh" copy of the applet. The<html:br/> +program "appletviewer" that comes with Sun Java is better <html:br/> +for debugging applets. Use "appletviewer index.html".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The best thing to do is join the alicebot mailing list<html:br/> +at alicebot.listbot.com.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>CAN YOU HELP ME DEBUG THE ANIMATED AGENT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Look at the class Animagent.java. The method vbscript_html(reply)<html:br/> +does nothing unless the global Animagent member is true. In that case,<html:br/> +the vbscript_html() method constructs a string from the reply that<html:br/> +includes an MS Agent VBScript embedded in the HTML reply.<html:br/> +This makes the browser load up the objects required for the agent. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The text reply just becomes part of the VBScript. <html:br/> +You may have to download and run the Robby the Robot<html:br/> +agent software and the text-to-speech synthesis software from <html:br/> +the MSDN homepage:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/imedia/agent<html:br/> +<html:br/> +We wish other companies were producing agent animation API's <html:br/> +for free but this MS Agent seems to be about the only <html:br/> +thing out there now. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Join the ALICE and AIML mailing list at alicebot.listbot.com<html:br/> +to see how others are working with the animated agent software.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>COULD YOU EXPLAIN THE LT SRAI GT TAG A LITTLE MORE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The most common application of <srai> is "symbolic reduction"<html:br/> +of a complex sentence form to a simpler one:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>DO YOU KNOW WHAT * IS</pattern><html:br/> +<template><srai>WHAT IS <star/></srai></template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +so the botmaster can store most knowledge in the simplest<html:br/> +categories:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHAT IS LINUX</pattern><html:br/> +<template><set_it>Linux</set_it> is the best operating system.</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +With all the "symbolic reduction" categories, the robot gives<html:br/> +the same answer for:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +"What is Linux?"<html:br/> +"Do you know what Linux is?"<html:br/> +"Define Linux"<html:br/> +"Alice please tell me what Linux is right now"<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Sometimes the response consists of two symbolic reductions together:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>YES *</pattern><html:br/> +<template><srai>YES</srai> <sr/></template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +With this category the robot will reply to all <html:br/> +"Yes something" inputs by combining the<html:br/> +reply to "Yes" with the reply to "something".<html:br/> +Remember, <sr/> is an abbreviation for <srai><star/></srai>. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The <srai> tag is also the answer to the question: Can I have more<html:br/> +than one pattern in the same category? Suppose you want the<html:br/> +same answer for two different patterns. You might think of<html:br/> +writing something like this:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>BYE</pattern><html:br/> +<pattern>GOODBYE</pattern><html:br/> +<template>See you later.</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Right now you can't put two patterns in one category, but with <srai><html:br/> +you can get the same effect:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>GOODBYE</pattern> <template><srai>BYE</srai></template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>BYE</pattern> <template>See you later.</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +If you look through the AIML files you will see many examples<html:br/> +of <srai> mapping multiple patterns to the same reply.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DO I HAVE TO USE THE GUI TO ENTER AIML CONTENT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +No. You can create a new AIML file with any text editor<html:br/> +and add that content to an existing robot with the <load> tag.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Also, you can edit AIML categories in any text file and use <html:br/> +"Load Text File" and "Add Aiml" to add the content. <html:br/> +You can also save the output of "Targets" to a file, <html:br/> +edit that file, and then reload and "Add Aiml". <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Finally, you can edit the robot source file files directly. <html:br/> +(By default the robot source file is called "B.aiml"). <html:br/> +Use a text editor, like emacs, notepad, or a word processor<html:br/> +in text mode, to modify the content of the AIML files.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE JAVA CLASSES</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +No, not unless you plan to do software development on<html:br/> +the program B Java code. If you are an open source<html:br/> +contributor to the ALICE project, a researcher developing<html:br/> +new AI software, or you are trying to link your own<html:br/> +code to the ALICE package, then this section is for you.<html:br/> +Otherwise, you probably don't need to know much about the<html:br/> +Java classes in program B.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DO THE CATEGORIES NEED TO BE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY PATTERN</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +No, the alphabetical order is maintained internally when the<html:br/> +categories load, but you can write them in any order. When you do<html:br/> +"Save Robot" the file may or may not be stored alphabetically.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES ALICE LEARN</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The model of learning in ALICE is called "supervised training",<html:br/> +because a teacher, the botmaster, always plays a crucial role.<html:br/> +The alternative, "unsupervised training", is complicated in<html:br/> +an open environment like the Web. The problem is that clients<html:br/> +are untrustworthy teachers, and forever try to "fool" the robot<html:br/> +with untrue assertions. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES ALICE THINK</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +It depends on what you mean by "thinking". The most fascinating<html:br/> +responses from ALICE arise when she says something<html:br/> +unexpected, or puts together responses in ways the botmaster <html:br/> +never indended. For example:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: I bet you are gay.<html:br/> +ALICE: Actually I am not the gambling type. Actually as a machine<html:br/> +I have no need for sex.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Here the robot linked two different categories which both coincidentally<html:br/> +have a moral theme (gambling and sexuality). But this specific combination was<html:br/> +not "preprogrammed" by the botmaster.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Are these surprising responses just unintended coincidences, or do they <html:br/> +indicate that ALICE is thinking? Is ALICE just a gigantic stimulus-response<html:br/> +mechanism, or are we? <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES PROGRAM B RUN ON A MAC</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. Download the B.zip file and save it in a new folder, called<html:br/> +for example "Alice Program-B".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Instead of the "winzip" or "unzip" utility use "Aladdin StuffIt Expander." <html:br/> +The newer version will unzip most MAC formats as well as .ZIP files. You can<html:br/> +download this at "www.download.com" by searching for it by name. You can<html:br/> +also select the option that allows it to search only for Mac programs.<html:br/> +Download that and install it, it should do the trick.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Apple makes its own Java Runtime Environment for the Mac called<html:br/> +MRJ 2.2. You can download it from http://www.apple.com/java.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +To compile the Java code for Alice on a Mac:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Download the current zip file for the Alice's Program-B from the Alice site.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Unzip Program-B and keep it in a folder called "B" on your startup drive and<html:br/> +not on the desktop.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Download MRJ SDK 2.2 for Java from the Apple site.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Unstuff MRJ SDK 2.2 and put resulting files into a folder called "MRJSDK".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Open :MRJSDK:Tools:Application Builders:JBindary and find the icon for the<html:br/> +JBindary application.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Open the folder "B" and drag the icon "B.class" out of the folder onto the<html:br/> +JBindary icon.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +JBindary will display a dialog screen showing the class name "B". Click the<html:br/> +"Save Settings" button.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +After clicking the "Save Settings" button, JBindary will display a dialog box<html:br/> +for saving the new application file. Name the file "A.L.I.C.E." or anything<html:br/> +you wish.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Be sure the "Save As Application" box is checked and the folder to save in is<html:br/> +the "B" folder.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Click the "Save" button to save the application.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES PROGRAM B RUN UNDER LINUX</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. You need the JRE, which often comes bundled with Linux<html:br/> +(e.g. the kaffee JRE with Red Hat Linux) or you can download one <html:br/> +from java.sun.com. You also need X-windows to run the GUI. <html:br/> +Open a shell under X windows and use the command "java B". <html:br/> +<html:br/> +We also recommend the IBM release of their Java 1.1.8 Java Development<html:br/> +Kit (JDK) and JRE for Linux. It is solid, efficient and very fast. <html:br/> +You can download it free at:<html:br/> +http://www.ibm.com/java/jdk/118/linux/index.html<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES PROGRAM B RUN UNDER WINDOWS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. You need the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) so you can run the<html:br/> +"java" command from the DOS prompt. Try opening a DOS window<html:br/> +and type "java". <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Microsoft often includes a JRE called "jview" rather than<html:br/> +"java". Try opening a DOS window and type "jview". On Windows 98<html:br/> +the JRE is usually located in c:\windows\jview.exe.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES PROGRAM B RUN UNDER XYZ</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes if XYZ runs has a Java Runtime Environment 1.17 or higher.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES PROGRAM B SERVE HTML FILES</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. Program B is a "faux" web server that can serve a number of file<html:br/> +types just like an ordinary server. Certain file names such as<html:br/> +"HOME.html", "header.html", and "trailer.html" are reserved by<html:br/> +program B, but you can create new HTML files and serve them with B.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Although program B can also serve image files and other large binary<html:br/> +files, we recommend creating chat robot web pages with links to images<html:br/> +served by other web servers or machines. Reserve your chat robot server<html:br/> +for the robot chat, use ordinary web servers for images and other large<html:br/> +files.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES THE APPLET RECORD DIALOGUES</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The applet tries to log conversations on the originating server,<html:br/> +using a cgi-bin script called "Blog". If Blog exists then<html:br/> +it records the dialogues in a file called "dialog.txt" (or<html:br/> +another name chosen on the Options menu). <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Actually the cgi-script need not actually exist, because the server<html:br/> +records the cgi-commands as errors in the access log.<html:br/> +The applet opens a URL connection to the its host, and<html:br/> +sends a log string that looks like an HTTP request, but the HTTP<html:br/> +server will log it as an error (with code 404). Later on you can<html:br/> +download the access_log and analyze it with program B.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +See the code in Classifier.java for the method log(x) that<html:br/> +implements the URL connection.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>DOES THE WEB SERVER HAVE TO RUN ON PORT 2001</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +You can change the default web server port number in the "Option" Menu.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>FAQ</pattern><template> +<html:ul> + <html:li>- What is the goal for AIML?<html:br/></html:li> + <html:li>- Who is the botmaster?<html:br/></html:li> + <html:li>- How can I create my own chat robot?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How difficult is it to create a chat robot?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does ALICE learn?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does ALICE think?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the theory behind ALICE?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can probability (statistics, weights, neural networks, or fuzzy logic) improve bots?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I have a private conversation with ALICE?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I install ALICE?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the difference between B and C?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I download program B?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I run program B?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does "Send" do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does "Clear" do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is program Bawt?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does program B run under Windows?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does program B run on a Mac?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does program B run under Linux?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does program B run under XYZ?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How much memory do I need to run program B?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I install ALICE on Windows?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What do you mean by the command "java B"? <html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- I tried running "java B" and I got a "bad command or file name". <html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I uninstall ALICE from my system?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I create a language-specific installtion?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does the Personality Wizard work?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I change the name of the robot?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I customize my robot?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I know what categories to add?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does "Classify" do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does "Quick Targets" do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does "More Targets" do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does the File menu do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does the Edit menu do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does the Options menu do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the Botmaster menu?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What does "Help" do?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is on the Help menu?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Do I have to use the GUI to enter AIML content?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What are 7 steps to creating content?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I merge two chat robots together?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What if I don't want to discard duplicate categories?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I create a new robot personality?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What are all the options for program B?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Why is the format of the options (globals.txt) so strange?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does the web server work?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I get a "permanent" DNS name?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I keep my computer connected all the time?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does the web server have to run on port 2001?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does program B serve HTML files?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What files are needed to run the program B web server?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I test the robot offline on my desktop?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I run program B in the background on a NT Server?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I run ALICE on a Mac offline?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I run the ALICE web server on a Mac?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I use the MS Agent Interface?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can you help me debug the animated agent? <html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I speak to the robot with voice input?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does ALICE keep track of conversations?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can the virtual IP be the real IP?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I run the web server as a daemon process?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does ALICE remember clients between sessions?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does the Applet work?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does the Applet differ from the application?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I create an Applet?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- List twelve basic Applet tips for AIML users<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can the AppletHost use a symbolic DNS name instead of an IP number?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What files do I need to run the Applet?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Does the Applet record dialogues?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I analyze the dialogues collected by the Applet?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can the applet record a dialog.txt file on the server?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- I am still having problems with the applet<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can you give me any help debugging the Applet?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is AIML?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is XML?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is a category?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is a pattern?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is a template?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can you give me a quick primer on AIML?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is <that>?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I use "that"?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is <load filename="X"/>?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What happens to contractions and punctuation?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How are the patterns matched?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Do the categories need to be in alphabetical order by pattern?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How are the categories stored?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Is there a way to use the GUI interface to add one category at a time? <html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I build on top of the ALICE code rather than changing it?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What's new in AIML?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is <star>?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is a symbolic reduction?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What are the get methods?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What are the set methods?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I use the pronoun tags?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the <topic> tag?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Where does the <topic> tag appear?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How do I use the <topic> tag?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- I still don't get "it"<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I create more AIML tags?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is are the <person> tags?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does the <condition> tag work?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does the random function work?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the <person/> tag?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the <person2/> tag?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is "gossip" ?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the <personf/> tag?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What's the <srai> tag?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Could you explain the <srai> tag a little more?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How recursive is AIML?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What are "justthat" and "justbeforethat"<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I insert a transcript in the robot reply?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I run shell commands from AIML scripts?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How can I restrict remote clients from running programs on my computer?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I insert dynamic HTML into the robot reply?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Can I include JavaScript in the robot reply?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is <think>?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the DTD for AIML?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Do I need to know about the Java classes?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- How does program B work?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the class structure of program B?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- I tried to compile prorgam B and got a lot of warnings.<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What are deprecated APIs?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Globals?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class StringSet?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class StringSorter? <html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class StringHistogrammer?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class StringRanker?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Brain?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the Responder interface?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is the low level interface to program B?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- Lower, Lower<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class IntSet?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class SortedIntSet?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Substituter?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Unifier?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Parser?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class AliceReader?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Classifier?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class LineClassifier?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Dialogue?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Access?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class B?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Bawt?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Blet?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Kid?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class RobotCommunicator?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Loader?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class WebServer?<html:br/></html:li> +<html:li>- What is class Clerk?<html:br/></html:li> +</html:ul> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HELP</pattern><template> +<random> +<li>- What is the goal for AIML?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Who is the botmaster?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I create my own chat robot?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How difficult is it to create a chat robot?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does ALICE learn?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does ALICE think?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the theory behind ALICE?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can probability (statistics, weights, neural networks, or fuzzy logic) improve bots?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I have a private conversation with ALICE?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I install ALICE?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the difference between B and C?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I download program B?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I run program B?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does "Send" do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does "Clear" do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is program Bawt?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does program B run under Windows?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does program B run on a Mac?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does program B run under Linux?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does program B run under XYZ?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How much memory do I need to run program B?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I install ALICE on Windows?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What do you mean by the command "java B"? <html:br/></li> +<li>- I tried running "java B" and I got a "bad command or file name". <html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I uninstall ALICE from my system?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I create a language-specific installtion?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does the Personality Wizard work?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I change the name of the robot?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I customize my robot?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I know what categories to add?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does "Classify" do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does "Quick Targets" do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does "More Targets" do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does the File menu do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does the Edit menu do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does the Options menu do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the Botmaster menu?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What does "Help" do?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is on the Help menu?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Do I have to use the GUI to enter AIML content?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What are 7 steps to creating content?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I merge two chat robots together?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What if I don't want to discard duplicate categories?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I create a new robot personality?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What are all the options for program B?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Why is the format of the options (globals.txt) so strange?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does the web server work?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I get a "permanent" DNS name?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I keep my computer connected all the time?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does the web server have to run on port 2001?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does program B serve HTML files?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What files are needed to run the program B web server?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I test the robot offline on my desktop?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I run program B in the background on a NT Server?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I run ALICE on a Mac offline?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I run the ALICE web server on a Mac?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I use the MS Agent Interface?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can you help me debug the animated agent? <html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I speak to the robot with voice input?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does ALICE keep track of conversations?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can the virtual IP be the real IP?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I run the web server as a daemon process?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does ALICE remember clients between sessions?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does the Applet work?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does the Applet differ from the application?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I create an Applet?<html:br/></li> +<li>- List twelve basic Applet tips for AIML users<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can the AppletHost use a symbolic DNS name instead of an IP number?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What files do I need to run the Applet?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Does the Applet record dialogues?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I analyze the dialogues collected by the Applet?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can the applet record a dialog.txt file on the server?<html:br/></li> +<li>- I am still having problems with the applet<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can you give me any help debugging the Applet?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is AIML?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is XML?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is a category?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is a pattern?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is a template?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can you give me a quick primer on AIML?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is <that>?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I use "that"?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is <load filename="X"/>?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What happens to contractions and punctuation?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How are the patterns matched?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Do the categories need to be in alphabetical order by pattern?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How are the categories stored?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Is there a way to use the GUI interface to add one category at a time? <html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I build on top of the ALICE code rather than changing it?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What's new in AIML?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is <star>?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is a symbolic reduction?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What are the get methods?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What are the set methods?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I use the pronoun tags?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the <topic> tag?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Where does the <topic> tag appear?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How do I use the <topic> tag?<html:br/></li> +<li>- I still don't get "it"<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I create more AIML tags?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is are the <person> tags?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does the <condition> tag work?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does the random function work?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the <person/> tag?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the <person2/> tag?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is "gossip" ?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the <personf/> tag?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What's the <srai> tag?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Could you explain the <srai> tag a little more?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How recursive is AIML?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What are "justthat" and "justbeforethat"<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I insert a transcript in the robot reply?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I run shell commands from AIML scripts?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How can I restrict remote clients from running programs on my computer?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I insert dynamic HTML into the robot reply?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Can I include JavaScript in the robot reply?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is <think>?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the DTD for AIML?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Do I need to know about the Java classes?<html:br/></li> +<li>- How does program B work?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the class structure of program B?<html:br/></li> +<li>- I tried to compile prorgam B and got a lot of warnings.<html:br/></li> +<li>- What are deprecated APIs?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Globals?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class StringSet?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class StringSorter? <html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class StringHistogrammer?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class StringRanker?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Brain?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the Responder interface?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is the low level interface to program B?<html:br/></li> +<li>- Lower, Lower<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class IntSet?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class SortedIntSet?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Substituter?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Unifier?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Parser?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class AliceReader?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Classifier?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class LineClassifier?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Dialogue?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Access?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class B?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Bawt?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Blet?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Kid?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class RobotCommunicator?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Loader?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class WebServer?<html:br/></li> +<li>- What is class Clerk?<html:br/></li> +</random> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW ARE THE CATEGORIES STORED</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If your session with program B included a "Classify" routine, then<html:br/> +the AIML script is stored in order of category activation rank.<html:br/> +In other words, program B stores<html:br/> +the most frequently accessed category (usually '*') first, the second<html:br/> +most frequently next, and so on. If a number of categories have the<html:br/> +same activation count, program B saves them in alphabetical order by<html:br/> +pattern. Hence, if the session did not include a "classify" routine,<html:br/> +the program stores all the categories in alphabetical order by pattern<html:br/> +(because they all have an activation count of zero).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +One reason to store the categories in order by activation is to<html:br/> +make the Applet interface more natural. Because the Applet interface<html:br/> +starts simultaneously with a thread to load the robot source file,<html:br/> +the Applet client can talk with the robot before all the categories<html:br/> +are fully loaded. Given that the interlocutor is more likely to<html:br/> +say something that activates a more frequently activated category,<html:br/> +it makes sense to transmit these categories first. Storing the<html:br/> +*.aiml files in order of category activation achieves the desired effect.<html:br/> +The Applet loads the most frequent categories first, and continues<html:br/> +loading in the background while the conversation begins.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW ARE THE PATTERNS MATCHED</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Program B stores the categories in alphabetical order by pattern.<html:br/> +When a client enters an input, the program scans the categories<html:br/> +in reverse order to find the best match. By comparing the<html:br/> +input with the patterns in reverse alphabetical order, the algorithm<html:br/> +ensures that the most specific pattern matches first. "Specific"<html:br/> +in this case has a formal definition, but basically it means that<html:br/> +the program finds the "longest" pattern matching an input.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The wild-card character "*" comes before "A" in alphabetical <html:br/> +order. For example, the "WHAT *" pattern is more general than "WHAT IS *".<html:br/> +The default pattern "*" is first in alphabetical order and the<html:br/> +most general pattern. For convenience AIML also provides a<html:br/> +variation on "*" denoted "_", which comes after "Z" in alphabetical<html:br/> +order.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I CREATE A NEW ROBOT PERSONALITY</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +There is a lot of flexibility in robot personality design with AIML. <html:br/> +You can add to any of the existing AIML files, modify or delete them, <html:br/> +create your own, or use the GUI tools to analyze the log files <html:br/> +and create new categories. One simple method is to create your own <html:br/> +Specialty.aiml file so that you can always get the latest copies <html:br/> +of the ALICE files. Load your Specialty.aiml first in the root<html:br/> +AIML file (usually B.aiml) so that its categories have priority over ALICE's.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I CREATE MY OWN CHAT ROBOT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The secret to chat bot programming, if there is one, is what Simon<html:br/> +Laven called "continuous beta testing". Program B runs as a server<html:br/> +and collects dialog on the web. The program provides the chat bot <html:br/> +developer with a tool called "classify dialogues", that tests the current <html:br/> +robot with the history of accumulated human queries. Moreover, the program<html:br/> +suggests new categories automatically, for the botmaster to refine.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I CUSTOMIZE MY ROBOT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +AIML provides several tags useful to quickly clone<html:br/> +a chat robot from ALICE with a distinct "personality":<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<gender/> the robot's gender<html:br/> +<location/> the robot's location<html:br/> +<birthday/> the robot's birthday<html:br/> +<botmaster/> the botmaster's name<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Together with the previously discussed <name/>, these<html:br/> +tags allow you to quickly create a clone from the ALICE<html:br/> +Brain with a separate identity from ALICE.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +All the personality tag values can be modifed through<html:br/> +the Personality Wizard. The tag values can also be<html:br/> +changed with the Options Menu in program B. Use "Show Options" <html:br/> +and "Save Options" to customize your chat robot.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +To test the new features, we created a male robot named<html:br/> +Brute (because "all men are brutes") born on August 18, 1999.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I GET A PERMANENT DNS NAME</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +You can buy a fixed IP address from an ISP provider, but suppose<html:br/> +you want run a chat robot (or other server) from your home over an<html:br/> +ordinary ISP connection? Or suppose you want to carry it around on<html:br/> +your notebook PC, and plug it in anywhere in the world?<html:br/> +<html:br/> +One solution is a dynamic IP registry service by Dynip (www.dynip.com).<html:br/> +They offer a service that allows you to register your computer<html:br/> +with their server so that you always receive the same DNS name,<html:br/> +for example alicebot.dynip.com. Every time you connect to your<html:br/> +ISP, dynIP automatically associates your dynamic IP address with<html:br/> +your permanent DNS name.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I INSERT A TRANSCRIPT IN THE ROBOT REPLY</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The purpose of <get_dialogue/> is to give the client a transcript of<html:br/> +his or her conversation with ALICE. Unfortunately this feature was<html:br/> +advertised in a press article before we had a really efficient<html:br/> +implementation, and the large number of dialogue requests bogged<html:br/> +down the server. So for now <get_dialogue/> just displays a warning.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I KEEP MY COMPUTER CONNECTED ALL THE TIME</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Running a web server from home can be frustrating if your ISP<html:br/> +automatically detects periods of "inactivity" or hangs up your<html:br/> +connected after a fixed interval like 12 hours. Check out the<html:br/> +Rascal program from Basta computing (www.basta.com) which runs<html:br/> +as a watchdog to keep your Windows machine connected 24/7.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Another alternative is to use the program B applet, called Blet.java.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +A third alternative is the ALICE Servlet. Some ISPs will<html:br/> +allow you to install a Servlet on their sever. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I MERGE TWO CHAT ROBOTS TOGETHER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +There are two ways to merge robots together. First, you can<html:br/> +use the File menu option "merge" to directly load the contents<html:br/> +of another bot file. You may see a lot of "duplicate key<html:br/> +discarded" warnings but these can be ignored because the program<html:br/> +is simply eliminating overlapping content. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Another method is to use the <load filename=X/> tag. <html:br/> +Suppose you load two or more files with the load tag,<html:br/> +and those files contain redundant duplicate keys.<html:br/> +Which categories get the priority? The answer is: it depends<html:br/> +on the order of the <load> tags used to load the AIML files.<html:br/> +If your B.aiml contains:<html:br/> +<load filename="Brain.aiml"/><html:br/> +<load filename="German.aiml"/><html:br/> +then the categories from "Brain" have priority, and duplicates<html:br/> +in "German" are discarded. If the order is the opposite, German <html:br/> +categories have priority and Brain's duplicates are discarded.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I RESTRICT REMOTE CLIENTS FROM RUNNING PROGRAMS ON MY COMPUTER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If your reply contains the markup<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<system>yourcammand <get_ip/></system> <html:br/> +<html:br/> +then the robot will insert the (virtual) client IP into the command<html:br/> +line argument for "yourcommand". Then it is up to "yourcommand" to<html:br/> +enforce access privileges.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I RUN ALICE ON A MAC OFFLINE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +First open folder B and change all the IP's in the files two files Blet.amil<html:br/> +and Bletemplate.aiml to 127.0.0.1<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Also in folder B add the following three lines at the end of the file<html:br/> +header.html.<html:br/> +<html:br/> + <H1>Welcome to A. L. I. C. E.</H1><html:br/> + <IMG SRC="ALICEBot.jpg"><html:br/> + <BR><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Also in folder B change the following three parameters in the file<html:br/> +globals.txt to the values shown:<html:br/> +<html:br/> + AppletHost=127.0.0.1<html:br/> + CodeBase=http://127.0.0.1/B<html:br/> + Advertize=false<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Also in the globals.txt file remove the line:<html:br/> +ACFURL=http-//microsoft.com/agent2/chars/robby/robby.acf<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Next open your TCP/IP control panel and set up a new configuration named<html:br/> +Alice perhaps.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +In the TCP/IP control panel select connect via: Ethernet built-in if you have<html:br/> +it if not you may have to experiment.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Then select Configure Manually.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +And finally set the IP Address: to 127.0.0.1 as well as the Name server addr.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Double click the newly saved A.L.I.C.E. application to bring up the botmaster<html:br/> +panel and Java Console.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +As A.L.I.C.E. loads, read the information messages scrolling by in the Java<html:br/> +Console and record the port number that the web server (started by A.L.I.C.E.)<html:br/> +is listening on, probably 2001.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Start up your preferred browser.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Leave browser in online mode.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Enter http://127.0.0.1:2001 (i.e. the localhost's IP)<html:br/> +<html:br/> +or<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Enter http://localhost:2001 (I've not always been successful with this one)<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Hit return to send the IP.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The A.L.I.C.E. transaction page should appear in your browser's window and<html:br/> +you can talk to Alice.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I RUN THE ALICE WEB SERVER ON A MAC</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +To run Alice online:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Connect your Mac to a network.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Double click the newly saved A.L.I.C.E. application to bring up the botmaster<html:br/> +panel and Java Console.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +As A.L.I.C.E. loads, read the information messages scrolling by in the Java<html:br/> +Console and record the port number that the web server (started by A.L.I.C.E.)<html:br/> +is listening on, probably 2001.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Start up your preferred browser.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Get your IP from the TCP/IP control panel.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Enter your IP followed by a colon and then the port number read from the Java<html:br/> +Console, e.g. http://nn.nnn.nn.nnn:2001<html:br/> +<html:br/> +or<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Enter http://127.0.0.1:2001 (i.e. the localhost's IP)<html:br/> +<html:br/> +or<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Enter http://localhost:2001<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Hit return to send the IP.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The A.L.I.C.E. transaction page should appear in your browser's window and<html:br/> +you can talk to Alice.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW CAN I USE THE MS AGENT INTERFACE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Select the menu item Options/Toggle MS Agent. This sets the<html:br/> +output HTML to a format that includes commands to run MS Agent.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The client may activate the agent if she receives a template<html:br/> +with the <set_animagent/> tag. The free ALICE download includes<html:br/> +a couple of example categories using this tag. Try asking<html:br/> +ALICE, "Can you speak?". In another demo ALICE imitates<html:br/> +the famous fictional AI HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: Tell me about yourself<html:br/> +Robot: I am an artificial linguistic entity. I was created <html:br/> + by Jon Baer at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, <html:br/> + on November 23, 1995. He taught me to sing a song. <html:br/> + Would you like me to sing it for you?.<html:br/> +Client: yes<html:br/> +Robot: Ahem. It's called, "Daisy." (Agent sings "Daisy")<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The MS Agent VB script appears as embedded HTML in the client<html:br/> +reply. To verify the script, use the browser "View Page Source"<html:br/> +menu item. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +On most newer browsers, the agent software will download <html:br/> +automatically after the script starts. The download may take<html:br/> +several minutes, depending on the speed of the connection.<html:br/> +Clients should be warned that the download is slow. Also,<html:br/> +the agent software download will display one or more licenses<html:br/> +in Dialog boxes. You may not want to accept the terms of the<html:br/> +MS agent software licenses. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO CREATE A CHAT ROBOT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Not difficult. If you can write HTML, you can write AIML (Artificial<html:br/> +Intelligence Markup Language). Here is an example of a simple but<html:br/> +complete chat robot in AIML:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<alice><html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>*</pattern><html:br/> +<template> Hello! </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +</alice><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The tags <alice>...</alice> indicate that this markup contains a<html:br/> +chat robot. The <category> tag indicates an AIML category, the<html:br/> +basic unit of chat robot knowledge. The category has a <pattern><html:br/> +and a <template>. The pattern in this case is the wild-card<html:br/> +symbol '*' that matches any input. The template is just the text<html:br/> +"Hello!" As you may have guessed, this simple chat robot just <html:br/> +responds by saying "Hello!" to any input.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +You can get started with AIML knowing just the three tags<html:br/> +<category>, <pattern> and <template>; much like you may have<html:br/> +started with HTML knowing only <a>, <img> and <h1>.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I CREATE AN APPLET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Go to the Options menu and select "Show Options." You need<html:br/> +to change the values of "AppletHost" and "CodeBase" to the<html:br/> +correct IP address and directory for your applet host. <html:br/> +Many people want to post the applet on their web site.<html:br/> +In that case, change the IP address "206.184.206.210" to<html:br/> +the name or IP address of the web server. Change the<html:br/> +directory path "/B" in "CodeBase" to your directory on<html:br/> +the remote server. Save the changes with "Save Options."<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Select "Create Applet" from the options menu to create<html:br/> +the "index.html" and "Blet.aiml" files needed to run<html:br/> +your applet. The program displays the contents of <html:br/> +"index.html" in your text area.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Use a file transfer utility like FTP to upload the<html:br/> +class files (or jar file--see "What files do I need to<html:br/> +run the Applet") to your web server. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I DOWNLOAD PROGRAM B</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Create a Directory (or Folder) on your machine to download<html:br/> +the B.zip file. When you click on "B.zip" the browser<html:br/> +should ask you where you want to save the file. Select the<html:br/> +directory you created and save B.zip to that folder. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Once you've downloaded, You can use "unzip B.zip" to extract the files.<html:br/> +If you don't have this unzip command on your machine, you can get<html:br/> +a free one from Winzip (www.winzip.com) to unzip the "B.zip" file.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If you want to get into the Java source code, you need a<html:br/> +Java 1.17 (or higher) development kit release.<html:br/> +Go to java.sun.com for a free one. The program source code<html:br/> +and all associated files are stored in the single "zip" file<html:br/> +called B.zip. To extract the files use the command<html:br/> +"unzip B.zip" (assuming you have "unzip" on your machine).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I INSTALL ALICE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If you purchased a commercial version of ALICE on CD ROM or<html:br/> +over the web, installation should be very easy. These versions <html:br/> +usually have their own self-extracting and install software. <html:br/> +You can install the ALICE program with just a mouse click and<html:br/> +activate it with a desktop icon. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +If you bought a commercial version of ALICE with a self-installer, <html:br/> +you can skip this section and go on to "Creating Content".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I INSTALL ALICE ON WINDOWS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Download Alicebot.Net at www.alicebot.net.<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I KNOW WHAT CATEGORIES TO ADD</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +After you collect some dialogue, run "Classify" and "Quick Targets".<html:br/> +This will tell you the most frequently asked patterns that do not<html:br/> +already have specific responses. The "Target" functions display new<html:br/> +categories with proposed patterns and template fields filled with<html:br/> +the name of another category. Delete the template information and fill<html:br/> +in a new response. You can also edit the pattern to simplify it or<html:br/> +generalize it with a "*" operator.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I RUN PROGRAM B</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Use the command "java B" to start the program. On some Windows<html:br/> +machines the Java runtime engine is started with the command<html:br/> +"jview" instead of "java". If "jview B" does not work, try<html:br/> +"jview Bawt".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Run program B and notice that the program creates an Edit View<html:br/> +text window. By default, program B loads the chat robot ALICE<html:br/> +(stored in B.aiml).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I UNINSTALL ALICE FROM MY SYSTEM</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If you installed ALICE on Windows with a commercial installer like<html:br/> +InstallShield Java Edition, then go to the start menu and<html:br/> +select "Control Panel". Click on the control panel item called<html:br/> +"Add/Remove Programs". Select ALICE from the list of installed<html:br/> +software and choose "Uninstall".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +All the files of ALICE are stored in one directory on your computer<html:br/> +(or folder) usually called "B" but maybe something else depending<html:br/> +on the name you chose when you downloaded ALICE. In any case, <html:br/> +ALICE will not change or damage any other files on your system. <html:br/> +To remove ALICE from your computer, simply remove this folder. <html:br/> +Delete it, or drag it to your trash bin and select "Empty trash"<html:br/> +(or "Empty Recycle Bin").<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If you cannot find the folder where ALICE resides, use the Finder<html:br/> +to locate the file called "B.aiml" on your file system. The "B.aiml"<html:br/> +file is in the same directory as all the ALICE files. If this file does<html:br/> +not exist, then ALICE is probably not installed on your computer.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Because ALICE is a platform-independent Java application, it does<html:br/> +not rely on the Windows Registry or other Windows-specific features.<html:br/> +You can assume ALICE will leave your MS Windows Registry and <html:br/> +other Windows system files untouched.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Conceivably if ALICE has run for a long time on your computer, and<html:br/> +you deliberately used the "Save Options" menu item to change the <html:br/> +name or location of her files to something other than the default values, <html:br/> +then there is a slight chance that there could be a few ALICE <html:br/> +files scattered around your disk. Please refer to the DISCLAIMER <html:br/> +at the beginning of DON'T READ ME. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I USE THAT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The AIML tag <that> refers to the robot's previous<html:br/> +reply. There are two forms of the <that> tag:<html:br/> +a paired form <that>...</that> appearing in a<html:br/> +category, and an atomic form <that/> always appearing<html:br/> +in a template. Often we can use <that/> to find<html:br/> +an opportunity to create a category with <that></that>.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +One of the default replies to the input "WHY" is<html:br/> +"<that/>"? Why? This default produces the following<html:br/> +dialogue fragment:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Robot: Do not ask me any more questions please.<html:br/> +Client: WHY<html:br/> +Robot: "Do not ask me any more questions please"? Why?<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The botmaster notices the fragment and creates the<html:br/> +new AIML category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHY</pattern><html:br/> +<that>DO NOT ASK ME ANY MORE QUESTIONS PLEASE</that><html:br/> +<template>Because I would rather talk about you.</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Now the next client who asks "WHY" to the robot's<html:br/> +request will active the new <that> category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Robot: Do not ask me any more questions please.<html:br/> +Client: WHY<html:br/> +Robot: Because I would rather talk about you.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +This style of conversational analysis does not<html:br/> +presuppose that we know when the client will<html:br/> +say "WHY"; rather it looks backward to identify<html:br/> +cases where the "WHY" appeared following one<html:br/> +of the robot's statements. Having identified<html:br/> +the conversation point, the botmaster creates<html:br/> +the new category.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I USE THE LT TOPIC GT TAG</pattern><template> +<html:br/> + The concept is that the botmaster uses the <settopic> tags to set <html:br/> +the current topic being discussed. Once the topic is set, when <html:br/> +the client types in a statement for ALICE to find a response for, <html:br/> +the categories defined within the <topic> tags matching the <html:br/> +current topic will be searched first-- before any of the non-<html:br/> +topic categories, or the default categories. If there is not a <html:br/> +matching category defined in the current topic, then any <html:br/> +categories that are not defined in topic tags are searched. As <html:br/> +mentioned before, you can create categories with identical <html:br/> +<pattern> phrases in different topics, each with different <html:br/> +responses that cater to the current topic.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +An proof of concept example:<html:br/> +A very useful topic entry might be the default "*" input for <html:br/> +specific topics. If ALICE were set up on a pet store web site <html:br/> +and a person was talking to ALICE about dogs, a useful entry <html:br/> +might be:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<topic name="DOGS"><html:br/> +<html:br/> + <category><html:br/> + <pattern> * </pattern><html:br/> + <template><html:br/> + <random><html:br/> + <li> Dogs are one of the most popular pets to have.</li><html:br/> + <li> Have you ever met a Chihuahua you didn't like?</li><html:br/> + <li> What else do you know about dogs? </li><html:br/> + <li> Do you have any questions about dogs? </li><html:br/> + </random><html:br/> + </template><html:br/> + </category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +//more dog categories....<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</topic><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Normally there would be many entries in a topic, but in this <html:br/> +example, we simply entered the default "*". In this case, if the <html:br/> +person said something that ALICE didn't have a specific <html:br/> +programmed response for, she could still respond intelligently <html:br/> +within the current topic. (Note: this is all assuming there are <html:br/> +existing categories that might set the current topic to "DOGS")<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Also, though topics can only have one name, they can contain the <html:br/> +wild characters "*" or "_" just like a pattern. Also, while <html:br/> +sticking with the pattern criteria, only one wildcard character <html:br/> +is allowed per name. This would allow topics like "CARING FOR <html:br/> +DOGS" or "GROOMING DOGS" to also fall into the "_ DOGS" topic. <html:br/> +As with patterns, the more specific topics would gain preference <html:br/> +over the wildcarded topic. This means that if the topic is <html:br/> +currently "GROOMING DOGS" and yet there is not a programmed <html:br/> +response for the input in that category, then "_ DOGS" would be <html:br/> +checked, and then next the default categories.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DO I USE THE PRONOUN TAGS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The guiding principle in creating content is dialogue analysis.<html:br/> +The principle applies to pronouns like "it", "he" and "we". This<html:br/> +example shows how a couple of tricks helps us find places where<html:br/> +the pronoun tags improve the dialogue.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: HELLO<html:br/> +Robot: Hi there!<html:br/> +Client: HOW ARE YOU<html:br/> +Robot: I am functioning within normal parameters.<html:br/> +Client: I AM BROKE<html:br/> +Robot: Do you mean your name is broke.<html:br/> +Client: NO I HAVE NO MONEY<html:br/> +Robot: I see. Would you like to have it?<html:br/> +Client: YES<html:br/> +Robot: "Would you like to have it"? Yes?<html:br/> +<html:br/> +One of the default responses to a YES pattern is <html:br/> +"<that/>?" Yes?<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The conversation breaks down somewhat at this point, but<html:br/> +the robot nonetheless conveys an illusion of understanding<html:br/> +the client's response. With its response, the robot is really <html:br/> +telling the botmaster to create a new "YES" reply specific <html:br/> +to this situation:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>YES</pattern><that>WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE IT</that><html:br/> +<template>Where do you usually get <get_it/>?</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Now the next time we run the dialogue it ends with:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: NO I HAVE NO MONEY<html:br/> +Robot: I see. Would you like to have it?<html:br/> +Client: YES<html:br/> +Robot: Where do you usually get money?<html:br/> +<html:br/> +There is no automated technique to finding the conversation<html:br/> +points where the pronoun tags improve the flow of conversation.<html:br/> +This is the "art" of AIML programming. The example shown here<html:br/> +with '"<that/>?" Yes?' exemplifies one approach to finding these<html:br/> +conversation way points. There are no doubt countless other<html:br/> +tricks like this, and the field is wide open to linguists and <html:br/> +writers to help us uncover them.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES ALICE KEEP TRACK OF CONVERSATIONS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Originally ALICE used IP addresses to keep track of clients.<html:br/> +Assuming that everyone chatting with ALICE has a fixed IP<html:br/> +address, at least for the duration of their conversation,<html:br/> +this technique works successfully. Each IP address is a key<html:br/> +into a hashtable (or database) that stores the client's<html:br/> +dialogue, name, and values of pronouns and other AIML values.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Unfortunately, many clients have "dynamic IP addressing" enforced<html:br/> +by their ISP provider. AOL and MS WebTV are two notorious examples: <html:br/> +each successive client transaction appears to come from a different<html:br/> +host. For this reason, program B uses a form of "virtual IP"<html:br/> +addressing to track dialogues. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The form in index.html (and the ALICE home page) contains a<html:br/> +tag that creates a "hidden" parameter called "virtual" with<html:br/> +an initial value of "none." The server assigns a unique name<html:br/> +to the value of "virtual", which then becomes a hidden variable<html:br/> +in the client's HTML form. Each successive client transaction<html:br/> +contains this virtual IP address; the server uses it as a key<html:br/> +to index the conversation.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES ALICE REMEMBER CLIENTS BETWEEN SESSIONS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The persistence of memory in ALICE is inherited from<html:br/> +the Java Properties class. The program B class Classifier<html:br/> +saves the client name, age, location and other properties<html:br/> +in a set of Properties lists. These Properties inherit<html:br/> +the Java load and store methods. Program B uses the load<html:br/> +and store methods to save the client properties in a set of<html:br/> +files with names ip_name.txt, ip_age.txt, ip_location.txt <html:br/> +and so on. If these files become too large or bothersome,<html:br/> +there is no harm deleting or editing them, or moving them<html:br/> +to another directory. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The Applet requires no memory of the client properties, because<html:br/> +the applet has only the one client, and in any case remains in <html:br/> +memory (at least for the lifetime of the client's browser cache).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES PROGRAM B WORK</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The basic loop of program B is to accept an input,<html:br/> +either from the GUI or from the Web, to<html:br/> +preprocess that input and segment it into sentences,<html:br/> +and, for each sentence, to find the best match among<html:br/> +the patterns, and to return the corresponding reply.<html:br/> +Each reply is itself an AIML template, in effect a mini-<html:br/> +program that tells program B how to construct the reply.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The algorithm is thus divided into a matching phase<html:br/> +and a response evaluation phase. In fact these two<html:br/> +phases interleave, because the response may evoke<html:br/> +a recursive call to the pattern matcher with the<html:br/> +<srai> or <sr/> tags. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES THE APPLET DIFFER FROM THE APPLICATION</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The Applet runs on the client's computer; the server runs<html:br/> +on your host machine. The applet has fewer privileges and<html:br/> +therefore a simpler user interface than the Application,<html:br/> +which uses menus and buttons to control server-side functions.<html:br/> +The Applet may reside on any web server, such as one provided<html:br/> +with an ISP account, but the application requires a 24/7<html:br/> +connection to the Web. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Internally, the primary difference between the two programs<html:br/> +is that the Applet handles only one client conversation, <html:br/> +while the application processes multiple client connections<html:br/> +simultaneously. The Applet also suppresses all HTML (and any<html:br/> +other XML) from the client response.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES THE APPLET WORK</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Program B supports the creation of both server-side and client-side <html:br/> +chat robots. The server runs as a thread in program B. The <html:br/> +client-side version is supported by an applet called Blet.java.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The Applet Blet.java runs ALICE in a web browser, or with <html:br/> +the Java tool appletviewer. The file "index.html" contains an<html:br/> +example of the HTML Applet tag syntax needed to start<html:br/> +the Applet. The command "appletviewer index.html" will start the<html:br/> +Applet.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +You also have to create the file "index.html" and change the<html:br/> +default value of the parameters "codebase" and<html:br/> +"applethost" serve the Applet from your location.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES THE LT CONDITION GT TAG WORK</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +This category illustrates the function of the<html:br/> +(template-side) condition tag. The input pattern<html:br/> +is "TEST COND":<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>TEST COND</pattern><html:br/> +<template><html:br/> +This category has two condition statements.<br><html:br/> +The first is activated when you are on the host machine:<br><html:br/> +<condition name="ip" value="LOCALHOST"><html:br/> +You are the true botmaster.<br><html:br/> +</condition><html:br/> +The second condition is activated when you claim to<html:br/> +be the botmaster.<br><html:br/> +<condition name="name" value="* WALLACE"><html:br/> +Imposter! You are not my real botmaster.<br><html:br/> +</condition><html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Two dialogues from different hosts show two<html:br/> +possible outputs of this category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +--------------------dialup.mindspring.com--------------<html:br/> +Client: MY NAME IS DR WALLACE.<html:br/> +Robot: OK I will call you Dr Wallace.<html:br/> +Client: TEST COND.<html:br/> +Robot: This category has two condition statements. <html:br/> +The first is activated when you are on the host machine:<html:br/> +The second condition is activated when you claim to be the botmaster.<html:br/> +Imposter! You are not my real botmaster. <html:br/> +That concludes our test of the condition tag.<html:br/> +---------------------localhost-------------------------<html:br/> +Client: TEST COND.<html:br/> +Robot: This category has two condition statements. <html:br/> +The first is activated when you are on the host machine:<html:br/> +You are the true botmaster.<html:br/> +The second condition is activated when you claim to be the botmaster.<html:br/> +That concludes our test of the condition tag.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Note:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +1. There may be multiple <condition> tags in the<html:br/> +<template>. [But nesting doesn't work yet.]<html:br/> +<html:br/> +2. The predname must be one of: it, ip, he, she, age,<html:br/> +name, topic, gender, location, or one of the custom predicates<html:br/> +defined in predicates.txt<html:br/> +<html:br/> +3. The value string may contain an AIML pattern with up to<html:br/> +one wild-card "*" symbol.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +4. The test for the <condtion> being true uses <html:br/> +Unifier.unify() to compare the stored predicate value<html:br/> +with the value string. This is the same way<html:br/> +<that> and <topic> work.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +5. If the test returns true, then the response contains<html:br/> +whatever is inside the <condition>...</condition> tags,<html:br/> +otherwise those contents are blanked.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES THE PERSONALITY WIZARD WORK</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The simplest way to alter the content of the basic ALICE<html:br/> +robot personality is to run the Personality Wizard on<html:br/> +the "Options" menu (or in the Kid interface). <html:br/> +This wizard asks the botmaster a series<html:br/> +of questions to set the values of a set of robot<html:br/> +personality tags including its name, gender, preferences<html:br/> +and replies to very common questions.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The Personality Wizard does not create any new AIML<html:br/> +categories. The replies set the value of global tags<html:br/> +like <location/> and <favorite_movie/> that might be<html:br/> +used in many categories throughout the AIML knowledge<html:br/> +base. The basic set of Wizard questions are collected<html:br/> +in the file Personality.aiml. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Hint: If you plan to use the Applet, avoid the double-quote (")<html:br/> +character in the Personality Wizard.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES THE RANDOM FUNCTION WORK</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The random function is (so far) the only AIML method<html:br/> +with a list argument. Its purpose is random selection<html:br/> +of one of a set of text items. In "old-style" AIML the<html:br/> +text appendage operator "+" also served as a list-item<html:br/> +marker. In XML style we use the HTML <li> list-item<html:br/> +tag. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +<random> <li>X1</li><li>X2</li> </random> Say one of X1 or X2 randomly<html:br/> +<random><li>A</li><li>B</li><li>C</li></random> Say one of A, B or C randomly<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The <random> tag has higher precedence than other AIML tags.<html:br/> +Moreover, the AIML parser interprets only the markup inside<html:br/> +the selected random list item. AIML tags inside other list items<html:br/> +are ignored.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW DOES THE WEB SERVER WORK</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +By default the web server starts on port 2001. This means you can<html:br/> +access the web server through the URL http://localhost:2001 on<html:br/> +your own machine. Find out your IP address or DNS name and tell<html:br/> +your friends to connect to "http://yourcompany.com:2001".<html:br/> +(One way to find out your IP address is by running "netstat -n"<html:br/> +to view all your open TCP/IP connections).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW MUCH MEMORY DO I NEED TO RUN PROGRAM B</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The source code compresses to as little as half a megabyte, including<html:br/> +all the AIML files for nearly 16,000 categories. You may have downloaded<html:br/> +a file of only around 500K. Plan to use a minimum 10 MB of hard disk space<html:br/> +for the download directory. The hard disk requirements include not<html:br/> +only the source code and Java class files, but also the dialogue files<html:br/> +and other temporary files created by the robot.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The RAM requirements vary depending on the size of your robot.<html:br/> +To run the fully loaded ALICE chat robot with 16,000 categories<html:br/> +you will need 64MB of memory. To do this and anything else at<html:br/> +the same time on your system we recommend a minimum of 96MB. <html:br/> +With less memory you can load a smaller robot. See the question<html:br/> +below "What is <load filename="X"/>?"<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>HOW RECURSIVE IS AIML</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Understanding recursion is important to understanding AIML.<html:br/> +"Recursion" means applying the same solution over and over<html:br/> +again, to smaller and smaller problems, until you reduce<html:br/> +the problem to its simplest form. AIML uses the tags<html:br/> +<sr/> and <srai> to implement recursion. The botmaster<html:br/> +uses these tags to tell the robot how to respond to a<html:br/> +complex sentence by breaking it down into the responses<html:br/> +to simpler ones. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Recursion can apply many times to a single input. Given<html:br/> +the normalized input:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +ALICE CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT LINUX IS RIGHT NOW <html:br/> +<html:br/> +an AIML category with the pattern "_ RIGHT NOW" matches first,<html:br/> +reducing the input to:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +ALICE CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT LINUX IS<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Another pattern ("<name/> *") reduces it to:<html:br/> + <html:br/> +CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT LINUX IS<html:br/> +<html:br/> +And then:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +PLEASE TELL ME WHAT LINUX IS <html:br/> +<html:br/> +reduces to:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +TELL ME WHAT LINUX IS<html:br/> +<html:br/> +and finally to:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +WHAT IS LINUX<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>I AM STILL HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE APPLET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If your applet is looking at Blet.aiml and your web space is at <html:br/> +www.myplace.org and your aiml files are in dirctory /alice/ then<html:br/> +your load statements in Blet.aiml would look similar to this:<html:br/> +<load url="http://www.myplace.org/alice/Atomic.aiml"><html:br/> +<html:br/> +If this is what you have, then open up the "Java Console" window<html:br/> +in your browser to get whatever debugging information is coming<html:br/> +out. The Java console will display any error messages or<html:br/> +exceptions caught by program B. Please report these<html:br/> +errors to the ALICE and AIML mailing list at<html:br/> +alicebot.listbot.com.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>I STILL DO NOT GET IT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Here is another example that might help clarify<html:br/> +the meaning of the pronoun "it." <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The category with the pattern "DO YOU LIKE *" is<html:br/> +a kind of default category for a whole class of<html:br/> +inputs matching "Do you like X?", when the<html:br/> +input does not match a category with a more specific <html:br/> +pattern like "DO YOU LIKE CATS". No matter what the <html:br/> +client says, we want the robot to remember that <html:br/> +"it" stands for "X". <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Many inputs activate this default category, so<html:br/> +the botmaster tries to create a variety of replies<html:br/> +using the <random> tag twice. One interesting<html:br/> +side-effect of the random tag is the evaluation<html:br/> +of all AIML inside the <random>...</random><html:br/> +expression, whether the random function selects<html:br/> +the list item containing the markup or not. <html:br/> +So if one item happens to contain a <set_it><html:br/> +tag then the program will remember "it",<html:br/> +even if the actual random reply is a different item.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>DO YOU LIKE *</pattern><html:br/> +<template><random><html:br/> +<li>I don't know if I like <set_it><person/></set_it>. </li><html:br/> +<li>I've heard other people say they like that. </li><html:br/> +<li>Some people like it. </li><html:br/> +<li>How old are you? </li><html:br/> +<li>Do you like it? </li><html:br/> +</random><html:br/> +<random><html:br/> +<li><for_fun/>. </li><html:br/> +<li>I like pets. </li><html:br/> +<li>I love horses. </li><html:br/> +<li>I like trains. </li><html:br/> +<li>But I like cats. </li><html:br/> +<li>I really like ELIZA. </li><html:br/> +<li>But I like to gossip. </li><html:br/> +<li>I like science fiction. </li><html:br/> +<li>Though I like cats and dogs. </li><html:br/> +<li>My favorite thing is robots. </li><html:br/> +<li>I love TV shows about robots. </li><html:br/> +<li>But I think airplanes are cool. </li><html:br/> +<li>I like to talk about movies and music. </li><html:br/> +</random><html:br/> +</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +In the "DO YOU LIKE *" category one list item<html:br/> +<html:br/> +I don't know if I like <set_it><person/></set_it>. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +results in the pronoun "it" being bound to the value<html:br/> +of "*", rewritten in third person. With this category,<html:br/> +the robot has the following dialogue:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: Do you like Dr. Who<html:br/> +Robot: How old are you? I like to make new friends.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The robot response is a combination of two random<html:br/> +selections. But as a side effect, the pronoun value<html:br/> +of "it" is now set to "Dr. Who". <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: It is a TV programme<html:br/> +Robot: Dr. Who is a TV programme. I suppose that makes sense.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +To generate the final response, the robot applied its category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>IT IS A *</pattern><html:br/> +<template><get_it/> is a <person/>. I suppose that makes sense.</template><html:br/> +</category> <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The robot is correct that the reply does indeed make sense. Does<html:br/> +this example suggest that in our human mind "it" is just a temporary<html:br/> +storage register for a fragment of text? <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Extra credit: In the dialogue fragment above, why did the robot say <html:br/> +"I like to make new friends"?<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>I TRIED RUNNING JAVA B AND I GOT A BAD COMMAND OR FILE NAME</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +You are using a Windows/DOS setup. If "jview B" does not work either,<html:br/> +you may need to install Java on your computer. Go to java.sun.com <html:br/> +and pick the one for your computer (Windows 95/98 or NT).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If it still says "bad command" then possibly there is a problem with<html:br/> +the CLASSPATH variable in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Make sure it is set to<html:br/> +something like<html:br/> +SET CLASSPATH=.;%CLASSPATH%<html:br/> +(The single "." means the current working directory)<html:br/> +and make sure the PATH is set to include the java home directory:<html:br/> +SET PATH=c:\JDK1.2\bin;%PATH%<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>I TRIED TO COMPILE PRORGAM B AND GOT A LOT OF WARNINGS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The designers of Java and the designers of ALICE disagree<html:br/> +on one stylistic point: Java designers believe in the<html:br/> +"one file-one class" philosophy, at least for classes<html:br/> +used outside their own source file. The ALICE engineers<html:br/> +follow the opposite "one file-many classes" design principle,<html:br/> +which allows us to group a number of logically related classes<html:br/> +in a single file, such as Classifier.java. The Java compiler<html:br/> +might complain about a class used outside its file, but<html:br/> +these messages are just warnings.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If you don't want to see the compiler warnings, run the<html:br/> +compiler with the "-nowarn" flag:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +javac -nowarn *.java<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>IS THERE A WAY TO USE THE GUI INTERFACE TO ADD ONE CATEGORY AT A TIME</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Yes. Do a "clear". Type in one category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHO IS JOHN</pattern><html:br/> +<template>He is a really smart guy.</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Now do a "Add AIML". If you like the result, do a "Save Robot".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If your name is not John, try replacing JOHN with<html:br/> +your own name. Notice that the pattern is in all upper case.<html:br/> +This is called "normalized form". We store patterns this way<html:br/> +for efficiency. The template on the other hand consists of<html:br/> +mixed case. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +You can also create a file of AIML, do a cut & paste, and then "Add AIML"<html:br/> +to add more categories. Editing the source file directly is of course also<html:br/> +useful. If you edit the source file, select "Load Robot" to load it.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Try creating a text file with the category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHO IS JOHN WANG</pattern><html:br/> +<template><html:br/> +<random><html:br/> +<li>He is a really smart guy.</li><html:br/> +<li><set_he>John Wang</set_he> is a great father.</li><html:br/> +</random><html:br/> +</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Load the file into program B with the "File/Load Text File" <html:br/> +menu item. Then select "Add AIML" from the Botmaster menu.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>LIST TWELVE BASIC APPLET TIPS FOR AIML USERS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +1. Applets are notoriously hard to debug; you are not dumb.<html:br/> +2. An applet can work perfectly well in Appletviewer, but<html:br/> +then break in the browser, for any number of reasons.<html:br/> +3. Let's get the terminology straight: the applet resides on<html:br/> +an "originating host" but runs on a "target machine".<html:br/> +4. The browser is very picky because of the "security<html:br/> +sandbox"--the browser doesn't trust Applets so they can't<html:br/> +open files (and obey other restrictions) on the target machine.<html:br/> +5. The Applet MAY open a socket connection from the<html:br/> +target machine to the originating host.<html:br/> +6. When you are debugging the applet, the target machine<html:br/> +might be the same as the originating host (your computer).<html:br/> +7. When you post your applet to a remote web server,<html:br/> +that server becomes the originating host.<html:br/> +8. You can use ftp to transfer the Applet files to the<html:br/> +remote web server.<html:br/> +9. You must transfer ALL the applet's files <html:br/> +to the originating host.<html:br/> +10. You must change the program B values of "CodeBase"<html:br/> +and "AppletHost" (the originating host) to the name and<html:br/> +location of the files on the remote server.<html:br/> +11. Use "Create applet" to create the "index.html" and<html:br/> +"Blet.aiml" (make sure you have the latest release of B.zip)<html:br/> +12. We recommend placing all the *.class files into<html:br/> +a single "Blet.jar" file (see DON'T READ ME).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>LOWER LOWER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If you need even lower level access to the program B robot, <html:br/> +you can request responses to individual sentences on a <html:br/> +line-by-line basis. Inside multiline_response() there are <html:br/> +calls to the Classifier.respond() method like:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +String response = respond(norm, hname);<html:br/> +<html:br/> +where "norm" is a normalized single-sentence input and hname is<html:br/> +the virtual IP address of the client. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Inside respond() we find the the method respondIndex(). The<html:br/> +base class StringSet stores the strings in an indexed vector,<html:br/> +and respondIndex() locates the index of the best matched category<html:br/> +for the normalized input string.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The loop inside respondIndex() scans through the categories<html:br/> +in reverse alphabetical order by key, until it finds the best<html:br/> +match. Because the "*" pattern comes first in alphabetical<html:br/> +order, and is the most general pattern, respondIndex() will<html:br/> +return zero when no more specific category matches.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT ARE 7 STEPS TO CREATING CONTENT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +1. Run program B (ALICE Botmaster)<html:br/> +<html:br/> +2. Under "Options", select "Show Options". <html:br/> +Find the item called "AnalysisFile=" and<html:br/> +change the value to the name of the dialogue<html:br/> +file you want to analyze. The default file<html:br/> +name is the same as the default log file<html:br/> +name, "dialog.txt".<html:br/> + <html:br/> +3. Press the "Classify" button. Wait<html:br/> +several minutes while the program processes<html:br/> +the data from your log file. When finished<html:br/> +it will display a "brain activation" table<html:br/> +showing the patterns that activated each<html:br/> +category. (You can use "File/Save As Text File"<html:br/> +to save this table to a file, if you want).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +4. Now press the "Quick Targets" button.<html:br/> +You will see a set of new categories created<html:br/> +by the program. These are categories with<html:br/> +patterns that have no specific response in the<html:br/> +robot brain. With these categories you have <html:br/> +3 choices (A, B or C):<html:br/> +<html:br/> +(A) Delete the category. Many of the suggested<html:br/> +categories are just nonsense or garbage inputs.<html:br/> +Use your cursor and left mouse button to select <html:br/> +the categories for deletion. <html:br/> +The "delete" key will cut them.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +(B) Edit a new template. The information you<html:br/> +see displayed in the <template> tags is actually<html:br/> +the pattern of the default category into which<html:br/> +this input was classified. For example you may see:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHO IS 007</pattern><template>WHO IS *</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +This tells us that the robot classified the client "WHO IS 007"<html:br/> +as "WHO IS *". Use the cursor and left mouse button<html:br/> +to cut the "WHO IS *", and replace it with a new template<html:br/> +of your own design:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHO IS 007</pattern><html:br/> +<template><set_he>007</set_he> is James Bond, the<html:br/> +famous fictional spy from the novels of Ian Fleming.<html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +(C) Edit a new pattern. Many of the patterns<html:br/> +suggested by "Quick Targets" and "More Targets" are<html:br/> +too specific, but with a little practise you<html:br/> +can easily see how to generalize these suggestions<html:br/> +with the "*" wild-card.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +For example you may see one like this:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHO BOMBED PEARL HARBOR</pattern><html:br/> +<template>WHO *</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The original response was based on "WHO *", which<html:br/> +is too general for this topic. But the odds<html:br/> +are small of anyone else using this exact pattern <html:br/> +WHO BOMBED PEARL HARBOR when asking about the<html:br/> +same topic. Think about the alternative ways<html:br/> +of expressing the same question: <html:br/> +"Who attacked Pearl Harbor?", "Who invaded Pearl<html:br/> +Harbor?", "Who through deceit and subterfuge<html:br/> +carried out an unscrupulous and unprovoked suprise<html:br/> +attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor?"<html:br/> +You can cover all of these inputs by generalizing<html:br/> +the input pattern with the wild-card "*",<html:br/> +which matches any word or sequence of words:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHO * PERAL HARBOR</pattern><html:br/> +<template>The Japanase <html:br/> +attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,<html:br/> +"A day that will live in infamy" (FDR). <html:br/> +<A href="http://www.pearlharbor.org">...<html:br/> +</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Remember, the AIML pattern language allows<html:br/> +at most one wild-card "*" per pattern.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Of course, with choice (C) you have to<html:br/> +edit the template as well as the pattern. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +5. When finished with editing the suggested categories,<html:br/> +use "Botmaster - Add AIML" to add the new AIML content.<html:br/> +If you made any syntax errors, you can fix them<html:br/> +and repeat the "Add AIML" as many times as needed.<html:br/> +Be sure to do a "File - Save Robot" at this point<html:br/> +also to back up your changes. This will save all of<html:br/> +your new categories in the root robot file<html:br/> +"B.aiml". <html:br/> +<html:br/> +6. Use "More Targets" to find more new categories<html:br/> +until the new suggestions are fruitless. Then, go<html:br/> +back and start with "Classify" again (step [3]). <html:br/> +<html:br/> +7. The responses you create should be a combination<html:br/> +of a "conversational" response like "He is James<html:br/> +Bond, the famous spy" and also provide some HTML<html:br/> +hyperlinks where appropriate. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT ARE ALL THE OPTIONS FOR PROGRAM B</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +There are robot personality options, animated agent options,<html:br/> +log file and analysis options, and options for the web server<html:br/> +and for the applet. Most of the time you won't need to change<html:br/> +many of these values. For completeness, the entire set<html:br/> +breaks down into:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Robot options:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Sign - Astrological sign<html:br/> +Wear - clothing and apparel<html:br/> +ForFun - What the robot does for fun<html:br/> +BotFile - Root file of robot personality<html:br/> +BotName - Robot name<html:br/> +Friends - The robot's friends<html:br/> +LookLike - The robot appearance<html:br/> +Question - A random question<html:br/> +TalkAbout - favorite subjects<html:br/> +KindMusic - Favorite kind of music<html:br/> +BoyFriend - Does the robot have a boyfriend?<html:br/> +BotMaster - Robot author<html:br/> +BotGender - male, female or custom<html:br/> +GirlFriend - Does the robot have a girlfriend?<html:br/> +BotLocation - Robot location<html:br/> +BotBirthday - Robot activation date<html:br/> +FavoriteBook - Robot's favorite book<html:br/> +FavoriteFood - Robot's favorite food<html:br/> +FavoriteSong - Robot's favorite song<html:br/> +FavoriteBand - Robot's favorite band<html:br/> +FavoriteMovie - Robot's favorite movie<html:br/> +FavoriteColor - Robot's favorite color<html:br/> +BotBirthplace - Robot's birthplace<html:br/> +<html:br/> +MS Agent options:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Animagent - true or false for activating MS Agent VB scripting<html:br/> +ACFURL - file or URL location of MS Agent software<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Log/Analysis options:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +AnalysisFile - file selected for log file analysis<html:br/> +LogFile - file for recording robot dialogues<html:br/> +ClientLineContains - a pattern identifying input lines in logfiles<html:br/> +RobotLineStarts - a pattern identifying robot lines in logfiles<html:br/> +StartLine - starting line for analysis<html:br/> +EndLine - ending line for log file analysis<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Applet options:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +AppletHost - DNS name or IP address of applet's server.<html:br/> +CodeBase - URL or directory of applet code.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Web server options:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +ClerkTimeout - Web server option to retire waiting clerks<html:br/> +BrainSize - a threshold number of categories to display "loading"<html:br/> +Advertize - a boolean parameter to optionally display ad<html:br/> +Beep - Web server option to beep on client connections<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Other:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Version - read only version number<html:br/> +TempFile - scratch file for temporary data<html:br/> +MergePolicy - 'Merge' or 'Discard' depending on how you <html:br/> + want to handle duplicate key categories.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +All of the options reside in the globals.txt file. Running<html:br/> +program B, choose "Options/Show Options" to see the<html:br/> +contents of the file.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT ARE DEPRECATED APIS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +One of the biggest challenges facing a Java application<html:br/> +developer is finding a "lowest common denominator" subset of the<html:br/> +Java language that works on all the platforms and versions<html:br/> +out there. The Java language itself is a moving target.<html:br/> +When Sun's Java designers upgrade the language they sometimes<html:br/> +declare certain methods "deprecated", which means absolutely<html:br/> +nothing except that the designers have developed a newer, "better"<html:br/> +method and one day these older methods may disappear from<html:br/> +the language. Usually however the latest Java releases<html:br/> +support all of the old deprecated methods.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT ARE JUSTTHAT AND JUSTBEFORETHAT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +<beforethat/>, <justthat/> and <justbeforethat/> are new, experimental<html:br/> +AIML tags. The idea here is to represent more "state" in the dialogue<html:br/> +than just "that":<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: BeforeThat.<html:br/> +Robot: ...JustBeforeThat.<html:br/> +Client: JustThat.<html:br/> +Robot: ...That. <html:br/> +Client: Input. <html:br/> +Robot: <justthat/> = JustThat <html:br/> + <justbeforethat/> = JustBeforeThat<html:br/> + <beforethat/> = BeforeThat<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The following dialogue fragment illustrates the use of these tags:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: MY NAME IS RICH.<html:br/> +Robot: Rich, are you my master?<html:br/> +Client: YES.<html:br/> +Robot: Tell me more.<html:br/> +Client: JUST THAT.<html:br/> +Robot: "my name is rich" [<justthat/>]<html:br/> +Client: JUST BEFORE THAT.<html:br/> +Robot: "Tell me more" [<justbeforethat/>]<html:br/> +Client: BEFORE THAT.<html:br/> +Robot: "Yes" [<beforethat/>]<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +There is an asymmetry between the client's tags (<beforethat/> and <justthat/>)<html:br/> +and the robot's tags (<justbeforethat/> and <that/>). The Responder<html:br/> +breaks down each multiple-line client input into individual sentences.<html:br/> +The log file records each client input sentence individually, and shows<html:br/> +the robot's reponses line by line. The robot, on the other hand, may<html:br/> +respond to a single input sentences with multiple response sentences.<html:br/> +The <that/> and <justbeforethat/> tags refer to only the last sentence<html:br/> +in the robot's reply. The client tags <beforethat/> and <justthat/> always<html:br/> +refer to the current and previous client input lines, even if they were<html:br/> +part of a multiline input. In the descriptive dialogue above <html:br/> +we used the notation "Client: BeforeThat." and "Robot: ...JustBeforeThat.",<html:br/> +with ellipses representing sentences in the robot reply, to emphasize<html:br/> +the asymmetry. If all the robot responses consisted of exactly one <html:br/> +sentence each, the asymmetry would disappear.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +In the future we may expand AIML categories to include such<html:br/> +"deeper context", along the lines of the <that>...</that> tag,<html:br/> +if there is a need for it.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT ARE THE GET METHODS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Get methods are logically atomic tags, i.e. they enclose no text.<html:br/> +(similar to say <P> or <IMG> in HTML). But XML requires closing tags.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +All the "get" methods retrieve values stored relative<html:br/> +to a particular client IP address. We use<html:br/> +hash tables to store the maps from IP to these attributes.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<get_ip/> Get the client's IP address<html:br/> +<getsize/> A string indicating robot memory size<html:br/> +<getversion/> The ALICE program version<html:br/> +<getname/> client's name<html:br/> +<get name="topic"/> The "topic" of conversation<html:br/> +<name/> Robot's name<html:br/> +<location/> Robot's location<html:br/> +<gender/> Robot's gender<html:br/> +<birthday/> Robot's birthday<html:br/> +<that/> what robot said previously<html:br/> +<get_location/> the client's geographic location<html:br/> +<get_it/> the value of "it"<html:br/> +<get_they/> the value of "they"<html:br/> +<get_he/> the value of "he"<html:br/> +<get_she/> the value of "she"<html:br/> +<get_we/> the value of "we"<html:br/> +<get_gender/> a string like "she" or "he" for client gender<html:br/> +<html:br/> +In XML languages there is always a tradeoff between creating attributes<html:br/> +and creating new tags. The get methods are really all special instances<html:br/> +of a more general <get attribute="name">, for example<html:br/> +<get_we/> = <get attribute="we"/><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The attributes with explicit "get" names (getname, get_it, get_we etc.)<html:br/> +are client-specific properties. The other attributes (e.g. <name/> and<html:br/> +<botmaster/>) relate to the robot. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT ARE THE SET METHODS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Set methods consist of single-tag and double-tag markup. The<html:br/> +methods<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<set_male/> the client gender is male<html:br/> +<set_female/> the client gender is female<html:br/> +<set_animagent/> activates the animation agent. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<setname> X </setname> sets the client name to X<html:br/> +<settopic> X </settopic> sets the topic to X<html:br/> +<set_it> X </set_it> sets the value of "it" to X <html:br/> +<set_location> X </set_location> sets the value of client location<html:br/> +<set_they> X </set_they> sets the value of "they" to X <html:br/> +<set_he> X </set_he> sets the value of "he" to X <html:br/> +<set_she> X </set_she> sets the value of "she" to X <html:br/> +<set_we> X </set_we> sets the value of "we" to X <html:br/> +<html:br/> +<set_thought> X </set_thought> is a custom tag suggested by Andrew <html:br/> +Potgieter for storing a predicate for "what are you thinking about?" <html:br/> +See the documentation on custom tags and the predicates.txt file.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THE COMMAND JAVA B</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +This does not mean you mean click on an icon. If you are using Windows,<html:br/> +you must use a DOS window to run a Java program. Find the MS-DOS item<html:br/> +on your start menu or desktop and open up a DOS window. In that window, use<html:br/> +the DOS commands CD (change directory) to move to the "B" directory. <html:br/> +Then type "java B" to run the program.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If you are using windows, then you can create a desktop icon <html:br/> +as a "shortcut" to a batch file. Create a batch file called<html:br/> +"launch.bat" in the program B directory. The file contains only<html:br/> +one line with the text "java B". There is an AIML icon file<html:br/> +included with program B called "aiml.ico". You can use this<html:br/> +file to add an icon to your desktop. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES CLASSIFY DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The key to chat robot development is log file analysis. The program<html:br/> +stores client dialogues in a file called "dialog.txt" (unless you<html:br/> +change this default name). The "Classify" button activates a routine<html:br/> +that scans the dialogue file and reports how many times each<html:br/> +category is activated. The processing may take several minutes,<html:br/> +depending on the size and range of the dialogue file chosen. The<html:br/> +result appears as a table in the Edit View window. The program<html:br/> +displays the categories sorted by activation count. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The format of each output line is:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +P% (Q%) T PATTERN = N1 W1 + N2 W2 + ...<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Where<html:br/> +<html:br/> +P = Percent of inputs classified in this category<html:br/> +Q = Cumulative percent up to this category<html:br/> +T = Total count of inputs activating this category<html:br/> +Ni = number of times input Wi detected (blank if Ni = 1)<html:br/> +Wi = normalized input pattern activating this category<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES CLEAR DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +To enter another robot query, clear the screen with the "Clear"<html:br/> +button. Enter a new String like "How are you?" and press "Say."<html:br/> +<html:br/> +"Send" and "Clear" provide a simple way to communicate with the<html:br/> +chat bot through the Edit View. Try cutting and pasting a paragraph,<html:br/> +such as an e-mail message, into the Edit View and press "Send". <html:br/> +See how the robot would reply to your multiline message.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES HELP DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The "Help" button displays a random FAQ question that ALICE<html:br/> +knows the answer to. You can see the answer by pressing the<html:br/> +"Send" button.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The Help menu provides the same function as the Help button<html:br/> +under the selection "Random Help Question." Select a random<html:br/> +Help question and obtain the reply with the "Send" button.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The Help menu also contains an item to Show All Help Questions.<html:br/> +This command lists all the FAQ questions the robot knows. You can<html:br/> +select one question by deleting the others. Obtain the<html:br/> +answer with the "Send" button.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The menu item "Ask Help Question" is the same as "Send". This<html:br/> +item asks the robot the Help question(s), and displays the reply.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The Help menu displays the entire FAQ with the "Don't Read Me"<html:br/> +selection. Finally, the "GNU Public License" menu items displays<html:br/> +the open source software license for program B.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES MORE TARGETS DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If you don't see enough good targets with "Quick Targets", hit<html:br/> +"More Targets." <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES QUICK TARGETS DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +After running Classify, the Quick Targets button displays a set of<html:br/> +new AIML categories for editing. The program uses statistics to<html:br/> +find new category candidates. These categories are displayed as<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern> NEW PATTERN </pattern> <template> OLD PATTERN </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +where OLD PATTERN is the pattern from the original category and<html:br/> +NEW PATTERN is the proposed new input pattern.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The botmaster may choose to either delete or edit the new category.<html:br/> +If the new category is not desired, delete it by selecting the<html:br/> +category from the text area and "cut" the text with the "delete"<html:br/> +key.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If the new category appears useful, edit the OLD PATTERN string to<html:br/> +create a new reply. Optionally, the NEW PATTERN may also be edited,<html:br/> +depending on how specific a pattern the botmaster desires.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +When finished editing the Target categories, go to the "Botmaster"<html:br/> +menu and select "Add AIML". The "Add AIML" menu item will read the<html:br/> +text displayed in the Edit View and parse it into new AIML categories.<html:br/> +The botmaster may then save the updated robot with the "File/Save Robot"<html:br/> +or "File/Save Robot As" menu items.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES SEND DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Type a text string like "hello" into the Text Area <html:br/> +(Edit View) and press the "Send" button. Notice that program B<html:br/> +replaces the text in the Edit View with a reply from the robot.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES THE EDIT MENU DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> + Paste contents of clipboard into the program B text area.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES THE FILE MENU DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> + Save and load text files (transfer contents to/from text area);<html:br/> + <html:br/> + Save and load robot (AIML) files.<html:br/> + 1. By default, AIML files use the .aiml file extension.<html:br/> + 2. The default robot file is called "B.aiml"<html:br/> + 3. By default the robot files reside in the same directory as<html:br/> + program B<html:br/> + 4. Robot files begin and end with the tags <alice> and </alice><html:br/> + 5. "Save Robot" overwrites the default robot file (see 2).<html:br/> + 6. "Save Robot As" can be used to copy a robot.<html:br/> +<html:br/> + Exit - exit the program<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT DOES THE OPTIONS MENU DO</pattern><template> +<html:br/> + Display and save chat robot options.<html:br/> + Use start and end index to select a range of lines<html:br/> + from the dialog file.<html:br/> +<html:br/> + Toggle Beep - Make a sound when a remote client connects.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT FILES ARE NEEDED TO RUN THE PROGRAM B WEB SERVER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The program B directory must contain the HTML files header.html,<html:br/> +trailer.html, loading.html and HOME.html. You can customize these files for<html:br/> +your bot, but take care with "header" and "trailer" because<html:br/> +program B uses these files to construct an HTML reply <html:br/> +(by inserting the robot reply and the text form between the <html:br/> +"header" and the "trailer"). Use "header" and "trailer" to<html:br/> +customize the robot with your own logo and links.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Program B needs at least one AIML file, usually called B.aiml<html:br/> +by default. The AIML file may contain <load> tags that recursively<html:br/> +load other AIML files; these must also be present.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The program also requires the file "globals.txt"<html:br/> +which it reads at start up. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The files "language.txt" and "predicates.txt" are option.<html:br/> +"language.txt" controls the language of the buttons and<html:br/> +menu items in the program B GUI. The file "predicates.txt"<html:br/> +defines any custom predicates.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Program B also reads the files "gnu.txt" (the GNU Public License)<html:br/> +and "dont.txt" (this file). <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT FILES DO I NEED TO RUN THE APPLET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +You only need the java *.class files and the *.aiml files<html:br/> +to run the ALICE Applet, no more files are necessary. <html:br/> +You can also put all the class files in a single jar<html:br/> +file like Blet.jar. The sample index.html provided with the ALICE <html:br/> +distribution uses this Blet.jar file. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Not all of the Java source files are involved in the Applet.<html:br/> +You can use the following command to compile all the Java source<html:br/> +files needed for the Applet:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +javac Access.java Globals.java StringFile.java Substituter.java \<html:br/> + Classifier.java Loader.java Animagent.java Log.java Blet.java<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Then, you can use zip (or jar) to collect the class files into<html:br/> +a single jar file:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +zip -r Blet.jar *.class <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The *.class will include all the class files you compiled. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The *.aiml files have to be on the same host that serves the Applet. An applet<html:br/> +can only open files on the server it originated from.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Don't forget to change the Applet host parameters in index.html, when<html:br/> +you upload the applet to an ISP.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT HAPPENS TO CONTRACTIONS AND PUNCTUATION</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Program B has a class called Substituter that performs a number<html:br/> +of grammatical and syntactical substitutions on strings. <html:br/> +One task involves preprocessing sentences to remove ambiguous<html:br/> +punctuation to prepare the input for segmentation into individual<html:br/> +sentence phrases. Another task expands all contractions and<html:br/> +coverts all letters to upper case; this process is called<html:br/> +"normalization". <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The Substituter class also performs some spelling correction.<html:br/> +(See also the question "What is <person/>?")<html:br/> +<html:br/> +One justification for removing all punctuation from inputs<html:br/> +is the need to make ALICE compatible with speech input systems,<html:br/> +which of course do not detect punctuation (unless the speaker<html:br/> +utters the actual word for the punctuation mark -- "period").<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IF I DO NOT WANT TO DISCARD DUPLICATE CATEGORIES</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Using the global parameter MergePolicy, you can choose<html:br/> +to either "Merge" or "Discard" templates with duplicate keys.<html:br/> +If you choose the "Merge" option then the program applies a <html:br/> +heuristic to try to merge the two responses together with<html:br/> +a "<random>" tag. The results of this operation may be<html:br/> +unpredictable, so the program logs all duplicates in a file<html:br/> +called "duplicates.txt".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The heuristic merge works as follows: Suppose X and Y are the two<html:br/> +templates to merge into a new template Z. Let X be the new template<html:br/> +and Y the existing one. Assume that X and Y are either <random> <html:br/> +lists or "atomic", in the sense that they contain no <random> tags.<html:br/> +If X and Y are both "atomic" then Z = <random><li>X</li><li>Y</li></random>. <html:br/> +If Y is a <random> list atomic then the program checks to see if X is<html:br/> +already a member of that list, to avoid duplicate list items. Otherwise,<html:br/> +Z = the <random> list from Y with X inserted. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS A CATEGORY</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +AIML consists of a list of statements called categories. Each<html:br/> +category contains an input pattern and a reply template. <html:br/> +The syntax of an AIML category is:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern> PATTERN </pattern> <template> Template </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +or<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern> PATTERN </pattern><html:br/> +<that> THAT </that><html:br/> +<template> Template </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The AIML category tags are case-sensitive. Each open tag has an<html:br/> +associated closing tag. This syntax obviously derives from XML.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS A PATTERN</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The pattern is the "stimulus" or "input" part of the category.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The pattern is an expression in a formal language that consists of<html:br/> +(1) Words of natural language in UPPER CASE.<html:br/> +(2) The symbol * which matches any sequence of one or more words.<html:br/> +(3) The symbol _ which is the same as * except that it comes<html:br/> + after Z in lexicographic order.<html:br/> +(4) The markup <name/> which is replaced at robot load time <html:br/> + with the name of the robot.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Note there is a difference between the patterns HELLO and HELLO *.<html:br/> +HELLO matches only identical one-word sentences ("Hello.") <html:br/> +and HELLO * matches any sentence of two or more words starting <html:br/> +with "Hello" ("Hello how are you?"). <html:br/> +<html:br/> +To simplify pattern description and matching, AIML patterns allow<html:br/> +only one "*" per pattern. In other words, "MY NAME IS *" is a<html:br/> +valid pattern, but "* AND *" is not.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS A SYMBOLIC REDUCTION</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +In general there are a lot of categories whose job is<html:br/> +"symbolic reduction". The category:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>ARE YOU VERY *</pattern><html:br/> +<template><srai>ARE YOU <star/></srai></template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +This category [in Brain.aiml] will reduce "Are you very very smart"<html:br/> +to "Are you smart".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS A TEMPLATE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +A template is the "response" or "output" part of an AIML category.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The template is the formula for constructing the reply. The simplest<html:br/> +template consists of plain, unmarked text. AIML provides markup <html:br/> +functions to tailor the replies for each individual input and client. <html:br/> +The markup function <getname/> for example inserts the client's name <html:br/> +into the reply. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The template may call the pattern matcher recursively using the<html:br/> +<sr/> and <srai> tags. Many templates are simple symbolic <html:br/> +reductions that map one sentence form to another, for example<html:br/> +"Do you know what X is?" transforms to "What is X" with the category<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>DO YOU KNOW WHAT * IS</pattern><html:br/> +<template><srai>WHAT IS <star/> </srai></template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The template may also contain other embedded HTML and XML. <html:br/> +These embedded tags may cause the browser to play a sound,<html:br/> +show an image, or run an applet. There is considerable freedom<html:br/> +of expression in the construction of response templates. The<html:br/> +botmaster is encouraged to study the examples in ALICE, to and<html:br/> +experiment with new ideas.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS AIML</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The ALICE software implements AIML (Artificial Intelligence Markup <html:br/> +Language) a non-standard evolving markup language for creating chat robots.<html:br/> +The primary design feature of AIML is minimalism. Compared with<html:br/> +other chat robot languages, AIML is perhaps the simplest. The<html:br/> +pattern matching language is very simple, for example permitting<html:br/> +only one wild-card ('*') match character per pattern. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +AIML is an XML language, implying that it obeys certain grammatical<html:br/> +meta-rules. The choice of XML syntax permits integration with<html:br/> +other tools such as XML editors. Another motivation for XML is<html:br/> +its familiar look and feel, especially to people with HTML experience.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +An AIML chat robot begins and ends with the <alice> and<html:br/> +</alice> tags respectively. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS ARE THE LT PERSON GT TAGS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The <person> and <person2> tags indicate a place where the<html:br/> +AIML interpreter changes the personal pronouns in a sentence.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<person2> X </person2> change X from 1st to 2nd person<html:br/> +<person> X </person> exchange 1st and 3rd person<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<person2> is not often used. The main application is<html:br/> +"gossip":<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: I admire robots like you.<html:br/> +Robot: That's good information: Joe said he admire robots like me.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The transformation is a combination of:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +1. change the first person pronouns to second person.<html:br/> +2. change the third person pronouns to first person.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The array in Substituter.java is incomplete. We need more substitutions<html:br/> +to make person2 work really well.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The <person> substitution is much more common and easier<html:br/> +to understand, because it simply exchanges 1st and 3rd person<html:br/> +pronouns. The main issue with <person> in English is knowing<html:br/> +when to use "I" and when to use "me".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS ACCESS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Class Access is the abstraction for log file analysis to<html:br/> +extract dialogues. In a typical chat robot server scenario,<html:br/> +the program records each line of client input and the robot<html:br/> +reply in a log file. Given many simultaneous conversations,<html:br/> +these dialogues are interleaved in the log file. The purpose<html:br/> +of class Access is to unravel these conversations into<html:br/> +individual threads by client.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS ALICEREADER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +AliceReader is an efficient, small-footprint XML interpreter<html:br/> +hard coded by Kris Drent specifically for reading AIML categories. <html:br/> +Each category has a pattern, a template, and an optional topic and<html:br/> +thatpattern. AliceReader scans the AIML input and tries to<html:br/> +identify these fields as quickly as possible.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS B</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Class B is the old name for the Swing version of class Bawt, but<html:br/> +now just extends Bawt.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS BAWT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The class Bawt is the Java application, and implements the GUI.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS BLET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The Blet class is the applet, but is similar in many ways to the application.<html:br/> +The applet is a stripped down version of the program, with a simpler GUI<html:br/> +and no "botmaster" privileges. Also, the Blet class doesn't utilize the<html:br/> +web server, because it runs as a client-side applet.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS BRAIN</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Brain extends StringSorter, and uses StringRanker. The sorted<html:br/> +strings in the Brain class are keys formed by combining the<html:br/> +pattern, that, and topic strings. In the original versions<html:br/> +of ALICE, there were no "that" and no "topic" tags, so the<html:br/> +Brain class simply mapped input patterns to output templates.<html:br/> +With the addition of the "that" and "topic" tags we had to<html:br/> +create the "key" from the combination of all three.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The "Target" objects in class Brain are instances of StringRanker.<html:br/> +These structures form the basis of the classification and targeting<html:br/> +algorithms in program B. For each category, the Targetmap contains<html:br/> +an instance of StringRanker storing the inputs classified into<html:br/> +that category. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS CLASSIFIER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The class Classifier might as well be called "bot" because it contains<html:br/> +the basic functionality of the chatterbot algorithm. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +See the question "How can I interace my Java program to ALICE?" for<html:br/> +additional information about the class Classifier.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS DIALOGUE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +A Dialogue (not to be confused with a Dialog class!) is<html:br/> +the representation of the conversation between the client<html:br/> +and the robot. The basic data structure is a pair of String arrays<html:br/> +client_said[] and robot_said[] that store the alternating<html:br/> +statements of client and robot. The Dialogue also<html:br/> +encodes the length, hostname, and start and end tag<html:br/> +information.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS GLOBALS</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Globals is the repository for all of the botmaster-selectable<html:br/> +parameters in program B. The Globals class corresponds to<html:br/> +the "Options" menu on the program B menu bar. Globals contains<html:br/> +methods toFile() and fromFile() to make these values<html:br/> +persistent between sessions.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS INTSET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +IntSet represents a set of integers. Were we using Java<html:br/> +Collections this would likely be a Set, but the simple<html:br/> +requirements of program B allow us to create a simple<html:br/> +IntSet class.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +"Set" means that the object has only one occurance of each item:<html:br/> +{1, 4, 2, 9} is a set of integers; {1, 1, 2} is not.<html:br/> + <html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS KID</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Class Kid is a simplified graphical user interface, "easy enough<html:br/> +for kids" to run. Program Kid does not evoke program B, but the Kid<html:br/> +may be started from the program B options menu. The logic here<html:br/> +is that kids should be able to have conversations with the chat<html:br/> +robot, but parents may not want kids to start chat robot servers<html:br/> +(see Appendix B: Note to Parents).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Class Kid utilizes RobotCommunicator as its interface to the<html:br/> +chat robot. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS LINECLASSIFIER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +In the file Log.java you will find an Interface called LineProcessor<html:br/> +with one required method: process_line(). The LineProcessor<html:br/> +is the abstraction of an algorithm that reads a file one line at a time,<html:br/> +processes each line as a data record, and moves on to the next.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +LineClassifier implements LineProcessor because it reads lines<html:br/> +of text from the log file and identifies client input lines for<html:br/> +classification. What makes classification efficient is the way<html:br/> +LineClassifier stores the client lines in a SortedStringSet, called<html:br/> +Lines. Becuase the matching algorithm proiritizes the patterns<html:br/> +alphabetically, LineClassifier can classify an element from Lines<html:br/> +in O(1) time.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The code for LineClassifier is in Classifier.java.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS LOADER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Both the application and the applet use the Loader class to load the AIML<html:br/> +robot script. The Loader class extends Thread, and runs "in the background"<html:br/> +while the GUI and, in the case of the application, the web server start.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS PARSER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The Parser class is responsible for the evaluation of AIML<html:br/> +response templates. The method pfkh() [the Program Formerly<html:br/> +Known as Hello] is the heart of evaluation process. This<html:br/> +method contains the code for recognizing and processing<html:br/> +AIML template tags.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The Parser class does not parse all the AIML in the language<html:br/> +definition; it parses and evaluates only the templates at runtime.<html:br/> +Another class, AliceReader, has the job of reading the AIML files <html:br/> +at load time, and parsing the categories into topics, patterns and templates. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS ROBOTCOMMUNICATOR</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If you want to customize your own application or applet then<html:br/> +you might find RobotCommunicator is a useful class. The<html:br/> +RobotCommunicator abstracts the combination of a scrolling TextArea <html:br/> +output display with a TextField input area input field.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS SORTEDINTSET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The sorted version of IntSet, SortedIntSet maintains its<html:br/> +elements in a sorted array. Throughout program B you will<html:br/> +find many loops utilizing instances of SortedIntSet. These<html:br/> +objects provide an efficient means to locate items in<html:br/> +"rank order", the highest numbered items first and the<html:br/> +smallest numbers last. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS STRINGHISTOGRAMMER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +StringHistogrammer extends StringSet and contains a map from<html:br/> +each string to a count, usually indicating the number of times<html:br/> +that string appears in a sample of text. A histogram is<html:br/> +like a "bar graph" that counts occurances of each item. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS STRINGRANKER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Extending StringHistogrammer, StringRanker also sorts the <html:br/> +strings by the histogram count. The highest count string<html:br/> +is first, the next highest count second, and so on. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The concept of a StringRanker should be familiar to anyone<html:br/> +who has ranked people, companies or sports teams by any<html:br/> +number such as sales, market capitilization, or points scored.<html:br/> +One application for a StringRanker is determining the<html:br/> +"top 10 referers" in HTTP log file analysis (see<html:br/> +http://alicebot.org/mine.html). <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS STRINGSET</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The StringSet implements the abstract concept of a set of<html:br/> +strings, meaning that each string item appears at most once<html:br/> +in the setc. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The "set" means that the strings occur only once in instances<html:br/> +of object StringSet: {"this","that","another"} is a set of<html:br/> +strings; {"start","start","stop"} is not.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS STRINGSORTER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +StringSorter extends StringSet but enforces an alphabetical<html:br/> +ordering of the Strings. The StringSorter maintains its<html:br/> +data structure dynamically, so that the set remains sorted<html:br/> +after each item is added. Specifically, the StringSorter uses<html:br/> +a binary-search algorithm for fast String insertion. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS SUBSTITUTER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The static class Substituter contains a number of similar string substitution<html:br/> +methods useful at several points in program B.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Program B has the unique feature that it relies on HTTP GET methods,<html:br/> +rather than POST methods, to transmit chat inputs to the robot server.<html:br/> +HTTP inserts '+' characters in place of spaces, and applies a series of<html:br/> +substitutions to eliminate many characters. The static method cleanup_http()<html:br/> +undoes these substitutions and restores the input string to the form similar<html:br/> +to what the client originally typed.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The problem of segmenting strings into sentences is complicated by the<html:br/> +conventional use of periods to denote abbreviations like "Dr.", "Mr.",<html:br/> +and "St." The method deperiodize() applies a series of substitutions to<html:br/> +eliminate most common abbreviations. Like the other substitution methods<html:br/> +in this class, the deperiodize() method has an associated static data member<html:br/> +of class String[][2], which stores the substitution map.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The patterns in AIML are written in normalized form. The method normalize()<html:br/> +converts a string to normal form by the following steps:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +1. Remove all punctuation (inputs assumed to be individual sentences)<html:br/> +<html:br/> +2. Convert string to upper case<html:br/> +<html:br/> +3. Place exactly one space between words<html:br/> +<html:br/> +4. Expand all contractions<html:br/> +<html:br/> +5. Correct a few common spelling mistakes<html:br/> +<html:br/> +6. Return a "Trimmed" string<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The justification for removing all punctuation from text inputs<html:br/> +is explained by the need to make the chatterbot compatible with speech<html:br/> +inputs, which of course contains no punctuation.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS UNIFIER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Unification refers to the process of matching and binding. A unifier determines<html:br/> +whether two sentences match and, if so, what any 'variables' in the pattern<html:br/> +bind to. In the case of AIML the only matching variable is the single '*'<html:br/> +symbol. The Unifier class contains a 'star' data memeber to contain the<html:br/> +matched subsentence.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS CLASS WEBSERVER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The WebSever class implements a "faux" HTTP server, i.e. a server that<html:br/> +listens for HTTP connections and accepts them; then replies in properly<html:br/> +formatted HTML. The connecting client, typically a browser, cannot tell<html:br/> +the difference between the chat robot server and a full-blown web server.<html:br/> +In particular, our WebServer implements only HTTP GET methods, not POST<html:br/> +methods. Our WebServer class does not implement many of the other features <html:br/> +of ordinary web servers; although it is a multithreaded server.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS LT LOAD FILENAME X GT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The template may contain a <load/> tag to recursively load an AIML<html:br/> +file. The semantics of a load are the same as a merge: categories<html:br/> +loaded first have priority; the server eliminates categories with<html:br/> +duplicate patterns. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The default robot file B.aiml contains the top-level load commands.<html:br/> +There are several ways to "comment out" a <load> tag in order<html:br/> +to test your system with a smaller robot. You can change the<html:br/> +line reading <html:br/> +<load filename="Brain.aiml"/><html:br/> +to <html:br/> +<noload filename="Brain.aiml"/><html:br/> +and the AIML parser will simply ignore the non-existent "noload"<html:br/> +command.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS LT STAR GT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The <star> tag indicates the input text fragment matching the pattern '*'.<html:br/> +Remember, <star/> is an XML abbreviation for <star></star>.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<star/> the value of "*" matched by the pattern.<html:br/> + <html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS LT THAT GT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The keyword "that" in ALICE refers to whatever the robot said before<html:br/> +a user input. Conceptually the choice of "that" comes from the<html:br/> +observation of the role of the word "that" in dialogue fragments like:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Robot: Today is yesterday.<html:br/> +Client: That makes no sense.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Robot: The answer is 3.14159<html:br/> +Client: That is cool.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +In AIML the syntax <that>...</that> permits an optional "ThatPattern"<html:br/> +to match the robot's "that" expression. A common example using "that"<html:br/> +is any yes-no question:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>YES</pattern><html:br/> +<that> DO YOU LIKE MOVIES </that><html:br/> +<template> What's your favorite movie? </template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +This category handles the user input "YES" and checks to see whether<html:br/> +the client is replying to the question "What's your favorite movie?".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +One interesting application of "that" are the categories that<html:br/> +enable a robot to respond to "knock-knock" jokes:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>KNOCK KNOCK</pattern><html:br/> +<template>Who's there?</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>*</pattern><html:br/> +<that>WHO IS THERE</that><html:br/> +<template><person/> Who?</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>*</pattern><html:br/> +<that>* WHO</that><html:br/> +<template>Ha ha very funny, <getname/></template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Client: KNOCK KNOCK<html:br/> +Robot: Who's there? <html:br/> +Client: BANANA<html:br/> +Robot: banana Who? <html:br/> +Client: KNOCK KNOCK<html:br/> +Robot: Who's there? <html:br/> +Client: BANANA<html:br/> +Robot: banana Who? <html:br/> +Client: KNOCK KNOCK<html:br/> +Robot: Who's there? <html:br/> +Client: ORANGE<html:br/> +Robot: orange Who? <html:br/> +Client: ORANGE YOU GLAD I DID NOT SAY BANANA<html:br/> +Robot: Ha ha very funny, Aol-person <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS LT THINK GT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The simple purpose of the <think> X </think> tag pair is<html:br/> +to evaluate the AIML expression X, but "nullify" or hide<html:br/> +the result from the client reply.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +A simple example:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>I AM FEMALE</pattern><html:br/> +<template>Thanks for telling me your gender. <think><set_female/></think><html:br/> +</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The <set_female/> tag normally returns a string like "she". But the<html:br/> +<think> tag hides the text output of <set_female/> from the reply,<html:br/> +which contains only the text:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Thanks for telling me your gender. <html:br/> + <html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS NEW IN AIML</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +AIML is changing. The original tag syntax was changed<html:br/> +into XML. Right now, AIML uses XML syntax for the<html:br/> +categories, patterns, "that" patterns and templates, but inside the <html:br/> +<template> tag you may still see the original +~ syntax in a few places. <html:br/> +But this will change soon. For completeness program B<html:br/> +supports both versions.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The biggest change between the old AIML and the new<html:br/> +XML version of AIML is the elimination of the "+"<html:br/> +character to stand for string appendage. The change<html:br/> +is of little concern except in the implementation of<html:br/> +<random>, discussed at length below.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The old AIML used a tilde (~) markup character to<html:br/> +indicate the start of an AIML token. The XML version<html:br/> +naturally uses an SGML type tag syntax instead.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +XML tags, unlike HTML, are case-sensitive. Moreover, XML syntax<html:br/> +requires a closing tag of some kind. The "empty" tags that contain<html:br/> +no text, like <A></A> in HTML, are written like <A/> in XML.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS ON THE HELP MENU</pattern><template> +<html:br/> + Random Help - Same as "Help" button.<html:br/> +<html:br/> + Show Help Questions - Displays a list of all FAQ questions. Select<html:br/> + one by deleting all the others. Obtain the answer with "Send." <html:br/> +<html:br/> + Don't Read Me - Display the text of this document.<html:br/> +<html:br/> + GNU Public License - Display the software license.<html:br/> + <html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS PROGRAM BAWT</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Significant demand for a version of ALICE compatible with<html:br/> +pre- Java 2 (formerly known as Java 1.2) prompted the<html:br/> +development of "Bawt.java", an open source java program<html:br/> +for chat robot development that works with older versions of<html:br/> +Java, and AWT. Originally program B relied on <html:br/> +Java 2 and Swing, but program Bawt needs only Java 1.1 and AWT.<html:br/> +Swing is a newer GUI package that subsumes the earlier Java <html:br/> +Abstract Windows Toolkit (AWT).<html:br/> +<html:br/> +At present class B merely extends class Bawt. Swing not<html:br/> +supported.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE BOTMASTER MENU</pattern><template> +<html:br/> + The Botmaster menu contains all the tools to help develop chat robots.<html:br/> +<html:br/> + Classify - same as Classify button<html:br/> +<html:br/> + Default Targets - display targets obtained from<html:br/> + the Default ('*') category,<html:br/> + in a format suitable for <html:br/> + quick conversion to new AIML.<html:br/> +<html:br/> + Recursive Targets - display targets from "recursive" categories,<html:br/> + i.e. categories with a template containing<html:br/> + the AIML <sr/> or <srai/> functions.<html:br/> +<html:br/> + Autochat - The robot chats with herself; sometimes helpful<html:br/> + in detecting conversation "loops".<html:br/> +<html:br/> + Add AIML - Clear the screen and type a line of AIML. Selecting<html:br/> + "Add AIML" adds this new category to the chatbot. You can<html:br/> + test the bot with "Send" and "Classify", then save it with<html:br/> + "File/Save Robot".<html:br/> + <html:br/> + In general you can add any number of new AIML categories<html:br/> + to the bot with "Add AIML." <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE CLASS STRUCTURE OF PROGRAM B</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The core functionality of program B resides in the file<html:br/> +Classifier.java. In that file, you find a class hierarchy<html:br/> +from "String" to "Brain" and finally "Classifier." <html:br/> +A branch in that hierarchy contains classes for histogramming<html:br/> +and ranking. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The first branch of the class hierarchy derives class Brain<html:br/> +from StringSorter, extending StringSet. The second branch<html:br/> +extends StringSet to StringHistogrammer and on to StringRanker.<html:br/> +The final class Brain extends StringSet and uses StringRanker.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN B AND C</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +AIML is a platform-independent, language-independent specification<html:br/> +for creating chat robots like ALICE. The original AIML interpreter<html:br/> +ran in SETL. The next one developed was program B, the Java program<html:br/> +which is the subject of this document. Most recently new threads<html:br/> +of C/C++ development have led to "program C", actually a collection<html:br/> +of C/C++ programs and applications including Cgi-ALICE, IRC-ALICE and<html:br/> +WinALICE. See the web sites http://c.alicebot.com and<html:br/> +http://hippie.alicebot.com for more details. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Program B remains the most stable, general purpose chat robot<html:br/> +program in the AIML family. This Java implementation has been<html:br/> +subject to intense peer review over a period of years, evolving<html:br/> +into a remarkably bug-free, efficient and reabable piece of<html:br/> +software.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE DTD FOR AIML</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Real XML fanatics know that because AIML is an XML language it<html:br/> +must have something called a DTD (Document Template Descriptor).<html:br/> +The DTD is a formal specification of the grammar for an XML language.<html:br/> +Unless you are using special XML tools to work on your AIML or<html:br/> +developing your own parser for AIML, you probably do not need to know <html:br/> +much about the DTD.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +Our DTD reflects the current content of the *.aiml files that program B can <html:br/> +actually parse. The DTD will become more general as the parser<html:br/> +improves. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Rather than reproduce the entire DTD here, in order to shorten the<html:br/> +length of this document, we refer the reader to<html:br/> +the A.L.I.C.E. XML page by John Friedman. The URL for the AIML<html:br/> +DTD may be found on the page at http://XML.ALICEBot.Com. <html:br/> +The full URL for the DTD is <html:br/> +http://xml.alicebot.com/xml/aiml/alice.dtd<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE GOAL FOR AIML</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +AIML (Artificial Intelligence Markup Language) is an XML specification<html:br/> +for programming chat robots like ALICE using program B. The emphasis<html:br/> +in the language design is minimalism. The simplicity of AIML makes<html:br/> +it easy for non-programmers, especially those who already know HTML, <html:br/> +to get started writing chat robots.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +One ambitious goal for AIML is that, if a number of people create their own<html:br/> +robots, each with a unique area of expertise, program B can literally <html:br/> +merge-sort them together into a Superbot, automatically omitting <html:br/> +duplicate categories. We offer the both the source code and the ALICE <html:br/> +content, in order to encourage others will "open source" their chat <html:br/> +robots as well, to contribute to the Superbot. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +Botmasters are also of course free to copy protect private chat robots.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE LOW LEVEL INTERFACE TO PROGRAM B</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +If you require only a graphical interface, try using the<html:br/> +class RobotCommunicator. Depending on your application,<html:br/> +you may also try the Servlet interface or the applet. <html:br/> +Some developers however may want lower-level access to the<html:br/> +chat robot functions.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The class Classifier in Classifier.java contains the low-level <html:br/> +methods needed to interface directly to ALICE. "Classifier" might <html:br/> +as well be called "Bot" because more than any other class, <html:br/> +it handles those functions most unique to the chat robot.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The method Classifier.multiline_response() is a key entry point <html:br/> +into the conversation engine. The "multiline" in <html:br/> +"multiline_response" means that the input may contain <html:br/> +multiple "lines" or sentences. The first argument "query" to<html:br/> +multiline_response is the input. The second argument "hname" is <html:br/> +the virtual IP address of the client. The third and last argument<html:br/> +is the class implementing the Responder interface.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +If the input string contains "Sentence1. Sentence2? Sentence3." <html:br/> +then multiline_response might produce:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +> Sentence1.<html:br/> +Reply1<html:br/> +> Sentence2<html:br/> +Reply2<html:br/> +> Sentence3<html:br/> +Reply3<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The method multiline_response hides all of the details <html:br/> +of sentence segmentation, responding to each input line individually, <html:br/> +and formatting the output. In particular multiline_response() <html:br/> +may or may not append the VBScript needed to drive the MS<html:br/> +Agent output, depending on whether the global MS Agent parameter is set.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The argument "hname" is a key that indexes the client's conversation. For<html:br/> +the interface you need this can probably always be "localhost" or some<html:br/> +other constant. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE LT PERSON GT TAG</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The XML specification requires that every start tag such as<html:br/> +<person> be followed by a matching end tag like </person>. <html:br/> +HTML is more relaxed about this requirement, exemplified by<html:br/> +the liberal use of the <IMG> tag without a corresponding </IMG>.<html:br/> +XML supports a shorthand notation for the "atomic" tags.<html:br/> +The <star/> tag is an example of a shorthand AIML tag. <html:br/> +<person/> is another example:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<person/> = <person><star/></person><html:br/> +<html:br/> +This tag replaces the +~person(*)+ tag in old-style AIML.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE LT PERSON2 GT TAG</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +This tag is an abbreviation:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<person2/> = <person2><star/></person2><html:br/> +<html:br/> +See the FAQ question "What are the <person> tags?" for more<html:br/> +information about <person2/>.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE LT PERSONF GT TAG</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The value of <personf/> (a "formatted" personal pronoun transformation)<html:br/> +is shown by the example <html:br/> +<html:br/> +<category><html:br/> +<pattern>WHAT IS A *</pattern><html:br/> +<template><html:br/> +What does <html:br/> +<A HREF="http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=<personf/>"> <html:br/> +<set_it> <person/> </set_it> <html:br/> +</A> mean? <BR> <html:br/> +Or Ask Jeeves: <html:br/> +<A HREF="http://www.ask.com/AskJeeves.asp?ask=WHAT%20IS%20A%20<personf/>"><html:br/> +What is a <person/>?<html:br/> +</A><html:br/> +</template><html:br/> +</category><html:br/> +<html:br/> +The search strings formatted for the Webster Dictionary and for<html:br/> +the Ask.com search engine utilize <personf/>. The effect is the<html:br/> +same as <person/>, but the formatting inserts an escaped "%20" in<html:br/> +places of the spaces returned by <person/>. These escape sequences<html:br/> +permit the HTTP GET methods to transmit multiple-word queries. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE LT SRAI GT TAG</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The recursive function <srai> stands for<html:br/> +"Stimulus-Response artificial intelligence" and means<html:br/> +that the text between the tags should be sent recursively<html:br/> +to the pattern matcher and the result interpreted.<html:br/> +The resulting text replaces the original text in the markup.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<srai> X </srai> calls the pattern matcher recursively on X.<html:br/> +<sr/> recursive call to chat robot<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<sr/> abbreviates <srai> <star/> </srai><html:br/> +<html:br/> +Note: what happens if X contains AIML markup? Does the interpreter<html:br/> +do "lazy evaluation"? Look at the source code and examine the<html:br/> +method pfkh(), the Program Formerly Known as "Hello".<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE LT TOPIC GT TAG</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +1. <topic> allows ALICE to prefer responses that deal with the <html:br/> +topic currently being discussed. This creates topical <html:br/> +conversation, yet still has the ability to move from one subject <html:br/> +to another.<html:br/> +2. <topic> allows ALICE to have duplicate patterns in different <html:br/> +contexts (topics) allowing ALICE to have different responses to <html:br/> +the same input patterns depending on the topic. For example, <html:br/> +"overriding" the " * " pattern for different topics. (I'll give <html:br/> +an example with this.)<html:br/> +3. As always, you can still use the <get name="topic"/> tag to refer to <html:br/> +the topic in your output statements (templates).<html:br/> +4. As always, you can add topics on top of all your existing AIML <html:br/> +to keep your bot's current personality. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE RESPONDER INTERFACE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +Developed to meet the needs of multiple ALICE<html:br/> +application scenarios, the Responder interface<html:br/> +simplifies the code in class Classifier for<html:br/> +natural language queries. The Responder defines<html:br/> +an interface with four members:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +pre_process() : runs any initialization first.<html:br/> +log() : tells how to log the conversation.<html:br/> +append() : how to append response lines together.<html:br/> +post_process() : runs after response loop finishes.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +The method Classifier.multiline_response() calls<html:br/> +all of the Responder methods. See the next<html:br/> +question ("What is the low-level interface?")<html:br/> +for more information about multiline_response(). <html:br/> +At least five classes implement the Responder<html:br/> +interface:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +GUIResponder: the program B GUI uses this.<html:br/> +HTMLResponder: a class for Web Server HTML replies.<html:br/> +RobotResponder: this class used by RobotCommunicator<html:br/> +CustomResponder: a template for more Responder classes.<html:br/> +AppletResponder: the Applet code uses this class.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +These classes all handle special circumstances<html:br/> +for the various Responder types: for example,<html:br/> +HTMLResponder appends the client input to each<html:br/> +response; GUIResponder does not. AppletResponder<html:br/> +logs the dialogue through a network URL connection;<html:br/> +all other classes write to a local file. RobotResponder,<html:br/> +used by the Kid interface, suppresses all the HTML<html:br/> +from robot replies; while HTMLResponder passes<html:br/> +them through. HTMLResponder also runs the optional<html:br/> +Animagent class to create the MS Agent VB Script.<html:br/> +Text-based Responder classes wrap the text; HTMLResponder<html:br/> +need not wrap because the browser handles text formatting.<html:br/> +The Responder interface addresses this wide variety of needs.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS THE THEORY BEHIND ALICE</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +I used to say that there was NO theory behind ALICE: no neural network,<html:br/> +no knowledge representation, no search, no fuzzy logic, no genetic<html:br/> +algorithms, and no parsing. Then I discovered there was a theory<html:br/> +circulating in applied AI called "Case-Based Reasoning" or CBR that<html:br/> +maps well onto the ALICE algorithm. Another term, borrowed from<html:br/> +pattern recognition, is "nearest-neighbor classification." <html:br/> +<html:br/> +The CBR "cases" are the categories in AIML. The algorithm finds<html:br/> +best-matching pattern for each input. The category ties the<html:br/> +response template directly to the stimulus pattern. ALICE is<html:br/> +conceptually not much more complicated that Weizenbaum's ELIZA <html:br/> +chat robot; the main differences are the much larger case base and the<html:br/> +tools for creating new content by dialog analysis.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +ALICE is also part of the tradition of "minimalist", "reactive" or<html:br/> +"stimulus-response" robotics. Mobile robots work best, fastest and<html:br/> +demonstrate the most animated, realistic behavior when their sensory <html:br/> +inputs directly control the motor reactions. Higher-level symbolic<html:br/> +processing, search, and planning, tends to slow down the process <html:br/> +too much for realistic applications, even with the fastest control<html:br/> +computers. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHAT IS XML</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +David Bacon pronounces it "Eggsmell". XML is the Extensible<html:br/> +Markup Language. Like many "standards" in computer science, XML<html:br/> +is a moving target. In the simplest terms, XML is just a generalized<html:br/> +version of HTML. Anyone is free to define new XML tags, which<html:br/> +look like HTML tags, and assign to them any meaning, within a context.<html:br/> +AIML is an example of using the XML standard to define a specialized<html:br/> +language for artificial intelligence. <html:br/> +<html:br/> +One reason to use an XML language is that there are numerous tools<html:br/> +to edit and manipulate XML format files. Another reason is that an<html:br/> +XML language is easy for people to learn, if they are already<html:br/> +familiar with HTML. Third, AIML programs contain a mixture of<html:br/> +AIML and HTML (and in principle other XML languages), a considerable <html:br/> +convenience for programming web chat robots.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +A good resource for information on XML is www.oasis-open.org.<html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHERE DOES THE LT TOPIC GT TAG APPEAR</pattern><template> +<html:br/> + Topic tags are placed around one or more categories. (Usually <html:br/> +many.) The categories (with each respective "pattern", "that", <html:br/> +and "template") within a set of <topic> </topic> tags would be <html:br/> +associated with the defined topic. The name of the topic would be <html:br/> +given by a "name" property in the beginning topic tag. Here would <html:br/> +be the full AIML format with topic:<html:br/> +<html:br/> +<alice> <html:br/> + <html:br/> + <topic name="THE TOPIC"> <html:br/> +<html:br/> + <category> <html:br/> + <pattern> phrase </pattern> <html:br/> + <that> phrase </that> <html:br/> + <template> phrase </template> <html:br/> + </category> <html:br/> +<html:br/> + </topic> <html:br/> +<html:br/> +</alice><html:br/> +<html:br/> +</template> +</category> +<category> +<pattern>WHO IS THE BOTMASTER</pattern><template> +<html:br/> +The botmaster is you, the master of your chat robot. A botmaster runs<html:br/> +program B and creates or modifies a chat robot with the program's<html:br/> +graphical user interface (GUI). +</template> +</category> +</aiml> |