Typing indicator for bot framework in C#

Question

I have a bot in Bot framework. Once user responds to the bot and bot is processing it, I want to show the typing indicator to the user in the meanwhile.

It is possible in Nodejs here - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/bot-framework/nodejs/bot-builder-nodejs-send-typing-indicator

But how can I implement it in C#?

Answer 1

You have to send an activity of type Typing.

You can do it like that:

// Send "typing" information
Activity reply = activity.CreateReply();
reply.Type = ActivityTypes.Typing;
reply.Text = null;
ConnectorClient connector = new ConnectorClient(new Uri(activity.ServiceUrl));
await connector.Conversations.ReplyToActivityAsync(reply);

Answer 2

You can also create the message using context.MakeMessage if you need to instantly respond in MessageReceivedAsync of a dialog.

var typingMsg = context.MakeMessage();
typingMsg.Type = ActivityTypes.Typing;
typingMsg.Text = null;
await context.PostAsync(typingMsg);

The typing indicator is replaced by the next message sent (at least in the Bot Framework emulator). This doesn't seem to work in Slack.