[asterisk-dev] Check if channel exists

[Johan Wilfer]

Hi,
I'm in need of a application / function that check if a channel is
active or not. The functionality already exists in "core show channel
<name>" and "sip show channel <name>", but I have not found any function 
/ application that does the trick. Does anyone have a similar need that 
I should consider? Any other way to deal with this?

I thinking about a function ChanActive(channel) that returns true/false 
or ChanInfo(channel,item) like sipchaninfo. If I'm the only one with 
this particular need I will implement the first one.

Another related question (maybe user-ish, sorry): I've tried to
understand in witch cases a channel can change it's name (Manager Rename 
event). I'm I correctly assuming that this happens only when bridging to 
another channel? Or are there other cases that I should be aware of?
Is this documented somewhere?

Greetings
Johan