[Asterisk-Users] after hours - is this logic ok ?

[Philipp von Klitzing]

Hi!

> > Using a variable is nice, because all channels get their own variable
> > space, so there's no chance of collisions between different calls,
> and > the variable is automatically trashed when the channel is hungup.

I just added this to the SetVar() documentation on the Wiki. A question: 
If we keep on enhancing the Wiki step-by-step and day-by-day (I am 
silently in that game), how do we ensure that 

a) the information flows back into the documentation files of the CVS
b) the Wiki information doesn't become outdated by newly introduced 
features and bug fixes?

> I stuck the value in the database because I haven't a clue as to what
> I'm doing :-)  In all my reading I didn't see anything that talked about
> variables having their own private per channel sandbox in which to
> play.  

You can find this in README.variables which is also included in the Wiki. 
However I agree that this fact is well hidden and hard to find or 
understand for a non-programmer. It's good that you pointed this out, and 
maybe next time you can help the community yourself by adding a comment 
to the Wiki or editing the relevant page. Sometimes newbies see thing 
that others have become blind for...

> I just figured since * had a DB, I'd use it :)  It's exactly this type
> of thing that I'm finding frustrating while trying to learn Asterisk. 
> I'll spend hours reading about something ( in this case I read a bunch
> about setvar and the DB commands ) but at the end of all that reading
> all I could show for it was two methods of accomplishing a task, but I
> din't know which way (if any) was the best or most appropriate way.  I
> feel like I'm handicapped in learning Asterisk by my lack of not
> knowing a programming language.  I have a sneaky feeling that a lot of
> the answers to my questions would be obvious to someone with C/C++
> experience. 

Learning about extensions.conf is indeed a little bit like learning a 
programming language. Anyway, as long as you have no need for more 
advanced functionality that requires AGI or other scripts I think you'll 
still be able to remain happy with what * offers.

Apart from that: As you know the handbook draft gives you a good start, 
and a more comprehensive book is under way that goes beyond a dry 
reference guide type document like the Wiki.

Cheers, Philipp