I am working on my first alexa skill using this as the basis https://medium.com/crowdbotics/how-to-build-a-custom-amazon-alexa-skill-step-by-step-my-favorite-chess-player-dcc0edae53fb
The lambda function written in python uses input from alexa in a a predefined slot with names, and then reads back corresponding information to the name in the slot. This limits you to providing a library of information matching pre-defined names. Great for factual interactions, but not quite what I need.
I am trying to work out how to use the amazon.firstname slot to take in any firstname that the speaker gives and readback a sentence. First step would be a fixed sentence returned, but would like to change this to a random sentence from a bigger library.
I have defined alexa.firstname as a slot type for the skill but need to change some of the code here
#------------------------------Part1--------------------------------
# In this part we define a list that contains the player names, and
# a dictionary with player biographies
Player_LIST = ["john", "steve", "daddy", "mummy"]
Player_BIOGRAPHY = {"john":"peeee-you, john smells like a stinky pair of week old socks that have been left out in the rain",
"steve":"Ughhhh, steve smells just like an elephant's bum that has been sweltering in the desert for a month",
"mummy":"Mummy smells beautiful, like the scent of freshly cut roses or sweet perfume",
"daddy":"Oh wow, the worst. He smells like a combination of burnt popcorn and rotting fish combined with sewer water and stinky armpits"}
#------------------------------Part2--------------------------------
# Here we define our Lambda function and configure what it does when
# an event with a Launch, Intent and Session End Requests are sent. # The Lambda function responses to an event carrying a particular
# Request are handled by functions such as on_launch(event) and
# intent_scheme(event).
def lambda_handler(event, context):
if event['session']['new']:
on_start()
if event['request']['type'] == "LaunchRequest":
return on_launch(event)
elif event['request']['type'] == "IntentRequest":
return intent_scheme(event)
elif event['request']['type'] == "SessionEndedRequest":
return on_end()
#------------------------------Part3--------------------------------
# Here we define the Request handler functions
def on_start():
print("Session Started.")
def on_launch(event):
onlunch_MSG = "Hi, welcome to the Stinkbot Alexa Skill. My favourite players are: " + ', '.join(map(str, Player_LIST)) + ". "
"If you would like to hear more about a particular player, you could say for example: Does daddy smell?"
reprompt_MSG = "Do you want to hear more about a particular player?"
card_TEXT = "Pick a player."
card_TITLE = "Choose player."
return output_json_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(onlunch_MSG, card_TEXT, card_TITLE, reprompt_MSG, False)
def on_end():
print("Session Ended.")
#-----------------------------Part3.1-------------------------------
# The intent_scheme(event) function handles the Intent Request.
# Since we have a few different intents in our skill, we need to
# configure what this function will do upon receiving a particular
# intent. This can be done by introducing the functions which handle
# each of the intents.
def intent_scheme(event):
intent_name = event['request']['intent']['name']
if intent_name == "playerBio": <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
return player_bio(event)
elif intent_name in ["AMAZON.NoIntent", "AMAZON.StopIntent", "AMAZON.CancelIntent"]:
return stop_the_skill(event)
elif intent_name == "AMAZON.HelpIntent":
return assistance(event)
elif intent_name == "AMAZON.FallbackIntent":
return fallback_call(event)
#---------------------------Part3.1.1-------------------------------
# Here we define the intent handler functions
def player_bio(event):
name=event['request']['intent']['slots']['player']['value']
player_list_lower=[w.lower() for w in Player_LIST]
if name.lower() in player_list_lower:
reprompt_MSG = "Do you want to hear more about a particular player?"
card_TEXT = "You've picked " + name.lower()
card_TITLE = "You've picked " + name.lower()
return output_json_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(Player_BIOGRAPHY[name.lower()], card_TEXT, card_TITLE, reprompt_MSG, False)
else:
wrongname_MSG = "You haven't used the full name of a player. If you have forgotten which players you can pick say Help."
reprompt_MSG = "Do you want to hear more about a particular player?"
card_TEXT = "Use the full name."
card_TITLE = "Wrong name."
return output_json_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(wrongname_MSG, card_TEXT, card_TITLE, reprompt_MSG, False)
def stop_the_skill(event):
stop_MSG = "Thank you. Bye!"
reprompt_MSG = ""
card_TEXT = "Bye."
card_TITLE = "Bye Bye."
return output_json_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(stop_MSG, card_TEXT, card_TITLE, reprompt_MSG, True)
def assistance(event):
assistance_MSG = "You can choose among these players: " + ', '.join(map(str, Player_LIST)) + ". Be sure to use the full name when asking about the player."
reprompt_MSG = "Do you want to hear more about a particular player?"
card_TEXT = "You've asked for help."
card_TITLE = "Help"
return output_json_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(assistance_MSG, card_TEXT, card_TITLE, reprompt_MSG, False)
def fallback_call(event):
fallback_MSG = "I can't help you with that, try rephrasing the question or ask for help by saying HELP."
reprompt_MSG = "Do you want to hear more about a particular player?"
card_TEXT = "You've asked a wrong question."
card_TITLE = "Wrong question."
return output_json_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(fallback_MSG, card_TEXT, card_TITLE, reprompt_MSG, False)
#------------------------------Part4--------------------------------
# The response of our Lambda function should be in a json format.
# That is why in this part of the code we define the functions which
# will build the response in the requested format. These functions
# are used by both the intent handlers and the request handlers to
# build the output.
def plain_text_builder(text_body):
text_dict = {}
text_dict['type'] = 'PlainText'
text_dict['text'] = text_body
return text_dict
def reprompt_builder(repr_text):
reprompt_dict = {}
reprompt_dict['outputSpeech'] = plain_text_builder(repr_text)
return reprompt_dict
def card_builder(c_text, c_title):
card_dict = {}
card_dict['type'] = "Simple"
card_dict['title'] = c_title
card_dict['content'] = c_text
return card_dict
def response_field_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(outputSpeach_text, card_text, card_title, reprompt_text, value):
speech_dict = {}
speech_dict['outputSpeech'] = plain_text_builder(outputSpeach_text)
speech_dict['card'] = card_builder(card_text, card_title)
speech_dict['reprompt'] = reprompt_builder(reprompt_text)
speech_dict['shouldEndSession'] = value
return speech_dict
def output_json_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(outputSpeach_text, card_text, card_title, reprompt_text, value):
response_dict = {}
response_dict['version'] = '1.0'
response_dict['response'] = response_field_builder_with_reprompt_and_card(outputSpeach_text, card_text, card_title, reprompt_text, value)
return response_dict
question from:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65876064/import-name-from-amazon-firstname-alexa-skill-dev 
