[asterisk-users] Macros, Background(), Return Values...

[Yuan LIU]

>From: Doug Garstang <dgarstan at talkplus.com>
>Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:17:20 -0800
>
>I am programming a very large dialplan right now (Asterisk 1.4), and a 
>couple of things are annoying the heck out of me.

I have not programmed large dial plans, but have encountered some of the 
nuances.

>1. When in a macro, background() does not work properly. If you use the 
>background() app inside a macro, and then press a key, execution returns 
>back to the calling context where it tries to match that extension. I 
>believe this is a known bug.

Or feature?  I posted this question before and haven't got an answer.  It 
might be a feature on the premise that a macro is not a context. (Even 
though I can use Goto to wander inside.)

>2. Is there any way to have macros return a value? I can pass arguments to 
>macro's with ARG1..ARGN, but the only way to set a return variable is to 
>set a channel variable. Essentially, I have a large number of global 
>variables which is never good.

In my wild experimentation, I tried to 
Goto(${MACRO_CONTEXT},${return_value},1).  But another way to do this is to 
abandon macro and use Local channel.  Expect to set all necessary _variables 
yourself before dialing into a local channel.

>3. If you use Gosub to and Return to jump into and out of contexts, and use 
>them like macros to get around the background() problem, the global 
>variable issue becomes worse as there's no way to explicitly pass variables 
>to the contexts when you do this.

Local channel may be your friend.

>4.Every time you make a decision, you have to use GotoIf, which means more 
>code to do simple things like set variables, or do things based on a 
>decision. It would be great if there was SetIf(), MacroIf(), or even doIf() 
>applications.

Have you looked at AEL?

Yuan Liu

>Has anyone tried to program large complex dialplans before and come across 
>some of these issues? How did you resolve them?
>
>Doug.