Passing context variables to Live Agent and Virtual Agent chat
You can pass chat context variables when starting a chat session by passing the contextData parameter.
You can pass this value using the NowChatService - startChat(contextData: [String: Any]? = nil, _ completion: @escaping (Result<Void, NowChatServiceError>) -> Void) functions.
For additional information on chat context variables, see Live agent chat context variables.
In addition, you can also pass an optional NowChatConfiguration parameter when starting a chat session to modify some of the behavior of NowChat.
- closePrompt: Prompt text that appears before exiting a chat window. You define this prompt text through the following parameters:
- header: Nullable string value that appears on the prompt’s header.
- message: String value that appears on the prompt’s main body.
- acceptButtonTitle: String value that appears on the primary button of the prompt. This button closes the chat window.
- declineButtonTitle: String value that appears on the secondary button of the prompt. This button dismisses the prompt without closing the chat window.
- disabledFeatures: List of NowChat features to disable. Refer to the NowChatConfiguration.Feature enum class for the list of features that you can disable.
- conversationOptions: List of conversation options to apply to NowChat. Refer to the NowChatConvestation.ConversationOption enum class for the list of options that you can apply.
- uiConfiguration: UIConfiguration value used to configure UI components in NowChat.
The following code example shows how to call this method:
// Close Button Type
func closeButtonText(title: String?) -> NowChatConfiguration.CloseButtonType? {
guard let title else { return nil }
return .text(title)
}
func closeButtonImage(name imageName: String?) -> NowChatConfiguration.CloseButtonType? {
guard let imageName,
let buttonImage = UIImage(named: imageName) else { return nil }
return .image(buttonImage)
}
// Create the chat UI
func makeChatScreen() -> UIViewController? {
guard let chatService = chatService else { return nil }
let closePrompt = NowChatConfiguration.ClosePrompt(header: "Close Window",
message: "Are you sure you want to close the chat window?",
acceptButtonTitle: "Yes",
declineButtonTitle: "No")
let attachmentUploadButton = NowChatConfiguration.AttachmentUploadButton(isVisible: false) // default isVisible = true
let chatConfiguration = NowChatConfiguration(closePrompt: closePrompt,
disabledFeatures: [.startNewConversation],
conversationOptions: [.forceNewConversation, .endConversationOnExit],
uiConfiguration: NowChatConfiguration.UIConfiguration(closeButton: closeButtonImage(name: "arrow.left"), attachmentUploadButton: attachmentUploadButton))
let result = chatService.makeChatUI(theme: CarrascoChatTheme(chatColors: ChatColors()), chatConfiguration: chatConfiguration)
switch result {
case .success(let chatViewController):
return chatViewController
case .failure(let error):
debugPrint("Chat screen creation failed with error: \(error)")
return nil
}
}
// Start the chat session
func startChat() {
guard let chatService = chatService else {
debugPrint("Chat service is invalid")
viewState = makeViewState()
return
}
chatService.startChat { [weak self] result in
if case .failure(let error) = result {
debugPrint("Chat session initialization failed with error: \(error)")
self?.resetChat()
}
}
}
// Initialize the chat service
private func initializeChatService() {
NowChat.makeChatService(instanceUrl: instanceUrl, delegate: self) { [weak self] result in
guard let self = self else { return }
switch result {
case .success(let service):
self.chatService = service
case .failure(let error):
debugPrint("Creating the chat service failed with error: \(error)")
}
self.viewState = self.makeViewState()
}
}