Text List

The Alexa text list template (AlexaTextList) displays a scrolling list of text items. This is a full-screen template that can include the header and background. You provide a set of text-based items to display in the list. You can configure the appearance of the list, such as including dividers and whether items should be numbered. You can also provide the command to run when a user selects an item from the list.

Import the alexa-layouts package

To use AlexaTextList, import the alexa-layouts package.

The latest version of the alexa-layouts package is 1.2.0. AlexaTextList was introduced in version 1.1.0.

AlexaTextList Parameters

All parameters except type are optional.

Name Type Default Description Version added/updated

backgroundAlign

String

center

Image/video alignment to apply to background image/video.

1.1.0

backgroundBlur

Boolean

false

When true, display the provided background image with a blur effect. Applies when backgroundImageSource contains a value.

1.1.0

backgroundColor

Color

None

Color to use as a background color. Used when neither backgroundImageSource or backgroundVideoSource contain values.

1.1.0

backgroundColorOverlay

Boolean

false

When true, apply a scrim to the background to make it easier to read the text displayed over the image or video.

1.1.0

backgroundImageSource

String

None

URL for the background image source. Used when backgroundVideoSource isn't provided.

1.1.0

backgroundOverlayGradient

Boolean

false

When true, apply a gradient to the background.

1.1.0

backgroundScale

String

best-fill

Image or video scaling to apply to background image or video.

1.1.0

backgroundVideoAudioTrack

String

foreground

Audio track to play on when playing the video. Can be foreground | background | none

1.1.0

backgroundVideoAutoPlay

Boolean

false

When true, the video begins playing automatically when the document renders on the device. Applies when backgroundVideoSource contains a value.

1.1.0

backgroundVideoSource

Video source

None

The background video source. Provide a source in the same format shown for the source property of the Video component

1.1.0

entities

Array

[]

Array of entity data to bind to this template.

1.2.0

headerAttributionImage

String

None

URL for attribution image source. Displays when headerAttributionPrimacy is true, or on a device that shows Title/Subtitle and Attribution.

1.0.0

headerAttributionPrimacy

Boolean

true

When true, display the headerAttributionImage on devices that display a single element due to screen size. When false, display the headerTitle and headerSubtitle.

1.0.0

headerAttributionText

String

None

Attribution text to render in the header. Shown when headerAttributionImage doesn't have a value and headerAttributionPrimacy is true, or on a device that shows both Title/Subtitle and Attribution.

1.0.0

headerBackButton

Boolean

false

When true, display a back button in the header.

1.0.0

headerBackButtonAccessibilityLabel

String

None

An accessibility label to describe the back button to customers who use a screen reader.

1.1.0

headerBackButtonCommand

Command

{"type":"SendEvent","arguments":["goBack"]}

Command to execute when the user selects the back button.

1.1.0

headerBackgroundColor

String

transparent

Optional color value to use as the background color for the Header.

1.0.0

headerDivider

Boolean

false

Toggle to display the divider that appears at the bottom of header to help separate it from the content below.

1.1.0

headerSubtitle

String

None

Secondary text to render in header.

1.0.0

headerTitle

String

None

Primary text to render in header.

1.0.0

hideDivider

Boolean

false

When true, hide the horizontal divider displayed below each item in the list.

1.1.0

hideOrdinal

Boolean

false

When true, don't display the number next to each list item.

1.1.0

listItems

Array of listItems

Array of text list items to present in list.

1.1.0

primaryAction

Command

none

The action to trigger when the user selects an item from the list.

1.1.0

theme

String

dark

Set the dark or light color theme. The selected theme controls the colors used for the template.

1.1.0

touchForward

Boolean

false

When true, assume the user is close enough to touch the screen (3 foot viewing distance) and format the list items with a smaller font size. When false, assume the user isn't close enough to touch the screen ("voice-forward") and use a larger font size.

1.1.0

type

String

None

Always set to AlexaTextList

1.1.0

Provide the list items

The AlexaTextList layout expects an array of items in the listItems property. Each item is an object with the properties defined in the AlexaTextListItem responsive component.

For example, you could define an array of items like this:

{
  "listItems": [
    {
      "primaryText": "First item primary text",
      "secondaryText": "This is the secondary text",
      "secondaryTextPosition": "bottom",
      "tertiaryText": "This is the tertiary text",
      "tertiaryTextPosition": "bottom",
      "ratingNumber": 2,
      "imageThumbnailSource": "https://d2o906d8ln7ui1.cloudfront.net/images/md_brie.png",
      "hideOrdinal": true,
      "touchForward": true
    },
    {
      "primaryText": "Second item in the list.",
      "secondaryText": "Secondary text for the second item",
      "imageThumbnailSource": "https://d2o906d8ln7ui1.cloudfront.net/images/md_gruyere.png",
      "tertiaryText": "Tertiary text",
      "tertiaryTextPosition": "bottom",
      "ratingNumber": 0
    },
    {
      "primaryText": "Third item in the list.",
      "imageThumbnailSource": "https://d2o906d8ln7ui1.cloudfront.net/images/sm_blue.png"
    },
    {
      "primaryText": "Fourth item in the list"
    },
    {
      "primaryText": "Fifth item in the list"
    },
    {
      "primaryText": "This list might have many more items"
    }
  ]
}

You can define this in the listItems array parameter of AlexaTextList, or in a separate data source.

The specific list item parameters available depends on the version of AlexaTextListItem. For example, the properties to display a rating require the 1.2.0 or later version of the alexa-layouts package. For the full set of properties, see AlexaTextListItem.

Specify the action for each list item

AlexaTextList is interactive. Users can select items on the list. Set the primaryAction property to the command you want to run when the user selects an item.

When you set primaryAction on the AlexaTextList component, AlexaTextList passes the command to each item on the list.

To override command for an individual list item, set the primaryAction property on the list item itself.

The following example shows how you to use the SendEvent command to send your skill a UserEvent request. This passes the number representing the selected item as part of the SendEvent.arguments array.

{
  "primaryAction": {
    "type": "SendEvent",
    "arguments": [
      "ListItemSelected",
      "${ordinal}"
    ]
  }
}

AlexaTextList example

A simple AlexaTextList
A simple AlexaTextList
Amazon Alexa
Amazon business
Amazon Web Services
Amazon Dash Replenishment