Output Configuration

Learn how to configure the Jovo output template converter.

Introduction

There are certain configurations that determine how an output template is translated into a native platform response.

You can add output configuration to the Jovo app configuration. For example, this is how generic output config properties can be added to app.ts:

const app = new App({
  // ...

  output: {
    // Generic output config
  },
});

Some platforms also support platform-specific output config properties that can be added to a platform plugin:

const app = new App({
  // ...

  plugins: [
    new AlexaPlatform({
      output: {
        // Alexa output config
      },
    }),
  ],
});

Generic Output Config Properties

This is the default output configuration:

const app = new App({
  // ...

  output: {
    omitWarnings: false,
    validation: true,
    sanitization: true,
  },
});

It includes the following properties:

omitWarnings: If true, it does not log warnings if an output element gets sanitized.
validation: If true, output properties are validated before and after the conversion. Learn more below.
sanitization: If true, output properties that exceed their limit get automatically sanitized. Learn more below.

Validation

The output converter validates both the output (before) and the native platform response (after) to see if they have the right structure.

{
  validation: {
    before: true,
    after: true,
  },
}

// Short
{
  validation: true,
}

Here are some examples of what is validated:

Does the property have the right type? For example, a title should be a string.
Are all required properties available? For example, does a card contain a title?
Do none of the properties exceed the maximum size? For example, does a card's title not exceed the number of allowed characters?

Sanitization

As mentioned in the validation section, it might happen that an element may exceed its limits, for example a title having too many characters, or a carousel having too many items.

The Jovo output template converter can automatically trim elements that exceed their maximum size.

{
  sanitization: {
    trimArrays: true,
    trimStrings: true,
    trimMaps: true,
  },
}

// Short
{
  sanitization: true,
}

For arrays, the overflowing items get removed. Strings get truncated to fit the right amount of characters.

If sanitization happens, a warning is logged. This can be omitted with the omitWarnings config referenced in the section above.

Platform-specific Config Properties

It's also possible to add platform-specific output configurations. Here is an example for Alexa:

const app = new App({
  // ...

  plugins: [
    new AlexaPlatform({
      output: {
        // Alexa output config
      },
    }),
  ],
});