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About the VT100 Gateway

 

555-9001-316  Standard 1.0  February 1996

 

ATTENTION!

 

The TRS process for managing calls is restricted to handling one active 
line at a time (single threaded mode).

Therefore, you should add a loop to applications that interact with the 
TRS so that customers who call at peak hours are informed on the 
status of their call. For example, you can allow callers to hear a 
recurring message that an operator will assist them as soon as possible.

Summary of Contents for Meridian IVR VT100

Page 1: ...IVR Meridian Mail ACCESS and Meridian 1 are trademarks of Northern Telecom VT100 DEC and VT420 are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation HP LaserJet and ThinkJet are trademarks of Hewlett Packa...

Page 2: ...iii Meridian IVR VT100 Gateway Development Guide Product release 2 0 I Publication history February 1996 This document is the first standard issue for Meridian IVR release 2 0 I...

Page 3: ...teway software 1 4 Chapter 2 Template files 2 1 Determining the required transactions 2 1 Action templates 2 5 Action template syntax 2 6 Screen templates 2 13 Initial action templates 2 26 Chapter 3...

Page 4: ...nting application 2 7 Figure 2 5 Reset action template sequence sample 2 9 Figure 2 6 Reset action template sample 2 10 Figure 2 7 Logout action flow 2 11 Figure 2 8 Logout action template sample 2 12...

Page 5: ...ay from a COMI cell 4 2 Figure 4 3 COMI cell parameter window 4 3 Figure 4 4 COMO cell parameter window 4 7 Figure 4 5 COMO cell 4 9 Figure 4 6 COMA cell in the CLEANUP branch of a START cell 4 10 Fig...

Page 6: ...oice applications with Meridian IVR 2 0 I You should also be familiar with the UNIX operating system and the vi text editor or another text editor installed on your application processor How to use th...

Page 7: ...out this guide several typographic conventions have been used to highlight certain types of information Items that are part of the Meridian IVR 2 0 I screens appear in quotes for example Function Code...

Page 8: ...criptions of the Meridian IVR 2 0 I VT100 Gateway software a description of the TRS configuration a brief glossary of terms used in this guide The VT100 terminal The VT100 terminal developed by the Di...

Page 9: ...s and workstations The standard VT100 terminal has a 24x80 character display and can be accessed non sequentially This means the terminal can access text anywhere on the screen This allows you to dele...

Page 10: ...00 Gateway product can control multiple simultaneous sessions with the host computer The Meridian IVR 2 0 I VT100 Gateway product allows a Meridian IVR 2 0 I application to establish sessions with a h...

Page 11: ...connected to Meridian Mail be connected to one or more host computers via an asynchronous connection have enough serial ports to provide enough terminal connections one digiBoard with 8 ports per card...

Page 12: ...n passes them on to the host A COMO cell retrieves the information sent to the TRS process by the host and then ends the transaction A COMA cell aborts the host transaction in the case of a hang up or...

Page 13: ...handling one active line at a time single threaded mode Therefore you should add a loop to applications that interact with the TRS so that customers who call at peak hours are informed on the status...

Page 14: ...transaction Create the screen template files that define the sequence of fields encountered on each screen Note If you make backups of your template files do not store them in the u ivr 3270 director...

Page 15: ...e files provide the layout and content of each screen in the host application as the terminal operator sees them Figure 2 1 compares a transaction done by a terminal operator to one done by a customer...

Page 16: ...An operator follows this sequence to retrieve data 1 Starts the accounting application 2 Selects the Accounts Receivable menu option 3 Asks the caller for account information 4 Enters the caller s ac...

Page 17: ...sy to tell when host transmission ends because the operator s requested information appears on the screen From the TRS s perspective there is nothing inherent in the VT100 protocol to provide notifica...

Page 18: ...t the terminal operator traverses A separate action template defines each transaction In the example shown in Figure 2 1 if you want to select a menu option other than Accounts Receivable you would de...

Page 19: ...n template syntax The lines depicted as represent additional screen templates used in the transaction Each screen template corresponds to a specific host application screen which appears on the termin...

Page 20: ...ning lines identify the sequence of screens accrec acctno and customer the TRS must traverse to retrieve the customer billing information These screens are listed in the order that they must be access...

Page 21: ...u must create a trs conf file that assigns TRS session numbers to the application on the host computer the trs conf file is described in Chapter 3 Choose a name for the host computer application name...

Page 22: ...t section is executed If the transaction succeeds and there is no reset action template specified the host computer application remains at the screen where the transaction ended When you create a rese...

Page 23: ...he logout action template is not executed The TRS uses the logout action template to return the failed transaction to the initial screen usually a login screen After it successfully executes the logou...

Page 24: ...ion would also experience errors because the screen where the session remained would not be the expected starting screen unless the transaction can start from any screen When you create a logout actio...

Page 25: ...r consecutive Meridian IVR 2 0 I transactions This type of session is not released when the transaction is finished To exit manual mode you must execute a COMA cell in the Meridian IVR 2 0 I applicati...

Page 26: ...een templates that issue the system commands to start the application usually as part of the initial action template and then screen templates that make menu selections and enter or retrieve data from...

Page 27: ...field If the Return key is pressed the application starts and the screen is replaced by the application screen A sample application screen showing fields is shown in Figure 2 10 Here the customer s n...

Page 28: ...Meridian IVR 2 0 I u ivr 3270 directory and must have the file name extension scn For example if you created a screen template called customer scn it would have these paths u ivr 3270 customer scn For...

Page 29: ...depicted as represent additional field descriptor lines The example in Figure 2 12 illustrates a screen template file that obtains the balance from the screen shown in Figure 2 10 comment screen name...

Page 30: ...tag The fourth line is the field descriptor that describes an action to take This field descriptor is going to find an exact match to Balance and place the contents of the field into a buffer The fie...

Page 31: ...ffset in only two cases To indicate that you do not want to validate this screen you would also need to enter a hyphen as the validation tag You should only ignore the identity of a screen if you want...

Page 32: ...t cursor location to be able to validate that screen Enter a hyphen for the validation tag to indicate that you do not want to validate this screen you would also need to enter 0 0 as the validation t...

Page 33: ...host screen this entry locates the field on the screen If you know the exact location of the field the TRS is reading from you can enter it in row column format If you do not know the exact location...

Page 34: ...that the field is at the current cursor position When entering the field name keep in mind that the TRS process right justifies all field names and removes all extra white space If the transaction fai...

Page 35: ...the TRS process you need to store the data in an output buffer Entry Description Inputs the contents of the next input buffer transmitted from the Meridian IVR 2 0 I application into the field and us...

Page 36: ...tput buffers of a COMO cell Chapter 4 describes how to use Meridian IVR 2 0 I cells to retrieve data from the host computer key descriptor Identifies a key to be used with the screen To send informati...

Page 37: ...t line As with field descriptor lines the entries on this line must be separated by white space or tab characters ATTENTION FORWARDWORD PF11 BACKSPACE HOME PF12 BACKTAB INSERTCHAR PF13 BACKWORD NEWLIN...

Page 38: ...he transaction waits at any point where you place a sleep descriptor Usually a sleep descriptor is placed after a key descriptor to indicate that the session should wait for a specified amount of time...

Page 39: ...ch terminal session by defining initial action templates Initial action templates are action templates that specify a sequence of screen templates that position the terminal session at the desired loc...

Page 40: ...0 Gateway has been installed and configured correctly and that the screen and action templates have the appropriate syntax Start IVR 2 0 I on the application processor The TRS process is automatically...

Page 41: ...host screen it allows the transaction to continue The TRS searches each host screen for one of the keywords in screen conf When it finds the keyword on the host screen it then searches for the end of...

Page 42: ...gin string optional The TRS uses this string to determine the beginning of the screen The begin string should be the first character or string on the screen If it contains a space or a colon then plac...

Page 43: ...nd string the TRS continues the transaction If your host application screens do not have enough unique keywords or if the application demonstrates unpredictable screen behavior then you have difficult...

Page 44: ...ou assign the session The name entered here is the same name you enter in the action templates that are executed by the IVR 2 0 I application board number The board number entry must be 0 This entry i...

Page 45: ...e follows the same format described earlier for action templates The screen templates specified by the initial action template must also be created The screen template for a login screen or the login...

Page 46: ...x as the action templates described earlier in this chapter and usually only specifies a single screen template That screen template is usually the last screen specified in the initial action template...

Page 47: ...r only the accounting application Figure 3 5 trs conf file for accounting application The trs conf file as shown in Figure 3 5 relates to the initial action template shown in Figure 3 9 Setting up the...

Page 48: ...oduct release 2 0 I Figure 3 6 vt100 ctl file syntax Figure 3 7 shows a vt100 ctl file based on the example trs conf file in Figure 3 5 Figure 3 7 vt100 ctl file for accounting application session num...

Page 49: ...le name You can set all necessary operating modes e g baud rate representation parameters flow control etc in the com conf file discussed in the next section terminal type The terminal type entry defi...

Page 50: ...to stop host output by sending ASCII DC3 and restart host output by sending ASCII DC1 IXON prevents input queue overflow IXOFF IXOFF requests that the host send start stop characters when the input q...

Page 51: ...odd CSTOPB CSTOPB select 1 stop bit per character If CSTOPB is not specified then there are 2 stop bits per character DIAL_UP Enter DIAL_UP in the com conf file if IVR 2 0 I is going to access the ho...

Page 52: ...action template chooses the Accounts Receivable option from the application s menu and retrieves a customer s balance The reset action template returns to the application s menu screen and waits for...

Page 53: ...lename acctlog1 scn acctlog1 1 1 login 0 0 vad 0 0 ENTER 0 0 quality 0 0 ENTER 0 0 3 screen template that starts the accounting application filename acctlog2 acctlog2 0 0 ULTRIX 0 0 acct 0 0 ENTER 0 0...

Page 54: ...reen templates use 0 0 as the row column location and a hyphen for the field tag to indicate that all text will be entered at the current cursor position This method is used because the login prompt a...

Page 55: ...late for the acctinit initial action template filename clinit act clinit accounting clrmenu logout screen template to exit the accounting application filename clrmenu scn clrmenu 1 20 ACME Accounting...

Page 56: ...ate its screen templates and the corresponding host computer screens that perform the following functions choose the Accounts Receivable option from the application s menu enter on the line that pops...

Page 57: ...Rec menu acctno enters account number customer retrieves balance ACME Accounting 1 Accounts Receivable 2 Accounts Payable 3 Reports 4 Inventory 5 Exit Enter menu selection 1 Enter account number ACME...

Page 58: ...verifies that the menu screen has returned but it performs no function Figure 3 13 shows the logout action template and its accompanying screen templates that return the host computer to the login scr...

Page 59: ...screen template and the following screen templates screen template to clear customer info screen filename clrcust scn clrcust 1 1 Account Number 0 0 4 0 0 ENTER logout action template for the getbala...

Page 60: ...cate with the host computer using the accounting application developed in the previous chapters as an example Using the COMI COMO and COMA cells to access the host computer With IVR 2 0 I the links be...

Page 61: ...call flow At the point in the call flow where you require interaction with the host computer insert a COMI cell Insert a COMO cell to receive the output from the TRS transaction You must always follow...

Page 62: ...IVR 2 0 I call flow interface 4 3 Meridian IVR VT100 Gateway Development Guide Product release 2 0 I Figure 4 3 COMI cell parameter window start getbalance transaction...

Page 63: ...Call Audit Information When you enable Call Auditing the Call Auditing process logs the contents of this buffer to the audit_stat d file The default setting is DIGITS COMI action template Enter the n...

Page 64: ...ers the inherent wait time is a minimum of 50 seconds Therefore the time out value should be greater than 50 seconds COMI cell buffer count You do not need to enter a value in this field as IVR 2 0 I...

Page 65: ...mation You must place a COMO cell directly after the COMI cell to complete the transaction even if the host computer is not sending any data to any output buffers The TRS process sends verification th...

Page 66: ...oduct release 2 0 I Figure 4 4 COMO cell parameter window The following sections describe what you should enter in each area of the parameter window COMO cell name The cell name shown in Figure 4 4 is...

Page 67: ...before it continues through the IVR 2 0 I application following the END OF DATA or MORE DATA branch only one of these cells should have a branch If you select No the COMO cell receives a status code f...

Page 68: ...anch of the previous COMO cell COMO cell branches As shown in Figure 4 5 on page 4 9 the COMO cell has several branches Figure 4 5 COMO cell Table 4 1 describes each branch of the COMO cell l Table 4...

Page 69: ...n the middle of a transaction See Figure 4 6 If you selected manual mode in the application template use the COMA cell to abort a transaction in progress and release the session see Chapter 2 Figure 4...

Page 70: ...pplication uses the action and screen templates created in Chapter 3 A caller activates this example application by pressing 1 after hearing the prompt played by the MENU cell A separate action templa...

Page 71: ...0 I application accessing the TRS process from the COMI COMO cells Prior to the execution of this application the initial action template is executed when IVR 2 0 I is started on the application proce...

Page 72: ...nt update Cell 4 When the caller presses 1 on the telephone the COMI cell starts the transaction According to the COMI cell parameters in Figure 4 3 the action template specified in the COMI cell para...

Page 73: ...ell parameters relate to the screens defined on the host computer This transaction uses an action template getbalance to call three screen templates one to choose the Accounts Receivable menu one to e...

Page 74: ...nting 24 26 1 0 0 ENTER Account Number Customer Address 845 23 87 Jane K Smith 19 Alpha Road Chelmsford MA 01824 Options 1 Print invoice 2 Enter payment 3 Enter purchase 4 Exit Enter menu selection Fr...

Page 75: ...onfiguration file trs conf Action to take Syntax error in trs conf under 3270 directory revise it ERR Failed to startup VT100 Server Meaning TRS was unable to reset the vt100 system Action to take Che...

Page 76: ...ax errors and that they are readable text files ERR Order_templates Meaning The screen templates referenced in the action templates were not found Action to take Create the appropriate screen template...

Page 77: ...o allocate memory for the process structure for board xx session xx Action to take Contact your Nortel service representative ERR Unable to create Board Object Instance Meaning TRS was unable to alloc...

Page 78: ...ngth string Action to take Check the COMI or USER cell used to start an transaction to make sure it contains an action template name ERR CH xx ERR Invalid action name xxx Meaning The action template n...

Page 79: ...tact your Nortel service representative ERR CH xx BD xxx SS xxx Read_input ERR copy PS Meaning TRS was unable to copy the presentation space Action to take TRS will try again If this message continues...

Page 80: ...e TRS was waiting for other processes to initialize Action to take Contact your Nortel service representative ERR Initialize 3270 Controller software Meaning 3270 initialization failure Action to take...

Page 81: ...ess receives a message indicating that TRS server is exiting Action to take If the TRS running in server mode was brought down this is a normal message ERR Received a Service Free Message Meaning IVR...

Page 82: ...communication board is not downloaded correctly The TRS assumes that it is running in envoy mode and then complains that the trs node file does not exist In this case make sure the communication board...

Page 83: ...ion space Action to take Contact your Nortel service representative ERR Write_to_screen Writing of input xx failed Meaning TRS failed to write to the presentation space Action to take Check if an atte...

Page 84: ...COMI cell s even though no output from the host is expected The COMO cell s will retrieve a status indicating whether the transaction has been successful or not ERR Create_transaction_instance Unable...

Page 85: ...R No Application field in trs conf Meaning Application name is not defined in trs conf Action to take Revise trs conf so that it contains the application name before the ERR An invalid entry in the tr...

Page 86: ...Action to take Revise the trs conf file so that the protocol is either 3270 or vt100 ERR Invalid entry non numeric Meaning A non numeric symbol occurred in the board number or session number field of...

Page 87: ...in trs conf file was outside the valid range Action to take Revise the board field of trs conf file ERR Couldn t create appl object Meaning TRS was unable to allocate memory for the application insta...

Page 88: ...ion Number xx specified in 3270 lubuf dat Meaning The lubuf dat file contains an invalid session number Action to take Check the lubuf dat file ERR In 3270 lubuf dat BD xx SS xxx not defined in trs co...

Page 89: ...e the lu_buf2 field in the lubuf dat file so that the length does not exceed xx ERR Unable to open screen file xx Meaning TRS was unable to open the screen file xx Action to take Screen file was missi...

Page 90: ...defined in the screen template file Action to take Revise the screen template file and make sure there is a comma between row and column ERR Parse string xx of screen xxx Meaning Syntax error in scree...

Page 91: ...ntax error in the header section of the action template file Action to take Check the syntax of the header section of the action template file ERR Read screen name from action file xx Meaning The scre...

Page 92: ...ction to take Create the appropriate action template file ERR Unable to open Information Logger Meaning TRS was unable to open trs log file Action to take Check the permissions of the trs log file ERR...

Page 93: ...s IVR applications Application processor A computer or workstation running IVR Asynchronous transmission Data transmission mode where each character is transmitted independently by using a start bit a...

Page 94: ...rams written for one computer to be run on another Host Computer A networked computer that provides applications and services to other networked computers The VT100 Gateway product sends information t...

Page 95: ...a set of action and screen template files when executed by the TRS TRS Terminal Resource Server IVR process that manages the assignment of available VT100 terminal resources on the application process...

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Page 97: ...ocumentation 522 University Avenue 14th Floor Toronto Ontario Canada M5G 1W7 1996 Northern Telecom All rights reserved Publication number 555 9001 316 Product release 2 0 I Document release Standard 1...

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