gaga
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Gaga Gracious
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Post by gaga on Jan 25, 2010 9:26:01 GMT -5
I use Radegast which is a light text chat client written in java and used to access Second Life virtual world where I own a cluster of 3 simulators. Radegast has an ALICE bot plugin which turns my avatar into a bot if I activate the plugin. I have been using the avatar bot as a greeter and for fun but I decided to learn to edit the AIML files as I got more into using it. Of course Makeaiml is very useful for this but I got an idea for you to consider ;) As Radegast is in java and has the facility to take plugins I just wondered if you might consider making a Makeaiml plugin for Radegast, Grant? It just struck me as such a cool idea and having an AIML editor right inside the client where I can work and test would be fantastic :D Here is Radegast's address radegastclient.org/wp/Source code: svn checkout radegast.googlecode.comRadegast has quite a good user base so there is another reason to consider the idea. Fingers crossed!
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Post by Grant on Jan 27, 2010 20:55:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestion! I haven't used Radegast, but I will check it out and see how hard it will be to make a plugin. If I understand you correctly, it sounds like you want to be able to write MakeAiml code and translate it into AIML from within Radegast via the plugin. Is this correct? I see a lot of details that will need to be ironed out, mostly related to getting the AIML files onto your system so the bots can use them. It would be best to discuss that over email, so feel free to email me if you get a chance. In the meantime, I'll look into Radegest
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gaga
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Gaga Gracious
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Post by gaga on Jan 30, 2010 2:43:06 GMT -5
oh sorry, I made a boob Radegast is not programmed in java. It is C# So I guess that puts my request to rest but I still think it was a good idea to have the MakeAiml editor open in Radegast from a plugin. Thanks for responding, Grant.
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Post by Grant on Jan 30, 2010 11:21:15 GMT -5
C# can run MakeAiml since it is a command line application. I intentionally wrote the MakeAiml interface so it could be opened as a graphical application, or given options at the command line and run in a scripting environment (or called from another application).
If Radegast has a built-in plugin manager like many free to use applications do, then my job will be easier. If not, I will have to get the Redegast source code and merge the plugin into the code baseline (very involved).
Whoever owns the source code may not want my plugin unless I provide a generic plugin interface, too. Again that takes time...Good thing I know C#. Now that it's Friday I can finally look into doing this for you. I'll post back in a day or two with my findings.
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Post by Grant on Feb 1, 2010 21:38:26 GMT -5
All right, so it doesn't look like Radegast has a plugin manager...they're writing their 'plugins' as part of the source code and then distributing them as part of the Radegast package. I hate to say it, but to get MakeAiml into Radegast I'd have to become an active developer for Radegast. Without knowledge of Radegast or Second Life, I'm not a good candidate for the job. C# isn't hard to learn or write, so if you or someone who is actively developing Radegast wants to make a plugin for it to use MakeAiml, I can get a special build or interface for MakeAiml for you/them to use that will fit into the Radegast/MakeAiml plugin. I'll do what I can on my end of things, but I don't have the ability to take on writing source code for Radegast, sorry
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gaga
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Gaga Gracious
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Post by gaga on Feb 2, 2010 20:23:16 GMT -5
Okay Grant. Thanks for looking into it. It was a cool idea but some things are not meant to be. But, regardless, I can still use MakeAiml so no problem
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Post by Grant on Feb 5, 2010 16:30:40 GMT -5
Sorry to do this, but I ended up checking out the Radegast source code and began writing a MakeAiml plugin for it after I told you I wouldn't be able to do that... The plugin is simple enough to make so far, so I guess the only thing I need to know is what exactly you would want it to do? You mentioned earlier about bringing up a MakeAiml editor from within Radegast, but really any text editor is OK to use for editing MakeAiml files. Did you mean that you want to be able to compile MakeAiml files from within Radegast? Perhaps via the chat box? The Radegast plugin framework is good enough that a plugin could do pretty much anything you would ever want it to. The important thing is to really figure out what features you want. Sorry again about the answer I gave earlier, I couldn't just leave things at that
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gaga
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Gaga Gracious
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Post by gaga on Feb 9, 2010 22:06:24 GMT -5
I'm happy you gave it a second look, Grant. I guess I was thinking of compiling MakeAiml files from within Radegast for immediate testing. If an integrated MakeAiml editor appears from the plugin tab and I can select an existing file to edit from Radegast's set or create a new one and build from scratch and save it back so the bot can read it. So, yes, I am thinking the editor would be reading the post window or the MakeAiml post window when I type my text on the input window below. I don't know what the problems might be of course or if the way Radegast handles the bot makes it impossible so it's very much a stab in the dark for me. I just thought it might be a cool idea if I could actually teach the bot using a built in editor like MakeAiml to offer help and information to visitors to my Second Life simulator when no one is around. gaga @ metaverse-traveller.blogspot.com/I wrote a review of Radegast and mentioned MakeAiml on Chapter & Metaverse @ rock-vacirca.blogspot.com/2010/01/radegast-and-alice-bot.html
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Post by Grant on Feb 10, 2010 19:45:06 GMT -5
Thanks for mentioning MakeAiml in the blog!
I am writing the plugin to allow users to edit any text file from within Radegast, so both AIML and MakeAiml files can be edited at the same time. BUT, there is one last piece of information I need before I can finish the plugin. How do you upload and use new AIML files for your bots? Some chatbot engines I've used require the user to manually reload the files into the bots or reboot their system, so I'm expecting the plugin will have to perform the following steps:
1. Edit the MakeAiml file. 2. Compile it. 3. Load the new AIML file to your AIML server (wherever your files are hosted). 4. Tell your bot engine to reload the new file(s).
I've accomplished #1 and #2 in the plugin, and I still need to work on #3, but what do you think of #4? From your post, it sounds like Radegast handles loading the AIML files for you, but I'm not familiar enough with the program to know if that's the case. Does it load the chatbots when the program starts, or are your chatbots hosted on a server that talks directly to Second Life and you are using Radegast as an interface to both locations?
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gaga
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Gaga Gracious
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Post by gaga on Feb 12, 2010 6:12:59 GMT -5
Okay grant. I have attempted to directly change the AIML files which are stored on my own hard drive in the Radegast directory. There I save the text file after making the changes but Radegast dosen't seem to recognize the changes. So I guess something needs to happen like recompiling perhaps. I am a beginner with C# so I am not able to explain better. So, the chatbot starts up when I select it from the plugin tab and not when I start Radegast unless I had it selected already. If it is select from the last time used then it runs the bot right away. As far as I can tell, the bot is in my Radegast version on my hard drive and interacts with Second Life via the chat module. It's like this: I run Radegast and login to Second Life with one of my account aliases. I can then select the bot plugin from the Plugins tab. Now, when anyone says something and uses my name, the bot replies. If they IM my bot then they dont need to use my bot name and it replies. If I deselct the bot plugin then the bot is disabled. Even with the bot running I can, in fact, reply to someone too to influence the conversation. Radegast is based on libopenmetaverse @ lib.openmetaverse.org/wiki/Main_PageYou will find a lot of information about running bots in libopenmetaverse on that web site. I guess I was kind of hoping you would figure it out while developing the plugin Its not that I'm lazy. I just don't have the knowledge. I can see how it might work but, like I said, I am really groping in the dark
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gaga
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Gaga Gracious
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Post by gaga on Feb 12, 2010 14:10:56 GMT -5
The is a aiml folder in my Radegast directory on my hard drive.
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Post by Grant on Feb 12, 2010 19:01:14 GMT -5
Don't worry, the things I'm asking you don't relate to C# at all, they're just questions about how you typically run and manage your bot. I'm guessing now that you don't manage it, you just click a button and let the plugin do its thing. Your posts have been helpful and I'll try to get a first cut of the MakeAiml plugin to you sometime soon.
If you don't mind, I'll email you when I have a release candidate so you can test it to see if you like it before I make a public release.
BTW, are you using the version of Radegast you sent me a link to, or are you using Radegast and a plugin you downloaded from somewhere else?
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gaga
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Gaga Gracious
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Post by gaga on Feb 12, 2010 20:21:29 GMT -5
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Post by lkalif on Feb 12, 2010 21:23:24 GMT -5
Hi guys, I'm the author of Radegast, glad you you find it useful toy to play with Radegast is using aiml library aimlbot.sourceforge.net/ and all the files are loaded at startup from the two folders. The config (http://code.google.com/p/radegast/source/browse/trunk#trunk/plugins/Radegast.Plugin.Alice/aiml_config%3Fstate%3Dclosed) and aiml (http://code.google.com/p/radegast/source/browse/trunk#trunk/plugins/Radegast.Plugin.Alice/aiml). The files in there are the standard ALICE chatbot set. The plugin code itself (http://code.google.com/p/radegast/source/browse/trunk/plugins/Radegast.Plugin.Alice/Alice.cs) is pretty simple, it hooks up to incoming instant messages and local chat from Second Life, and passes it off to the library for processing. I'll gladly answer any question you might have on how to make a plugin for Radegast, or how to change existing Alice plugin.
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gaga
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Gaga Gracious
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Post by gaga on Feb 12, 2010 22:48:10 GMT -5
Hi guys, I'm the author of Radegast, glad you you find it useful toy to play with I'll gladly answer any question you might have on how to make a plugin for Radegast, or how to change existing Alice plugin. Hi lkalif. I guess you saw the comment I left at Radegast and it's great you troubled to post here and offer help. I had the idea but Grant is the man! Any help you can give will be welcomed and I LOVE Radegast
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