[Asterisk-Dev] ...and another option to dial()... again...

[David Wilson]

On Sun, Oct 10, 2004 at 05:46:45PM +0200, Olle E. Johansson wrote:

> I think it's time to begin thinking on a new design for dial(). The
> number of options and featurese that have been added to that app
> lately is overwhelming and it's getting rather complex to understand
> this very critical app.

> * Do we need to split it up into simpledial(), dial() and superdial() ?
> * Can we create another construction for dialling ? Like first calling
> pre-dial applications to set various functions and then having a
> "go-ahead" instruction?

> Maybe we could add dial-profiles to realtime configs and dial with a
> reference to a dial profile in a database or a config file?

Hello!

I happened to be writing an interface to Dial() earlier on there and I
must say I agree entirely. :)

The function of Dial is beyond what it says.. although the application
does indeed originate calls, it also handles transfers, indications,
connection limits, and so on. It is to a great extent the single most
used yet massively opaque function in Asterisk.

The problem with moving most of the functionality out of Dial is that
Dial is tied to Asterisk's underlying architecture, and none of the
flags you provide it really fit sensibly elsewhere.

I like the profiles idea, but trying to break up the functionality of
Dial would probably result in architectural changes to Asterisk
beforehand.


-- 
Now that my house has burned down I have a much better view of the moon.