How to call a formflow dialog or a normal dialog from a QnAMakerDialog (FAQ type chatbot) at a certain condition on botbuilder-v3

Question

My situation is as below.

I am new to Bot-framework and making a chatbot that communicates with QnA-Maker type with KB services, and depending on the certain answer returning ,try to call or start a guided conversation through FormFlow . I'm using SDK-V3(C#.net) and QnAMakerDialog .

IS IT POSSIBLE TO CALL a formflow dialog from a QnAMakerDialog at a certain condition on botbuilder-v3?

Thanks

Answer 1

First thing: you should not be using SDK-V3 if you are starting now: use v4, which is generally available for a few months. v3 will not evolve in the future (apart from a few patches).

Then, have a look to the samples of v4 using QnA Maker, here: https://github.com/Microsoft/BotBuilder-Samples/blob/master/samples/csharp_dotnetcore/11.qnamaker/QnAMaker/QnABot.cs

In this sample, you can see that you can implement your logic in QnABot.cs:

public async Task OnTurnAsync(ITurnContext turnContext, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default(CancellationToken))
{
    // Handle Message activity type, which is the main activity type for shown within a conversational interface
    // Message activities may contain text, speech, interactive cards, and binary or unknown attachments.
    // see https://aka.ms/about-bot-activity-message to learn more about the message and other activity types
    if (turnContext.Activity.Type == ActivityTypes.Message)
    {
        // Check QnA Maker model
        var response = await _services.QnAServices[QnAMakerKey].GetAnswersAsync(turnContext);
        if (response != null && response.Length > 0)
        {
            // PUT YOUR LOGIC HERE
            //await turnContext.SendActivityAsync(response[0].Answer, cancellationToken: cancellationToken);
        }
        else
        {
            var msg = @"No QnA Maker answers were found. This example uses a QnA Maker Knowledge Base that focuses on smart light bulbs. 
                To see QnA Maker in action, ask the bot questions like 'Why won't it turn on?' or 'I need help'.";

            await turnContext.SendActivityAsync(msg, cancellationToken: cancellationToken);
        }
    }
    else if (turnContext.Activity.Type == ActivityTypes.ConversationUpdate)
    {
        if (turnContext.Activity.MembersAdded != null)
        {
            // Send a welcome message to the user and tell them what actions they may perform to use this bot
            await SendWelcomeMessageAsync(turnContext, cancellationToken);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        await turnContext.SendActivityAsync($"{turnContext.Activity.Type} event detected", cancellationToken: cancellationToken);
    }
}