| [vtp-dev] Evaluating VTP |
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Blaise, Listed below are the questions you had regarding VTP,
answers are listed below the question. Q) Can the openVXML editor, persona editor be modified to
act on callflows in the standard web projects file structure? This would
allow all app components e.g. Callflow, VXML, grammar files, media files,
JSP, and Java to exist within the same project. A) Not at this time. We are
researching the possibility of adding the web project nature to our application
and persona projects. Q) Would it be possible to have multiple callflows within a
project? The reason that I ask is although callflows are powerful they
don't readily allow several developers to work on them concurrently. This
would allow the callflow to be componentized, and procedurized. A) Our current direction is to continue
only having one application per project. This simplifies deployment of
single application changes in large enterprise distributions. We will be
addressing the issues around multiple developers working on a project in an
upcoming release. Q) Could the callflow be extended to handle returning canvas
calls? It can be done with wormholes but if you have many exits to one
canvas it is hard knowing where to return to, you tend to end up with lots of
global variables and lots of additional elements. A) This sounds interesting though I’m
not entirely sure if I understand the question. I’d love to get
some more detail wrapped around this. I agree that the current method of
wormholes can cause graph clutter and would certainly entertain any ideas to
reduce or eliminate this. Q) Could modules with entry exit points for JSP pages be
added? So that the callflow could act in the role of front controller
allowing JSP on occasion to handle the more complex vxml rendering tasks,
especially if this involved generating complex _javascript_ enabled vxml
forms for the voice browsers, to reduce the number of Browser -> Server
fetches. A) This functionality has been developed
and will soon be added to the source repository. A new built-in Subdialog
module will be available that allows just that. It can also be used to
integrate other third-party modules, such as Nuance OSDMs and IBM RDCs, into
your applications. Q) How do you embed java behind the callflow, is this
possible... A) Absolutely. There is an API
(org.eclipse.vtp.framework.api) that allows you to build custom modules to use
in your callflows. If you have looked at the source for any of the
built-in modules, you’ll see that they use the same API and offer at
least a starting point for learning its use. A custom module construction
tutorial is also in the works and will be posted to the website. Q) Is the callflow xml object model available to be
manipulated in java? This is necessary for dynamic tasks such as substituting
prompts depending on state. A) The contents of the XML document are not
available for programmatic modification. Many types of dynamic user
interaction and back-end system integration can be accomplished using custom
modules. Q) What is required to adapt the xml meta model for
different browsers at runtime? A) There is an abstraction layer that
provides concrete implementations of the basic interaction elements, such as
field and menu, based on the voice browser being used. This abstraction
is still relatively new and will be expanded to include various platforms out
of the box. Q) For debugging purposes would it be possible to enhance
the tools to be able to trace a callflow as it was executed within the
runtime environment as it was executed, visually from within the eclipse VTP
client application. A) This is another very good idea. We
are working on adding integrated debug capabilities to the tool set including
visual tracing. Q) Where should I check out the VTP source from is it under
the WTP cvs tree, has the openVXML code been added into the VTP source
tree yet. A) The openVXML codebase is available from
the VTP source tree. Any Feedback would be much appreciated. Tyler VanWinkle Product Manager OpenMethods o| +1.816.283.VXML
(8965) x118 c| +1.816.808.2523 Tyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | www.openmethods.com |