What tools are available to develop custom applications built around
Instant Messsenging programs like AIM or MSN Messenger?  Reference the
niffty little bot at the Wall street Journal www.wsj.com/im.   How did
they program that and are the tools available?

Hi, botbuilder. Thanks for your question.

There are basically two ways you can get a bot on the MSN Messenger or
AIM services; you can either create the bot yourself in a language
like Python, C, or Perl, or you can pay a company for the software you
need.

The Wall Street Journal have gone for the latter option. According to
an article on instantmessagingplanet.com
(http://www.instantmessagingplanet.com/public/article.php/2203611),
they have purchased a solution from a company called InfiniteAgent
(http://infiniteagent.com/). This product uses XML to define the
commands the bot will respond to. This solution is very powerful - as
well as IM, it can apparently deliver content over E-mail, the web,
voice and mobile phones.

Another option that's probably closer to what you're looking for is
available from Conversagent (http://www.conversagent.com/). Their bots
are created in a language called BuddyScript, and they offer an SDK
and free development server to try it out (you can get it from
http://www.conversagent.com/products/devtools/bssdk.htm). When you
have created your bot, you can host it yourself, or they will host it
for you. There is a bot they have created, SmarterChild, available at
http://www.smarterchild.com/.

Another option is the service provided by http://www.runabot.com/.
They are a (free) service that will allow you to create and configure
a bot on their servers using a web-based interface, then run a program
on your computer to allow it to connect. They will run it for you for
a small fee.

There also is a powerful, free, framework available at
http://www.duncanlamb.com/sdba/ which is designed to simplify the
process of creating your own bot. It allows you to create responces by
simply dropping a text file in a directory, and allows you to add more
advanced code if necessary. It is written in perl.

If you want to create your own bot, there are many example scripts
demonstrating how to create one.

If you want to use perl, wiredbots.com has an article that may be of
use: http://www.wiredbots.com/tutorial.html

The following links contain example code in various different languages:

http://msn-bot.sourceforge.net/
http://www.planet-source-code.com/URLSEO/vb/scripts/ShowCode!asp/txtCodeId!574/lngWid!6/anyname.htm
http://www.adamswann.com/library/2002/msn-perl/index.html
http://jaimbot.sourceforge.net/
http://hacks.oreilly.com/pub/h/479

The following links and searches may also be of use to you:

http://www.bot-depot.com/forums/index.php?act=SC&c=6
://www.google.com/search?num=50&q=MSN+bot
://www.google.com/search?num=50&q=AIM+bot

I hope this information was of use to you. Feel free to request a
clarification if you have any questions.
-- wildeeo

That's a great response.   I'll read the links you posted and see if I
have more questions.  My first time on Google Answers.  Very
impressive!!!

Good comments above on creating a bot-- I've used the Python bindings
for AIM, and they seemed pretty good.  I got a bot running in about 10
minutes!

Check it out:
http://www.jamwt.com/Py-TOC/