An entity is a collection of words of the same type, such as cities, dates, or colors. Entities are used to understand semantics. The system then extracts this information and outputs it in a machine-readable format. For example, if a user says, "I like green," a human knows that green is a color. However, a machine does not know this unless it is told beforehand. To help the machine understand "green," you can create a word library that lists common colors. When the machine encounters these words again, it recognizes them as colors.
Create a standard entity
In daily life and business, many different words can represent the same meaning. For example, "Beijing," "Imperial Capital," and "Capital of China" all refer to the same city. You can configure these words to belong to a single, fixed entity.
For example, you can create an entity for train seat classes and define two different seat levels within this entity. This entity can then be used directly in an intent.
Regex entity
A regular expression (regex) is a pattern used to match and replace text. A regex consists of normal characters, such as 'a' to 'z', and special characters called metacharacters. It acts as a template to find matching strings within a body of text.
System entity
To speed up the configuration of conversation flows, the system provides many preset entities that you can use directly.
Interface name |
Chinese meaning |
Entity explanation |
Example |
Standard value (detected format) |
@sys.number |
System.Number |
Parses all numbers in a sentence, including Chinese and Arabic numerals. |
One hundred twenty-five, 100, zero point three |
123 |
@sys.phone-number |
System.Phone number |
Parses mobile phone numbers. |
1*78***** |
1*78***** |
@sys.date |
System.Date |
Parses all date expressions. |
Tomorrow, next Monday, March 20th, June next year, National Day, 2017-10-5 |
2017-11-11 |
@sys.time |
System.Time |
Parses times within a day. |
Nine in the morning, 12:30 PM, a quarter past eight in the evening |
12:10:15 |
@sys.date-time |
System.Date and time |
Parses dates and times together. |
Tomorrow at 12:30 PM, next Wednesday at a quarter past eight in the morning |
2017-11-11 10:00:00 |
@sys.geo-city |
System.City |
Parses all cities in China. |
Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai |
Beijing City |
@sys.geo-province |
System.Province |
Parses all provinces in China. |
Zhejiang, Hebei |
Zhejiang Province |
@sys.geo-country |
System.Country |
Parses all countries in the world. |
China, Singapore, Mauritius |
China |
@sys.age |
System.Age |
Parses age numbers. |
15 years old, 30, fifty years old |
30 |
@sys.address |
System.Address |
Parses complex, multi-level addresses. |
No. 882, Julu Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, China |
No. 882, Julu Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, China |
@sys.geo-district |
System.District/County |
Parses standard districts and counties. |
Chaoyang District |
Chaoyang District |
@sys.name |
System.Person's name |
Lu Xun |
Lu Xun |
|
@sys.duration |
System.Duration |
Parses a time period or duration. |
One hour, 15 minutes, one hour and five minutes, etc. |
|
@sys.timeset |
System.Recurring time |
Parses a recurring time point entity. |
Every Monday, every workday, etc. |
|
@sys.money |
System.Monetary amount |
Parses monetary amounts. |
200 CNY |
|
@sys.temperature |
System.Temperature |
Parses temperatures. |
20 degrees, 90 degrees Celsius, 20.5 degrees Fahrenheit |
|
@sys.numberrange |
System.Number range |
Parses number ranges. |
One to five, greater than 10 |
|
@sys.plate-number |
System.License plate number |
Parses license plate numbers. |
Zhe A12345 |
Zhe A12345 |
@sys.surname |
Built-in Hundred Family Surnames |
Parses surnames. |
Zhang |
Zhang |
@sys.numberfraction |
System.Fraction |
Parses fractions. |
One-third, 1/3 |
1/3 |
@sys.percentage |
System Percentage |
Parses percentages. |
20 percent, 20% |
20% |
Entity management
Rename: Renames an entity. Note: The entity name is the unique identifier for an entity. Do not change the name after the entity is in use. Configure entity: Configures the details of an entity. For standard entities, you can configure entity members and their synonyms. For regex entities, you can configure the regular expression. Publish: Publishes the entity configuration to the online environment. When you publish a chatbot, its entities are published automatically. Use this feature only if you modify an entity's configuration separately. Export: You can export a single entity, multiple entities in a batch, or all entities. The exported file contains basic entity information, such as the name and type, and the entity configuration. Do not edit the basic information in the exported file. You can add to the entity configuration in the file. After you import the file, the configurations are automatically merged. Import: You can import entities to add new entity members, synonyms, or regular expressions. Search: You can search for entities within the bot by entity name.