Temporary and Long-Term variables

Temporary Variables

Local or temporary variables are only usable within the current step. It is rather a way to write more readable, expressive code. But they are really powerful, because they allow you to do everything that a regular memory does, but temporarily. For more information about local variables, see the as keyword.

Local variables are useful for temporary calculations. You do not want to memorize your internal temporary steps, rather save useful information about the user.

somestep:
  do tmpvar = "Hi there"
  say tmpvar // "Hi there"
  goto otherstep
  
otherstep:
  say tmpvar // NULL

Long-Term Memory

Long-term memories on the other hand are at the core of the purpose of CSML. When two persons converse, they constantly memorize information, which they can reuse in other discussions. For example, if I gathered that my friend likes Iron Man, I might propose later that we go see Captain America together. I do not have to ask them again about their favorite film, because I already learned this information before, even if it was in a different conversation, even if the topic of that conversation might have been completely unrelated.

The memory API is very powerful: by default a bot never forgets anything about the current user. For more information, see the remember keyword.

somestep:
  remember tmpvar = "Hi there"
  say tmpvar // "Hi there"
  goto otherstep
  
otherstep:
  say tmpvar // "Hi there"

The Memory object

CSML provides a _memory global, read-only variable, which contains all variables saved until now for the current user. This especially useful if you need to debug the state of a user's memory at any given step:

somestep:
  remember something = 1
  // ...

someotherstep:
  do something = 8
  // ...
  
wherever:
  // when we get there, is `something` set to 1, 8
  // or even available at all?
  say "{{_memory}}"
  
  

⚠️ Limitations

Variables and memories (of any type) can not be larger than 50KB. Using data larger than 50KB in variables (for example as the return value of a function) may result in undefined behavior. Also, please note that messages larger than 30KB in size can not be displayed in the test webapp.