ChannelData Is Empty on Server Side

Screenshots

n/a

Version

lastest

Describe the bug

We are posting an event via DirectLine with channeldata. However, the channel data is empty on the bot side. I feel like I am missing something very basic but I cannot figure out what it is.

To Reproduce

CLIENT-SIDE

      // create directLine variable
                    var dl = window.WebChat.createDirectLine({ "token": tokenResponse });

                    // render webchat control
                    window.WebChat.renderWebChat(
                        {
                            directLine: dl,
                            renderMarkdown: markdownIt.render.bind(markdownIt),
                            groupTimestamp: groupTimestamp,
                            styleOptions: styleOptions,
                            userID: userId
                        },
                        document.getElementById('webchat')
                    );

                    // post activity to start conversation and trigger welcome message
                    var activity = {
                        from: {
                            id: userId
                        },
                        name: 'startConversation',
                        type: 'event',
                        value: '',
                        channelData: {
                            "personId": userId,
                            "environment": window.location.host,
                            "usercontext": payloadUserContext,
                            
                        }
                    };
                    dl.postActivity(activity).subscribe(function (id) {
                        if (console) {
                            console.log('"trigger requestWelcomeDialog" sent');
                        }
                    });

SERVER-SIDE

   public override async Task OnTurnAsync(ITurnContext turnContext, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
        {
            _logger.LogDebug(turnContext.Activity.ChannelData); // always empty
        }

Expected behavior

turnContext.Activity.ChannelData should contain object with data.

Additional context

[Bug]

[stevkan]

Consider using Web Chat’s store to update an activity when posted, as demonstrated in the 04.api/b.piggyback-on-outgoing-activities sample.

Please note: There are security considerations when posting potentially sensitive data from the page to the bot. As mentioned here, this can open you up to forgery attacks.

To send data back to the bot from the page, first add this script to your page:

<!-- We are using simple-update-in package to simplify demo code. -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/simple-update-in/dist/simple-update-in.production.min.js"></script>

Next, create the Web Chat store and filter on the action type for DIRECT_LINE/POST_ACTIVITY actions and pass in your data:

const store = window.WebChat.createStore( {}, ( { dispatch } ) => next => async action => {
  if (action.type === 'DIRECT_LINE/POST_ACTIVITY') {
    // Mocking data to be sent
    const userId = 'xyz789';
    const payloadUserContext = action.payload;

    action = window.simpleUpdateIn(
      action,
      ['payload', 'activity', 'channelData'],
      () => ({
        'personId': userId,
        'environment': window.location.host,
        'userContext': payloadUserContext
      })
    )
  }
  return next ( action );
} );

Lastly, pass the store as a property in renderWebChat():

window.WebChat.renderWebChat({
  directLine: window.WebChat.createDirectLine({ token }),
  store
}, document.getElementById('webchat'));

This does append the data to every outgoing message from the page to the bot. You will need to alter the code to fit your needs, if you only want the data sent with specific activities.

Hope of help!

[dkonyayev]

Ok, I see it now. IT was confusing because Emulator and DirectLine trigger events differently. I moved my welcome code into OnEvent, and for specific Event Name I process user context.