Re: [Asterisk-Users] PHP Gui for Asterisk (AGI questions)

James Sizemore Mon, 17 Mar 2003 23:59:33 -0800

Chris you seem to like the things I hate the most! LOL
About the only thing I hate worse then XML for config
files is using M4 for any-e-thing at all!!! <grin> Your
a sick man, you just seem to love needless steps in editing
a config file!  I'll stick to Macros, myself.

Chris Albertson wrote:

Parcers running even on older PC hardware can parce XML faster than the characters can pass under the read/write head of the disk. The speed difference between XML and non-XML is due only t the extra character count. Modern parcers are very good. CPU cycles are not a good argument.
Where XML is usfull is where you have several programs that need
to read the same data files and do different things with the same
data.  And the data is non-triveal complexity And the programs
that read the data are maintained by different organizations.
XML has pretty much taken over B2B e-commerce.  XML formatted
invoices and so on...  One program might apply a style to the
invoice so it can be printed an other might log it to a database
Ok, I admit .conf files that descibe telephony hardware connected
to a PC don't need to be XML.  What else but Asterisk would read these
files?
The dail plan is different.  IMO data about users, their phone
extension(s) physical location, name, authenication info (passwords)
and other personal data needs to go in an on-line data storage system.
Call it a RDBMS, LDAP server or even an NIS map.
Sepporate from the above is the flow of control that a call takes. (ring phone(s), answer or go to voice mail or secritary) You should only have to define how a "type-D' phone flows once then in the above on-line database simple note that the extension is of "type-D"

extensions.conf combines the above two types of information. A typical medium sized company would have many repeted blocks difering only by extension number in extensions.conf
The best thing might be to seporate the two types of data.
The simple thing to do is use a preprocessor like M4.
Defin a macro for a "type-D" phone and then have lines like
  extn-type_D(6578)
  extn-type_D(6579)
Then to change the flw of control for all 100 extension you
only have to change the macro definition.  Still you are keeping
two diferent kinds of data in the same file but at least you've
"factored out" the redundent information
--- Peter Brown <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi,
XML may be the latest but it also adds latency to the whole process -
for
what benefit?
It looks better, we are using the latest technology? If a wheel
barrow will
do the job why get a D9 Tractor?
No flame wars pls, just my 2cents worth.

Peter

At 19:00 17/03/2003 -0500, you wrote:

I hate to say do it Microsoft's way; but they FINALLY came around

with

Win2003 to storing the web server config in XML; and after revisions

of

registry storage (basically param=value format), then metabase with inheritance issues (custom format, no tools to edit) and now they

went XML.

I've always liked the apache layout (although I make a living on

IIS) - This

new XML one, although I haven't played with it much yet, looks like

the way

*ALL* configs should be. Not that IIS config is the way - but XML.

As was said, other editors can do it, there's components (windows

and *nix

based) to parse xml readily available, etc.

I've said for a long time xml is NOT the be all and end all like

people

profess, and it's ended up doing things that there's no reason to do

-
however for config files it looks like a great answer.

Steve Radich - Colocation / Virtual Dedicated / Dedicated Servers BitShop, Inc. - http://www.bitshop.com - $149/month colo special

-----Original Message----- From: Chris Albertson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 5:23 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] PHP Gui for Asterisk (AGI questions)

I think the way to go with conf. file for Asterisk is XML.

When I first saw the Asterisk conf files I wondered if Eric Allman had found a new job working on Asterisk. (That's a joke for those of you who have had to maintain a sendmail installation. sendmail.cf is the definition of cryptic)

Some advantages of XML:

1) Parsers and file editors already exist for XML. Users could edit files with ready made GUI tools, programmers can use XML with XML libraries. There are even web-based tools for maintaining XML data.
2) Parsers and file editors can perform file validation.  Making
 it not-possible to save an invalid file.
3) (some) Database systems can gobble up XML and spit it back
 out.  Yes, I think the DBMS idea was resonable for a large
 installation.  Overkill if less then say a few hundred
 extensions.  Large sites like to manage phone extension and,
 extension to physical location maping and other stuff in a DBMS.
4) XML (with addition of a style sheet) can be directly displayed
 in a web browser
5) Without a GUI and/or wrb front end the system will remain only "geek usable". (Your average "phone guy" doesn't know how to use vi.)

6) XML readers can ignor parts of the XML file they don't
understand.
 This allows one file to carry information for multiple readers
 ad for new additions too the file not to break older readers.
--- Steven Critchfield <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

On Mon, 2003-03-17 at 11:36, Stefano Finetti wrote:

I was wondering about a little php-based GUI to manage Asterisk

Extensions.

Many way to obtain this, but i think that implementing in a php

script the

AGI Commands should obtain the best results (more, the best
result

would

come with AGI+Mysql instead of a text file like extensions.conf

but...).

Text files would be better than a database since you could comment

on

what you are trying to do with a text file. Also a text file can

be

munged easier than a database when a change in argument format

comes

out such as the function style of calling apps in asterisk. Maybe if

you

need webbased configuration you could make a script that held your working copy either in a flat file or text file , then generated a new extensions.conf file as you commit changes. Once commited, you

make a
call to asterisk to reload via the manager port.

The problem is that I've tried to understand *where* and *how*

apply AGI

commands, without, of course, any good result.

In which way AGI commands are passed to asterisk? Into the console? Executing applications via extensions.conf?
AGI commands come from a script invoked by asterisk itself, and
communicate via STDIN/STDOUT with asterisk.
--
Steven Critchfield  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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 Office: 310-336-5189  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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