Avaya PeriProducer User Guide

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PeriProducer User’s Guide

Software Release 3.0

Avaya Business Communications Manager

Release 6.0

Document Status: Standard Document Number: P0995131 Document Version: 05.02 Date: June 2010

Notices

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Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

How to Use This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Organization of This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Conventions Used in This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Solaris and Windows 2000 Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Two-Button (Windows 2000) vs. Three-Button (Solaris)

Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Trademark Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

HylaFAX Facsimile Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Chapter 1 — Overview of PeriProducer Features . . . . . . . 31

PeriProducer Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Voice Response Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Application Execution and Diagnostic Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 2 — PeriProducer Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Starting PeriProducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Checking the PeriProducer Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Default Startup Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Loading an Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Loading an Autosave File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Loading an Errorsave (Recovery) File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Loading an Earlier Version of an Application . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Loading a Backup File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Adding a Title to the Main Container. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Saving Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Saving an Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Saving an Application to a Different Name/Location . . . . . 46

Understanding the Backup (.pBK) File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Automatic Error Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Saving a New Version of an Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Automatically Saving Applications (Autosave) . . . . . . . . . . 49

Saving a Container Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Leaving References Unresolved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

PeriProducer Application File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Printing an Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Printing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Printing in Batch Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

# P0995131 Page 3

PeriProducer User’s Guide

Quitting PeriProducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Working With Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Changing the Default Print Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Selecting the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Setting the PPROPOSTPRINTER Environment

Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Viewing the PostScript Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Version Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Version Renaming Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Enabling Version Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Assigning a Version Identifying Number to an Application 62

Comparing Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Excluding Building Blocks from Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Clearing a Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Standard Action Window Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Adding a Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Customizing the Function of a Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Changes to the Action Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Naming a Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Locating Blocks within an Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Using the Tool Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Using the Blocks Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Using the Search Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Performing Operations on Grouped Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

The Block Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Adding Notes to a Block. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Editing Block Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Copying a Block or Grouped Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Moving a Block or Grouped Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Moving in a Single Construction Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Moving Between Construction Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Deleting a Block or Grouped Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Restoring a Deleted Block or Grouped Blocks. . . . . . . . . . . 86

Reference Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Creating a Reference Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Working With Reference Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

References to Parameterized Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Gathering Application Statistics (Block Execution

Statistics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Determining Blocks Associated With a Counter . . . . . . 92

Passing Statistics Folders to a Linked Application . . . . . 93

Working With Block Connections and Connectors . . . . . . . 94

Understanding Block Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Automatic Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Creating and Erasing Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using Connector Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

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Adding a Connector Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 3 — Understanding PeriProducer’s Primary Windows 99

The Main Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

The Main Container Menu Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

The Main Container File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

The Main Container Blocks Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

The Main Container Execute Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

The Main Container Properties Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

The Tool Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

The Accessory Tool Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Additional Tool Kits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Adding a Header to the Tool Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Using the Locator to Move Around an Application . . . . . . 111

Chapter 4 — Application Support Functions . . . . . . . . . . 113

Overview of Application Support Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Executing Applications With PeriGEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Using VEMUL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Understanding Condition Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Simulating Success and Failure Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Entering Commands in the PeriGEM Window . . . . . . . . . 122

Vemul Options on the Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

VEMUL Response Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

PeriGEM Script Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Creating and Saving a Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Executing the Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Condition Data Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Entering Data for a Get Input Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Understanding Local/Remote Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Generating the Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Batch Generating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Testing and Running the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Stepping Through the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Interacting With Applications in Real Mode . . . . . . . . 138

Interacting With Applications in Simulated Mode . . . . 139

Pausing the Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Using the Watch Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Attaching to an Executing Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Tracing the Execution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Evaluating Application Development with Complexity

Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

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PeriProducer User’s Guide

Chapter 5 — Managing Vocabularies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Overview of Vocabulary Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Using PeriStudio to Edit Vocabularies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Understanding the Prompt Editor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Using Vocabularies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Understanding the Vocabulary Management Window . . . . . . . 159

Using Data Cards as Vocabulary Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Prompting the Caller When Requesting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Building Blocks Using Speech Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Vocabulary Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Referencing Vocabulary Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Preparing Applications That Use Vocabularies . . . . . . . . . 150

Manipulating the Phrases List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Marking Errors in the Phrases to Be Spoken in Order

List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

The Vocabulary List Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

The Vocabulary Prefix List Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

To Be Defined Vocabulary Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Vocabulary Files Used in the Current Application. . . . . . . 162

Elements in the Current Vocabulary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Selecting Data Cards to Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Speech Formats for Data Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Speaking Numeric Data Cards Containing Decimal Points 168

Implementing Voice Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Voice Menu Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

SPEAK to the Caller (Speak Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

SELECT from a Menu (Select Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

READ Data Entered by the Caller (Read Block) . . . . . . . . 177

Chapter 6 — Receiving Caller Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Receiving Touch Tone Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Caller Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Input Timers and Partial Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

READ Data Entered by the Caller (Read Block) . . . . . . . . 184

Editing Caller Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

User Edit Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Manage Touch Tone Edit Sequences (Edit Sequences

Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Voice Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

SELECT from a Menu (Select Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Receiving Speech Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Receiving Data from Multiple Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Page 6 # P0995131

Chapter 7 — Managing Application Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Overview of Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Understanding Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Local Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Shared Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Persistent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Include File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Shared Constant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Container Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Understanding Data Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Selecting Folders and Data Cards Within an Application . . . . . 205

Using Data in Multiple Applications (Include Files) . . . . . . . . . 207

Accessing an Include File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Adding and Opening Include Files at Subfolder Levels. . . 209

Locating Include Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Modifying an Include File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Running PeriGEM with Include Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Composite Data Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Using a Date as a Character and a Number . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Accessing Individual Year Digits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Organizing Data With Lower-level Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Creating Multiple Copies of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Understanding the Manage Data Folders Window . . . . . . . . . . 216

Global Manage Data Folders Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Local Manage Data Folders Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Organizing the Folder List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Data Folders Window Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Saving a Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Folder Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Data Item Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Understanding the System Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Using Expressions to Manipulate Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Numeric Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Character Expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Conditional Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Conditional Expression with {And} and {Or} . . . . . . . 233

Assignment Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Assignment Operators for Numeric Expressions . . . . . 236

Assignment Squeeze Operator for String Expressions . 238

Assigning Data Card Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Conversion Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

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PeriProducer User’s Guide

Chapter 8 — PeriProducer RDBMS Support . . . . . . . . . . 251

SQL Access to RDBMS (SQL Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Manipulating an RDBMS With the SQL Block . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Automatically Generating SQL Commands (PeriSQL) . . . . . . 277

Converting Between Attribute:Value Strings and Data

Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Subscript Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Entering Expressions (the Expression-Entry Panel). . . . . . 245

Selecting From Multiple Occurrences of a Folder or Data

Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

SQL Block Window Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Valid Data Types for SQL Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Setting the RDBMS Environment Variables . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Accelerating RDBMS Access With SQLClnt (Oracle,

Sybase, and ODBC only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Logging On and Off the RDBMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Logging On the RDBMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Logging Off the RDBMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Password Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

RDBMS Information Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Storing Data From an SQL SELECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Storing a Returned NULL Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Storing Data in Existing Folders/Data Cards . . . . . . . . 265

Automatically Creating Folders and Data Cards . . . . . 266

Using Data Cards in the SQL Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Using SELECT With a Wildcard (*) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Fetching Multiple Records From a Database . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Setting Up a NEXT RECORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Accessing Records From a Result Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Support for Oracle Linked Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Support for Sybase/MSSQL Built-In System Functions . . 274

Stored Procedures and Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Handling RAISE Exception Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Debugging an SQL Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Debugging SQL Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Using System Status Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Chapter 9 — Controlling Application Flow . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Overview of Application Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Understanding Connector Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Entering a Container (Entry Connector). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Exiting a Container (Exit Connector) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Uncluttering the Display (Anonymous Connector) . . . . . . 282

Jumping to a Different Block (Source Connector) . . . . . . . 283

Page 8 # P0995131

Ending a Jump (Destination Connector). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Ending a Logical Path (Finish Execution Connector) . . . . 285

Resuming Execution After a Status/Exception Condition

(Resume Connector) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Resuming After Initiating a Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Understanding Resume Failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Handling Shared Memory Locks During a Resume . . . 287 Positioning Blocks Executed by Reference (Anchor

Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

COMPUTE - Assign/Move/Convert (Compute Block) . . . . . . . 288

Assignments Using a Portion of a Characters Card

(Substring) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Substring Syntax and Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Substring Assignment Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Manipulating the List of Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Marking Errors in the List of Operations . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Assignments Using Conditional Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Specifying the Item Prefix String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Clearing the Item Prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Item Prefix in a Linked Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

SWITCH - Choose the Next Block (Switch Block) . . . . . . . . . 299

Comparisons Using a Portion of a Characters Card

(Substring) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Substring Syntax and Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Substring Comparison Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

CONTAINER Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Adding a Container. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Grouping Blocks Into Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Containers and Lower-Level Construction Areas . . . . . . . 304

Data Local to a Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Parameterized Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Code Sharing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Reference Blocks in a Saved Container . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Looping a Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Calling an External VEX File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Using an Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Executing a Container For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Executing a Container While . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Executing a Container Until . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Loop Expressions Using a Portion of a Character Card

(Substring) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Substring Syntax and Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Substring Comparison Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Vexlinked Applications with Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Creating an External container: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Making the Final Vex File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

# P0995131 Page 9

PeriProducer User’s Guide

DYNAMIC Menus Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Access to CORBA Server Object Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Blocking/Non-blocking Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Chapter 10 — Communicating With a Host Computer . . 329

Overview of Host Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Screen Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Monitoring and Debugging Host Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Managing Host Timers and Exception Conditions . . . . . . . . . . 336

Verifying Host Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

The Screen Mapper Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

SEND HOST Information (SendHost Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

RECEIVE HOST Information (ReceiveHost Block) . . . . . . . . 351

Initializing Dynamic Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Creating Selection Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Adding Menu Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

User Data Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Prompt Phrase Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Sample Application using Dynamic Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

corbaclnt Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

CORBA Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Screen Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Screen Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Message-Based Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Host Simulation (Simulated Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Host Simulation (Real Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Mirroring Host Interaction (Real Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Customizing the Host Simulation Window . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Command Line Access to PeriMap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Accessing PeriMap From Within PeriProducer . . . . . . . . . 338

Determining the Save Status of the Current Map . . . . . . . . 339

Resizing the PeriMap Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

PeriMap Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Selecting a Map Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Creating a Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Creating and Defining PeriMap fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Naming PeriMap Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Naming Maps in PeriMap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Transferring Maps to PeriProducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Grouping and Saving Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Saving a Map in a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

PeriMap Window Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Customizing PeriMap Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Page 10 # P0995131

Chapter 11 — Telephone Line Management . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Overview of Telephone Line Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Phone Line Environment Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Originating and Transferring (Referring) Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Registering for Up/Down Service State Change of the Phone

Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Set ENVIRONMENT Options (Environment Block) . . . . . . . . 357

Working With Environment Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Setting Environment Options From Data Cards . . . . . . . . . 359

ANSWER the Phone with a Greeting (Answer Block) . . . . . . . 360

ORIGINATE Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Transferring (Referring) a Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Implementing an Automatic Referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Call Progress Detection (Call Progress Detection Block) . . . . . 366

Handling a Call Progress Detection Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

DISCONNECT (Hang Up) the Phone (Disconnect Block) . . . . 369

Detecting a TDD Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Advanced Telephone Line Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Bridging Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Implementing a Customized Referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Returning to the Original Referral Line . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

BRIDGE Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Chapter 12 — Using Caller Message Recording (CMR) . 381

Overview of Caller Message Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

CMR Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Understanding Media Storage (MS) Tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

Updating Vocabulary Elements with CMR Data . . . . . . . . . . . 385

CMR Watermark Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Suggested Handle Block Settings for CMR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

CMR Timeout Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

RECORD a Message From the Caller (Record Block) . . . . . . . 389

Recording Related Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Indexing the List of Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Playing a Message to the Caller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Appending to an existing recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Appending to an existing Vocabulary Item . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Appending to an existing CMR recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Appending to an existing WAV file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Deleting a CMR Message or Vocabulary Item. . . . . . . . . . 396

Chapter 13 — Using the Fax Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Overview of Fax Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Introduction to Fax Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

# P0995131 Page 11

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RECEIVE a FAX (Receive Fax Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

SEND a FAX (Send Fax Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

COMPOSE a FAX (within PeriProducer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Chapter 14 — Using Call Conferencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Overview of Call Conferencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

Call Conferencing Functions (Call Conferencing Block) . . . . . 417

Creating a Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Setting Conference Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Joining a Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

Leaving a Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Destroying a Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Introduction to Fax Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Introduction to Fax Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

2FAX Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

2FAX Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Sample.ASC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

TIFFCP Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

EXAMPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Conference Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Connection Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

Local Conference Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

Global Conference Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Conferencing Handle/Exception Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Chapter 15 — Using Databases and Flat Files . . . . . . . . . 429

Overview of Application File Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430

Flat files (Queues) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Database (Direct Access) Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Identifying Records to be Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Hashed Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Indexed Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Exclusive Locks on File Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Sequenced Access to Records (Browsing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Starting a Browse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Retrieving Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Changing a Browse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Ending a Browse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Browse ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Database Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Platform Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Starting a Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437

Starting a Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Page 12 # P0995131

Database Format Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

Reader/Writer Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

The File List Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

DISK I/O To or From a File (DiskIO Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Chapter 16 — Special Purpose Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

HANDLE Exception Conditions (Handle Block) . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Condition Message Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Noticing a Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

Handling/Catching/Ignoring Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452

Displaying Instances of a Condition Connector . . . . . . 454

Common Handle Block Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Handle According to Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Use SYSTEM Services (System Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Passing Parameters to Linked Applications . . . . . . . . . 464

CONSOLE Map Accept/Display (Console Block) . . . . . . . . . . 468

Console Block Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Customizing the Display Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

Customizing the Size and Location of the Window . . . 470

Specifying the Display Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

Displaying Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472

Accepting Input from Map Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

Row and Column Operands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474

Handling Unusual Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474

Implementation Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474

Access an External RESOURCE (Resource Block) . . . . . . . . . 475

Available Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Perform Media Operations (Media Operations Block) . . . . . . . 479

Line Operations (Line Operations Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Call Control (Call Control Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

Abort Outstanding I/O (Abort Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

Date Calculations (Datecalc Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

Converting Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Adding or Subtracting Dates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Datecalc Return Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Specifying a Conversion or Computation Pattern . . . . . . . 490

Datecalc <source-format> Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490

Datecalc <operation> Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Datecalc <target-format> Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Send E-mail (E-mail Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

Working with Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Setting Up a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Initializing a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Sorting a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497

Searching a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

# P0995131 Page 13

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Chapter 17 — Customizing PeriProducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

Changing PeriProducer Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

Creating Custom Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

Table Sort (Table Sort Block). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Table Search (Table Search Block) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500

Configuring Main Container Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

PeriProducer 2.30 Runtime Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Handle Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Speak with Locked Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504

Configuring Application Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504

Configuring Generator Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

Changing Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

Construction Area Grid Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515

Accessing Vocabulary Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Adding Custom Containers to the Tool Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Redisplaying the Tool Kit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Defining and Modifying Custom Containers . . . . . . . . . . . 517

Undoing Changes to the Tool Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520

Working With Custom Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Defining a Custom Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Changing a Custom Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

Removing a Custom Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

Positioning the Custom Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522

Passing Data to or From a Custom Container. . . . . . . . . . . 522

Chapter 18 — Answers to Frequently Asked Questions . 523

Starting PeriProducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Why Won't PeriProducer Start? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Why is the Tool Kit Blank When PeriProducer Starts? 524 How Can I Change the Location of the Default

Vocabulary? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Why Won't PeriStudio Start? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Why Won't the Help Key Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Can I Use SCCS to Maintain PeriProducer Source

Code? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Why Did I Get an “attribute not found in current table”

Error? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Creating an Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

How Do I Acknowledge a Notice Using the

Keyboard? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

Why Are Some Block Options Unavailable (Grayed-Out)?

526 Why Doesn't a Break Point That is Set on a Container Cause

a Reference to That Container to Stop? . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

Page 14 # P0995131

What Should I do When the Case Connectors From a Switch

Go Outside the Container? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

How Do I Keep From Closing (Unpinning) a Block Too

Soon? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526

How Are the {And} and {Or} Operators in a Switch block

Evaluated? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

Why isn't Paste Enabled After Copying a Group of

Blocks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

Why Can't I Paste a Container or a Handle Block That has

Source or Destination Connectors? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

How Do I Display Several Messages on a Single

Line? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

How Do I Select an Array Element as an Operand in a

Block? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

Why Does My File List Have Files in it That I Didn't Define?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528

How Do I Select a Condition That Is Not In the List? . 528 Is the Terminator Character Saved Somewhere After a Read

Phone Block? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

Can I Batch Generate Applications? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

Can I Customize the Host Simulation Window? . . . . . 529

Can I Customize the Console Block Window? . . . . . . 529

How Do I Pass More Than Six Parameters to a Call

Function? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

Executing an Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

Why Am I Getting the Output Failure Condition of When I

Execute an Answer Block in Simulated Mode? . . . . . . 530

Why Does PeriProducer Think My Application Has Been Changed When I Open an Empty Container For the First

Time? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

Why Isn't a Breakpoint Set at the Current Block? . . . . 530

Why Does My Application Immediately Stop After

Starting? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

How Are Block Statistics (Application Statistics)

Managed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

Can You Just Print an Application? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

How Does PeriProducer Manage Conditions in a Linked

Application? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

Why Does the FAX Send Map Only Put Unprotected Fields

In the FAX? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530

How Are Parameters Passed to a Linked Application? 531 Why Does the Host Environment Option ertimeout Produce

an Error Message When Set to 2 Minutes? . . . . . . . . . . 531

What Does <Message> Mean? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532

Troubleshooting an Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

# P0995131 Page 15

PeriProducer User’s Guide

Speech Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

Appendix A — Call Functions

Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Using Call Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538

List of Call Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541

Call Function Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

What does it mean when the message, “Please, submit file

<filename> to R&D” is displayed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

How Do I Speak Fractional Values? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

How Does PeriProducer Speak a Two Digit Year? . . . 535

Alphabetical Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541

Category Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

String Manipulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

Speak and Telephony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

VMS Message Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

Time and Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

Data Manipulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

Binary Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

Misc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

array-qsort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

array-read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546

array-write. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547

ask-date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548

avs-to-fol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Case Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550

char-to-hex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551

char-to-num. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553

concat-strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555

condition-data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556

convert-base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

convert-from-binary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561

convert-to-binary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562

crc16-a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

crc16-b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

current-mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

data-length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

data-replace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566

Translation Units and Pattern Processing . . . . . . . . . . . 567

Special Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

date-calc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

date-calc Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Page 16 # P0995131

Date Conversions and Computations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Holiday Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

day-of-week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

double-mod10-check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575

execute-command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576

extern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578

fol-to-avs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

fol-to-xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580

Parameters: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580

format-string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581

get-configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

get-next-token . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

get-parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586

get-random . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587

get-token-info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588

hex-to-char . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

hex-to-decimal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591

host-status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593

item-prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

item-prefix in Linked Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596

justify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597

last-condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

last-message-addr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

lrc8-a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

lrc8-b. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

message-queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603

mod10-check. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

move-data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

pack-pace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

prev-para . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607

process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

command_name = create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

command_name = write-to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

command_name = close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

command_name = read-from . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

command_name = wait-for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609

command_name = detach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

command_name = kill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

recordmmf-status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611

reminder-cancel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612

reminder-message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

scan-string. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614

service-status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

set-currency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618

set-date-prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

# P0995131 Page 17

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shared-memory-init. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623

speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

speak-as-fraction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626

speak-cid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

speak-conversion-type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630

Other Methods for Setting Language Rules . . . . . . . . . 631

Implicit Settings Invoked by speak-conversion-type . . 631

Specifying the year spoken form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632

Implementing British Language Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Using English Tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

speak-gender-type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634

table-search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 635

Defining the Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636

table-sort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Defining the Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

throw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639

time-calc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

timer-difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644

timer-start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

timestamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646

to-lower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647

to-upper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

translate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

trim-spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

unpack-pace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654

web-translate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655

xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

Node Interface Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658

Node List Interface Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661

xml-to-fol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663

Parameters: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663

xtranslate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665

Appendix B — Environment Options Reference . . . . . . . 667

Environment Options Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668

Application and System Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668

Host Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671

Generic Environment Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672

VENGINE Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673

Appendix C — Handle Conditions Reference . . . . . . . . . . 677

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

Application Management Exception Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 678

Phone Line Messages and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683

Page 18 # P0995131

Phone Line Status/Timeout/Data Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686

Resource Management Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687

Message Recording and Multimedia Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . 690

Call Conferencing Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692

Fax Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695

Host Status/Exception Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696

File Access Status/Exception Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699

RDBMS Exception Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701

CORBA Server Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703

Miscellaneous Responses (not typically handled) . . . . . . . . . . . 704

Group I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704

Group II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706

Group III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708

Generic Status Condition Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709

Appendix D — Response Folder Reference . . . . . . . . . . . 711

Response Folder Condition Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712

Enhanced Condition Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712

Appendix E — Sample Printer

Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719

Cover Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720

Flow Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721

Block Action Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722

System Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723

Data Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724

Vocabulary Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725

Application Complexity Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726

Container Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727

Block Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729

# P0995131 Page 19

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Page 20 # P0995131

List of Tables

Application File Types 53 Print Container Window 56 Standard Fields and Functions 66 Standard PeriProducer Blocks 67 Block Menu 79 Main Container File Menu 102 Main Container Execute Menu 104 Main Container Properties Menu 106 Accessory Tool Kit blocks 108 PeriGEM Window Options 115 Vemul Commands 122 Vemul Options 124 List of Commands Available in a Script during Simulation 127 Prompt window options 154 Vocabulary Management window 160 Speak Block Options 174 Select Block Options 175 Read Block Options 177 Read Block Options 185 Manage Edit Sequences Block 191 Select Block Options 193 Data Card Types 204 Manage Data Folders window 219 Manage Data Folders window 221 System Folder Data Cards/Folders 223 Expression-entry Panel Options 246 SQL block options 254 Data Types for SQL Parameters 261 Compute Block Options 290 Switch Block Options 300 Container Properties Window Options 308 CORBA Block Options 323 PeriMap Options 343 Mapper Properties Window Options 346 SendHost Options 348 ReceiveHost Options 351 Environment Block Options 358 Answer Block Options 361 Originate Block Options 364 Call Progress Detection Block Options 366 Disconnect Block Options 371 Bridge Block Options 379 Record Block Options 389

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PeriProducer User’s Guide

Receive Fax Options 399 Send Fax Options 402 Call Conferencing Block Options 418 File List Window Options 439 DiskIO Block Options 442 Blocks Which Enable Message Reception 451 System Block Options 457 Console Block Options 468 Resource Block Options 476 Available Resources 477 Media Operations Block Options 479 Line Operations Block 482 Call Contol Block 484 Abort Block 486 Datecalc Return Codes 489 Datecalc block <source-format> Characters 490 E-mail Block Options 493 Table Sort Block Options 499 Table Search Options 500 Application Configuration Options 504 date-calc Source Format Pattern Characters 569 Operations and Operation Target Format 570 Target Format Pattern Characters for Conversion 570 date-calc Return Code 572 Mode Parameter for Gender of Currency Units 618 time-calc Source Format Pattern Characters 641 time-calc Operations and Operation Target Format 642 time-calc Target Format Pattern Characters for Conversion 642 time-calc Return Codes 643 Application and System Environment Options 668 Host Environment Options 671 VENGINE Environment Options 673 Response Folders ( ) 712

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Preface

PeriProducer User’s Guide

Scope

This manual documents the use and features of PeriProducer on Avaya Media Processing Server (MPS) Series Platforms. However, PeriProducer is designed to stand alone without a manual. Application developers should learn about telephone media application functions and the features of the PeriProducer environment by interacting directly with the software. All PeriProducer features are contained in the blocks and other user-friendly windows.

Intended Audience

Although this is a User’s Guide with How-To procedures and detailed explanations, it also serves as a reference for more experienced programmers.

Avaya recommends that application developers attend an on-site PeriProducer class as well as a system familiarization training program before attempting to create voice applications.

How to Use This Manual

This manual uses many standard terms relating to computer system, software application functions, and the Internet. However, it contains some terminology that can only be explained in the context of the MPS system. Refer to the Glossary of Avaya Media Processing Server (MPS) Terminology for definitions of MPS Series specific terms.

Initially, you should read this manual at least once, from start to finish. Later, you can use the Table of Contents to locate topics of interest for reference and review.

If you are reading this document online, use the cross-reference links (shown in blue) to quickly locate related topics. <L with your cursor over the cross-reference link. Click on any point in a Table of Contents entry to move to that topic. Click on the page number of any Index entry to access that topic page.

To familiarize yourself with various specialized textual references within the manual, see Conventions Used in This Manual on page 26.

Periphonics is now part of Avaya. The name Periphonics, and variations thereof, appear in this manual only where it is referred to in a product. (For examples, a PeriProducer application, the PERImps package, the perirev command, etc.)

EFT> click once with your mouse while positioned

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Organization of This Manual

• Chapters 1 - 3:

These chapters overview PeriProducer and provide the basics for loading, saving, printing, and constructing applications. Chapter 3 introduces the Main Container and the Tool Kit.

• Chapters 4 - 16:

These chapters detail more application specific activities including vocabulary management, data management, Caller Message Recording, fax management, and Call Conferencing. Each chapter describes PeriProducer blocks designed for these tasks.

• Chapter 17:

This chapter describes how to customize PeriProducer and create and use custom Containers.

• Chapter 18:

This chapter is a PeriProducer FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list. Refer to this chapter for tips before you contact technical support.

• Appendix A:

This appendix describes the Call functions available to PeriProducer applications.

• Appendix B:

This appendix details the environment options available in an Environment block.

• Appendix C:

This appendix details the status/exception conditions available from the Handle block.

• Appendix D:

This appendix contains samples of output from the PeriProducer print facility.

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PeriProducer User’s Guide

Conventions Used in This Manual

This manual uses different fonts and symbols to differentiate between document elements and types of information. These conventions are summarized in the following table.

Conventions Used in This Manual Sheet 1 of 2

Notation Description

Normal text

important term

system command

command, condition

and alarm

file name / directory

on-screen field

Book Reference

Normal text font is used for most of the document.

The Italics font is used to introduce new terms, to highlight meaningful words or phrases, or to distinguish specific terms from nearby text.

This font indicates a system command and/or its arguments. Such keywords are to be entered exactly as shown (i.e., users are not to fill in their own values).

Command, Condition and Alarm references appear on the screen in magenta text and reference the Command Reference Manual, the PeriProducer User’s Guide, or the Alarm Reference Manual, respectively. Refer to these documents for detailed information

Commands, Conditions, and Alarms.

about

This font is used for highlighting the names of disk directories, files, and extensions for file names. It is also used to show displays on text-based screens (e.g., to show the contents of a file.)

This font is used for field labels, on-screen menu buttons, and action buttons.

A term that appears within angled brackets denotes a terminal keyboard key, a telephone keypad button, or a system mouse button.

This font indicates the names of other publications referenced within the document.

cross reference

A cross reference is shown on the screen in blue. Click on the cross reference to access the referenced location. A cross reference that refers to a section name accesses the first page of that section.

The Note icon identifies notes, important facts, and other keys to understanding.

The Caution icon identifies procedures or events that require special attention. The icon indicates a warning that serious problems may arise if the stated instructions are improperly followed.

Page 26 # P0995131

Conventions Used in This Manual Sheet 2 of 2

Notation Description

The flying Window icon identifies procedures or events that apply to the Windows 2000 operating system only.

The Solaris icon identifies procedures or events that apply to the Solaris operating system only.

1. Windows 2000 and the flying Window logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

2. Solaris® is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the U.S. and other countries.

Solaris and Windows 2000 Conventions

This manual depicts examples (command line syntax, configuration files, and screen shots) in Solaris format. In certain instances Windows 2000 specific commands, procedures, or screen shots are shown where required. The following table lists examples of general operating system conventions to keep in mind when using this manual with either the Solaris or Windows 2000 operating system.

Solaris Windows 2000

Environment $PPROHOME %PPROHOME%

Paths $PPROHOME/bin %PPROHOME%\bin

Command <command> & start /b <command>

Two-Button (Windows 2000) vs. Three-Button (Solaris)

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PeriProducer User’s Guide

Mouse

<SELECT> Left button

<ADJUST> Left and Right

<MENU> Right button

Trademark Conventions

The following trademark information is presented here and applies throughout for third party products discussed within this manual. Trademarking information is not repeated hereafter.

Solaris other countries.

Solaris, SunOS, OpenWindows, SPARC, and UltraSPARC are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

<SELECT> Left button

<ADJUST> Middle button

together

<MENU> Right button

and Motif® are registered trademarks of The Open Group in the U.S. and

Microsoft, MSSQL, Windows, Windows 2000, Internet Explorer, and the Flying Windows logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Oracle

Sybase

Informix affiliates.

HylaFAX Facsimile Software

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its

is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation.

™

and SYBASE™ are trademarks of Sybase, Inc. or its subsidiaries.

and INFORMIX® are registered trademarks of Informix Corporation or its

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documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

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Overview of PeriProducer

Features

This chapter covers:

1. PerProducer Description

2. Voice Response Applications

3. Application Execution and Diagnostic Facilities

PeriProducer User’s Guide

PeriProducer Description

The PeriProducer software package is a graphical development environment for creating Interactive Voice Response (IVR) applications. With PeriProducer, users who understand their application requirements, but are not necessarily well-versed in phone system characteristics or IVR application programming, can create their applications directly.

PeriProducer employs a graphical user interface (GUI) with icons, drag-and-drop icon placement, pull-down menus, fill-in-the-blanks data entry, default parameter values, extensive online help screens, and other features that make application development quicker and easier. The various functions PeriProducer can perform are represented by icons, which are referred to as blocks. The application developer constructs the application by selecting and sequencing the blocks. The completed application is represented by a graphical layout during development as well as at run time.

Voice Response Applications

Typically, voice response applications automate call processing by emulating the actions of a human telephone operator. You execute applications by assigning them to the system's telephone lines. Generally, an IVR system runs multiple lines concurrently. You can use the lines to run different applications, multiple instances (that is, copies) of the same application, or a combination of applications.

The following functions are available for processing caller transactions. An application may use some or all of these features:

• speaking to callers in recorded and/or synthesized speech

• accepting input from the caller using touch tone, speech recognition, or speech recording

• concurrently interfacing to multiple hosts

• processing information via computation

• accessing local files

• sending or receiving a fax

• controlling phone lines

• processing exceptions

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Application Execution and Diagnostic Facilities

The PeriProducer environment provides a number of features to verify the performance and function of an application either before or after it is in a production environment.

You can simulate the execution of an application in the PeriProducer software environment on a development workstation. You can execute blocks, hear voice prompts, supply input to the application, etc., entirely from within the development environment. You can run all or part of the application, testing the logic paths and application functions. Using this capability, you do not have to complete an application before you begin to test it. The set of diagnostic functions includes a monitoring feature, which allows you to view the internal workings of an application while it executes. You can monitor applications in terms of the execution of blocks and/or modifications to data names.

The diagnostic facilities within the PeriProducer environment include the following functions:

Overview of PeriProducer Features

Function Description

stepped execution During testing, you can execute an application in a stepped fashion. In

this mode, PeriProducer pauses before each block, allowing you to view changes to data structures, files, phone line state, etc. In this way, you can isolate the effects of any individual block on the system.

breakpoints You can execute an application normally until it reaches a pre-

specified breakpoint. While the application pauses at a breakpoint, you can subject it to certain events (for example, simulating a host failure condition, phone line occurrence, etc.). You can then continue with stepped or normal execution.

data display During the application’s execution, you can display the contents of any

data name. The system can also automatically create a breakpoint or display the contents of a data card/folder whenever the values of one or more specified data names change.

phone line interaction

traced execution PeriProducer can automatically trace the flow of an application. In this

You can simulate the interaction of an application with its phone line. Use a pop-up window to enter touchtone data, phone line events, host messages, etc. This allows you to see how the application handles expected and unexpected conditions.

mode, PeriProducer shows the used and unused logic paths in different colors. Each time the application takes a path, PeriProducer increases its brightness. You can see at a glance which logic paths have been executed and how often. You can also save the current state of an execution trace.

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PeriProducer Basics

This chapter covers:

1. Starting PeriProducer

2. Getting Help

3. Saving an Application

4. Printing an Application

5. Quitting PeriProducer

6. Working With Blocks

PeriProducer User’s Guide

Starting PeriProducer

PeriProducer runs in the X-windows environment of the MPS operating system. Use the following procedures to start PeriProducer on each of these systems.

Starting PeriProducer

PeriProducer can be started by entering peripro & at any command line.

PeriProducer can be started by entering peripro at any command prompt.

For additional startup options, see the peripro command description in the Command Reference Manual. If you have trouble starting PeriProducer, see Why

Won't PeriProducer Start? on page 524.

Checking the PeriProducer Version

Select the logo in the Main Container to display detailed information about the version of PeriProducer you are running.

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Too l K i t

Main Container

Click here for version information

Construction area

PeriProducer Basics

Default Startup Display

When PeriProducer starts, the system displays the Main Container and the Tool Kit. You build applications by selecting blocks from the Tool Kit and adding them to the construction area of the Main Container. For a detailed description of the Main Container and the Tool Kit, see The Main Container on page 100.

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PeriProducer User’s Guide

Getting Help

PeriProducer supports context-sensitive help screens online. To display a pop-up help window, move the mouse pointer to a particular object and press <H keyboard.

If your keyboard does not have <HELP>, use <F1>.

Use the <F1> key.

selected help object

ELP> on the

The help system displays:

• the object you are pointing to with the mouse.

• the first block of help text.

Use the scroll bars to view text that does not fit in the window.

If you point to a generic window object (for example, a window panel), the help window is produced by the Open Look window manager.

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Loading an Application

You can load an application into the construction area of the Main Container or directly into the construction area of a Container block.

You can only load files previously created in PeriProducer.

If the application is a Container saved without copying references, PeriProducer attempts to resolve the reference when you load the application. For information about saving Containers without copying references, see Code Sharing on page 307.

How to ... Load an Application

1. Use the menu bar of the Container where you want PeriProducer to load the application, to display the Load selection window.

PeriProducer Basics

Load selection window (subcontainer)

contents of current directory

current directory

Double-click here to move up one directory level

• To load an application into the Main Container, use the Main Container menu bar and follow the menu path File - Load.

• To load an application into a subcontainer, use the menu bar of that Container and follow the menu path File - Load.

2. Select the name of the application from the scrolling list.

3. Select Load.

When you load an application file into the Main Container, PeriProducer replaces any blocks that are currently in that area. This includes subcontainers (that is, Container blocks). If you have unsaved changes to the application, PeriProducer prompts you to confirm your action. Choose Cancel the Load request or Ignore the changes and

load.

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Loading Into a Container Block

If you load directly into a subcontainer, PeriProducer does not prompt you

before it replaces blocks currently in that Container. You cannot recover any unsaved changes to the Container.

If you load new application file directly into a subcontainer, the new application becomes part of the current application. PeriProducer uses the Main Container application properties for the entire application.

Any global data associated with the application you load into a subcontainer become local to that Container.

The following section, Loading Options (Main container Only), is for Solaris systems only.

Loading Options (Main Container Only)

You can load application files into the Main Container by dragging the file icon from the File Manager and dropping it on the Main Container drop target.

Drop Target

file to load

You can also specify an application for PeriProducer to load at startup. See the peripro command description in the Command Reference Manual for additional startup options.

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PeriProducer Basics

Loading an Autosave File

PeriProducer can automatically save the current application at regular intervals. For information about customizing the autosave feature, see Automatically Saving

Applications (Autosave) on page 49.

Use the Back Load window to load the autosave file (if any) for the current application. Only 1 autosave file per application keeps getting overwritten.

How to ... Load an Autosave File

1. From the Main Container menu bar, follow the menu path File - Back Load.

PeriProducer displays the Back Load window.

current directory Double-click here to move

up one directory level

contents of current directory

2. Select the autosave file. PeriProducer adds the .AUTOSAVE extension to the entire

application file name. For example, if you have an application with the file name

numdemo.ppr, PeriProducer names the autosave file numdemo.ppr.AUTOSAVE.

3. Select Load.

When you load an autosave file into the Container, PeriProducer replaces any blocks that are currently in that construction area. If you have unsaved changes to the application, PeriProducer prompts you to confirm your action.

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Loading an Errorsave (Recovery) File

If PeriProducer detects an internal error, it attempts to save the current application to the file ppro.ERRSAVE.PPR. For additional information about PeriProducer error saving feature, see Automatic Error Saving on page 47.

Loading an Earlier Version of an Application

PeriProducer can automatically maintain a specified number of versions of each application. For information about enabling and customizing version control, see

Version Control on page 60.

Use the Back Load window to load an earlier version of the current application.

How to ...Load an Earlier Version of an Application

1. From the Main Container menu bar, follow the menu path File - Back Load.

PeriProducer displays the Back Load window.

contents of current directory

2. Select the version of the application you want to load. To distinguish versions,

PeriProducer adds a number to the extension of the application filename. For additional information, see Version Control on page 60.

3. Select Load.

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PeriProducer Basics

Loading a Backup File

When you save an application under the same name, PeriProducer creates a backup file with the same name and the .pBK extension. For example, assume you save an application as numdemo.ppr. The next time you save the file, PeriProducer saves the current application and also creates the file numdemo.pBK.

This backup file is a copy of the application before the last save operation. For additional information about PeriProducer backup files, see Understanding the

Backup (.pBK) File on page 47.

Use the Back Load window to load a backup file for the current application. Use Save As to rename the file without the .pBK extension.

How to ... Load a Backup File

1. From the Main Container, follow the menu path File - Back Load. PeriProducer

displays the Back Load window.

2. Select the .pBK file.

3. From the Main Container menu bar, follow the menu path File - Save As.

4. Type a new name for the application, or reenter the original name.

5. Select Save. PeriProducer saves the application with a .ppr extension.

Adding a Title to the Main Container

PeriProducer displays the Main Container title in Main Container’s window header. The Main Container title is not necessarily the same as the application file name (see

Saving Applications on page 45).

Main Container title

The Main Container title should reflect the function of the entire application. You should also name Containers and blocks with descriptive text (see Naming a Block on

page 73).

How to ...Add a Title to the Main Container

1. From the Main Container menu bar, click <MENU> on Properties.

2. From the Properties pull-down menu, select Main Container..... PeriProducer

displays the Main Container Properties window.

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PeriProducer User’s Guide

3. Type the application title in the Block Name field.

4. Select Apply. PeriProducer reflects the new title in the window headers of the

Properties window and the Main Container.

Main Container

title

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Saving Applications

Regularly save the entire application during development or modification. You can also save a Container block (subcontainer) independently from the main application (see Saving a Container Block on page 51).

Use the logo in the menu bar of the Main Container to check the save-state of the entire application.

PeriProducer Basics

No changes since last save (green)

Unsaved changes (yellow)

You can customize these default colors. PeriProducer displays the “no changes” logo in the Notices color and the “unsaved changes” logo in the Warning color. For additional information about assigning colors to PeriProducer, see Changing Colors

on page 514.

PeriProducer will back up your application when you save it (see Understanding the

Backup (.pBK) File on page 47). You can also save a predetermined number of

versions of the same application (see Saving a New Version of an Application on

page 48), or save the application with a different name or in a different location (see Saving an Application to a Different Name/Location on page 46).

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Saving an Application

Use the Main Container menu bar to save current changes to the entire application.

How to ...Save an Entire Application

1. From the Main Container menu bar, click <MENU> on File.

2. From the File pull-down menu, select Save.

• If this is the first save for the application, PeriProducer displays the Save

Application As... window. Type a descriptive file name for the application

and select Save.

• If you previously saved the application, PeriProducer saves the current changes to the same file name. PeriProducer also moves the version of the application just prior to the save to a backup file. This backup file has the same name as the application with the extension .pBK. For additional information, see

Understanding the Backup (.pBK) File on page 47.

PeriProducer displays the new file name at the right side of the window footer.

Saving an Application to a Different Name/Location

When you save an entire application, you can change its name or its location or both.

How to ...Save an Application to a Different Name/Location

1. From the Main Container menu bar, click <MENU> on File.

2. From the File pull-down menu, select Save As.... PeriProducer displays the Save

Application As... window.

Directory where PeriProducer will save the application

Double-click here to move up one directory level

3. Type a descriptive file name for the application, change to another directory, or do both.

4. Select Save.

PeriProducer saves the application to the new name and/or location. The original application is unchanged.

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PeriProducer Basics

Understanding the Backup (.pBK) File

PeriProducer protects you from overwriting an existing application by mistake.

If you perform a “save” or “save as” operation and the application file name already exists, PeriProducer automatically makes a backup file. This file receives the extension .pBK.

For example, suppose you are working on an application called weather. The first time you save the application, PeriProducer creates the file weather.ppr. If you save again, PeriProducer creates a new weather.ppr and renames the original file as weather.pBK.

Backup files do not appear in the Load selection Application window. To load a backup file, see Loading a Backup File on page 43.

Automatic Error Saving

If PeriProducer detects an internal error, it attempts to save the current application to the file ppro.ERRSAVE.PPR.

If PeriProducer can recover from the internal error, it prompts you before saving to ppro.ERRSAVE.PPR.

Save the current application to the file ppro.ERRSAVE.PPR

Do not save the current application; continue normal operation.

The ErrorSave (recovery) file can be loaded from the Back Load fIle chooser.

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Saving a New Version of an Application

You can customize PeriProducer to maintain a specified number of versions of each application. For information about enabling and customizing version control, see

Version Control on page 60.

Use the Main Container menu bar to create a new version of the application.

How to ... Save a New Version

1. Load the application into the Main Container (see Loading an Application on

page 39).

2. Enable version control (see Version Control on page 60).

3. From the Main Container menu bar, click <

MENU> on File.

4. Select Save Version.

This causes all versions of the file to become one version older and the current file to become the most recent prior version. PeriProducer increments the Version Identifying Number associated with the current version. For example, if the application file name is balances.ppr, the version renaming conversion is:

before save after save

Version

filename

balances.ppr.N-1 X-N -----------> balances.ppr.N X-N

balances.ppr.N-2 X-(N-1) -----------> balances.ppr.N-1 X-(N-1)

. . -----------> . .

balances.ppr.1 X-1 -----------> balances.ppr.2 X-1

balances.ppr X -----------> balances.ppr.1 X

Identifying

Number

filename

Versi on

Identifying

Number

where N is the number of prior saved version, and X is the Version Identifying Number assigned to the application just prior to the save version operation.

In this example, the current application would now have filename balances.ppr and Version Identifying Number X+1.

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PeriProducer Basics

Automatically Saving Applications (Autosave)

PeriProducer automatically saves the current application to a special autosave file at specified intervals. You can set this interval anywhere from 0 to 60 minutes. An interval of 0 disables autosave.

The autosave interval remains in effect until you change it; it applies to every application you load. PeriProducer stores this interval in the configuration file .pprorc.

When PeriProducer does an autosave, it displays Autosave Completed in the left side of the Main Container window footer.

PeriProducer always does the autosave to the file <application- name.ppr.AUTOSAVE> where application-name is the filename of the current application. The save does not change any other file associated with the application (see PeriProducer Application File Types on page 53).

Each autosave uses the same .AUTOSAVE file and overwrites the file’s contents. Each application can have its own .AUTOSAVE file.

For information about loading an autosave file, see Loading an Autosave File on page

41.

How to ... Enable Autosave

1. From the Main Container menu bar, click <MENU> on Properties.

2. From the Properties pull-down menu, select Generator.... PeriProducer displays

the Generator Properties window.

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autosave currently disabled

3. Set Minutes Between AutoSave to a value from 0 to 60.

4. Select Apply.

To disable autosave, set this value to 0.

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PeriProducer Basics

Saving a Container Block

You can save Container blocks (subcontainers) independently from the entire application. PeriProducer can turn Reference blocks in the Container into copies of the original block, or leave the Reference blocks unchanged. You can also save a subcontainer to a different name, a different location, or both. PeriProducer displays the file name associated with the Container in the window footer for that Container.

Container menu bar

PeriProducer saves the Container as a complete application; after you save it, you can load it like any other application. When you save a subcontainer, PeriProducer includes:

• data folders referenced by the Container.

• any lower level Containers (that is, Container blocks in the construction area).

How to ...Save a Container Block

1. From the menu bar of the Container, click <MENU> on File.

2. From the File pull-down menu, select Save.

• If this is the first save for the Container, PeriProducer displays the Save

Container As window. Type a descriptive file name for the application and

select Save.

• If you previously saved the Container without closing the window, PeriProducer saves the current changes to the same file name. PeriProducer also moves the version of the container just prior to the save to a backup file. This backup file has the same name as the Container with the extension .pBK. For additional information, see Understanding the Backup (.pBK) File on page 47.

PeriProducer turns Reference blocks in the Container into copies of the original blocks. You can also leave these references unresolved. See Leaving References

Unresolved on page 52.

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How to ...Save a Container Block to a Different Name/Location

1. From the Container menu bar, click <MENU> on File.

2. From the File pull-down menu, select Save As. PeriProducer displays the Save

Container As window.

3. Type a descriptive name for the Container, change to another directory, or do both.

Directory where PeriProducer will save the Container

Double-click here to move up one directory level

4. Select Save.

You only need to use Save As if you want to save to a different name/location without first closing the Container. When you close and reopen the Container, PeriProducer considers it a new Container; Save or Save As both display the Save Container As window.

Leaving References Unresolved

When you save a Container, PeriProducer turns Reference blocks in the Container into copies of the original blocks. However, to facilitate code sharing, you can save a Container without making copies of the Reference blocks—that is, you can leave the references unresolved.

How to ...Save a Container Block Without Copying References

1. From the Container menu bar, click <MENU> on File.

2. From the File pull-down menu, select Save (w/o Copying References). PeriProducer displays the Save Container (w/o Copying References) As window.

3. Type a descriptive file name for the application, change to another directory, or do both.

4. Select Save.

When you load a Container saved without copying references into an application, PeriProducer attempts to resolve the references. If you have not set up a block to resolve the reference, PeriProducer displays a message and changes it to an empty Container. For additional information, see Code Sharing on page 307.

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PeriProducer Application File Types

PeriProducer uses a number of file names and extensions to differentiate between various renditions of an application file.

Application File Types

File Name Description

[application-name].ppr The standard PeriProducer application file.

[application-name].pBK The application backup file. PeriProducer creates

this file when you perform the second save on an application. This file contains the version of the application just prior to the last save operation. To load the backup file, see Loading a Backup File on

page 43. For additional information, see Understanding the Backup (.pBK) File on page 47.

[application-name].ppr.AUTOSAVE The autosave file. PeriProducer can save the

current version of the application to this file at specified intervals. To load an autosave file, see

Loading an Autosave File on page 41. For additional

information, see Automatically Saving Applications

(Autosave) on page 49.

[application-name].ppr.[1,2,...] A saved version of the application. To load an

earlier version of an application, see Loading an

Earlier Version of an Application on page 42. For

additional information, see Version Control on page

60.

ppro.ERRSAVE.PPR The errorsave (recovery) file. If PeriProducer

detects an internal error, it attempts to save the current application to this file. Load this file like a regular PeriProducer application (see Loading an

Errorsave (Recovery) File on page 42). For additional

information, see Automatic Error Saving on page 47.

[application-name].ppr.ps PostScript output from a print operation. See

Printing an Application on page 54.

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Printing an Application

PeriProducer can print a variety of information about all Containers in the application, or about any one Container with or without its subcontainers.

The reports and diagrams generated by PeriProducer are in standard Postscript format. You can print them from a standard Postscript printer. In a typical MPS environment, the printer is connected to the PeriView workstation. The printer may also be available as a network resource; check with your system administrator.

PeriProducer can also print as a stand-alone batch utility. For additional information, see Printing in Batch Mode on page 58.

Regardless of the type of printout you choose, PeriProducer includes a cover sheet that summarizes the print job.

software version

printouts included with this job

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PeriProducer Basics

Use the Print Container window to customize PeriProducer reports and diagrams.

How to ...Print Reports and Diagrams

1. Use the menu bar of the Container you want to print to display the Print

Container window. Follow the menu path File - Print.

current Container

Select the reports/diagrams to print.

Select the index order (pull-down menu).

Select the scope of the print job (pulldown menu).

Select the page size and format to print.

Type a postscript printer name, accept

the default, or print only to a file.

2. Select the printing options. For details on these options, see Printing Options on

page 56.

3. Select Pages. PeriProducer displays the number of pages and bytes determined by

the current print options (no actual printout). If necessary, adjust the printing options.

4. Select Print.

To display the current print output in a postscript viewer on your workstation, select View.

To cancel the print job, select Cancel. PeriProducer stops and dequeues the print job. For examples of a variety of printouts, see Cover Sheet on page 720.

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Printing Options

Use the options in the Print Container window to customize how PeriProducer prints reports and diagrams for each print job.

window selection meaning

Flow Diagrams

Block Action Details

Data Dictionary

Print Container Window Sheet 1 of 2

Print the construction area(s) as it/they appear on-screen, including arrows to indicate flow.

Commented out blocks appear with their outlines dashed.

Print an information form for each block. For each type of block, the relevant actions and information is printed. If applicable, PeriProducer indicates the next block(s) to be executed.

Commented out blocks appear with their outlines dashed.

Print the application Data Dictionary. This includes all global and local data folders.

For each available folder, PeriProducer prints the folder type and scope. For each folder and data card, PeriProducer prints the data type, length, occurs clause, total length, initial value, and description, as applicable.

Vocabulary Items

Container Index

Maps Print an x by y grid representing each map in the local and

Print Criteria

Block Notes Print any block notes on the block forms. You must also

System Folder

Print all vocabulary elements referenced in the application and the blocks that reference them.

Print a list of all Container blocks, in numerical and/or alphabetical order.

global Data Dictionary.

PeriProducer shows the various fields at their respective x,y coordinates. The attribute byte is represented by @. Unprotected fields are in dark shading and protected fields are in light shading. PeriProducer lists all fields, with their specific row, column, length, and attributes (Protected, Numeric, Autoskip, Hidden).

Note: If a map contains a field with the “hidden” attribute, the printout lists an “H” under the “Attrib” column.

select Block Action Details.

Print information about each data card in the System folder. This includes data type, length, etc.

Cross-References Identify which blocks reference each data name contained in

the Data Dictionary and/or System folder.

Block Index

List all blocks except case and anonymous connectors, in numerical and/or alphabetical order.

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Print Container Window Sheet 2 of 2

window selection meaning

Alphabetically Sort Container and/or Block Index alphabetically.

Numerically Sort Container and/or Block Index numerically.

Alphabetically and Numerically

Sort Container and/or Block Index both alphabetically and numerically.

Index Order

All Containers Print reports and diagrams for all Containers.

This Container Only Print reports and diagrams for the current Container

From This Container

Scope

Down

Choose from:

Letter, Tabloid

Folio

, Ledger2, Legal2, Statement2, Executive2, A32, A4, A52, B42, B52,

Print reports and diagrams for the current Container and any subcontainers.

Page Size

Full-size Print one flow diagram per page and Block Details in a single

column. Use a larger font and more vertical space.

Compressed Print a maximum of four flow diagrams per page and block

Format

Printer Name Print to the specified PostScript printer. See Selecting the

Print Produce the printout using the selected options. Whether or

details in double columns. Use a smaller font and less vertical space.

Printer on page 59.

not you specify a printer name, PeriProducer always saves the PostScript output to a file. See Selecting the Printer on

page 59.

Reset Return the Print Container window to the settings for the

previous print job (Print or Pages).

Pages Display the number of pages and bytes specified by the

current options (no printout). Use this feature before you send a print job to the printer.

View Display the current printout in a PostScript viewer. See

Viewing the PostScript Output on page 59.

Cancel Cancel the current print job. PeriProducer automatically

stops and dequeues the print job.

1. For a sample printout, see Cover Sheet on page 720.

2. Not currently implemented

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Printing in Batch Mode

You can use PeriProducer as a stand-alone batch printing utility.

To print an application with the default print settings, use the syntax peripro -P

<app_name>, where <app_name> is the file name of the application you want to

print.

The default print settings are:

• Print Criteria - Flow Diagrams

• Index Order - Alphabetically and Numerically

• Page Size - Letter

• Format - Compressed

• Printer Name - the default (see Selecting the Printer on page 59).

You can use the silent mode option (-s) with batch printing. Using silent mode with batch printing changes the batch operation behavior. No console is created and all operations are performed silently. For example: peripro -P -s <app_name>

Changing the Default Print Settings

From the command line, you can change the default print settings by configuring the environment variable PPROPRTOPTIONS to any combination of the following:

switch description

-A accept defaults stated above

-f Flow Diagrams

-d Block Action Details

-n Notes

-D Data Dictionary

-v Vocabulary Items

-m Maps

-r Cross References

-c Container Index

-b Block Index

-F Full Size

-C Compressed

-P Page Size (LETTER, A4)

-p <printer_name> Printer to use

-s Only show the number of pages and bytes—no output

-S System Folder Data

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PeriProducer Basics

For example, the commands

setenv PPROPRTOPTIONS "-f -d -m -C -p hplaser" peripro -P testfile.ppr

prints flow diagrams, block details, and maps in compressed mode on the hplaser printer.

Selecting the Printer

You can specify the name of the output PostScript printer in the Printer Name field of the Print Container window, or through the environment variable PPROPOSTPRINTER or PPROPRTOPTIONS. If do not know the printer name, see your local system administrator.

The printer, whether local or remote, must be mapped to a device name (e.g. LPT1:) which is used in the Printer Name field. A remote printer is typically mapped by the command: net use devicename \\computername\printername. For example: net use LPT1: \\RND1\hplaser24, maps printer hplaser24 to device name LPT1.

Whether or not you specify a printer name, PeriProducer always saves the PostScript output to a file. This file has the same name as the application with the .ps extension. For example, PeriProducer saves the printer output from sample1.ppr as sample1.ppr.ps.

Setting the

To set the PPROPOSTPRINTER environment variable, use the following syntax at the command line:

setenv PPROPOSTPRINTER <printername>

where <printername> is the name of a local PostScript printer (for example, hplaser).

PeriProducer saves the name of the printer through the current session, but not between sessions. You can set PPROPOSTPRINTER in the local .cshrc or .login file so it is set every time you start a new shell. The value of PPROPOSTPRINTER appears as the default in the Print Container window.

PPROPOSTPRINTER Environment Variable

Viewing the PostScript Output

Use View to display the current printout in a PostScript viewer on your workstation.

You must select Print to create the PostScript file before you can use View.

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By default (Solaris only), PeriProducer displays the output using PageView. You can specify another PostScript viewer through the Generator Properties window. See

Configuring Generator Properties on page 510.

Version Control

You can customize PeriProducer to automatically maintain numbered versions of each application. You can assign a Version Identifying Number to each version of the application, or allow PeriProducer to number the versions for you.

Version control is a property of each application. That is, PeriProducer can manage each application differently. You can compare versions by having blocks that have changed in the current version display in a different color.

For information about saving a new version of an application, see Saving a New

Version of an Application on page 48. For information about loading a different

version of an application, see Loading an Earlier Version of an Application on page

42.

Version Renaming Process

When you save a new version of an application, PeriProducer causes all versions of the file to become one version older and the current file to become the most recent prior version. PeriProducer also increments the Version Identifying Number associated with the current version.

For example, if the application file name is balances.ppr, the version renaming convention is:

before save after save

Version

filename

balances.ppr.N-1 X-N -----------> balances.ppr.N X-N

balances.ppr.N-2 X-(N-1) -----------> balances.ppr.N-1 X-(N-1)

. . -----------> . .

balances.ppr.1 X-1 -----------> balances.ppr.2 X-1

Identifying

Number

filename

Version

Identifying

Number

balances.ppr X -----------> balances.ppr.1 X

where N is the number of prior saved version, and X is the Version Identifying Number assigned to the application just prior to the save version operation.

In this example, the current application would now have filename balances.ppr and Version Identifying Number X+1.

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Enabling Version Control

By default, version control is disabled. To have PeriProducer maintain numbered versions of an application, enable version control for that application.

Version control is a property of each application. That is, PeriProducer can manage each application differently.

How to ...Enable Version Control

1. Load the application into the Main Container (see Loading an Application on

page 39).

2. From the Main Container menu bar, click <

MENU> on Properties.

3. From the Properties pull-down menu, select Main Container....

Version Identifying Number set this number manually, or allow PeriProducer to increment it every time you save a new version.

4. Set the “Save __ Prior Version(s)” field.

• PeriProducer maintains this number of previous versions of the application.

• To disable version control for this application, set this number to zero.

5. Select Apply.

• A notice appears which offers the chance to Cancel the Save or Continue.

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Assigning a Version Identifying Number to an Application

PeriProducer associates a Version Identifying Number with each version of an application. This is the number that appears in the Main Container Properties window for the application.

Unlike the version filename, the Version Identifying Number remains associated with each version when you save a new version. See Version Renaming Process on page

60.

Version Identifying Number

You can:

• assign a particular Version Identifying Number to each version.

• assign a Version Identifying Number to the current version and then allow

PeriProducer to increment the number each time you save a new version.

• allow PeriProducer to assign “0” to the current version and increment the number

each time you save a new version (the default).

How to ...Assign a Version Identifying Number

1. Load the application into the Main Container (see Loading an Application on

page 39).

2. From the Main Container menu bar, click <

3. From the Properties pull-down menu, select Main Container....

4. Set the “This Version is:” field. PeriProducer assigns this number to the current version of the application.

MENU> on Properties.

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Comparing Versions

PeriProducer can display all blocks that have changed in the current version in a different color than unchanged blocks.

How to ...Enable Changed Block Color

1. From the Main Container menu bar, click <MENU> on Properties.

2. From the Properties pull-down menu, select Generator.... PeriProducer displays

the Generator Properties window.

Select here to enable changed block color

3. Select Show Changes in Current Version.

4. Select A

PPLY.

To disable Show Changes in Current Version, uncheck the box and select Apply.

Show Changes in Current Version is a Generator property. It remains in effect until you change it. PeriProducer stores this information in .pprorc.

A changed block is any block you have added or changed since the last Save Version operation. To change a block you must select Apply before you close it or if it is enabled, answer Yes to the “Do you want to apply these changes?” prompt. PeriProducer displays changed blocks in the Warning color. For information about changing the default colors, see Changing Colors on page 514.

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Excluding Building Blocks from Generation

PeriProducer can exclude user specified building blocks from application generation. The building blocks to exclude are named with a common prefix. For example, in the illustration below, all blocks prefixed with “Debug” such as “Debug_environment” do not get generated.

How to ...Exclude a Building Block from Generation

1. Load the application into the Main Container (see Loading an Application on

page 39).

2. From the Main Container menu bar, click <

MENU> on Properties.

3. From the Properties pull-down menu, select Main Container....

Prefix of building block names to exclude during application generation.

4. Enter the prefix name of the building blocks to exclude in the “Exclude Name (use list menu):” field.

• In order for a block to be excluded from generation its name must be of the same length or longer than the prefix. Each excluded block is noted by a message in the generation window. If there is more than one prefix in the exclusion list, each block name is compared against each prefix during generation. An excluded block is treated as if it were "Commented" through the Block menu. Exclusion is the same as commenting out all blocks which begin with any prefix in the exclusion list.

5. Click <

MENU> in the Main Container window. Select one of the ADD options to

include the prefix name on the exclude list.

6. Click the check box, E

7. Select A

PPLY.

NABLE BLOCK EXCLUSION, to enable the feature.

Clearing a Container

Use the clear option during development to restart a Container “from scratch.” A clear operation removes data folders associated with the Container, Container properties, and all building blocks (including Container blocks) in the construction area.

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How to ... Clear a Container

• To clear the Main Container and any subcontainers, use the Main Container menu bar and follow the menu path File - Clear.

• To clear a Container block and any lower Containers, use the menu bar of that Container and follow the menu path File - Clear.

If you have unsaved changes to the main Container or any of its subcontainers, PeriProducer displays a warning notice when clearing the main Container:

return to the application without clearing

confirm the clear request

You cannot recover a cleared Container.

There is no warning notice when clearing subcontainers.

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Quitting PeriProducer

Use the quit option to leave the PeriProducer environment.

How to ... Quit PeriProducer

Choose from the following:

• From the Main Container menu bar, follow the menu path File - Quit.

• Click <

MENU> on the Main Container window header. Select Quit from the

window header pop-up menu.

If you have unsaved changes to the application, PeriProducer displays a warning notice.

Return to the application

Confirm the quit request

Standard Action Window Items

A number of fields and functions appear in the action window of every block or in the Properties window of Container and Handle blocks.

Standard Fields and Functions

Item Purpose

Block Name Use this text entry field to add a descriptive name to each block in the

application. PeriProducer supplies a default name for each block. See

Naming a Block on page 73.

Notes... Select this option to add notes to a block. See Adding Notes to a Block on

page 82.

Apply Select this option to apply any changes in the current action window. You

must select this option for any changes to take effect. If you close (unpin) the action window without selecting Apply, PeriProducer disregards the changes.

You can configure PeriProducer to warn you before discarding changes. See Customizing the Function of a Block on page 71.

Reset Select this option to disregard changes you made to the action window

since the last Apply. PeriProducer returns the window to its settings at the last Apply.

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Working With Blocks

A block represents an application processing step. Each block icon reflects its function. PeriProducer also provides a short description of each block’s function. To see this description, position the mouse pointer over a block in the Tool Kit.

The blocks provide all the functions needed to build a voice processing application for MPS systems.

block name function

CONTAINER Block Add a lower-level container

ANSWER the Phone with a Greeting Answer the phone with a greeting

DISCONNECT (Hang up) Disconnect (hang up) the phone

SPEAK to the Caller Speak to the caller

SELECT from a Menu Get a selection from the caller

READ Data Entered by the Caller Read data entered by the caller

PeriProducer Basics

Standard PeriProducer Blocks

Use SYSTEM Services Use system services

SEND HOST Information Send information to the host

RECEIVE HOST Information Receive a host response

DISK I/O To or From a File Move data to or from a file

SEND a FAX Transmission Send a fax transmission

RECEIVE a FAX Transmission Receive a fax transmission

ORIGINATE/Transfer call Originate or transfer a call

COMPUTE - Assign/Move/Convert Specify data movement and calculations

SWITCH - Choose the Next Block Use a comparison to select the next block

RECORD a Message from the Caller Record a message from the caller

HANDLE Exception Conditions Handle exception conditions

Set ENVIRONMENT Options Set environment options

Access an External RESOURCE Access an external resource

CONSOLE Map Accept/Display Accept/Display console messages

SQL Access to RDBMS Access an RDBMS

DYNAMI C M e nu s Create dynamic selection menus

Access to CORBA Server Object Access CORBA server objects

Manage a CONFERENCE Create/modify/delete a call conference

MEDIA Operations Delete/import/export multimedia elements

ABORT outstanding operations Abort any outstanding I/O operations

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block name function

Manage EDIT SEQUENCES Enable/modify/disable caller edit sequences

BRIDGE call connections Create/hold/destroy a line bridge

CALL CONTROL (protocol-specific) Perform line protocol-specific operations

Standard PeriProducer Blocks

LINE OPERATIONS (Get/Free/Offer/Accept)

Perform operations with another line

In addition to these standard blocks, you can create and use custom Containers for application-specific functions. For additional information, see Creating Custom

Containers on page 517. There are also blocks for commonly used system functions

and call functions in the Accessory Toolkit. For additional information, see The

Accessory Tool Kit on page 108.

Create telephone media applications by:

• adding blocks to the construction area.

• customizing the basic function of each block through its action window.

• connecting the appropriate blocks to determine the logical flow of the application.

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Adding a Block

You can add a block to an application by:

• dragging the block from the Tool Kit to the desired location.

• selecting the block in the Tool Kit.

• selecting the block from the Blocks menu of each Container or Handle block.

If you drag a block from the Tool Kit and drop it in an open spot in a construction area, PeriProducer makes it the current block. If you drag a block to a position that touches or overlaps another block, PeriProducer does not add it; you can only add a block to a clear area of the construction area.

If you select a block in the Tool Kit or from a Blocks menu, PeriProducer attempts to add it to the construction area of the current Container and make it the current block. See Block Position on page 70.

When you add a block to a construction area, PeriProducer attempts to connect it to the application. See Understanding Block Connections on page 94.

The Current Block

PeriProducer displays the current block in each construction area with a shaded border, and the name of the current block in the window footer. Only one block in each construction area can be current.

current block

block name

A block must be current before you can connect it to the rest of the application. Select any block already in the construction area to make it the current block.

There are several ways to automatically make a new block current:

• Select the block in the Tool Kit. If PeriProducer successfully adds and connects the block, it is automatically current.

• Select the block from a Blocks menu. If PeriProducer successfully adds and connects the block, it is automatically current.

• Drag the block from the Tool Kit. When you drop the block in a construction area, it is current.

If you select an empty spot in the construction area, PeriProducer deselects the current block. There will be no current block in that construction area until you add or select

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another one.

Current Container

The Container you are working in is the current Container. To make a Container current, move the mouse pointer inside its borders and/or select its title bar. Only one Container is current at a time.

PeriProducer indicates the current Container by arrows surrounding the Container title in the window header. A Container remains current until you move the mouse to another Container and/or select another title bar.

current Container

current construction area

The construction area of the current Container is the current construction area.

Block Position

If you select a block from the Tool Kit or a Blocks menu, PeriProducer selects the best location to add it to the current construction area, and attempts to connect it to the application.

• If there is a current block in the construction area, PeriProducer connects the new block to the current block.

• If there is no current block in the construction area or insufficient space, PeriProducer adds the block to the upper left corner of the construction area. This is the staging area. PeriProducer does not connect the new block.

• If there is already a block in the staging area and no other block in the construction area is current, PeriProducer does not add the block. Clear the staging area by dragging the block somewhere else in the construction area.

If PeriProducer does not add the block, it displays an error message in the window footer of the current Container.

staging area

Page 70 # P0995131

Select block action window

Answer block action window

PeriProducer Basics

When you add a block to a construction area, PeriProducer attempts to connect it to another block when possible. See Understanding Block Connections on page 94.

Customizing the Function of a Block

You customize the basic function of each block through its action window.

pushpin

Access the action window of the current block by selecting it. Access the action window of any block by selecting it to make it current and then selecting it again; two clicks on any block makes it current and opens its action window.

Modify the fields and parameters in the action window of each block to customize its function. You can also accept the default settings. For details on the action window of a particular block, use the Table of Contents or Index to locate the section on a particular block.

To free screen space, select the pushpin to close (unpin) each action window.

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Changes to the Action Window

If you close an action window without selecting Apply, PeriProducer warns you before discarding any changes.

To disable this warning, select Generator from the Main Container Properties menu. In the Generator Properties window, remove the Warn About Unapplied Changes check mark. To have action windows automatically close after applying changes, select Close On Apply in the Generator Properties window. For additional information about Generator Properties, see Configuring Generator Properties on

page 510.

apply changes

discard changes

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Naming a Block

PeriProducer supplies a unique default name for each block when you add it to a construction area. This name reflect the basic function of each block.

default block names

renamed blocks

Rename a block to reflect its specific function in each application. Descriptive block names facilitate application development and future modifications.

Each block in a construction must have a unique name.

How to ... Name a Block

1. Add the block to a construction area (see Adding a Block on page 69).

2. Access the Block Name field.

•(Container and Handle blocks only) Open the block (see Customizing the

Function of a Block on page 71). From the Container menu bar, select

Properties....

•(all other blocks) Open the block (see Customizing the Function of a Block on

page 71).

3. Change the name in the Block Name field.

a. Highlight the existing name with <S

b. Type the new name. You can enter up to 64 characters for the block name.

The period character (".") is not valid in a block name.

4. Select Apply.

PeriProducer displays the new block name in the block icon. If the name is too long for the icon, PeriProducer truncates the displayed name. This does not change the block name. Open the block action window (or the Properties window for a Container or Handle block) to see the entire block name.

ELECT>.

If you copy a block, PeriProducer assigns a unique default name to the copy. See

Copying a Block or Grouped Blocks on page 84. If you reference a block,

PeriProducer displays the original block name, prefaced with "R:", on the face of the copy. See Reference Blocks on page 87.

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You can also add a title to the Main Container. See Adding a Title to the Main

Container on page 43.

Locating Blocks within an Application

PeriProducer can locate and select blocks in the current application in a variety of ways. Finding a block can be accomplished using the tool kit, Blocks menu, or search function. If a selected block is not in the current construction area, PeriProducer opens the Container holding the block and makes it the current construction area.

Using the Tool Kit

To locate a block and make it current in the application using the tool kit, click

ENU> on the block icon in the tool kit, then click <MENU> on Search, finally click

ELECT> on the desired block:

select the block name to make it the current block

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Using the Blocks Menu

To locate a block and make it current in the application using the Blocks menu, click

ENU> on the block type in the Blocks menu, then click <SELECT> on the desired

<M block:

select the block name to make it the current block

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Using the Search Function

There are several ways to locate a block in the application using the search function. Blocks that are bookmarked (see Bookmark/ Unmark on page 80), commented (see

Comment/ Uncomment on page 80), or excluded (see Excluding Building Blocks from Generation on page 64) are listed under their respective headings on the Search

for... menu. If a particular block has not been classified by one of these 3 criteria, a name search can be performed.

Search for:

bookmarked blocks,

commented blocks,

excluded blocks,

or by name

By selecting Blocks by name... under the Search for... menu you can customize a search for any block name.

1. Enter name of block to search

2. Check for case sensitive search

3. Check for partial match search

4. <MENU> click on Search to list results

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Performing Operations on Grouped Blocks

Use a rubber band box to group a number of blocks in a construction area. Group blocks to perform group operations available from the Block menu. After you group blocks, you can:

• delete the entire group.

• move the entire group.

• enclose the entire group in a Container block.

• align the blocks in the group.

When you group a set of connected blocks, PeriProducer preserves the block connections during the group operation.

How to ...Perform Operations on Grouped Blocks

1. Position the mouse pointer near the upper left corner of the blocks you want to group.

2. Press <S

3. Drag the box until it completely encloses the desired blocks. Blocks and connections that are not completely inside the box will not become part of the group.

4. Click <M

5. Select the group operation from the Block menu.

ELECT>. This anchors the corner of the rubber band box.

ENU> inside the box to display the Block menu.

To remove the rubber band box, select an area outside it.

For information about the Block menu and specific group operations, see The Block

Menu on page 78.

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The Block Menu

The Block menu is a hidden menu you access from any construction area. Use this menu to:

• add notes to a block (Notes...)

• connect/disconnect blocks ((Dis)Connect)

• edit (Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Undelete) blocks

• create a reference block (Refer)

• perform group operations (Contain, Uncontain, Align)

• Comment/Uncomment a block

• Bookmark/Unmark a block

• Jump To a matching Source or Destination connector

• enable statistics Counters

• list Data Names used within a block

• list References to a block

• resolve unmatched Source and Destination Connectors

• list blocks containing a specific handle condition (Handles)

The Block menu is context sensitive. That is, the availability and function of the menu items depend on the block over which the cursor is positioned, when you access the Block menu. If a menu item is unavailable (grayed), that option is not valid for the object you were pointing to when you accessed the menu.

To access the Block menu for:

• a single block, click <M

• a group of blocks, click <M

• the entire construction area, click <M

ENU> on the block.

ENU> inside the rubber band box.

ENU> on an empty spot in the construction

area

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Block Menu Sheet 1 of 3

Notes... Access the Notes window for:

• the indicated block

• the current Container, if you indicated an empty spot in the construction area

For details about adding notes to blocks, see Adding Notes to a Block on page

82.

(Dis)Connect Creates or removes block connections. If a connection exists and this

option is selected on the block that is not current, the connection is removed. If no connection exists and this option is selected on a block that is not current, a connection is made from the current block.

Cut Remove the indicated block or group of blocks and hold it in the internal

clipboard and the delete buffer. Restore the item to any construction area in the application by selecting either Paste or Undelete.

The Cut option is equivalent to using Copy followed by Delete. You cannot cut or delete an Entry, Exit, Source, Destination, Finish, Anchor, or Resume connector. Cutting a Container retains its local folders.

For additional information, see Moving a Block or Grouped Blocks on page 85.

Copy Copy the indicated block or group of blocks to the internal clipboard. Add

the duplicated item to any construction area in the application by selecting Paste.

You cannot copy an Entry, Exit, Source, Destination, Finish, Anchor, or Resume connector. Copying a Container retains its local folders.

For additional information, see Copying a Block or Grouped Blocks on page

84.

Paste Put the current contents of the internal clipboard in the current construction

area. A pasted block retains the "base" name of the original block, which is then appended by a numeric "suffix" to ensure uniqueness. Use Cut, Copy, or Refer to put an object in the clipboard.

PeriProducer inserts the object at approximately the same coordinate position from which it was taken. Pasting a Container retains its local folders.

Refer Create a Reference block for the indicated block in the internal clipboard.

Use Paste to add the Reference block to the current construction area.

For details on creating and using Reference blocks, see Reference Blocks on

page 87.

Delete Remove the indicated block or group of blocks from the application.

PeriProducer puts the deleted object in the delete buffer.

Restore the deleted object with Undelete.

You cannot delete an Entry or Exit connector.

For additional information, see Deleting a Block or Grouped Blocks on page

86.

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Undelete Put the contents of the delete buffer back in the construction area from

Contain Enclose the indicated group in a Container block. If the group is valid for

Uncontain Move the block sequence in a Container into the parent construction area.

Block Menu Sheet 2 of 3

which it was deleted.

If necessary, PeriProducer opens the construction area in which to undelete; you cannot use Undelete to move a deleted object to another construction area.

enclosure in a Container, PeriProducer inserts the group in a Container and replaces the group with a Container block in the construction area.

For details about valid Container groups, see Adding a Container on page

304. For information about grouping blocks, see Performing Operations on Grouped Blocks on page 77.

This option deletes the indicated Container while preserving its internal block arrangements.

Note: If there are references to a Container, the Uncontain option is not enabled when the cursor is positioned over the Container.

Comment/ Uncomment

Bookmark/ Unmark

Jump To Jump to the matching Source or Destination connector.

Align Align the indicated group on the screen. For information about grouping

Disable or enable the function of the indicated block during execution.

Selecting this option initially disables the actions specified by the block. Selecting this option again enables a previously disabled block.

Adds or removes the indicated block name from the Search for... --> Bookmarked blocks function under the Blocks menu and changes the block’s color (defined in the Color Chooser). If a block is both bookmarked and marked as a change (selected in Generator Properties), the latter color takes precedence visually.

Jump To makes the matching connector the current block.

blocks, see Performing Operations on Grouped Blocks on page 77.

Select from the following:

Align Horizontally

Align Vertically

Distribute Horizontally

Move the blocks so they share the same horizontal axis.

Move the blocks so they share the same vertical axis.

Move the blocks so they are evenly spaced with respect to their left and right sides.

Distribute Vertically

Move the blocks so they are evenly spaced with respect to their top and bottom sides.

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Block Menu Sheet 3 of 3

Counters Enable statistics collection for the indicated block. For details on execution

statistics, see Gathering Application Statistics (Block Execution Statistics) on

page 91.

You can also enable a visible counter for all the blocks in the application. See Tracing the Execution on page 144.

Select from the following:

Show Show the currently configured counters associated with the

block.

New Create and attach a default counter to the selected

statistics folder.

Attach Select/define a new counter. This counter must be

numeric, length nine.

Detach Select an existing counter to detach from the block.

Note:

To indicate a counter is attached to a block, a plus sign, “+” is displayed in the corresponding block. For example:

Data Names List all the data names that the indicated block references.

The list includes all the data cards and folders referenced in the block. For a Container block, this also includes references in the internal construction area.

You cannot select data names from the list; it is for viewing only.

References List all blocks that reference the indicated block (that is, Reference blocks).

If you select a block from the list, it becomes the current block.

For information about Reference blocks, see Reference Blocks on page 87.

Connectors List all the unmatched Source/Destination connectors in the application.

Select an item from the list to automatically create a matching connector. See Jumping to a Different Block (Source Connector) on page 283.

Handles List all Handle Condition blocks in the current application that contain an

instance of the indicated condition connector.

For additional information about the Handle Condition block, see HANDLE

Exception Conditions (Handle Block) on page 448.

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Adding Notes to a Block

You can annotate individual blocks in an application to facilitate application development and future modifications.

PeriProducer uses a small glyph to identify a block with notes attached.

Notes are entered as text and do not affect the execution of the application.

If the Show Block Reminder selection is checked in the Generator Properties window, and the cursor is over a block with text notes attached, a window displaying the text note appears.

text notes attached

For the Compute and Switch blocks, displaying line entries takes precedence over displaying Notes.

How to ... Add Notes to a Block

1. Access the Notes window for the block. You can do this several ways:

•(all blocks) Click <M

•(Container blocks only) Open the Container. From the Container menu bar,

select Properties.... In the Container Properties window, select Notes.

•(all blocks except Containers and Connectors) Open the block. In the action

window of the block, select Notes.

2. Enter the note.

• Type the text in the window.

3. Select the pushpin to close (unpin) the window.

To review a text note after you close the window, access the window again, place the cursor over the block, or select Notes from the Block menu.

ENU> on the block. From the Block menu, select Notes.

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Editing Block Notes

You can edit, append to, or delete text notes already attached to a block. For information about adding notes to a block, see Adding Notes to a Block on page

82.

How to ... Edit Block Notes

1. Access the Notes window for the block. You can do this several ways:

•(all blocks) Click <M

•(Container blocks only) Open the Container. From the Container menu bar,

select Properties.... In the Container Properties window, select Notes.

•(all blocks except Containers) Open the block. In the action window of the

block, select Notes.

2. Edit the note.

• Edit the text in the window.

3. Select the pushpin to close (unpin) the window.

ENU> on the block. From the Block menu, select Notes.

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Copying a Block or Grouped Blocks

Copy a block or grouped blocks when you need a specific function implemented multiple times. You can copy between construction areas.

When PeriProducer copies a block or grouped blocks, it duplicates all the internal information including the "base" name of the original block with a numeric suffix for uniqueness and any attached block notes.

You cannot copy a Container that includes Source or Destination connectors.

How to ...Copy a Block or Grouped Blocks

1. Position the mouse pointer over the block or group of blocks. For information

about grouping blocks, see Performing Operations on Grouped Blocks on page 77.

2. Copy the block or group of blocks to the internal keyboard. You can do this two

ways:

• Press <C

OPY> on the keyboard.

• Click <M

ENU>. From the Block menu, select Copy.

3. Position the mouse pointer in the construction area where you want to insert the copy.

4. Paste the block or group of blocks in the construction area. You can do this two ways:

• Press <P

• Click <M

ASTE> on the keyboard.

ENU>. From the Block menu, select Paste.

When you paste, PeriProducer adds the current contents of the clipboard to the indicated area at approximately the position of the original block or group coordinates. You can paste several times without performing another copy.

When you copy to the internal clipboard, PeriProducer overwrites the current contents of the clipboard.

If you copy a block into a construction that contains a block with the same name, PeriProducer assigns a unique name to the copied block.

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Moving a Block or Grouped Blocks

You can easily move a block or a group of blocks around a single construction area or between construction areas.

Moving in a Single Construction Area

Arrange blocks or grouped blocks to any open spot in the current construction area by pressing <S

PeriProducer redraws any existing connections to the new location. You cannot move an object on top of another object.

Moving Between Construction Areas

You cannot drag a block or grouped blocks between construction areas. To move between construction areas, use Cut and Paste.

How to ...Move an Object Between Construction Areas

1. Position the mouse pointer over the block or group of blocks. For information

about grouping blocks, see Performing Operations on Grouped Blocks on page 77.

ELECT> on the desired object and dragging it to the new position.

2. Cut the block or group of blocks to the internal keyboard. PeriProducer removes

the object form the construction area. You can do this two ways:

• Press <C

• Click <M

UT> on the keyboard.

ENU>. From the Block menu, select Cut.

3. Position the mouse pointer in the construction area where you want to insert the

object.

4. Paste the block or group of blocks in the construction area. You can do this two

ways:

• Press <P

• Click <M

ASTE> on the keyboard.

ENU>. From the Block menu, select Paste.

When you paste, PeriProducer adds the current contents of the clipboard to the indicated area at approximately the position of the original block or group coordinates. The pasted object does not have any connections. You can paste multiple times.

When you cut to the internal clipboard, PeriProducer overwrites the current contents of the clipboard.

If you move a block into a construction that contains a block with the same name, PeriProducer assigns a unique name to the new block.

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Deleting a Block or Grouped Blocks

There are a number of ways to remove a block or group of blocks from an application.

To remove a single block, you can:

• press <S

• position the mouse pointer over the block and press <D

• click <M

To remove a group of blocks, you can:

• position the mouse pointer over the group and press <D

• click <M

PeriProducer places the indicated object in the delete buffer so you can subsequently restore it.

You can delete additional objects without overwriting the contents of the delete buffer. PeriProducer adds additional deletions without disturbing any previous contents.

ELECT> on the block and drag it completely out of the construction area.

ELETE> on the keyboard.

ENU> on the block. From the Block menu, select Delete.

ELETE> on the keyboard.

ENU> on the group. From the Block menu, select Delete.

For information about grouping blocks, see Performing Operations on Grouped

Blocks on page 77. To restore a deleted object, see Restoring a Deleted Block or Grouped Blocks on page 86.

Restoring a Deleted Block or Grouped Blocks

You can easily restore deleted blocks or groups of blocks to the construction area from which you deleted them.

There are two ways to restore a deleted object.

1. Position the mouse pointer over a construction area and press <UNDO> on the keyboard, or

2. Position the mouse pointer over a construction area and click <M From the Block menu, select Undelete.

PeriProducer restores objects on a last-in-first-out basis. That is, the most recently deleted object is the first one restored.

When PeriProducer restores an object, it tries to reconstruct all the previous connections. If you changed the construction area since you deleted the object, this may not be possible. If PeriProducer cannot re-establish a connection, it displays a message in the window footer that indicates the problem.

ENU>.

You can only restore an object to the construction area from which you deleted it. That is, you can not use delete and undelete to move an object between construction areas. If necessary, PeriProducer opens a construction area to perform an undelete. If the "parent" construction area has been deleted, PeriProducer attempts to perform the undelete of the next higher "parent". If PeriProducer cannot restore the object, it displays a message indicating the problem.

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If you quit PeriProducer or clear the Main Container, you also clear the delete/copy buffer. You can only restore deleted blocks during the current session.

Reference Blocks

Reference blocks are an alternative to copying a block when you need that block’s function in several places in an application.

indicates that this is a Reference block

name of the referenced (original) block

A Reference block executes the block to which it refers. Any changes to the referenced block (that is, the original) affect all of its references.

You can also reference a parameterized Container to pass data by reference between Containers (see page 90).

If you want to duplicate the function of a block, but you need to edit the original without affecting the duplicates, copy the block rather than referencing it. See

Copying a Block or Grouped Blocks on page 84.

If a block with references associated with it is deleted, cut, or dragged outside the construction area, a warning box is displayed (see below). This warning box asks whether to Cancel the deletion or Proceed and make one of the existing reference blocks, the block to reference.

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Creating a Reference Block

Use the Block menu to create a reference to another block and add the reference(s) to the application.

How to ...Create a Reference Block

1. Access the Block menu for the block you want to reference.

a. Position the mouse pointer over the block in the construction area. b. Click <M

2. From the Block menu, select Refer. PeriProducer creates a reference to the indicated block in the internal clipboard.

3. Access the Block menu for the destination Container.

a. Position the mouse pointer where you want to place the Reference block. You

ENU>.

can paste a reference in the current Container/Handle block or to another Container/Handle block.

b. Click <M

ENU>.

4. From the Block menu, select Paste. PeriProducer puts the current contents of the clipboard in the construction area at the position of the mouse pointer.

You can paste multiple times without performing another Refer.

PeriProducer supplies a unique default name for each Reference block. To view or edit this name, see Working With Reference Blocks on page 89.

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Working With Reference Blocks

Use the Reference block action window (or the Block menu) to add notes to the Reference block. You can also use the Reference block action window to open the action window of the original block. With this option, the original block does not have to be in the current construction area to open and edit its window.

Notes are also available via the Block menu.

For information about accessing and using action windows, see Customizing the

Function of a Block on page 71.

type a descriptive name for the Reference block

open the action window of the original block

location and name of the original block

apply any changes in the action window to the Reference block

return the window to the settings at the last Apply

add notes to the Reference block

Regardless of the block name you assign to the Reference block, PeriProducer displays the name of the original block in the block icon. You must open the Reference block to view (or edit) the actual block name.

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References to Parameterized Containers

Use parameter folders defined local to a Container to pass data to or from the Container. For additional information, see Parameterized Containers on page 305.

A Reference block that refers to a Container with a local parameter folder displays the Container’s parameters in its action window.

parameter fields

data passing out

return value

name and location of the original block

Description fields in the definition of the parameter folder

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Gathering Application Statistics (Block Execution Statistics)

An application can be customized to record the number of times any single block (an event) is executed during runtime. Recording these events is very useful in evaluating an applications performance. Examples of events to track are; number of call referrals, number of faxes sent or received, and number of caller message recordings.

Every 15 minutes (by default) , VSUPD broadcasts a statistics request to all executing applications and collects available application statistics. This statistics collection daemon stores these statistics for future reference. VSUPD also receives local statistics from linked applications every time they return back to their calling application.

To use block execution statistics (application statistics), create one or more Statistics folders (Folders of Sevents) for the application and special statistics data cards (called counters or stat events) for selected blocks. When PeriProducer executes the block during runtime, it increments counters (stat events) associated with that block by one; it does not reinitialize statistics folders when the application restarts. This allows statistics to accumulate over many calls.

To use the system wide statistics collection utility, assign any legal name to the folder. (e.g. name the Statistics Folders strec1, strec2,...)

select Statistics

select Add

PeriProducer allows you to assign any legal name to Statistics folders.

If it is possible, use a single, unique statistics folder to gather the statistics from each application. For example, gather all the statistics for application_1 in strec1 and all the statistics for application_2 in strec2.

How to ...Define Application (Block Execution) Statistics

1. Create a Statistics folder (Folder of "Sevents") for the application. From the Tool

Kit, select Folders.

2. Access the Block menu for the block you want to reference. Click <M

ENU> on the

block in the construction area.

3. From the Block menu, click <M

ENU> on Counters. Select from the counter options:

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If the Attach option is selected to manually create a statistics counter, first create a data card within the Statistics folder (created in step 1 above). The data card must be numeric of length nine.

4. Save the folder to a file. Follow the menu path File—Save As.

Show the currently configured counters.

Create and attach a default counter to the selected statistics folder.

Select /define a new counter. This counter must be numeric, length nine.

Detach an existing counter.

Supply a descriptive name for the file. PeriProducer adds the suffix .folder.

5. To create a default report in PeriReporter, copy the .folder file to a working directory on each node where PeriReporter is executing.

6. To create a more detailed report in PeriReporter, generate the vex file, then create a stat record code stub(s) file by executing the following command:

vexdump -s app.vex

7. Copy the stat record code stub file (strec#.sre) from $ASEHOME/copy to $ASEHOME/copy on each node where PeriReporter is executing.

See the Avaya Media Processing Server Series System Reference Manual for details about VSUPD and the PeriReporter User’s Guide for details about reporting statistics.

You can create multiple statistics folders (folders of "sevents") for each application.

Determining Blocks Associated With a Counter

Use the global Manage Data Folders window to display the names of all the blocks in the application that use a particular data card as a counter.

First, select the folder that contains the data card. Next, click <M card name. Finally, from the hidden menu, click <M

ENU> on StatBlocks.

ENU> on the data

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block that uses sRHost1_1 as a counter

Another way to see which blocks contain statistics counters is simply to look for blocks with a plus sign, "+" in the upper right hand corner. For example:

strec2 is available

Passing Statistics Folders to a Linked Application

You can pass a statistics folder as a parameter to a linked application. In this case, the system does not make the statistics folder available to VSUPD when the linked application terminates, unless the linked application receives an explicit request from VSUPD. Instead, the system makes the statistics folder available when the main application terminates.

Main

execution

strec2 [type:statistics folder]

sRHost1_1[type:number]

Linked

LPstats:[type:parameter folder]

LFstrec2[type:lower-level folder]

sRHost1_1[type:number]

Local statistics folders in a linked application (not passed) are immediately available to VSUPD when the linked application returns to the calling application.

For information about implementing linked applications, see Using Linked

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Applications on page 457.

Working With Block Connections and Connectors

Use block connections and various connector blocks to determine the logical flow of the application.

Understanding Block Connections

A connection is a straight-line arrow that starts from one building block and points to another.

The part of the arrow that exits a block is the exit connection. The point of the arrow, where it enters a block, is the entry connection.

entry connection

exit connection

All blocks except Entry and Destination connectors support multiple entry connections. You can connect multiple blocks to a single block.

Blocks normally have one exit connection. However, some blocks such as the Switch and Select blocks, support multiple exits called case connectors. Customize the action window of these blocks to establish the case connectors and determine which exit the application uses.

You cannot connect a block to itself.

Determine the logical flow of the application by connecting the individual blocks. You can:

• have PeriProducer create the connections automatically.

• create or erase the connections with the mouse.

Automatic Connections

When you add a block to a construction area that has a current block, PeriProducer attempts to connect the new block to the current block. The direction of the connection is from the existing block to the new block.

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existing block

new block

There must be a current block in the construction area for PeriProducer to make an automatic connection. If there is no current block, PeriProducer adds the block to the staging area and does not connect it to the application. For additional information, see

Block Position on page 70.

If PeriProducer cannot create a connection, it displays a help message in the footer of the construction area.

Creating and Erasing Connections

You can edit and customize the flow of the application by manually creating or erasing block connections.

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How to ...Create Block Connections

1. Select the first block in the logical sequence. This becomes the current block.

2. Click <A

DJUST> on the second block in the logical sequence. PeriProducer

establishes the connection in the direction first block ---> second block. If PeriProducer cannot make the connection, it displays a help message in the window footer.

How to ...Erase Block Connections

1. Select a connected block. This becomes the current block.

2. Click <A

DJUST> on the block connected to it. PeriProducer erases the connection.

For erasing, the direction of the connection is irrelevant. However, if you leave the mouse pointer over the second block and click <A

DJUST> again, PeriProducer

reconnects the blocks in the direction first block ---> second block.

You cannot erase the connection between a parent block and a case selector (for example, a Select block and its case selectors). Delete a case block by opening the parent and change the appropriate field/option. For information about opening a block, see Customizing the Function of a Block on page 71. For details on the Select block, see SELECT from a Menu (Select Block) on page 175.

Using Connector Blocks

In addition to using arrow-like block connections to determine the logical flow of an application, you can also use connector blocks to:

• unclutter the display by arranging the standard connections.

• jump to a different block in the application.

• resume execution after receiving a status/exception condition.

• end a logical path without routing to the Exit connector.

• position blocks that are only executed by reference.

For details about each type of user-defined connector block, see Understanding

Connector Blocks on page 281.

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Entry connector

Destination connector

Anonymous connector

Source connector

Exit connector

Adding a Connector Block

PeriProducer automatically places an Exit and an Entry connector in each construction area (see Entering a Container (Entry Connector) on page 281). To add one of the user-defined connectors, first add an Anonymous connector and then modify its action window.

How to ...Add a Connector Block

1. Position the mouse pointer at the desired (unoccupied) position in the

construction area.

2. Click <A

location.

3. Access the action window for the Anonymous connector. For information about

opening a block, see Customizing the Function of a Block on page 71.

DJUST>. PeriProducer creates an Anonymous connector at the pointer

Click <Menu> here to access the menu of connector types

4. Select the type of connector from the pull-down menu.

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5. (All connectors except Anonymous) Type a descriptive name in the Block Name field.

6. Select Apply.

When you add a connector, PeriProducer attempts to connect it to the application. If the connection is successful, the connector becomes the current block. For additional information, see Understanding Block Connections on page 94.

You can move a connector like any other block (see Moving a Block or Grouped

Blocks on page 85).

You may also want to add text to describe the function of the connector. For information, see Adding Notes to a Block on page 82.

You can also add a Connector block by selecting CONNECTOR Block on the

Blocks menu in the Main Container, all inner containers, and all Handle blocks.

creates an Anonymous connector

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Understanding

PeriProducer’s Primary

Windows

This chapter covers:

1. The Main Container

2. The Tool Kit

3. The Locator

PeriProducer User’s Guide

The Main Container

In the default startup configuration, the window on the right is the Main Container. You can resize or move this window to suit your preference.

Main Container title

window header

menu bar

Entry Connector

construction area

Exit Connector

current Container

logo (color of logo indicates state of application)

window footer

current filename

Main Container Title

PeriProducer uses Untitled as the default title for the Main Container. The Main Container title is not necessarily the same as the application filename. For additional information, see Adding a Title to the Main Container on page 43.

You can create multiple construction areas to accommodate the function of a single application. You can add a descriptive title to the Container of each construction area. For additional information, see CONTAINER Block on page 303.

PeriProducer displays the title of each Container in its window header.

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Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

List of Tables

Preface

PeriProducer Description

Voice Response Applications

Application Execution and Diagnostic Facilities

PeriProducer Basics

Starting PeriProducer

Checking the PeriProducer Version

Default Startup Display

Getting Help

Loading an Application

Loading an Autosave File

Loading an Errorsave (Recovery) File

Loading an Earlier Version of an Application

Loading a Backup File

Adding a Title to the Main Container

Saving Applications

Saving an Application

Saving an Application to a Different Name/Location

Understanding the Backup (.pBK) File

Automatic Error Saving

Saving a New Version of an Application

Automatically Saving Applications (Autosave)

Saving a Container Block

PeriProducer Application File Types

Printing an Application

Printing Options

Printing in Batch Mode

Selecting the Printer

Viewing the PostScript Output

Version Control

Version Renaming Process

Enabling Version Control

Assigning a Version Identifying Number to an Application

Comparing Versions

Excluding Building Blocks from Generation

Clearing a Container

Quitting PeriProducer

Standard Action Window Items

Working With Blocks

Adding a Block

Customizing the Function of a Block

Naming a Block

Locating Blocks within an Application

Performing Operations on Grouped Blocks

The Block Menu

Adding Notes to a Block

Editing Block Notes

Copying a Block or Grouped Blocks

Moving a Block or Grouped Blocks

Deleting a Block or Grouped Blocks

Restoring a Deleted Block or Grouped Blocks

Reference Blocks

Gathering Application Statistics (Block Execution Statistics)

Working With Block Connections and Connectors

Using Connector Blocks

The Main Container