Search

Details about the Search user journey

The onSearch callback

Whenever the Assistant detects that the user is searching for items in the app, it will try to break down the search request into its basic components and invoke the onSearch callback associated with the search user journey. The callback looks like this:

SearchAppState onSearch(SearchInfo searchInfo, SearchUserJourney userJourney);

When this callback is invoked, the app is expected to:

  1. Consume the details of the search request via the SearchInfo parameter.

  2. Fire the app's search request.

  3. Finally, return the AppState along with the appropriate Condition corresponding to the state that the app transitioned into

For example, for a given onSearch callback invocation, if the search completes successfully and the app transitions to a screen showing search results, the app would return theAppState as SEARCH_RESULTS along with condition SUCCESS , as shown below:

public SearchUserJourney.AppState onSearch(SearchInfo searchInfo, SearchUserJourney searchJourney) {
   // The searchItem will have the relevant part of the end-users search request 
   // and will automatically be in English, even if the user spoke in a 
   // different language. 
   String searchItem = searchInfo.getItem().getDescription();
   
   // Launch SearchResultsActivity using "searchItem"
   // ...
   
   return new SearchResultsAppState(SUCCESS);
}

The following are some examples of commands that could trigger this journey

  • "Onions"

  • "Show me onions"

  • "3 kgs of organic onions"

  • "Looking for fresho organic onions"

  • "Searching for Maggi Instant noodles in grocery"

  • "2 rs head and shoulders shampoo"

SearchInfo Parameter

The parameterSearchInfo contains the breakdown of the original search request. Its structure is as described below:

Class SearchInfo {
	public Item getItem();
	public List<FilterInfo> getFilters(); 
	public SortingInfo getSorting();
	public Boolean isAddToCart();
}

Class Item {
	public String getId(); // The ID of the item if set by the app or if Slang
	                       // was trained with it
	public String getCategory(); // The category that the user specified, 
	                             // eg "pharmacy" or "grocery"
	public String getBrand(); // The brand name identified by Slang from what the
	                          // user spoke
	public String getProductType();  // The product type if any as identified by Slang
	public String[] getVariants();   // The variants (like "organic") if any
	public String getDescrption();   // The helper method to get back a fully
	                                 // constructed search string from what the
	                                 // user spoke
	public Quantity getQuantity();   // The quantity if any is spoken by the user
	public Size getSize();           // The size if any is spoken by the user
	public Price getPrice();         // The price value if any spoken by the user
}

To illustrate, when the user says "Search for fresho organic onions", the following will be set in the Item object

  • brand = "Fresho Organic"

  • productNames = ["onion"]

  • isAddedToCart = false

  • completeDescription = "fresho organic onion"

Supported AppStates

The following AppStates are supported:

  • SEARCH_RESULTS (SearchResultsAppState): To be returned when the app performs a search and navigates to the search results screen. To indicate whether the search was successful or not, with a greater level of detail, please use the appropriate conditions.

  • ADD_TO_CART (AddToCartAppState): To be returned when the app performs an add-to-cart action. To indicate whether the add to cart was successful or not, with a greater level of detail, please use the appropriate conditions.

  • UNSUPPORTED (UnsupportedAppState): To be returned when the app is not ready to handle search yet. The Assistant will let the user know that the search is not yet supported by the app.

The Slang Retail Assistant provides a special AppStateWAITING that is common across all UserJourney types for completing asynchronous operations within the callback. Refer to the Asynchronous Action Handling section for details of how to deal with asynchronous operations.

Supported Conditions

The following conditions are supported for each of the AppStates supported by the Assistant

App State

App State Condition

SEARCH_RESULTS

(SearchResultsAppState)

TERMINAL CONDITIONS

SUCCESS

The search was successful

ITEM_NOT_FOUND

The item being searched could not be

found

ITEM_OUT_OF_STOCK

The item being searched is out of stock

FAILURE

There was a failure while searching

NON-TERMINAL CONDITIONS

ITEM_NOT_SPECIFIED

The item that needs to be searched has

not been specified.

App State

App State Condition

ADD_TO_CART

(AddToCartAppState)

TERMINAL CONDITIONS

SUCCESS

The search was successful

ITEM_NOT_FOUND

The item being searched could not be

found

ITEM_OUT_OF_STOCK

The item being searched is out of stock

FAILURE

There was a failure while searching

NON-TERMINAL CONDITIONS

ITEM_NOT_SPECIFIED

The item that needs to be searched has

not been specified.

ITEM_AMBIGUOUS

There are multiple items available for

the current searched item and has to be

disambiguated.

ITEM_AMBIGUOUS_FORCE_UI

Stop the voice disambiguation process

and choose the item via the UI/Touch

interface.

ITEM_QUANTITY_REQUIRED

Quantity for the current item has to be

specified.

For example, to indicate to the Assistant that the particular item being searched was not found by the app, the app should do the following:

public SearchUserJourney.AppState onSearch(SearchInfo searchInfo, SearchUserJourney searchJourney) {
   String searchItem = searchInfo.getItem().getDescription();
   
   // Launch SearchResultsActivity using "searchItem"
   // ...
   
   return new SearchResultsAppState(ITEM_NOT_FOUND);
}

Assistant Prompts

Based on the App State and the Condition that was set, the Assistant will speak out an appropriate message to the user. You can examine the default set of prompts configured for the Assistant through the Console and also customize it to your needs. Refer to the Customizing the Assistant section for details.

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