The basic program you are talking to is often called by the original program's name, "Eliza" -- there's probably an implementation in Python somewhere. The HTML form will be simple, regardless of your environment (Webware, PHP, Perl, whatever) -- it's the program to generate responses that will be more complex. And in the end, it's making the ready-made answers that determines the enjoyability of an Eliza program.
The problem itself isn't particularly complicated, nor does it involve lots of interworking parts, nor does it tend to be very stateful. You might find this easier to do as a CGI script, especially since one probably already exists somewhere. On Sun, 2002-03-10 at 14:06, Steven Rowat wrote: > Dear Webware users, > > I've been investigating how to solve a data search and display problem for > a web site I'm working on, and thought that using webware (or something > like it) might do the trick. Since I don't know much about this system, can > you hazard a guess at whether I ought to investigate this further --i.e, > does the set-up below seem possible? > > ++++++++++++ > On the site, the web user asks a ficticious "Doctor" a question > (plain-english sentence), using an HTML form. A script filters out the > stop-words, and then searches among a database of hundreds of ready-made > answers, and chooses just *one* that is the best match of text words and > keywords, and displays the full text of *only* that one as the answer; so > that there is a dialog set up between the user and the 'doctor'. (A > refinement, also, could be that the web user may sign the original > question, "wondering" or "just curious", or a name, "john", and the > Doctor's reply can start, "Dear Wondering" in true Dear Abby style). > > Note that the result is intended to be a cross between Dear Abby and the I > Ching; ironic and humorous mismatches are fine; so exact and accurate > answers to the question are not required. This is not a site about cancer > of the colon. Or at least, not directly. > ++++++++++++ > > Any thoughts or leads appreciated. I know HTML and some javascript, and I'm > willing to move to Linux or MacOS X. > > Steven Rowat > MacOS 9.2, G3/233 > > Replies off-list please, since I'm not presently a subscriber. > > > > > > > > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > web site: <http://www.rowatworks.com> > --original writing, science, and music > --on-line excerpts and downloads of completed works > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Webware-discuss mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/webware-discuss > _______________________________________________ Webware-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/webware-discuss
