Passing context variables to Live Agent and Virtual Agent chat

You can pass chat context variables when starting a chat session by passing the contextData parameter.

You can pass this value using the NowChatService - startChat(contextData: [String: Any]? = nil, _ completion: @escaping (Result<Void, NowChatServiceError>) -> Void) functions.

For additional information on chat context variables, see Live agent chat context variables.

In addition, you can also pass an optional NowChatConfiguration parameter when starting a chat session to modify some of the behavior of NowChat.

• closePrompt: Prompt text that appears before exiting a chat window. You define this prompt text through the following parameters:
  • header: Nullable string value that appears on the prompt’s header.
  • message: String value that appears on the prompt’s main body.
  • acceptButtonTitle: String value that appears on the primary button of the prompt. This button closes the chat window.
  • declineButtonTitle: String value that appears on the secondary button of the prompt. This button dismisses the prompt without closing the chat window.
• disabledFeatures: List of NowChat features to disable. Refer to the NowChatConfiguration.Feature enum class for the list of features that you can disable.
• conversationOptions: List of conversation options to apply to NowChat. Refer to the NowChatConvestation.ConversationOption enum class for the list of options that you can apply.
• uiConfiguration: UIConfiguration value used to configure UI components in NowChat.

The following code example shows how to call this method:

// Close Button Type
func closeButtonText(title: String?) -> NowChatConfiguration.CloseButtonType? {
  guard let title else { return nil }
  return .text(title)
}  
  
func closeButtonImage(name imageName: String?) -> NowChatConfiguration.CloseButtonType? {
  guard let imageName,
  let buttonImage = UIImage(named: imageName) else { return nil }
  return .image(buttonImage)	
}


// Create the chat UI
func makeChatScreen() -> UIViewController? {
  guard let chatService = chatService else { return nil }
  let closePrompt = NowChatConfiguration.ClosePrompt(header: "Close Window",
    message: "Are you sure you want to close the chat window?",
    acceptButtonTitle: "Yes",
    declineButtonTitle: "No")     

  let attachmentUploadButton = NowChatConfiguration.AttachmentUploadButton(isVisible: false) // default isVisible = true         

  let chatConfiguration = NowChatConfiguration(closePrompt: closePrompt,
    disabledFeatures: [.startNewConversation],
    conversationOptions: [.forceNewConversation, .endConversationOnExit],
    uiConfiguration: NowChatConfiguration.UIConfiguration(closeButton: closeButtonImage(name: "arrow.left"), attachmentUploadButton: attachmentUploadButton))

  let result = chatService.makeChatUI(theme: CarrascoChatTheme(chatColors: ChatColors()), chatConfiguration: chatConfiguration)
         
  switch result {
    case .success(let chatViewController): 
      return chatViewController
    case .failure(let error):
      debugPrint("Chat screen creation failed with error: \(error)")
      return nil
  }
} 

// Start the chat session
func startChat() {
  guard let chatService = chatService else {
    debugPrint("Chat service is invalid")
    viewState = makeViewState()
    return
  } 
  chatService.startChat { [weak self] result in
    if case .failure(let error) = result {
      debugPrint("Chat session initialization failed with error: \(error)")
      self?.resetChat()
    }
  }
 }

// Initialize the chat service
private func initializeChatService() {
  NowChat.makeChatService(instanceUrl: instanceUrl, delegate: self) { [weak self] result in
    guard let self = self else { return }
    switch result {
      case .success(let service):
        self.chatService = service
      case .failure(let error):
        debugPrint("Creating the chat service failed with error: \(error)") 
    } 
    self.viewState = self.makeViewState()
  }
}