AIML Basic Tags

What is AIML?

AIML stands for Artificial Intelligence Markup Language which is a XML-based scripting language for creating rule-based chatbots or virtual assistants. It uses a pattern-matching mechanism to determine the appropriate response based on the input.

Basic tags in AIML:

The following are the basic tags used in AIML:

1. <aiml>: The purpose of the `<aiml>` tag is to encapsulate the entire AIML document.

Syntax:

<aiml>
   <!-- The content of the document -->
</aiml>

2. <pattern>: The purpose of the `<pattern>` tag is to hold the input that the chatbot will respond to.

Syntax:

<aiml>
   <pattern>...</pattern>
</aiml>

3. <template>: The purpose of the `<template>` tag is to hold the response that the chatbot will generate based on the input pattern.

Syntax:

<aiml>
   <pattern>...</pattern>
   <template>...</template>
</aiml>

4. <category>: The purpose of the `<category>` tag is to represent a rule of category combining pattern and template.

Syntax:

<aiml>
  <category>
    <pattern>...pattern>
    <template>...</template>
  <category>
</aiml>

Example: Let’s take a look at an example that can help us understand how the tags mentioned above work. For instance, we can examine an XML-based script for creating a bot that responds to the input “Hey! What is the capital of India?” with “New Delhi“.

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<aiml>
  <category>
    <pattern>Hey! What is the captial of India?</pattern>
    <template>New Delhi</template>
  </category>
</aiml>

Output:

5. <random> and <li>: The purpose of the `<random>` tag is to allow the chatbot to reply with any of the provided list of options each enclosed in the `<li>` tag.

Syntax:

<random>
   <li>...</li>
   <li>...</li>
</random>   

Example:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<aiml>
  <category>
    <pattern>Suggest me an odd number</pattern>
    <template>
        <random>
            <li>1</li>
            <li>3</li>
            <li>5</li>
        </random>
    </template>
</category>
</aiml>

Output:

6. <that>: The purpose of <that> is to refer to previous response of the chatbot. The <that> is followed by <pattern> tag of the current category.

Syntax:

<aiml>
   <category>
      <pattern>...</pattern>
      <template>...response1...</template>
   </category>
   <category>
      <pattern>...</pattern>
      <that>...response1...</that>
      <template>...</template>
   </category>
</aiml>

Example:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<aiml>
   <category>
      <pattern>Hey Good morning</pattern>
      <template>Good morning Geek</template>
   </category>
   <category>
      <pattern>I need your help</pattern>
      <that>Good morning Geek</that>
      <template>How can I help you</template>
   </category>
   <category>
      <pattern>I need your help</pattern>
      <template>I will try my best to help you</template>
   </category>
</aiml>

Output:

Explanation: When the user entered “I need your help” for the first time, based on the previous response of the bot i.e. “Good morning Geek” it reply with “How can I help you” and for the next time it responds with “I will try my best to help you” for the user’s input.

7. <star>: The purpose of the <star> is to match the wildcard segments with user’s input.

Syntax:

<aiml>
<category>
<pattern>*</pattern>
<template><star /></template>
</category>
</aiml>

Example:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<aiml>
    <category>
        <pattern>I want to know about *</pattern>
        <template>Please specify what do you want to know about <star/></template>
    </category>
</aiml>

Output:

Other useful tags in AIML:

These are the basic tags in AIML and there are many other useful tags like:

• <think>: The purpose of <think> is to process the input internally without generating intermediate results.
• <set>: The purpose of <set> is to assign and set a value to the variable, store and use in the program wherever needed.
• <condition>: The purpose of <condition> is to allow the bot to choose the specific response to the input based on the value of the variable.
• <get>: The purpose of <get> is to retrieve the value of the variable which has been set using <set>.
• <srai>: The purpose of <srai> is to invoke another category inside the current category.

Steps to execute your Bot:

Ensure that you sign-up to pandorabots for free.

• Create your bot and navigate to AIML folder in the folder structure and start writing your XML code in the udc file.

• Once you wrote the code, click on the chat option button on the right-bottom corner and start your conversation with your bot.