When using the AB.jar Google reference (alice) bot:
When having this simple short script:
<category><pattern>TOPIC 1</pattern>
<template>Topic 2 with current topic '<get name="topic"/>'.<think><set name="topic">topic2</set></think></template>
</category>
<topic name="TOPIC2">
<category><pattern>YES</pattern>
<template>Going to topic3-yes <think><set name="topic">topic3-yes</set></think></template>
</category></topic>
<topic name="TOPIC2">
<category><pattern>*</pattern>
<template>Going to topic3-rest on '<star/>' <think><set name="topic">topic3-rest</set></think></template>
</category></topic>
... answering not 'yes' will not navigate to the topic-3 '*' pattern. Why is that?
This is the conversation. I marked the unexpected answer with '// here'
Human : topic 1
Robot : Topic 2 with current topic 'unknown'.
Human : any
Robot : any is a name. // here -- expected to go to topic-3-rest
Putting this '_' pattern (in stead of the '*' pattern) inside a topic answers the question.
Thanks to Ubercoder:
The element takes priority over other patterns at the same pattern level. I don't know if you're using AIML v1 or v2, but broadly speaking there are 3 levels of patterns [but see note below]
Most important level = patterns including underscore wildcards (_)
Middle level = atomic patterns without any wildcards
Lowest level = patterns including star wildcards (*)