Inform users when DataMall is down

v.4.1.0-rc1

Add test for DataMall unavailable message

Resend button

This release brings back the Resend callback button which was around in Bus Eta Bot version 2. The resend button only appears on messages sent directly by the bot (instead of inline messages) and when pressed, asks the bot to resend the eta message instead of editing the old message. This could be useful when you want to keep a particular eta message at the end of the conversation.

v3.9.1

This release adds a placeholder for the /feedback command mentioned in the welcome message.

To /eta or not to /eta

The /eta command

Every since Bus Eta Bot v2, it hasn't been necessary to use the /eta command to get etas anymore. The bot tries to interpret any message it receives as an eta query and responds with etas if it finds any. This was meant to streamline the Bus Eta Bot user experience, from:

User: "/eta"
Bot: "Please send me a bus stop code to get etas for."
User: "96049"
Bot: -sends etas-

To:

User: "96049"
Bot: -sends etas-

However, usage statistics showed that some users were still using the /eta command, sending an additional message and waiting for an additional reply from the bot before making an eta query. Just in case, Bus Eta Bot will now remind users who do this that there's no need to send a /eta before making an eta query.

Note that the /eta command is still necessary in group chats, since Bus Eta Bot operates in privacy mode and doesn't receive messages except for commands and replies.

/eta command behavior

In Bus Eta Bot v3, the bot's response to normal text messages and the /eta command has been changed slightly.

Previously, any text message received was assumed to be an eta query, with the first word or first five characters of the message interpreted as the bus stop code. The /eta command (without arguments) simply forced the user's next message to be a reply, which would then be received and handled as a normal text message.

Now, the bot uses heuristics to guess if received text messages are eta queries, and ignores them otherwise. However, using the /eta command will force the bot to treat a message as an eta query, and it will report errors such as an invalid bus stop code.

Release notes

Changed

• When sending a /eta command in a private chat, the bot will mention that it's not necessary.
• The bot version string is now generated at CI time based on the exact commit being deployed.
• Display current bot version, date and link to GitHub in index.html.

Added

• Laid the groundwork for having persistent user preferences.

Backwards compatibilty for refresh buttons on old messages

First bug in production for Bus Eta Bot v2 😅

Changing the format of callback queries used by the bot broke refresh functionality on all eta results sent by the bot before the last update. This update adds backwards compatibility so that the bot still handles the old callback query data formats.

Also, shoutout to the person who used the history function, so sorry that it wasn't ported over.

Release Notes

Fixed

• Made bot backwards compatible with older callback query which used different callback_data formats

Bus Eta Bot v2 deployed to production!

With this release, the backend for @BusEtaBot is now being driven by this new codebase! Thanks for supporting Bus Eta Bot!