Bridge polls #4

clehner · 2021-12-31T04:41:08Z

Two-way bridging of Jitsi polls with IRC.

Polls are identified by a number starting at one. Options in each poll are also identified by a number starting at one.

Poll creation

From Jitsi

<cgbot-cel> Charles_E._Lehner created poll #1 with 2 options.
<cgbot-cel> ... Question: Why?
<cgbot-cel> ... Option 1: Because.
<cgbot-cel> ... Option 2: Why not?

From IRC

<@cel> cgbot-cel: create poll Example | A1 | B2
<cgbot-cel> cel created a poll #2 with 2 options.
<cgbot-cel> POLL: Example
<cgbot-cel> ... Option 1: A1
<cgbot-cel> ... Option 2: B2

Voting in a poll

From Jitsi

<cgbot-cel> Charles E. Lehner answered poll #1: (2) Why not?

From IRC

<@cel> cgbot-cel: vote 1
<cgbot-cel> cel answered poll #1: (1) Because.

Multiple votes:

<@cel> cgbot-cel: vote 1,2
<cgbot-cel> cel answered poll #1: (1) Because., (2) Why not?

Querying poll state

Show info about the current poll or a particular poll:

<@cel> cgbot-cel: poll
<cgbot-cel> Poll #1 with 2 options.
<cgbot-cel> ... Question: Why?
<cgbot-cel> ... Option 1: Because.
<cgbot-cel> ... Option 2: Why not?

List all polls since the bot joined:

<@cel> cgbot-cel: polls
<cgbot-cel> 1 polls.
<cgbot-cel> ... Poll #1: Why?

Show votes on the most recent poll or a particular poll:

<@cel> cgbot-cel: votes
<cgbot-cel> Poll #1 with 2 options has 2 votes from 2 voters.
<cgbot-cel> ... Question: Why?
<cgbot-cel> ... Option 1 has 1 votes (50%); voted by: cel
<cgbot-cel> ... Option 2 has 1 votes (50%); voted by: Charles E. Lehner

msporny

Thank you for the new feature, @clehner! Overall, LGTM. I'm assuming you've tested this -- remember that people get /super cranky/ during a call when the cgbot disappears/crashes. It's set up to re-join, but if there is some bug that happens when it rejoins and it crashes again, it stops the groups ability to scribe minutes... just putting that out there as a concern and to underscore that any addition to cgbot needs copious amounts of testing.

msporny · 2021-12-31T16:53:36Z

lib/command.js


 // the current speaker queue
 const speakerQueue = [];

-export async function processCommand({nick, message, participants, say}) {
+function nonCryptographicHash8(data) {
+  return crypto.createHash('md5').update(data).digest('hex').slice(0, 8);


Don't use known broken hash functions, even if md5, even if it's safe to do so in this particular instance. Other developers will come in behind you and copy what you did here, which might proliferate the bad md5 function elsewhere. Just do a sha-256 and take the last 8 characters, the result is the same, but without risking bad practice proliferation.

Granted, this entire file is bad code due to 10+ years of neglect; we need a rewrite at some point in the near future.

Fixed: a19e641

msporny · 2021-12-31T16:55:50Z

lib/command.js

+  if(args.length > 0) {
+    pollNum = args.shift().replace(/^#/, '');
+    if(isNaN(pollNum)) {
+      say('Expected poll number');


Remember that almost no one will remember the syntax. If you raise an error, tell people what a typical good command looks like.

This part of the code (the getPoll function) can be reached from multiple commands (vote, votes, and poll).
The poll number is the last part to parse: for the vote command the vote argument has already been parsed at this point; for poll and votes, the poll is the only argument.

How's this? ade680c

21:46 <@cel> cgbot-cel: vote 4 on \a 21:46 <cgbot-cel> Unrecognized poll "\a". Try e.g. "1", "#1", or "poll 1".

21:47 <@cel> cgbot-cel: poll asdf 21:47 <cgbot-cel> Unrecognized poll "asdf". Try e.g. "1", "#1", or "poll 1".

21:49 <@cel> cgbot-cel: votes 1! 21:49 <cgbot-cel> Unrecognized poll "1!". Try e.g. "1", "#1", or "poll 1".

msporny · 2021-12-31T16:56:14Z

lib/command.js

+    }
+  } else {
+    if(polls.count === 0) {
+      say('No polls.');


Same as above, how does one create a poll if there are no polls?

Added: 97561c9, 183cf05, 621d5b2, d908002.

msporny · 2021-12-31T16:56:25Z

lib/command.js

+    pollNum = polls.count;
+  }
+  if(args.length > 0) {
+    say('Unexpected data after poll number')


Same, show them what a correct command looks like.

In this case the command can (maybe) be corrected by removing the unexpected trailing arguments. To output the whole (modified) command may be possible but not straightforward, because the command/arguments are parsed mutably (using shift). But the unrecognized part can be highlighted. How's this? bc189e3

22:06 <@cel> cgbot-cel: vote 1 on 4 a 22:06 <cgbot-cel> Unexpected data after poll number. Try again without this part: "a"

22:07 <@cel> cgbot-cel: poll 1 2 22:07 <cgbot-cel> Unexpected data after poll number. Try again without this part: "2"

msporny · 2021-12-31T16:56:40Z

lib/command.js

+  }
+  const pollId = polls.idsByNum[pollNum];
+  if(!pollId) {
+    say(`Unknown poll "${pollNum}"`);


Might want to list known poll numbers here.

Added: 3d477e5, 621d5b2, d908002.

msporny · 2021-12-31T16:59:27Z

lib/command.js

+      if(args[0] === 'on') {
+        args.shift();
+      } else {
+        say('Try: vote option X on poll Y');


Might try making "on poll Y" optional and just use the last poll sent to the channel?

That is the case. If "on poll Y" is omitted, the most recently created poll is used, and this highlighted code path is not reached.

msporny · 2021-12-31T17:00:33Z

lib/command.js

+      answersMap[answerI] = true;
+      const answer = poll.msg.answers[answerI];
+      if(answer == null) {
+        say(`Unknown option "${option}"`);


People might get confused here since IRC is async, so people's votes might not get counted and they might not realize?

Do you mean in this particular error (unknown option chosen)? Or in all the error/failure cases for this command?
The responses could say something additional like "vote not processed, try again" to be more explicit about the vote not being counted? Or the response could be targeted to the user (maybe using <nick>, message since nick: message might get interpreted as scribing?) so they would be more likely to notice that it is relevant to them. There could also be unhandled vote attempts that are not matched at all by this handler and so would not generate a response. But a successful vote will result in a IRC message saying that the answer/vote took place, as generated by the bot when it receives back its own answer-poll xmpp message, and that (along with the vote appearing in the Jitsi UI) is the positive confirmation.

Changed to list available options if an unknown option is picked: 2bb6c53

22:14 <@cel> cgbot-cel: create poll Test? | Yes | No 22:14 <cgbot-cel> cel created a poll #1 with 2 options. 22:14 <cgbot-cel> POLL: Test? 22:14 <cgbot-cel> ... Option 1: Yes 22:14 <cgbot-cel> ... Option 2: No 22:14 <@cel> cgbot-cel: vote 3 22:14 <cgbot-cel> Unknown option "3" on poll #1. Available options: 1,2

msporny · 2021-12-31T17:04:44Z

lib/manage.js

+          // the message is a poll answer message
+          if(msg && msg.type === 'answer-poll') {
+            const poll = polls.byId[msg.pollId];
+            if(!poll) {
+              console.error('Unknown poll ' + msg.pollId);
+              return;
+            }
+            const answers = poll.msg.answers;
+            poll.votes[msg.voterId] = msg;
+            const message = `${msg.voterName} answered poll #${poll.num}: `
+              + msg.answers.map((chosen, i) => chosen
+                ? `(${i+1}) ${answers[i]}` : '')
+                .filter(Boolean).join(', ');
+            ircSay(message);
+            if(ircOptions.log) {
+              log({logFileBasePath, nick: ircOptions.nick, message});


Is there a "finalize poll" or "close poll" command that shows the totals? It might be difficult for more complex polls to understand the final tally? I know we have the "PROPOSAL / RESOLUTION" syntax already for proposals... but POLLs are different, maybe?

The votes IRC command added in this PR shows the votes summary for a poll (i.e. the latest poll, or a previous one if referenced); it aims to present similar information as the web view in Jitsi (i.e. number of votes per option, names of voters, and percentage of voters who chose each option). In the web UI, the number of voters is shown in the "details" view but in this IRC implementation I have it show every time - If that is excessive with many voters, it could be adjusted.

There's no operation in the Jitsi front-end to close, remove or finalize a poll. New polls can be created and the old ones remain. The closest I can see that we could do to close a poll purely in the bot, I think would be the following:

The bot could state in IRC and Jitsi chat that the poll is to be considered closed.

The bot could zero out the poll - removing all existing votes. I think this could work because the web UI and conference system does not appear to verify that a vote message's sender property corresponds to the actual message sender; also, even though a user cannot remove their vote in the web UI (the client requires at least one option chosen), I don't think that is enforced internally.

The bot could detect and revert votes made on a poll that has been marked closed. Additionally it could send a private message to the voter as a warning/alert.

Edit: actually, a poll can also be reset by sending a new-poll message with the existing poll id. That clears the votes., and can change the poll question and options. So, to close a poll, the options could be set to an empty list, and the title have e.g. " [CLOSED]" appended to it. It will still appear in the polls list but no one will able to vote in it.

Polls are different from proposal/resolutions but might be similarly useful in some situations.
For example, to emulate the current proposal method of evaluating a proposed resolution, a poll could have the question be a proposal, and options "+1", "0", and "-1" (or "yes", "no", "abstain", "block", "still deciding").

If there are multiple alternatives to be considered as proposals, a single poll could have a more general question, and give the proposed alternatives as options. Participants can vote for more than one option in a poll. This could be useful for comparing multiple possible alternatives. This might not have the nuance of the earlier method, as each option would get only a binary response per person (or ternary if you consider not voting as a response) rather than a spectrum of responses. It could be followed up with a poll specifically for an option to consider further.

msporny · 2021-12-31T17:07:20Z

lib/manage.js

+            if(ircOptions.log) {
+              log({logFileBasePath, nick: ircOptions.nick, message});
+            }
+            const message2 = `... Question: ${msg.question}`;


Suggested change

const message2 = `... Question: ${msg.question}`;

const message2 = `POLL: ${msg.question}`;

Let's do this to keep with the current syntax for "PROPOSAL/USE CASE/RESOLUTION/etc."

Applied: f119cc3

msporny · 2021-12-31T17:07:48Z

lib/manage.js

+            // bot, so use senderName instead.
+            const bridged = stanza.attrs.from.endsWith('/cgbot');
+            const name = bridged ? msg.senderName : nick;
+            const message = `${name} created poll #${pollNum} with ${numOptions} options.`;


Suggested change

const message = `${name} created poll #${pollNum} with ${numOptions} options.`;

const message = `${name} created a poll #${pollNum} with ${numOptions} options.`;

Applied: db3508b

msporny

+1 to merge as long as comments are processed.

clehner · 2022-01-01T04:10:49Z

@msporny thanks for the review. I'll be addressing the things you pointed out. I believe I've tested (manually) all the added functionality so far. After making changes I'll test again and write what was tested.

- Set bot sender id/name for new-poll message. - Put chat nick id in question prefix and in separate message property. - Strip question prefix when processing message.

Prevent accidentally resetting poll by reusing id.

clehner · 2022-01-08T22:31:21Z

@msporny
I've applied and/or responded to the requested changes.

Other changes

Additionally I made some other minor changes, mostly for error handling; the most significant one is probably 38c1322 (Set poll sender name), described below:

38c1322

When creating a poll from chat (IRC/XMPP), the nick could not be set in the poll message; it would appear empty because the sender id was not a valid Jitsi chat participant. The fix implemented is to put the nick in the poll question (e.g. <nick> Question), and use the bot as the sender/name. The effect in Jitsi's web UI can be seen in the following screenshots.

Before

17:10 <@cel> cgbot-cel: create poll Example A | One | Two
17:10 <cgbot-cel> cel created a poll #1 with 2 options.
17:10 <cgbot-cel> POLL: Example A
17:10 <cgbot-cel> ... Option 1: One
17:10 <cgbot-cel> ... Option 2: Two

After

17:11 <@cel> cgbot-cel: create poll Example B | One | Two
17:11 <cgbot-cel> cel created a poll #1 with 2 options.
17:11 <cgbot-cel> POLL: Example B
17:11 <cgbot-cel> ... Option 1: One
17:11 <cgbot-cel> ... Option 2: Two

Documentation of IRC commands

The bot has a help command that responds with a link to http://bit.ly/2CR6pZK, which is a redirect to https://github.com/w3c-ccg/w3c-ccg.github.io/blob/master/irc_ref.md. I opened a PR to add documentation to that page for the poll commands as currently implemented: w3c-ccg/w3c-ccg.github.io#27

Testing

I tested the commands and operations in various scenarios, as follows.

Tests

msporny · 2022-04-25T16:35:54Z

Oh, no... did I never merge this!? I thought I merged this a while ago... just noticed as I went to look at the latest code base for cgbot. Looks like we need to do some merging... I'll try to get mainline fixed first... then merge this on top?

clehner · 2022-04-25T22:20:57Z

OK

I fixed some merge conflicts just now.

Bridge polls

dab40f4

clehner marked this pull request as ready for review December 31, 2021 16:40

msporny reviewed Dec 31, 2021

View reviewed changes

msporny approved these changes Dec 31, 2021

View reviewed changes

Use sha256 for voter ids

a19e641

clehner added 23 commits January 7, 2022 16:23

Use getPoll in vote command

ef118e2

Prefix poll question with "POLL"

f119cc3

Refer to "a" poll created

db3508b

Pass xmpp function to group chat command handler

2ed4bf8

Fix indentation

7dbeeaa

Pass bot nick to command processor

fa0f29b

Say how to create a poll when there are none

97561c9

List current polls when one is not matched

3d477e5

Correct pluralization

24001c6

Show create command in response to polls command

183cf05

Detect empty polls list after unknown poll number

621d5b2

Note polls can be created in Jitsi

d908002

More output when unable to parse poll number

ade680c

Echo unexpected data after poll number

bc189e3

List available options if unknown option chosen

2bb6c53

Add some comments

74c5b01

Remove unused variable

aa8c8d9

Set poll sender name

38c1322

- Set bot sender id/name for new-poll message. - Put chat nick id in question prefix and in separate message property. - Strip question prefix when processing message.

Check question type

2aa0474

Use random string for new poll id

4d74388

Prevent accidentally resetting poll by reusing id.

Allow "in" instead of "on"

afba77e

Pass polls objects to command processor from XMPP

e35e36f

Give command suggestion in polls command error

5a32214

clehner mentioned this pull request Jan 8, 2022

Document poll commands w3c-ccg/w3c-ccg.github.io#27

Open

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into feat/polls

86e075f

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Bridge polls #4

Bridge polls #4

clehner commented Dec 31, 2021 •

edited

Loading

msporny left a comment

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 1, 2022

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 8, 2022

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 8, 2022 •

edited

Loading

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 8, 2022 •

edited

Loading

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 8, 2022 •

edited

Loading

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 8, 2022

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 8, 2022

clehner Jan 8, 2022

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 7, 2022 •

edited

Loading

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 7, 2022

msporny Dec 31, 2021

clehner Jan 7, 2022

msporny left a comment

clehner commented Jan 1, 2022

clehner commented Jan 8, 2022

Before

After

msporny commented Apr 25, 2022 •

edited

Loading

clehner commented Apr 25, 2022 •

edited

Loading

	const message2 = `... Question: ${msg.question}`;
	const message2 = `POLL: ${msg.question}`;

	const message = `${name} created poll #${pollNum} with ${numOptions} options.`;
	const message = `${name} created a poll #${pollNum} with ${numOptions} options.`;

Bridge polls #4

Are you sure you want to change the base?

Bridge polls #4

Conversation

clehner commented Dec 31, 2021 • edited Loading

Poll creation

From Jitsi

From IRC

Voting in a poll

From Jitsi

From IRC

Querying poll state

msporny left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

clehner Jan 8, 2022 • edited Loading

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

clehner Jan 8, 2022 • edited Loading

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

clehner Jan 8, 2022 • edited Loading

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

clehner Jan 7, 2022 • edited Loading

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

msporny left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

clehner commented Jan 1, 2022

clehner commented Jan 8, 2022

Other changes

Before

After

Documentation of IRC commands

Testing

msporny commented Apr 25, 2022 • edited Loading

clehner commented Apr 25, 2022 • edited Loading

clehner commented Dec 31, 2021 •

edited

Loading

clehner Jan 8, 2022 •

edited

Loading

clehner Jan 8, 2022 •

edited

Loading

clehner Jan 8, 2022 •

edited

Loading

clehner Jan 7, 2022 •

edited

Loading

msporny commented Apr 25, 2022 •

edited

Loading

clehner commented Apr 25, 2022 •

edited

Loading