While exploring the new preview of the botframeworkv4 in C#, I came across a case where I need to do a specific action for a certain channel. In botframeworkv3, I used to access all the channels string names using ChannelIds but I can't find it here.
I know that I can directly write "facebook" for example, but using the provided list prevents any typos and improves readability.
Therefore, what is the equivalent of ChannelIds in botframeworkv4?
The Channel list is available in Channels object in Microsoft.Bot.Connector namespace:
ChannelId is still an existing property in Activity object in v4, see sources:
/// <summary>
/// Channel this activity is associated with
/// </summary>
string ChannelId { get; set; }
The list of channelId values is still available in v4 through Microsoft.Bot.Builder.Classic:
public sealed class ChannelIds
{
public const string Facebook = "facebook";
public const string Skype = "skype";
public const string Msteams = "msteams";
public const string Telegram = "telegram";
public const string Kik = "kik";
public const string Email = "email";
public const string Slack = "slack";
public const string Groupme = "groupme";
public const string Sms = "sms";
public const string Emulator = "emulator";
public const string Directline = "directline";
public const string Webchat = "webchat";
public const string Console = "console";
public const string Cortana = "cortana";
}
Side note: you can simply add your own list:
public enum ChannelEnum
{
emulator,
facebook,
skype,
webchat,
directline
// ...
}
and use activity.ChannelId == ChannelEnum.webchat.ToString()
ChannelIds has been replaced with Channels in the C# V4 SDK and is available under Microsoft.Bot.Connector.
Checking for a specific channel can be done easily, for example:
var isEmail = turnContext.Activity.ChannelId == Channels.Email;
Use Nicholas R's answer if you need to add custom channels (or example Android, iOS) to the list.