Meridian IVR
VT100 Gateway Development Guide
Publication number: 555-9001-316
Product release:
Document release:
Date:
Meridian IVR 2.0/I
Standard 1.0
February 1996
© 1996 Northern Telecom
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Information is subject to change without notice. Northern Telecom reserves the right to make
changes in design or components as progress in engineering and manufacturing may warrant.
Nortel, Meridian 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-Packard Company. X Window System and X are
trademarks of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. NCD is a trademark of Network
Computing Devices Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.Voicetek and VTK are trademarks
of Voicetek Corporation. Motif is a trademark of Open Software Foundation Inc. Touch tone is a
trademark of Bell Canada. Intel and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation. SCO is a
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Contents
Who should use this guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
How to use this guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Additional Nortel manuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Conventions used in this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Chapter 1: About the VT100 Gateway
1-1
The VT100 terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
The VT100 Gateway software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Chapter 2: Template files
2-1
Determining the required transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Action templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Action template syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Initial-action templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-26
Chapter 3: Getting started
3-1
Before using the VT100 Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
screen.conf file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Setting up the trs.conf file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Setting up the vt100.ctl file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Setting up the com.conf file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
A complete sample transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Initial-action template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Action template performing a transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17
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vi Contents
Chapter 4: IVR 2.0/I call flow interface
4-1
computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Setting the COMI cell parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
An application using the COMI, COMO, and COMA cells. . . . 4-11
Appendix A: Host error messages
A-1
Terminal Resource Server (TRS) Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Glossary
Glossary-1
List of figures
Figure 1-1
Figure 1-2
Figure 1-3
Figure 1-4
Figure 2-1
Figure 2-2
Figure 2-3
Figure 2-4
Figure 2-5
Figure 2-6
Figure 2-7
Figure 2-8
Figure 2-9
Terminals connected to a host computer................1-2
VT100 application screen sample...........................1-3
Meridian IVR 2.0/I VT100 Gateway configuration...1-4
TRS communication process ..................................1-5
Voice response system vs. terminal operator .........2-3
Action and screen templates...................................2-4
Action template syntax............................................2-6
Action template for accounting application..............2-7
Reset-action template sequence sample................2-9
Reset-action template sample...............................2-10
Logout action flow .................................................2-11
Logout-action template sample.............................2-12
Screen showing fields and the system prompt......2-14
Figure 2-10 Application screen for accounting application.......2-15
Figure 2-11 Screen template syntax.........................................2-16
Figure 2-12 Screen template for accounting application ..........2-17
Figure 2-13 The field-descriptor syntax....................................2-20
Figure 2-14
Key-descriptor line syntax....................................2-23
Figure 2-15 Sleep-descriptor syntax.........................................2-25
Figure 3-1
Figure 3-2
Figure 3-3
Figure 3-4
Figure 3-5
Figure 3-6
Figure 3-7
Figure 3-8
Figure 3-9
screen.conf file syntax.............................................3-3
screen.conf file........................................................3-4
trs.conf file syntax ...................................................3-5
Initial-action template ..............................................3-6
trs.conf file for accounting application.....................3-8
vt100.ctl file syntax..................................................3-9
vt100.ctl file for accounting application ...................3-9
com.conf file..........................................................3-11
Initial-action template for accounting application ..3-14
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Contents vii
Figure 3-10 Logout-action template used by the initial-action tem-
plate for accounting application.............................3-16
Figure 3-11 Action template for accounting application............3-18
Figure 3-12 Reset-action template for accounting application .3-19
Figure 3-13 Logout-action template for accounting application 3-20
Figure 4-1
Figure 4-2
Figure 4-3
Figure 4-4
Figure 4-5
Figure 4-6
Accessing the mainframe........................................4-1
Activating the gateway from a COMI cell ................4-2
COMI cell parameter window..................................4-3
COMO cell parameter window ................................4-7
COMO cell...............................................................4-9
COMA cell in the CLEANUP branch of a START
cell........................................................................4-10
IVR 2.0/I application accessing the TRS process from
the COMI, COMO cells .........................................4-12
COMI/COMO cell parameters, TRS templates, and
VT100 screens......................................................4-15
Figure 4-7
Figure 4-8
List of tables
Table 2-1
Table 2-2
Table 3-1
Table 4-1
Table 4-2
Valid field I/O entries.............................................2-22
Valid key names....................................................2-24
TRS default communication settings.....................3-10
Branches of the COMO cell ....................................4-9
Application cell functions.......................................4-13
List of procedures
Procedure 2-1 Accessing transaction information ........................2-5
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ix
About this guide
Who should use this guide
The Meridian IVR 2.0/I VT100 Gateway Development Guide is intended for
use by Meridian IVR 2.0/I application developers whose voice applications
require VT100 based access to computer resources external to the application
processor. The VT100 communications board and its supporting software are
not part of the VT100 Gateway product.
This manual assumes that the user is familiar with the operating
characteristics of the VT100 terminal, and is experienced in creating voice
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 this guide
This guide contains the following chapters and appendices:
Chapter 1: About the VT100 Gateway
This chapter provides an overview of the VT100 terminal and a description
of the Meridian IVR 2.0/I VT100 Gateway features.
Chapter 2: Template files
This chapter explains how to create the necessary files for sending data to and
receiving data from a remote computer.
Chapter 3: Getting started
This chapter describes the steps you must perform and the additional files you
must create to activate the VT100 Gateway software. This chapter also
includes a sample set of template files.
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x About this guide
Chapter 4: IVR 2.0/I call flow interface
This chapter explains how to integrate the templates you created in Chapter 3
with your Meridian IVR 2.0/I application call flow.
Appendix A: Host error messages
This appendix lists error messages and provides information on
troubleshooting.
Additional Nortel manuals
You may find the following manuals useful while reading this manual.
Manual
NTP Number
Meridian IVR Application Development Guide
Meridian IVR System Administration Guide
NTP 555-9001-310
NTP 555-9001-300
Conventions used in this guide
Throughout 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” in the parameters window).
Meridian IVR 2.0/I buffer names are shown in all upper case characters
(for example, the CURRENT MESSAGE buffer).
Items that are file names or messages are shown in bold (for example,
the /u/ivr/vt100/getbalance.act file).
For convenience, this guide uses the keyname <Enter> to represent both the
Enter and Return keys.
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1-1
Chapter 1: About the VT100 Gateway
This chapter provides an introduction to the Meridian IVR 2.0/I VT100
Gateway as well as
•
•
•
•
background on the VT100 terminal
descriptions 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 Digital Equipment Corporation
(DEC), has become one of the most widely used computer terminals in the
world. This widespread acceptance makes the VT100-style of host
communication a standard for all computer manufacturers. See Figure 1-1.
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1-2 About the VT100 Gateway
Figure 1-1
Terminals connected to a host computer
VT100 Terminals
Host
The VT100 terminal uses an asynchronous communication protocol to
transmit characters to and from a host computer. The VT100 Gateway
communicates with a host through a serial port and a modem, or through a
serial port and a direct connection. With respect to the VT100 Gateway
product, a host computer is any computer that can accept a VT100 terminal
connection, including mainframes, minicomputers, 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 delete and insert text, scroll the page, and
move the cursor to any position on the screen. Your ability to access the
VT100 screen non-sequentially depends on the host application you are
using.
Figure 1-2 shows a sample VT100 terminal running a sample host
application. This sample accounting application is used throughout the guide
to illustrate how to develop applications using the VT100 Gateway.
Note: The screens shown in this guide are examples only and are not part of
any real application.
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About the VT100 Gateway 1-3
Figure 1-2
VT100 application screen sample
ACME Accounting
1. Accounts Receivable
2. Accounts Payable
3. Reports
4. Inventory
5. Exit
Enter menu selection:
vt100
An active host to terminal connection is called a session. The VT100 Gateway
can execute a series of transactions during a session. A transaction is the
series of steps required to perform a specific function like finding a
customer’s account balance. When one transaction finishes, the session is
available to execute another transaction. The Meridian IVR 2.0/I application
processor, when configured with the VT100 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 host just as multiple VT100
terminals would. Any programs or commands you can execute from a VT100
terminal, you can execute with Meridian IVR 2.0/I via the VT100 Gateway.
Meridian IVR 2.0/I can store host output in the buffers of an application, then
play the information to a caller.
The application processor physically connects to the host via a modem if the
host is not local, or via a null modem connector if the host resides locally.
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1-4 About the VT100 Gateway
The VT100 Gateway software
You can install the Meridian IVR 2.0/I VT100 Gateway on Intel’s new
generation 64-bit PentiumTM microprocessor. To support the VT100
Gateway, the application processor must
•
•
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)
Northern Telecom (Nortel) does not supply the VT100 communication
hardware. Figure 1-3 shows the typical hardware configuration for processing
VT100 terminal sessions.
Figure 1-3
Meridian IVR 2.0/I VT100 Gateway configuration
Async
ACCESS Link
MIVR
(Application processor)
MERIDIAN MAIL
HOST
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About the VT100 Gateway 1-5
A Meridian IVR 2.0/I process called the Terminal Resource Server (TRS)
controls all VT100 sessions, as well as manages all host connections. The
and starts when Meridian IVR 2.0/I is started. To use the TRS, place a COMI
cell in the Meridian IVR 2.0/I call flow at the point where you need to
establish a host connection. The COMI cell sends requests for information to
the TRS process, which then 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 an error. This process is shown in Figure 1-4.
Figure 1-4
TRS communication process
Cleanup
Handler
START
COMA
ANSW
GDAT
Host
MENU
1
2
Input
Buffers
COMI
COMI
TRS
process
COMO
PDAT
COMO
PDAT
Output
Buffers
HANG
The TRS process uses template files (described in Chapter 2) to control the
communication process between the Meridian IVR 2.0/I application and the
host computer.
As illustrated in Figure 1-4, the TRS uses the data passed to it by the input
buffer as a signal to establish a terminal session. The TRS then controls the
screen display on the host computer.
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1-6 About the VT100 Gateway
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.
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2-1
Chapter 2: Template files
The TRS process uses action and screen templates to maneuver through the
screens of a host application. These templates exchange information with the
host application screens and transfer information to and from the TRS’s
buffers. Coupled with the VT100 emulation software and hardware, they
provide the host with exactly the same type of input as a terminal operator.
This chapter explains how to:
•
•
•
Determine the actions a terminal operator performs to enter and retrieve
information
Create the action and initial action template files that define the sequence
of host application screens for each 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 directory or in any subdirectory under /3270. You should make a
directory at the same hierarchical level or higher as /3270. For example, if
/u/ivr/3270bak is specified, the TRS process searches the /3270 directory and
any subdirectories within it for files with the .act or .scn extensions.
Determining the required transactions
Imagine that you are an operator sitting at a terminal. In order to perform a
specific task, you type information and press function keys until you
accomplish the desired task. Perhaps a caller asks you to look up a customer’s
account balance, or enter an order. The series of steps you perform at the
terminal enable the application on the host computer to complete the
transaction.
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2-2 Template files
To develop a voice application that accesses the same information as a
terminal operator, you need to tell Meridian IVR 2.0/I how to execute the
same series of actions that the terminal operator executes. You provide this
information in ASCII files called template files.
Template 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 calling into
a voice response system.
Note: The first step performed by the terminal operator is not performed by
the action template. It is performed by the initial-action template (described
later in this chapter). The initial-action template handles the login and moves
the application to the appropriate screen to begin the transaction.
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Template files 2-3
Figure 2-1
Voice response system vs. terminal operator
A customer follows this sequence
to retrieve data:
An operator follows this
sequence to retrieve data:
1. Calls into the AP, activating a
voice application.
1. Starts the “accounting”
application.
2. When prompted, selects the
Accounts Receivable option from a
menu prompt.
2. Selects the “Accounts
Receivable” menu option.
3. Asks the caller for account
information.
3. When prompted, enters account
information. At this point, the appli-
cation sends a request for informa-
tion to TRS. TRS then executes the
action template for this specific
transaction.
4. Enters the caller’s account
number.
5. Reports the balance when
the customer’s information
appears on the screen.
4. Hears the playback of
requested information.
5. Hangs up.
The TRS requires two types of template files:
•
•
Action templates, which describe the sequence of screens traversed in
order to perform a specific transaction.
Screen templates, which validate each screen, define the fields on the
screen that require data, and define all keystrokes required for the screen.
Figure 2-2 shows how screen templates relate to action templates.
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2-4 Template files
Figure 2-2
Action and screen templates
#action-template
action-type
screen1
screen2
screen3
#screen1-template
screen1
field-descriptor1
field-descriptor2
key-descriptor
#screen2-template
screen2
field-descriptor1
field-descriptor2
key-descriptor
#screen3-template
screen3
field-descriptor1
field-descriptor2
key-descriptor
VT100 based applications often have format inconsistencies that make it
difficult for the TRS to efficiently determine when the host application is
ready for input and what region of the host screen contains vital information.
These inconsistencies are due to the character based nature of the VT100
protocol.
In addition, the VT100 communication protocol has no way of notifying the
TRS that host data transmission has ended. From the terminal operator’s
perspective, it is easy 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
notification of the end of host output. The TRS encounters a stream of data
from the host, and from this must determine the identity of each screen as well
as locate the end each screen. To enable the TRS to do this, as well as cope
with screen inconsistencies, you must create a file called screen.conf.
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Template files 2-5
The action templates, screen templates, and screen.conf file are ASCII text
files that use a simple syntax to define the screen flow and input/output fields.
The sections that follow provide a detailed explanation of the templates, as
well as the information necessary to create the screen.conf file.
Action templates
A VT100 transaction typically moves through several screens until it locates
specific information. The screens may be a series of commands issued at the
running on the host computer. Whenever Meridian IVR 2.0/I references an
action template, the VT100 Gateway executes the screen templates listed in
the action template, moving through the application just as a terminal
operator would. An action template must specify the same sequence of
screens that 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 define another action template.
Action templates describe the flow of the screens that comprise a particular
transaction. For example, if you want a transaction to access billing
information for a specific client, as a terminal operator you would perform the
following steps:
Procedure 2-1
Accessing transaction information
1
2
3
4
Log on to the computer.
Start the “acct” application.
Select the “Accounts Receivable” menu.
When prompted, enter the client’s account number and press the
Return key. A screen would appear displaying the client’s billing
information.
5
Read the account information on the screen.
In a Meridian IVR 2.0/I VT100 transaction, an initial-action template
performs steps 1 and 2. The initial-action template automatically executes
when the TRS process starts (initial-action templates are described later in
this chapter.). An action template created to execute this transaction would
perform steps 3 through 5.
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2-6 Template files
Action template syntax
template files you create must reside in the /u/ivr/3270 directory or in a
subdirectory below /u/ivr/3270. They must also have the file name extension
.act. For example, if you created an action template called getbalance.act, it
would have this path:
u/ivr/3270/getbalance.act
The syntax of an action template is shown in Figure 2-3.
Figure 2-3
Action template syntax
#comment
action-name app-name reset-action logout-action <manual mode>
screen-template
screen-template
•
•
•
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 terminal during a session. Screen templates are
listed in the action template in the same order as they appear during the actual
terminal session. (Screen templates are discussed later in this chapter). The
example in Figure 2-4 illustrates an action template file which describes a
transaction for retrieving account information. This sample application is
used as a development example throughout this guide.
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Template files 2-7
Figure 2-4
Action template for accounting application
#Example action template file: filename is getbalance.act
getbalance
accounting
reset_cust
logout_cust
#acctrec chooses the balance option from the main menu
acctrec
#acctno specifies the account number for the customer
acctno
#customer displays the customer’s account balance
customer
In Figure 2-4, action-name is getbalance, the name of the action template file
without the .act extension. The app-name is accounting. The reset-action
is reset_cust (file name reset_cust.act), and the logout-action is logout_cust
(file name logout_cust.act). Manual mode is omitted because manual mode
is not required for this transaction (a description of manual mode follows).
The remaining 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 accessed.
An explanation of each entry in the action template syntax follows.
#comment
The first line of the template in Figure 2-3 is a comment. The comment line
is not required but is recommended to describe the purpose of the action
template.
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2-8 Template files
Comments start with the “#” symbol and can be embedded anywhere in the
action template. If a comment begins a line, no non-comment fields may
follow the comment in that line. However, a comment may appear after a
non-comment field, such as after the screen template name as shown in Figure
2-4. It is good practice to heavily comment files so that changes can be made
easily in the future.
action-name
The action-name is the file name of the action template file without the .act
extension. The action-name is required to begin the transaction. For
example, if the action template’s file name is getbalance.act, you would
enter getbalance for the action-name.
app-name
When you set up your application processor with the VT100 Gateway, you
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; it does not need to
match any actual application name on the host computer.
As an example, this guide uses the app-name “accounting” to represent the
host computer “acct” application.
The app-name you specify in the action template must exist in the trs.conf
file (discussed in Chapter 3). Meridian IVR 2.0/I passes the app-name to the
host computer.
reset-action
The reset-action specifies an action template to be processed when the
transaction completes or if the transaction fails. Typically, the reset-action
template is used to bring the host computer application back to its main screen
so it is ready to process the same type of transaction. Figure 2-5 shows the
sequence a sample reset-action template follows.
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Template files 2-9
Figure 2-5
Reset-action template sequence sample
For an action template
The reset-action template
that follow this sequence:
follows this sequence:
Application
Menu
Application
Menu
Screen
Screen
Account
Number
Screen
Account
Number
Screen
Customer
Information
Screen
Customer
Information
Screen
Entering a hyphen “-” in the reset-action entry indicates that no reset-action
template is specified.
If no reset-action template is specified and the transaction being executed by
the action template fails, the logout-action template (described in the next
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 reset-action template, do not specify reset-action or
logout-action templates in it. For example, Figure 2-6 shows a sample
reset-action template.
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2-10 Template files
Figure 2-6
Reset-action template sample
#This reset-action template returns the host computer application
#to the main menu screen from the customer information screen
#filename: reset_cust.act
reset_cust accounting
clrcust
–
–
#exit the customer information screen
atmenu
#leave the session at the menu screen
The action template using this reset-action template would enter reset_cust
as the reset-action entry.
logout-action
reset-action template fails, or if the transaction fails and there is no
reset-action template specified. If the transaction succeeds, the 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
logout-action template, it executes the initial-action template (described later
in this chapter) after 30 seconds. Figure 2-7 shows the flow of the logout
action template.
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Template files 2-11
Figure 2-7
Logout action flow
For an initial-action template that brings the host computer Logout-action Template
application to the accounting package menu, and an action
template that brings the host computer application from the
Login
Application Menu Screen to the Customer Information
Screen
Screen, then the logout-action template brings the host
computer application back to the Login Screen.
Action Template
Application
Menu
Application
Menu
Screen
Screen
Initial-action Template
Account
Number
Screen
Account
Number
Screen
Login
Screen
Application
Menu
Screen
Customer
Information
Screen
Customer
Information
Screen
The logout-action template locates the screen where the transaction failed. If
for example, the transaction failed at the account number screen, the
logout-action template locates the screen template with the appropriate
validation tag and starts from that screen.
Entering a hyphen for the logout-action entry indicates that no logout-action
template is specified and the transaction fails, the host computer application
remains at the point where the transaction failed. Future transactions that try
to use this session 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-action template, do not specify reset-action or
logout-action templates. Figure 2-8 shows a sample logout-action template.
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Figure 2-8
Logout-action template sample
#This logout-action template returns the application to the login
#screen from the customer information screen
logout_cust accounting
clrcust
–
–
#exits the customer information screen
clrmenu
#exits the acct application, shows the system prompt
screen-template
The screen-template (the file name of the template without the .scn
extension) identifies the screen template used during the VT100 transaction.
Enter the screen templates in the exact order they appear during the
transaction. Each screen template must be listed on a separate line. The
syntax for screen templates is described later in this chapter.
<manual mode> (optional field)
The <manual-mode> entry allows you to attach a session resource to a
particular channel. You can then use the same session for 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 application or process another action template
that does not contain the manual mode option. Chapter 4 describes how to
use the COMA cell.
To specify manual mode, enter manual after the logout-action template
name. If you omit manual, automatic mode is used for the template. In
automatic mode, the session assigned to the action template is free for use
when the transaction is completed.
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Note: You should not specify a reset-action template in an action template
that uses manual mode. Manual mode is designed to stay at a specific screen.
The next transaction received by the session will start at the last screen of the
action template that used manual mode. This next transaction should use
automatic mode and specify a reset-action template that brings the session
back to the starting screen of the first action template (that specified manual
mode).
Screen templates
Screens used by the host computer could be a series of commands entered at
the system prompt coupled with the system’s response to those commands, or
screens defined by applications on the host computer. You should define
screen 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 the screens displayed
by the application. This guide uses an accounting application as an example.
Each screen contains fields. For the VT100 Gateway, a field is any place on
the screen where data is entered or displayed. For example, the cursor
considered a field. Also, within an application, the area on the screen where
an account balance is displayed is also considered a field (the traditional
definition of a field).
For a specific transaction, specific data is entered in certain fields, and data is
read from other fields. A screen template identifies those fields on the screen
that are used to process a transaction. Only the fields that are used in the
transaction are included in the template. Figure 2-9 shows a sample screen.
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Figure 2-9
Screen showing fields and the system prompt
login: vad
Password:
Last login: Fri Apr 16 16:01:34 from publisher
ULTRIX V4.2 (Rev. 96) System #9: Mon Jul 29 10:08:24 EDT 1994
$acct
In Figure 2-9, vad has been entered into the login 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 name is entered in the customer field.
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Figure 2-10
Application screen for accounting application
Account Number:845-23-87
Customer:Jane K. SmithCurrent Balance:2482.14
Address:19 Alpha RoadPayment Due:150.00
ChelmsfordPayment Due Date:4/30/93
MA 01824
Options:
1Print invoice
2Enter payment
3Enter purchase
4Exit
Type menu selection:
Different transactions may access different fields on a screen. For example,
a transaction to locate the payment due would only need to access that field,
while a transaction retrieving the customer’s balance would only need to
access the Current Balance field.
A screen template is an ASCII file created with a text editor. The screen
template files you create must reside in or under the 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 each accessed field, there should be a field descriptor specified that
governs how data is retrieved from or entered in the field. The screen
template can include both data input entries as well as data output entries.
Screen template syntax
The syntax of a screen template is shown in Figure 2-11.
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Figure 2-11
Screen template syntax
#comment
screen-name
validation tag offset validation tag
field-descriptor
field-descriptor
•
•
•
key-descriptor
sleep-descriptor
The lines 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.
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Figure 2-12
Screen template for accounting application
#Screen template file to obtain the current balance; filename: customer.scn
customer1,1Account
#places balance into buffer
0,0Balance:$
In Figure 2-12, the first line is a comment describing the screen template file.
The screen-name is “customer,” the name of the screen template file without
the screen. The row is listed first, followed by the column. “Account” is the
screen validation 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 field-descriptor line has many
variations, depending on what you want to do with a field. For example, the
third line in Figure 2-12 could be entered as
2,48 — $
This would place the contents of the field starting at 2,48 into the next buffer.
See “field-I/O” later in this section.
An explanation of each entry in the screen template follows.
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#comment
The first line of the template in Figure 2-12 is a comment. The comment line
is not required but is recommended to describe the purpose of the screen
template.
Comments can be embedded anywhere in the screen template and start with
the “#” symbol. If a comment begins a line, no non-comment fields may
follow the comment. However, a comment may appear after a non-comment
field, such as after the field descriptor line shown in Figure 2-12. It is good
programming practice to heavily comment files.
screen-name
The first non-comment line specifies the name of the screen. This is the
screen template file name without the .scn extension.
validation-tag offset
This entry specifies the position of the validation-tag by row and column.
You may enter 0,0 for the validation-tag offset 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 the TRS process to perform the
actions specified in the screen template regardless of what screen is
actually active. For example, if you want to execute a command at the
system prompt, you would not need to verify that you are at a specific
screen, as long as you are sure the screen has a system prompt.
Note: In general, you should validate screens whenever possible. This
ensures data for the host computer application is sent to the correct screen,
and data sent back to the Meridian IVR 2.0/I application is from the correct
screen.
•
To tell the TRS to search the screen for the validation tag. If you do not
know the exact location of the validation tag or if the location of the
validation varies, you can tell the TRS to search the screen for the tag.
Enter 0,0 for the offset, then enter the validation tag in the appropriate
field.
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validation-tag
This entry specifies the validation-tag used on the screen. The entry should
be text that always appears in the same location every time this screen
displays. For the example, “Account” is always displayed starting at location
1,1 whenever a customer’s Account Receivable screen is displayed.
At the end of the previous screen template, you may want to use a clear screen
function (or execute the ENTER key 24 times using key-descriptor lines ) so
you know the starting point for information on the screen, especially if the
screens you are accessing on the host computer scroll. For example, if you
execute an application and it starts displaying information at the current
cursor location, you need to know the current 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-tag
offset). As described previously, you should only use this method of
validation if you want the TRS process to perform the action specified in the
template regardless of what screen is actually active.
Note: If the screen you need to validate is a blank screen, enter this line for
the items:screen-name, validation-tag offset, and validation-tag:
blank1,1BLANKSCREEN
The word “blank” is a place-holder; the 1,1 and BLANKSCREEN are
field-descriptor
This line identifies the location and name of a field on the screen, and the
action to be performed. You can enter as many field-descriptor lines as
necessary to perform the task needed on the screen. The field-descriptor lines
should be entered in the same order as they are accessed for the transaction.
Figure 2-13 shows the syntax for field-descriptor lines.
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Figure 2-13
The field-descriptor syntax
row,column field-name field I/O
Note: If the application running on the host is stream-based, meaning the
screen scrolls as the user enters data and retrieves responses, you should enter
the field-descriptor as follows:
0,0- BLANKOUT
In this instance, the field-descriptor will clear the TRS memory space
associated with the application screen so that your application call flow will
know where to retrieve the appropriate data.
row,column If the TRS is going to read information from a field on the
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 of the field the TRS is reading
from, or if the location of the field varies, you can enter 0,0 and the TRS will
search for a match to the name specified in field name. For unformatted,
character-based applications, you must specify the exact location.
In VT100 transactions, writing to the terminal screen always occurs at the
current cursor position. Therefore, if the field I/O action is writing text to the
host screen, the TRS will write the text to the screen at the current cursor
position regardless of the row,column you specify.
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If you enter “0,0” and a hyphen for the row,column and field-name entries,
the field I/O specified is executed at the current cursor location.
To locate field-names on the screen for reading, the offset of the upper left
corner of the screen is 1,1 and the lower, right corner is 24,80.
field-name This entry identifies the field being accessed on the terminal
screen. If the field-descriptor is 0,0 (i.e., for an exact match), the field-name
must uniquely match text on the screen or must be a hyphen to indicate 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 fails, this field identifies the current
screen so the reset-action template can be executed.
If you enter “0,0” and a hyphen for the row, column and field-name entries,
the field I/O specified is executed at the current cursor location.
To specify a specific location on the screen that does not have an associated
field-name, use a hyphen, “-”, for the field-name entry. If you do, you must
specify a location, such as 24,8 for the location of the action specified by the
field-I/O entry.
field-I/O This entry indicates the action to be taken on the field. Table 2-1
explains the valid entries for this field.
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Table 2-1
Valid field I/O entries
Entry
Description
*
Inputs the contents of the next input buffer (transmitted
from the Meridian IVR 2.0/I application) into the field
and used for COMI cells.
$num
Outputs the contents of the field into the next output
buffer. num is a number in the range 1-31 and
represents the number of characters in the field TRS will
put in the output buffer. If you do not assign num a
value, TRS will place 31 characters into the buffer. It is
used for COMO cells.
%n$
Outputs the contents of the field into an internal variable
named n, which must be a number from 1–9.
%n*
Enters the contents of internal variable n into the field.
%n$num
Outputs the first num characters of the field into variable
n.
text
Any text string to be entered in the field. If any of the
special characters listed in this table are to entered as
text, enclose the entire text in quotes (e.g., “$abc”).
BLANKOUT
Clears TRS memory space associated with the host
application screen before retrieving output.
Note: Place the asterisk and dollar sign characters in quotation marks if your
field-descriptors require their use without their associated buffer commands.
For retrieving data into an output buffer, $num indicates the number of
characters to be retrieved from the field; using $ without a number retrieves
characters until an attribute is encountered, or a maximum of 31 characters
have been retrieved.
Internal variables (indicated by the % symbol) are used within the VT100
screens only and cannot be transmitted through the TRS gateway. You can
only use internal variables to store and enter data from one screen to another
in the host computer application. To send the data to the Meridian IVR 2.0/I
application that called the TRS process, you need to store the data in an output
buffer.
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When entering a field-descriptor, the entries on the line should be separated
by white space or tab characters. If you are entering text for the field I/O, the
TRS ignores any white space you include with the value until it encounters
the new line character (e.g., the value includes several words).
Note: The order of the field-descriptor lines in your screen template file
determines how data is entered and retrieved from the screens and written into
the input and output 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 information to the
computer for processing or to execute a command, the terminal operator
presses a key on the terminal keyboard. If you do not specify a key, nothing
is sent to the host and the current screen does not change. The key could be
the ENTER key or a function key. The format of this line is similar to the
field-descriptor. Figure 2-14 contains the format of the key-descriptor.
Figure 2-14
Key-descriptor line syntax
position-indicator
>
keyname
position-indicator This entry should be set to 0,0.
> This character indicates that this line contains a key.
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keyname The name of the key for this screen. Table 2-2 lists the valid keys
you can enter.
Table 2-2
Valid key names
ATTENTION
FORWARDWORD
PF11
BACKSPACE
BACKTAB
HOME
INSERTCHAR
NEWLINE
PA1
PF12
PF13
BACKWORD
CLEAR
PF14
PF15
CURSORDOWN
CURSORLEFT
CURSORLEFTDBL
CURSORRIGHT
PA2
PF16
PA3
PF17
PF1
PF18
PF2
PF19
CURSORRIGHTDBL PF3
PF20
CURSORUP
DELCHAR
DUP
PF4
PF5
PF6
PF7
PF8
PF9
PF10
PF21
PF22
PF23
ENTER
PF24
ERASEEOF
ERASEINPUT
FIELDMARK
RESET
SYSREQUEST
TAB
This line may appear anywhere after the screen-name line (i.e., the first
non-comment line). As with field-descriptor lines, the entries on this line
must be separated by white space or tab characters.
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sleep-descriptor (optional)
A sleep-descriptor causes the transaction to pause for a specified number of
seconds. You can use a sleep-descriptor to pause the transaction for a
specified period of time before or after processing a key-descriptor. The
waiting period takes into account the time the host computer may take to
process the information entered on the screen, and to move to the next screen.
The 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 to ensure that the next
screen is ready.
Note: There is an inherent 5 second transaction time for each
sleep-descriptor input. The total value of the sleep-descriptor and the
inherent time must not exceed the time out value. For example, with 10
buffers, the inherent wait time is a minimum of 50 seconds. Therefore, the
time out value should be greater than 50 seconds.
Each sleep-descriptor follows the syntax shown in Figure 2-15.
Figure 2-15
Sleep-descriptor syntax
position-indicator
@
num
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position-indicator This entry should be set to 0,0.
@ Identifies that this line is a sleep-descriptor.
num Specifies the number of seconds that the session should sleep. For
example, to wait 25 seconds, you would code the sleep-descriptor as
0,0 @25
Initial-action templates
Before you can process any information on the host computer using the
VT100 Gateway, you need to set the starting point for each of your terminal
sessions. For example, you may want session 2 to start processing at an
application’s main menu, whereas session 5 should start at the system
prompt.
You automatically initialize each 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
location on the host computer whenever TRS is started up.
The initial-action template follows the same format and syntax as defined for
action templates earlier in this chapter. If you must use “*” or “$” characters
in your field-descriptors, put them in quotation marks.
Instead of referencing these action templates in the COMI cell, you specify
initial-action templates in an ASCII file named trs.conf. In addition, the
session numbers defined in the trs.conf file must have a corresponding entry
in a file named vt100.ctl, which assigns a device type for the session. See
Chapter 3 for information on the configuration and syntax of the trs.conf and
vt100.ctl files.
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3-1
Chapter 3: Getting started
Before using the VT100 Gateway
Before you can use the VT100 Gateway, you must complete these tasks:
•
•
If necessary, install a multiport adapter board and expander box.
Create the action and screen templates necessary to navigate through the
host application and return the desired information (see Chapter 2).
•
•
Create the screen.conf, trs.conf, vt100.ctl, and com.conf files (described
in this chapter).
Before starting IVR 2.0/I, cd to the /u/ivr/exe directory on the
application processor and execute the ./trs -c command. This will verify
that the VT100 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 started when you issue the MIVR start command.
If you are going to connect to the host computer via modem, you will have to
configure the modem with the correct settings, attach the modem to the
communication port, and dial up the host computer. Also make sure that
DIAL_UP is specified in the com.conf file (discussed later).
During startup, the trs.log file remains empty unless the verbose option (-v)
is added. To debug the application put the TRS process into debug mode.
Check the trs.log file or the trs.tmp file for errors. To put the TRS process into
verbose mode go to /u/ivr/startup and change the ./trs -b line so that it reads
./trs -b -v.
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screen.conf file
Since the VT100 protocol is character based, it has no built in mechanism for
notifying the TRS that host output has ended and the application is ready for
input. Creating the screen.conf file allows the TRS to quickly process host
output by eliminating the time it spends waiting after host output ends.
The TRS uses the screen.conf file to determine the end of host transmission.
The TRS checks every screen sent from the host against the screens you
define in screen.conf. Each time the TRS recognizes a complete 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
the screen. When it encounters the end of the screen, host output has ended so
the TRS allows the transaction to continue. As an added checking
that it is passing along the correct screen.
Screen.conf must reside in the /u/ivr/3270 directory.
Screen.conf should contain the definitions of every screen the TRS will
encounter - one definition per line. The order of the lines does not matter since
the TRS checks every screen against all the definitions in screen.conf. Figure
3-1 shows the syntax of the screen.conf file.
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Getting started 3-3
Figure 3-1
screen.conf file syntax
Keyword:Begin string:End string:
The colons (:) are used as field delimiters and must be placed in the specified
positions without any additional white space.
Keyword:
The keyword identifies the screen. If the keyword contains a space or a colon,
then enclose the keyword in quotation marks. Since the keyword’s purpose is
to identify each screen, choose a unique keyword for each different screen.
Begin 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 place the string in quotation marks. If you do not want the
screen.conf file to check for the beginning of the screen, then enter a hyphen
in this field.
End string:
The TRS uses the end string to determine the end of the screen. The end string
should be the last character or string on the screen. If the end string contains
a space or a colon, then place the end string in quotation marks. You must
provide an end string for the screen.conf file to be valid.
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3-4 Getting started
Note: The TRS considers the begin string and the end string part of the data.
See Figure 3-2 for an example of the screen.conf file.
Figure 3-2
screen.conf file
Meridian IVR
In Figure 3-2, PROGRAM MENU is the keyword for the first screen. Since
it contains a “s13is” case, it also searches for the begin string PROGRAM
MENU. Upon finding the begin and end string, the TRS continues the
transaction.
If your host application screens do not have enough unique keywords or if the
difficulty making a screen.conf file. In this case refer to the
MAX_WAIT_TIME entry in the com.conf file discussed in Chapter 3.
Setting up the trs.conf file
The trs.conf file specifies the initial-action template for each session you
define on the IVR 2.0/I application processor. The trs.conf file must reside in
the /u/ivr/3270 directory. Figure 3-3 shows the syntax for the trs.conf file.
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Getting started 3-5
Figure 3-3
trs.conf file syntax
app-name:board-number>session-number:initial-template:heartbeat:protocol
The colons (:) and the greater than (>) symbols are used as field delimiters
and must be placed in the specified positions without any additional white
space.
app-name
The app-name entry identifies the application on the mainframe to which you
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 is provided to support future
development.
session-number
In the VT100 option, the session-number entry determines the number of
sessions per board with session numbers ranging from 2 to 16. By using two
digital boards there can be up to 15 sessions, if there is only one ACCESS
link.
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3-6 Getting started
initial-template
The initial-template entry identifies an initial-action template (without the
.act file extension) for setting the startup action for the specified sessions
when connecting to the host computer. The start-up action brings the
specified sessions to the screen on the host computer where the action
templates start when processing requests. Figure 3-4 shows the flow of a
sample initial-action template.
Figure 3-4
Initial-action template
Action Template
Initial-action Template
Login
Screen
Application
Menu
Screen
Application
Menu
Screen
Account
Number
Screen
The initial-action template brings
the host computer application to the
Application Menu screen, leaving the
session at the point the action
template starts.
Customer
Information
Screen
The initial-action template 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
prompt) must specify the correct login ID and password (if appropriate) to
access the host computer. You should not specify a reset-action template in
the initial-action template, although you should specify a logout-action
template.
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heartbeat
You can specify an optional heartbeat action for the application specified by
app-name. You can use this feature to send an indication to the host that a
session is still active. Some hosts log out sessions that remain idle for a period
of time. You can also use the heartbeat action to check connectivity, verifying
that the session remains on the appropriate screen. Typically, the heartbeat
action contains a logout-action template which brings the session back to the
login screen if the connectivity with the mainframe fails. If you do not need
a heartbeat action, enter a hyphen for this action.
You specify the heartbeat in this format: actiontemplate@n, where n is the
number of seconds between each execution of the action template when the
session is idle.
The heartbeat action template uses the same syntax 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. Typically, your screen template would only include a
key-descriptor line, usually the ENTER key and validation-tag.
protocol
The protocol entry indicates the communications protocol being used by
app-name. This field is required and should be set to vt100.
Example “trs.conf” File
Consider the following example. Initial-action template files login.act and
signin.act have been defined and reside in the /u/ivr/3270 directory. There are
four applications which you want to access on the host computer:
•
•
•
•
accounting, accesses the accounting software
market, tracks stock market activity
banking, retrieves credit balances
airline, for purchasing tickets on a local commuter carrier
The application names shown here are not necessarily the actual names
assigned on the host computer, but they are the names assigned on the
application processor for the trs.conf file and all action templates that use
these applications.
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•
•
•
•
initialize sessions 2-3 for accounting with acctinit.act,
initialize sessions 4-8 for market with login.act,
initialize sessions 9-10 for banking with login.act, and
initialize sessions 15-17 for airline with signin.act
Figure 3-5 illustrates how you should set up trs.conf to implement the
configuration for only the accounting application.
Figure 3-5
trs.conf file for accounting application
#trs.conf file to set up sessions for the IVR Generator application processor
accounting:0>2-3:acctinit:ping@60:vt100
The trs.conf file as shown in Figure 3-5 relates to the initial-action template
shown in Figure 3-9.
Setting up the vt100.ctl file
The vt100.ctl file must be created and stored in the /u/ivr/vt100 directory
before you can use the VT100 Gateway. The vt100.ctl file configures the
terminal type for each session and corresponds to the sessions defined in the
trs.conf file.
Each line in the vt100.ctl file uses the syntax shown in Figure 3-6.
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Figure 3-6
vt100.ctl file syntax
session-number device-name terminal-type
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
2
3
/dev/ttyi1b vt100
/dev/ttyi1c vt100
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The follow sections describe each entry in the vt100.ctl file.
session-number
The session-number entry specifies the session this line defines. For
example, the first line in Figure 3-7 defines the terminal type to be used for
not need to list the sessions in numerical order, and you can skip session
numbers.
device-name
The device-name entry is the exact name of the device file in the /dev
directory to use for the VT100 Gateway for the specified sessions. Use the
full directory path (as shown in Figure 3-7) when entering the device file
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 defines the type of terminal to be emulated by the
TRS process. For this release of the VT100 Gateway, this entry is always
additional terminal types.
Setting up the com.conf file
com.conf sets the communication attributes of the serial port. The com.conf
file allows the adjustment of the terminal I/O options for the host’s input
device, which in this case is the IVR 2.0/I TRS process. If the com.conf file
does not exist, the TRS uses its hardcoded default values. Table 3-1 shows the
TRS default communication settings.
Table 3-1
TRS default communication settings
Baud Rate: 9600
Parity: None
Stop Bit:
1
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Getting started 3-11
The com.conf file must be created if the baud rate is anything other than
9600. The com.conf file is located in the vt100 directory and a sample is
shown in Figure 3-8.
Figure 3-8
com.conf file
Meridian IVR
Creating the com.conf file allows you to adjust the following values.
IXON
IXON allows you 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 queue
is nearly empty or full. IXOFF prevents host input queue overflow.
IXON and IXOFF prevent queue overflow. If both are set and the host or
terminal sends more information than their respective queues can handle, the
communication port stops the data flow. When the queue gets down to a
manageable level, the communication port resumes the flow of information.
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Baud Rate
300 to 19200. Setting the baud rate tells the TRS the rate at which it is to
communicate with the host. Set the baud rate by typing B then the rate. For
example B4800 or B19200.
Parity
PARENB enables parity generation and detection.
PAREVN sets parity to even.
PARODD sets parity to 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 host
computer via modem.
DEBUG_LEVEL
1 to 5. Setting the debug level determines how much debugging information
is sent to the /u/ivr/vt100/vt100log file.
MAXIMUM_WAIT_TIME
This parameter tells the TRS how long to wait for the output from the host to
end. Only use this parameter if you can not use a screen.conf file. The wait
time is specified in seconds.
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Getting started 3-13
A complete sample transaction
This section summarizes how the sample accounting application would start
up, retrieve a customer’s balance and reset for the next transaction. The
sample transaction uses these templates in the following way:
•
•
•
•
The initial-action template logs on to the host computer and starts up the
“acct” application.
The 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
The logout-action template is included in case an error occurs at any time
during the transaction.
Initial-action template
Once the TRS process is invoked, the initial-action template acctinit.act
brings the session assigned to the accounting application to the menu screen.
Figure 3-9 shows the initial-action template, its supporting screen templates
and the corresponding screens on the host computer.
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Figure 3-9
Initial-action template for accounting application
Templates
Corresponding Screens
#initial action template to start
#the accounting application
#filename: acctinit.act
login:
acctinit accounting - clrinit
acctlog1.scn
acctlog2.scn
atacctmenu
#screen template that logs
#into the host
login: vad
Password: *******
#filename: acctlog1.scn
acctlog1 1,1 login:
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
-
>
-
>
@
vad
ENTER
quality
ENTER
3
login: vad
Password: *******
Last login: Fri Oct 7 16:01:34 from Publisher
ULTRIX V4.2 (Rev 96) System #9:
Wed Oct 12 10:08:24 EDT 1994
$
#screen template that starts
#the accounting application
#filename: acctlog2
login: vad
Password: *******
Last login: Fri Oct 7 16:01:34 from Publisher
ULTRIX V4.2 (Rev 96) System #9:
Wed Oct 12 10:08:24 EDT 1994
acctlog2 0,0 ULTRIX
0,0
0,0
0,0
-
>
@
acct
ENTER
5
$ acct
#screen template that validates
#the accounting menu screen
#filename: atacctmenu.scn
ACME Accounting
1. Accounts Receivable
2. Accounts Payable
3. Reports
atacctmenu 1,20 ACME Accounting
4. Inventory
5. Exit
Enter menu selection:
The initial-action template starts the accounting session with the host
computer by accessing accounting from the trs.conf file. It then executes the
screen templates acctlog1, acctlog2, then atacctmenu.
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Getting started 3-15
The screen template acctlog1.scn does the following:
•
•
•
enters the login name
enters the password
waits three seconds for the host to process the login action
The screen template acctlog2.scn does the following:
•
•
•
at the system prompt, enters the command to run the application
types the ENTER key to start the application
waits five seconds for the host to run the accounting application
The screen template atacctmenu.scn validates the accounting main menu
screen, but performs no action.
The acctlog1 and acctlog2 screen 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
Prompts vary from system to system, and can include longer, customized
Note: No key-descriptor is specified for the “atacctmenu” screen template.
This means once the screen is validated, this screen remains active until the
next transaction is executed.
The initial-action template shown in Figure 3-10 specifies the clinit.act
logout-action template, and does not specify a reset-action template.
Figure 3-10 shows the clinit logout-action template, its corresponding screen
templates, and the associated application screens.
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3-16 Getting started
Figure 3-10
Logout-action template used by the initial-action template for
accounting application
Templates
Corresponding Screens
ACME Accounting
#logout-action template for the
#acctinit initial-action template
#filename: clinit.act
clinit accounting – –
clrmenu
1 Accounts Receivable
2 Accounts Payable
3 Reports
4 Inventory
5 Exit
logout
Enter menu selection:
ACME Accounting
#screen template to exit the
#accounting application
1 Accounts Receivable
2 Accounts Payable
3 Reports
#filename: clrmenu.scn
clrmenu 1,20 ACME Accounting
4 Inventory
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
–
>
–
>
5
5 Exit
ENTER
Y
Enter Menu selection 5
ENTER
Do you really want to exit?
Y
#screen template to log off the host
#computer, preparing for the initial
#action template to be executed
#filename: logout_scn
$ logout
login
logout
0,0
0,0
–
–
logout
ENTER
0,0
>
The final screen template listed, logout, brings the host application back to
the initial screen, leaving the connection open and waiting for the TRS
process to login. TRS always executes the initial-action template for a session
(after a pause of 30 seconds) after any logout-action template is executed.
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Getting started 3-17
Action template performing a transaction
As shown in Figure 3-10, the initial-action template brings the session to the
application’s menu screen. The action template created to get a customer’s
balance starts at that screen. Figure 3-11 shows the action template, 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 up at the bottom of the screen) the customer
account number from an input buffer provided by the COMI cell
•
•
when the customer information screen displays, the template places the
current balance in an output buffer to be transmitted to the COMO cell
execute a reset-action template to return the session application to the
application’s menu screen
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Figure 3-11
Action template for accounting application
Templates
Corresponding Screens
#action template to perform steps
#required to retrieve customer's balance
#filename: getbalance.act
ACME Accounting
1 Accounts Receivable
2 Accounts Payable
3 Reports
getbalance accounting clr_cust logout_cust
accrec
acctno
#choose Ac. Rec menu
#enters account number
4 Inventory
5 Exit
customer #retrieves balance
Enter menu selection:
#screen template to choose accounts
#receivable option, filename:accrec.scn
accrec 1,20 ACME Accounting
ACME Accounting
1 Accounts Receivable
2 Accounts Payable
3 Reports
0,0
0,0
—
>
1
ENTER
4 Inventory
5 Exit
Enter menu selection: 1
Enter account number:
ACME Accounting
#screen template to enter acct number
#in popup field, filename: acctno.scn
acctno 1,11 Enter account number:
1 Accounts Receivable
2 Accounts Payable
3 Reports
0,0
0,0
—
>
*
ENTER
4 Inventory
5 Exit
Enter menu selection: 1
Enter account number: 845-23-87
#screen template to obtain balance
#filename: customer.scn
customer 1,1 Account Number:
Account Number:
Customer:
Address:
845-23-87
Jane K. Smith
19 Alpha Road Payment Due:
Chelmsford
MA 01824
Current Balance:
2486.14
150.00
2,48
—
$9
Payment Due Date: 4/30/93
Options:
1 Print invoice
2 Enter payment
3 Enter purchase
4 Exit
Enter menu selection:
The number 1 and the account number are entered at the current cursor
location. Therefore, you do not need to specify a location or a field-tag. The
last line in the “customer” screen template places the contents of the field
starting at location 2,48 (the number 2486.14) into the next output buffer.
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Getting started 3-19
The reset-action template is designed to return the session to the “acct”
application’s menu screen where it awaits the next transaction. Figure 3-12
shows the reset-action template, and its accompanying screen templates.
Figure 3-12
Reset-action template for accounting application
Action Template
Screen Template
#reset-action template for the getbalance
#action template, filename: clr_cust.act
#screen template to clear customer info
#screen, filename: clrcust.scn
clr_cust accounting
clrcust #exits customer info screen
atacctmenu #validates application menu screen
—
—
clrcust
0,0
1,1 Account Number:
—
>
4
0,0
ENTER
#screen template that validates the acctng
#menu screen, filename: atacctmenu.scn
atacctmenu 1,20 ACME Accounting
Notice that the atacctmenu screen used in the reset-action template is the
same screen used in the initial-action template. This screen template 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 screen if an error occurs
and the reset-action template also experiences an error.
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Figure 3-13
Logout-action template for accounting application
Action Template
Screen Template
#logout-action template for the getbalance
#action template, filename: logout_cust.act
#screen template to clear customer info
#screen, filename: clrcust.scn
logout_cust accounting
—
—
clrcust
0,0
1,1 Account Number:
clrcust #exits customer info screen
clrmenu #exits applicatoin menu
—
>
4
0,0
ENTER
logout #logouts out to prepare for login
#screen template to exit the
#accounting application
#filename: clrmenu.scn
clrmenu 1,20 ACME Accounting
0,0
0,0
0,0
0,0
—
>
5
ENTER
Y
—
>
ENTER
#screen template to log off the host
#computer, preparing for the initial
#action template to be executed
#filename: logout.scn
logout
0,0
0,0
–
–
logout
ENTER
0,0
>
The logout-action template brings the host computer back to the login screen.
The TRS then executes the initial-action template, as it does whenever any
logout-action template is successful.
If the transaction fails before the customer screen is accessed, the
logout-action template searches the other screen templates until a valid tag
match is found, then it executes that screen template and the following screen
templates.
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4-1
Chapter 4: IVR 2.0/I call flow interface
Now that you understand how to script VT100 transactions as action and
screen templates, you can begin integrating these templates into your IVR
2.0/I Applications (Figure 4-1).
Figure 4-1
Accessing the mainframe
Call Flow
Logical Terminal
Session
USER or
TRS
COMI/COMO
Process
Cells
This chapter explains
•
•
how to code your applications to perform VT100 transactions
how to use the COMI, COMO, and COMA cells to communicate with
the host computer (using the accounting application developed in the
previous chapters as an example)
computer
With IVR 2.0/I, the links between the IVR 2.0/I call flow and the TRS are the
COM cells. The COMI cell sends input to the TRS process and identifies the
action template file, the COMO cell receives output from the TRS process,
and the COMA cell aborts a transaction in progress (usually used in the
clean-up branch in case a caller hangs up before the transaction completes).
Figure 4-2 illustrates this interaction.
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4-2 IVR 2.0/I call flow interface
Figure 4-2
Activating the gateway from a COMI cell
START
ANSW
GDAT
MENU
COMA
1
2
TRS
COMI
COMI
COMO
PDAT
Action Template
Screen Templates
Input Buffers
COMO
PDAT
Output Buffers
HANG
To Host Computer
To develop an application that processes one or more terminal sessions, start
as if you were developing any other voice application:
•
•
•
Determine the telephone interaction with the caller and create the
corresponding IVR 2.0/I call flow.
At the point in the call flow where you require interaction with the host
Insert a COMO cell to receive the output from the TRS transaction.
You must always follow a COMI cell with a COMO cell, even if you do not
require the return of any data.
Setting the COMI cell parameters
Figure 4-3 shows the parameter window for the COMI cell in the accounting
application.
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IVR 2.0/I call flow interface 4-3
Figure 4-3
COMI cell parameter window
start getbalance transaction
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4-4 IVR 2.0/I call flow interface
The following sections describe what you should enter in each area of the
parameter window.
COMI cell name
In order to make the cell easy to identify, includes the name of the action
template the cell calls out. The cell name shown in Figure 4-3 is “start
getbalance transaction.”
Call Audit Enabled
Determines if this cell logs the following information to the call audit
statistics file (audit_stat.d):
•
•
•
•
•
•
Application Name
Cell Name
Cell Number
Date and Time of Cell Execution
Contents of the Cell Comment field
Contents of the Call Audit Information buffer
The default setting is No.
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 name of the action template, in quotes, and leave off the .act suffix.
Figure 4-3 shows “getbalance” as the entered name.
COMI cell more input
If you need to send more than 10 input buffers to the host computer, click the
button in front of “Yes”; if you are sending 10 or less input buffers, click the
button in front of “No.” If you specify “Yes,” place additional COMI cells
on the drawing board until you have enough input buffers. Connect the
Success branch of the first COMI cell to the Input branch of the following
COMI cell. Connect the rest of the COMI cells in this fashion. The final
COMI cell should have the “No” button selected for the “More Input?”
parameter.
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IVR 2.0/I call flow interface 4-5
COMI cell timeout
Select the number of seconds you want the TRS process to wait for the
transaction to complete by moving the slider under “Timeout”. There is an
available range from 1 to 75 seconds. This indicates the maximum time for
the COMI cell to start the transaction and send the necessary input buffers,
and for the COMO cell to receive the output buffers. The TRS process rejects
the transaction and sends back a timeout if the action is not performed within
the time allotted.
Note: The application will take the timeout branch of the COMI cell if a
timeout occurs.
Note: There is an inherent 5 second transaction time for each
sleep-descriptor input. The total value of the sleep-descriptor and the
inherent time must not exceed the time out value. For example, with 10
buffers, 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 automatically
calculates the number of buffers when you click the “Apply” button.
COMI cell input buffers
Enter the names of the input buffers containing the information to pass to the
TRS process. The input buffer shown in Figure 4-3 is ACCOUNTNUMBER,
without any quotes. In this example, you must program your application to
place the customer’s account number in the ACCOUNTNUMBER buffer
before the COMI cell is executed.
In this example, ACCOUNTNUMBER is a user-defined buffer; you can use
any name for your applications, or you can use system buffers.
Note: You must enter the input buffers in the same order the host computer
uses them.
If you need to use more than 10 input buffers in your application, make sure
you select “Yes” for “More Input?”, then string COMI cells together until you
have enough input buffers. Connect each additional COMI cell to the
previous one’s “SUCCESS” branch.
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Setting the COMO cell parameters
Once you have set the COMI cell to send information, code the COMO cell
to receive information. 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 that the
transaction completed successfully or it sends notification that there was an
error in the COMO cell.
Figure 4-4 shows the parameter window for the COMO cell in the accounting
application.
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IVR 2.0/I call flow interface 4-7
Figure 4-4
COMO cell parameter window
Receive Balance
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 “Receive Balance.” The name helps
identify the function of the cell.
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Call Audit Enabled
Determines if this cell logs the following information to the call audit
statistics file (audit_stat.d):
•
•
•
•
•
•
Application Name
Cell Name
Cell Number
Date and Time of Cell Execution
Contents of the Cell Comment field
Contents of the Call Audit Information buffer
The default setting is No.
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.
COMO cell blocking?
Activating blocking tells the COMO cell to wait for the transaction to
complete before continuing to the next cell. The application will wait until the
TRS interaction ends 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 from the TRS process. If the transaction is complete, the
application follows the “END OF DATA” or “MORE DATA” branch
(whichever one connects to another cell). If the transaction is not complete,
the application follows the ”NOT READY” branch. You could use this
branch to play a prompt notifying the caller that the transaction is in progress,
and then feed the call flow back into the COMO cell.
COMO cell buffer count
You do not need to enter a value in this field as IVR 2.0/I automatically
calculates the number of buffers when you click on the “Apply” button.
COMO cell output buffers
Enter the name of the buffers that will accept the output from the host
computer. Figure 4-4 shows BALANCE (no quotes) as the only output buffer
for this example.
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IVR 2.0/I call flow interface 4-9
Note: You must enter the output buffers in the same order they will be used
by the TRS process.
If your application uses more than 10 output buffers, string COMO cells
together until you have enough buffers. Connect the input branch of each
subsequent COMO cells to the “MORE DATA” branch 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 4-1
Branches of the COMO cell
Branch
ERROR
Reason the branch would be taken
Any problem with any part the host transaction will
cause the application to take the error branch.
TIMEOUT
The transaction took more than its allowed time as
specified in the COMI cell.
NOT READY
END OF DATA
The transaction did not complete and Blocking was
set to “No”
The transaction successfully completed
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4-10 IVR 2.0/I call flow interface
Table 4-1
Branches of the COMO cell (continued)
Branch
Reason the branch would be taken
MORE DATA
The transaction requires additional output buffers
For each COMO cell, use either the “END OF DATA” branch, or the “MORE
DATA” branch, but not both. If you use the “MORE DATA” branch, the next
cell must be another COMO cell. The last COMO cell should use the “END
OF DATA” branch.
Setting the COMA cell parameters
Use a COMA cell in the CLEANUP branch of the START cell to deal with
an error like a caller hanging up in 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 4-6
COMA cell in the CLEANUP branch of a START cell
The COMA cell frees all memory and buffers associated with the COMI and
COMO cells.
The COMA cell parameters window contains a cell name field, and a
comments field. The COMA cell in Figure 4-6 has “Clear transaction” as its
cell name.
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IVR 2.0/I call flow interface 4-11
An application using the COMI, COMO, and COMA cells
Figure 4-7 shows a sample IVR 2.0/I application that uses the COMI, COMO,
and COMA cells to retrieve a customer’s account balance stored on a host
computer. This example application 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
template and its associated screen templates would need to be created to
support menu choice 2.
To illustrate the logic of the call flow, these applications are shown as one
page applications with no error branches. In reality, these applications would
span several pages and would have all error branches connected
appropriately.
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4-12 IVR 2.0/I call flow interface
Figure 4-7
IVR 2.0/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 processor). Once a call
from a customer is received, the IVR 2.0/I application performs these steps:
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IVR 2.0/I call flow interface 4-13
Table 4-2
Application cell functions
Step
Description
Cell 1
Cell 2
The ANSW cell answers the incoming call.
The GDAT cell plays a prompt requesting the caller to
enter an account number. The number entered is
stored in the ACCOUNTNUMBER buffer.
Cell 3
Cell 4
The MENU cell plays a prompt instructing the caller to
press 1 to get an account balance, or press 2 to get an
account update.
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
used in the sample transaction described in Chapter 3:
Getting started, specifically Figure 3-11 on page 3-18.)
The COMI cell provides the contents of the
ACCOUNTNUMBER buffer to the host computer
application.
Cell 5
According to the COMO cell parameters in Figure 4-4
on page 4-7, the COMO cell receives the customer’s
balance from the BALANCE buffer.
Cell 6
The contents of the BALANCE buffer is played to the
user.
Cell 7-9
When the caller presses “2” on the telephone, an
account update is given because the application
communicates in a similar manner.
Cell 10
The caller hangs up and the application ends.
If the caller hangs up before the transaction is completed, the COMA cell in
the clean-up branch of the START cell clears the memory and buffers
associated with the application.
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4-14 IVR 2.0/I call flow interface
Figure 4-8 on page 4-15 shows how the COMI and COMO cell 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 enter the account number, and one for the
customer information screen. Each screen template lists the fields that will
be accessed.
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IVR 2.0/I call flow interface 4-15
Figure 4-8
COMI/COMO cell parameters, TRS templates, and VT100 screens
Templates
Corresponding Screens
From Action Template parameter in COMI cell
#action template to perform steps
#required to retrieve customer's balance
#filename: getbalance.act
ACME Accounting
1 Accounts Receivable
2 Accounts Payable
3 Reports
getbalance acctng clr_cust logout_cust
4 Inventory
5 Exit
accrec
acctno
#choose Ac. Rec menu
#enters account number
customer #retrieves balance
Enter menu selection:
#screen template to choose accounts
#receivable option, filename:accrec.scn
accrec 1,20 ACME Accounting
ACME Accounting
1 Accounts Receivable
2 Accounts Payable
3 Reports
24,26
0,0
—
<
1
ENTER
4 Inventory
5 Exit
Enter menu selection: 1
Enter account number:
ACME Accounting
#screen template to enter acct number
#in popup field, filename: acctno.scn
acctno 1,11 Enter account number:
1 Accounts Receivable
2 Accounts Payable
3 Reports
24,11
0,0
—
<
*
ENTER
4 Inventory
5 Exit
Enter menu selection: 1
From ACCOUNTNUMBER buffer in
COMI cell
Enter account number: 845-23-87
#screen template to obtain balance
#filename: customer.scn
customer 1,1 Account Number:
Account Number:
Customer:
Address:
845-23-87
Jane K. Smith
19 Alpha Road Payment Due:
Chelmsford
MA 01824
Current Balance:
2486.14
150.00
2,48
—
$
Payment Due Date: 4/30/93
Options:
1 Print invoice
2 Enter payment
3 Enter purchase
4 Exit
Put into BALANCE buffer in COMO cell
Enter menu selection:
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A-1
Appendix A: Host error messages
Terminal Resource Server (TRS) Messages
ERR: Unable to reset application environment
Meaning:
TRS was unable to reset the 3270 system.
Action to take: Stop IVR 2.0/I. Make sure the 3270 board has been
downloaded correctly. The download command should be
included in the .profile file.
ERR: Unable to load configuration file
Meaning:
TRS was unable to load the configuration 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: Check the existence of the file ../vt100/vt100.ctl. Make sure
its format is correct. Look at ../vt100/vt100.log to make sure
that the communication ports have been opened
successfully. Also make sure the communication device is
properly defined.
ERR: VT100 Server startup
Meaning:
VT100 Server has been started up.
Action to take: None. Notification only.
ERR: Create_3270_objects
Meaning:
TRS was unable to create or initialize the session, board or
process data structure.
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A-2 Host error messages
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Create_screen_templates
Meaning:
TRS was unable to open a screen template file or found a
syntax error in the screen template files.
Action to take: Check the screen template files. Make sure they are syntax
error free, readable text files.
ERR: Create_action_templates
Meaning:
TRS was unable to open an action template file or found a
syntax error in the action template files.
Action to take: Check the correctness of action template files. Make sure
there are no syntax 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 templates.
ERR: Load_runtime_config
Meaning:
TRS was unable to load the configuration file trs.conf.
Action to take: Syntax error in trs.conf, revise it.
ERR: Check_action_template
Meaning:
TRS was unable to find the reset or logout action templates
defined in the header of an action template.
Action to take: Check and create the appropriate action templates.
ERR: All communication boards are not operational
Meaning:
None of the communication boards is operational.
Action to take: Make sure the communication board has been downloaded
correctly. The download command should be included in
the .profile file.
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Host error messages A-3
ERR: All available sessions are non-operational
Meaning:
None of the sessions is operational.
Action to take: Make sure the communication board has been downloaded
correctly. The download command should be included in
.profile file.
ERR: xx Sessions are Operational
Meaning:
TRS found that xx sessions are operational.
Action to take: Check to see if the number matches the defined number of
sessions in the trs.conf file.
ERR: BD xx SS xx Failure to create process object
Meaning:
TRS was unable to 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 allocate memory for the board object
structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Unable to create Session Object Instance
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the session object
structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Unable to create Process Object Instance
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the project object
structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Unable to create Application Object
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the application
object structure.
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A-4 Host error messages
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: xx is not a keyword
Meaning:
The screen template contains an invalid keyword.
Action to take: Revise the screen template. Make sure the KEYWORD
(&LOGIN_ID, &PASSWORD, &LU_BUF1 and
&LU_BUF2) are spelled correctly.
ERR: BD xx SS xxx ERR: start host notify
Meaning:
TRS was unable to communicate with host on Board xx
session xxx.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: CH=xx ERR::Request does not contain action name
Meaning:
The action template name passed by IVR 2.0/I is a
zero-length 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 name xxx in the USER or COMI cell
was not found under the 3270 directory.
Action to take: Check or create action template file.
ERR: CH=xx ERR::Action xxx not defined in any appl
Meaning:
The action template xxx did not define an application name.
Action to take: Revise the action template to add the application name in
the appropriate field.
ERR: CH=xx ERR::Appl name xxx not defined in trs.conf
Meaning:
The application name defined in the action template did not
match any application name defined in the trs.conf file.
Action to take: Revise the trs.conf or the action template to make sure the
application name matches.
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Host error messages A-5
ERR: CH=xx BD xxx SS xxxx: Session not working-manual mode
Meaning:
This particular session is not working. TRS was unable to
attach this session.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: CH=xx ERR::Parse: Incorrect Action [xxx]
Meaning:
Action template xxx was not found under the 3270
directory.
Action to take: Create an action template which matches the action
template name in the COMI or USER cell.
ERR: CH=xx Read_input:ERR: Create_timer_instance
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for timer structure.
Action to take: Contact 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 to appear,
contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: CH=xx BD xxx SS xxxx Read_input:ERR: Query cursor
Meaning:
TRS was unable to locate the cursor in the presentation
space.
Action to take: Check the communication system and make sure the host
connection exists.
ERR: CH=xx Read_Update:ERR: Create_timer_instance
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for timer structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: CH=xx BD xxx SS xxxx Read_updated:ERR: Query PS CODE= xxxxx
Meaning:
The presentation space was not updated as expected.
Action to take: Check the communication system and make sure it works
properly.
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A-6 Host error messages
ERR: Send Aid key failed
Meaning:
TRS did not succeed in sending the aid key to the host.
Action to take: Make sure that the host connection exists.
ERR: CH=xx Process:ERR: Syntax error for variable operation
Meaning:
Syntax error in internal variable operation.
Action to take: Check the screen templates which use the internal variable
operation.
ERR: CH=xx Process:ERR: write to screen
Meaning:
TRS was unable to copy a string to the presentation screen.
Action to take: Check if the field is write protected.
ERR: msg_wait_start
Meaning:
Error message was received while 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: Check the communication system to make sure it works
properly.
ERR: Failure to connect at TRS Server
Meaning:
TRS envoy was unable to connect the TRS server.
Action to take: Make sure that the TRS in server mode is running on a node
on the network and that this node is specified in the trs.node
file. Also, check to see if the /etc/hosts file contains the node
information and check that the socket number is contained
in the /etc/services file. If the TRS is running in a server
mode, make sure that the communication board is
downloaded properly.
ERR: 3270 Server Process Startup
Meaning:
3270 server process has been started up.
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Host error messages A-7
Action to take: None. Notification only.
ERR: 3270 Envoy Process Startup
Meaning:
3270 envoy has been started up.
Action to take: None. Notification only.
ERR: Process Startup
Meaning:
The TRS process with no 3270 communication capability
has been started up. This TRS process cannot run
applications which access a remote host via COMI, COMO,
COMA or USER cells.
Action to take: None. Notification only.
ERR: Received a service abort from the TRS Server
Meaning:
TRS envoy process 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:
Action to take: None. Normal shutdown notification.
ERR: Accept a connection to client
IVR 2.0/I stopped.
Meaning:
TRS server was unable to accept the TRS envoy’s request
for connection.
Action to take: Check the network integrity before consulting a Nortel
service representative.
ERR: A flush command was sent prior to any request
Meaning:
The flush command was sent before a transaction request
was made.
Action to take: A COMI cell was missing in the application or the USER
cell did not use function code 2 or 1 to initialize the request.
Revise the application.
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A-8 Host error messages
ERR: CH=xx illegal Command xxx
Meaning:
TRS received an illegal command from another process.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Server Node file trs.node does not exist
Meaning:
trs.node file was missing from the envoy process node.
Action to take: This error message happens in two cases. In the
envoy-server case, a TRS envoy cannot communicate with
a TRS server running on another node because the trs.node
file does not exist in the 3270 directory and the file does not
contain the node name where the TRS server is running. In
the other case, the TRS is running in a server mode and the
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 is downloaded
correctly.
ERR: The server node name is the same as envoy node name
Meaning:
The server node defined in trs.node file is the same as the
node name on which the TRS envoy is running.
Action to take: Revise the trs.node file so that it contains the proper remote
TRS server node.
ERR: NET_TO_ENVOY: ERR: Reply Code =xx from SERVER
Meaning:
The TRS envoy received an error message from the TRS
server.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Invalid Aid key specified use the Enter Key
Meaning:
The Aid key specified in the screen template is not valid.
The system will use the ENTER key as the Aid key in this
case.
Action to take: Define a valid aid key.
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Host error messages A-9
ERR: Send_with_aid: Connect to session xx failed
Meaning:
TRS failed to connect to session xx before sending the aid
key.
Action to take: Check the communication system to make sure it works
properly.
ERR: Send_with_aid: failed with return code of xx
Meaning:
TRS failed to send the aid key.
Action to take: Check the communication system to make sure it works
properly.
ERR: Write_to_screen: Connect request to session xx failed
Meaning:
TRS failed to connect to session xx before it wrote to the
presentation 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 attempt was made to write to a protected field.
ERR: No Match Found for field id xx
Meaning:
The field identification xx defined in the screen template
could not be found in the presentation space.
Action to take: Revise the screen template so that it contains the valid field
descriptor.
ERR: Session index xx not defined in appl
Meaning:
The session index xx is out of the range of sessions defined
for this application.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Ping request memory allocation failed
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the ping request
structure.
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A-10 Host error messages
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Create_queue_object: Attempt to create Queue class instance failed
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the
QUEUE_CLASS structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: A request for this channel is already being processed
Meaning:
The last COMO cell did not retrieve all the output buffers
from TRS.
Action to take: Place a COMA cell in the clean up handler section of the
application to ensure that all output buffers will be flushed
when the caller hangs up in the middle of a transaction.
Furthermore, there should always be a COMO cell(s) after
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 to create Transaction Object Instance
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the transaction
structure
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Create_timer_instance: Unable to create Timer Object Instance
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the timer structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Create_client_instance: Unable to create Client Object Instance - Exiting
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the client object
structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Create_request_instance: Create_request malloc failed for queuing
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the request
structure.
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Host error messages A-11
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Create_idle_timer: Idle timer memory allocation failed
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the idle timer
structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Configuration file trs.conf not found
Meaning:
Configuration file trs.conf was either not found or not
readable.
Action to take: Create or change the permissions of trs.conf under 3270
directory.
ERR: 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 trs.conf
Meaning:
An illegal symbol occurred in the trs.conf file.
Action to take: Check syntax of the trs.conf file.
ERR: Init action missing,put - if not available
Meaning:
Initial action template is missing from the trs.conf file.
Action to take: Add the initial action template in the trs.conf file or put ‘-’
if not available.
ERR: Ping action missing,put - if not available
Meaning:
Heartbeat action template was missing from the trs.conf
file.
Action to take: Add a heartbeat action template in the trs.conf file or put ‘-’
in this field if not available.
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A-12 Host error messages
ERR: Protocol missing, specify 3270 or VT100
Meaning:
The protocol type was missing from the trs.conf protocol
field.
Action to take: Make sure that ‘3270’ or ‘vt100’ is specified in the protocol
field.
ERR: Incorrect syntax for ping action
Meaning:
The heartbeat action template was specified incorrectly in
the trs.conf file.
Action to take: Revise the trs.conf file so that the heartbeat field has the
correct syntax.
ERR: Invalid Protocol xxx, protocol
Meaning:
xxx is an invalid protocol.
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 the trs.conf file.
Action to take: Check the syntax of the trs.conf file.
ERR: A board # was not specified in the trs.conf
Meaning:
The board number was missing from the board field of the
trs.conf file.
Action to take: Check the syntax of the trs.conf file.
ERR: Possibly exceeded number of allowable boards
Meaning:
The number of total boards defined in the trs.conf file
exceeds the total number of boards the system allowed.
Action to take: Revise the trs.conf file and make sure the total board
number does not exceed the maximum allowed which is 4.
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Host error messages A-13
ERR: First LU cannot be less than xx.
Meaning:
The first session defined in the trs.conf file was less than
allowed as specified by xx.
Action to take: Revise the session field of the trs.conf file.
ERR: Last LU cannot be greater than xx
Meaning:
The last session defined in trs.conf was greater than allowed
as specified by xx.
Action to take: Revise the session field of trs.conf file.
ERR: An Invalid Board# xx is specified
Meaning:
The board number xx specified 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
instance structure.
Action to take: Consult Nortel service representative.
ERR: read data from map file ../3270/map.dat
Meaning:
Invalid data in the map.dat file.
Action to take: Revise the map.dat file
ERR: Invalid Channel specified in ../3270/map.dat
Meaning:
The map.dat file contains an invalid channel number.
Action to take: Check the map.dat file.
ERR: Invalid Session Number xx specified in ../3270/map.dat
Meaning:
The map.dat file contains invalid session number xx.
Action to take: Revise the map.dat file and make sure that the channels and
sessions are numeric.
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A-14 Host error messages
ERR: in map.dat:Session xx not defined in trs.conf
Meaning:
The session number xx defined in the map.dat file was not
defined in the trs.conf file.
Action to take: Revise the map.dat file or the trs.conf file and make sure
that the session number matches.
ERR: read data from file ../3270/lubuf.dat
Meaning:
Syntax error in lubuf.dat file.
Action to take: Revise lubuf.dat file.
ERR: Invalid Board number xx specified in ../3270/lubuf.dat
Meaning:
lubuf.dat file defined an invalid board number xx.
Action to take: Revise lubuf.dat file.
ERR: Invalid Session 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.conf
Meaning:
lubuf.dat contained board number xx session number xxx
which is not defined in the trs.conf file.
Action to take: Revise the trs.conf file or the lubuf.dat file to make sure that
the board and session numbers match.
ERR: In ../3270/lubuf.dat:login_id xx exceeds xxx characters
Meaning:
There are too many characters in the login ID defined in the
lubuf.dat file.
Action to take: Revise the lubuf.dat file so that the length of the login ID
will not exceed xxx.
ERR: In ../3270/buf.dat:password xx exceeds xxx characters
Meaning:
There are too many character in the password defined in the
lubuf.dat file.
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Host error messages A-15
Action to take: Revise the password in lubuf.dat file so that the length of the
password does not exceed xxx.
ERR: In ../3270/lubuf.dat:lu_buf1 exceeds xx characters
Meaning:
There are too many characters in the lu_buf1 field defined
in the lubuf.dat file.
Action to take: Revise the lu_buf1 field in the lubuf.dat file so that the
length does not exceed xx.
ERR: In ../3270/lubuf.dat:lu_buf2 exceeds xx characters
Meaning:
There are too many characters in the lu_buf2 field defined
in the lubuf.dat file.
Action to take: Revise 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 missing or unreadable. Create one or change
the permissions to make it readable.
ERR: Memory allocation failure for Screen entry
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the screen template
structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: No header data for Screen file xx
Meaning:
Header data was missing from the screen template file xx.
Action to take: Add header data to the screen template file xx.
ERR: Screen name xx exceeds xxx characters
Meaning:
There are too many characters in the screen template file
name xx.
Action to take: Change xx so that it does not exceed xxx characters.
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A-16 Host error messages
ERR: Screen name xx must match the file name without .scn
Meaning:
Invalid screen name defined in the screen template file.
Action to take: Revise the screen template file and make sure the screen
name is the screen template file name without .scn.
ERR: Validate tag xx of screen xxx exceeds xxx characters.
Meaning:
There are too many characters in the validation tag field
defined in the screen template file.
Action to take: Revise the validation tag in the screen template so that it
does not exceed xxx characters.
ERR: Unable to get offset value from file xx
Meaning:
Syntax error in row/column field 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 screen template file.
Action to take: Check the syntax of the screen template file.
ERR: Field id xx exceeds xxx characters
Meaning:
There are too many characters in the field ID name defined
in the screen template file.
Action to take: Correct the field name in the screen template file so that it
does not exceed xxx characters.
ERR: I/O descriptor xx of screen xxx exceeds xxxx characters
Meaning:
There are too many characters in the I/O field of the screen
template.
Action to take: Correct the I/O field of the screen template so that it does
not exceed xxxx characters.
ERR: The screen templates exceed xx
Meaning:
There are too many screen templates in this application.
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Host error messages A-17
Action to take: Revise the application to keep the screen templates within
the limit specified by xx.
ERR: Open action file xx failed
Meaning:
TRS failed to open the action file xx.
Action to take: Create or change permissions of the action template file to
readable.
ERR: Memory allocation failure for ACTION entry
Meaning:
TRS was unable to allocate memory for the action structure.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: Read head data from action file xx
Meaning:
Syntax 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 screen name was missing from the action template file
xx.
Action to take: Add appropriate screen names under the header section of
the action template file.
ERR: Action xx exceeds max screen entries xxx
Meaning:
There are too many screens defined in the action template
file xx.
Action to take: Revise the action template file to keep the total number of
screens within the limit specified by xxx.
ERR: Screen xx of Action xxx not found
Meaning:
Screen xx defined in the action template xxx was not found
under the 3270 directory.
Action to take: Create the appropriate screen template file.
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A-18 Host error messages
ERR: reset action xx of the action xxx not found
Meaning:
The reset action template xx defined in the action template
xxx was not found under the 3270 directory.
Action to take: Create the appropriate reset template file.
ERR: logout action xx of the action xxx not found
Meaning:
Logout action xx defined in the action template xxx was not
found under the 3270 directory.
Action to take: Create the appropriate logout template file.
ERR: Unable to find ACTION xx
Meaning:
Action template file xx was missing from the 3270
directory.
Action 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: Buffer size is greater than xx
Meaning:
The entry exceeds the maximum buffer size xx.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
ERR: No row/column delimiter for screen template
Meaning:
Syntax error in row/column field defined in the screen
template file.
Action to take: Revise the screen template file and make sure there is a
comma between the row and column so that the format is
‘row, col’.
ERR: Set_timer: Error setting interval timer struct
Meaning:
TRS got an operating system error when it was trying to set
a timer.
Action to take: Contact your Nortel service representative.
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Glossary-1
Glossary
VT100 Gateway terms
This section lists brief definitions of the terms appearing in this guide.
Application
With respect to IVR, an application is a program that controls the activity on
one or more telephone trunks connected to an AP. With respect to a host
computer, it can be any type of program that carries out a task.
Application developer
A person who creates 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 and stop bit to frame the bits representing the character.
Branch
A pathway between cells in a IVR application.
Call flow
A diagram of a IVR application.
Caller
A person whose phone call is received or originated by a IVR application.
Cell
The basic element of a IVR application. Each cell performs an action – like
playing a prompt to a caller. After the cell performs its action, it determines
which branch the application should follow to the next cell.
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Glossary-2
Channel
A telephone trunk within a cluster of APs.
COMA Cell
IVR cell that cancels a transaction in a VT100 terminal session. It does not
terminate the session itself.
COMI Cell
IVR cell that sends input to a VT100 terminal session via the TRS process.
COMO Cell
IVR cell that receives output from a VT100 terminal session via the TRS
process. Always follows the COMI cell and is necessary for the completion
of any transaction initiated by COMI.
Emulation
Imitating a computer or computer system with a combination of hardware and
software. Allows programs 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 to and
receives information from the host computer via the TRS.
Prompt
A voice recording that helps lead a caller through a IVR application.
Session
A connection to a host computer as defined in the trs.conf and vt100.ctl files,
representing a terminal connection. See Chapter 3 for information on the
trs.conf and vt100.ctl files.
System administrator
A person responsible for configuring APs, installing and running IVR
applications, managing prompts, and running reports.
Template files
ASCII files used by the TRS process to manage the VT100 terminal session.
Chapter 2 describes template files in detail.
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Glossary-3
Transaction
The function performed by 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 processor. Moves data
between IVR and a host application.
VT100 terminal
Terminal type emulated by the VT100 Gateway product.
Meridian IVR VT100 Gateway Development Guide Product release 2.0/I
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Meridian IVR
VT100 Gateway Development
Guide
Nortel
Customer Documentation
522 University Avenue, 14th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5G 1W7
© 1996 Northern Telecom
All rights reserved
Publication number:
Product release:
Document release:
Date:
555-9001-316
2.0/I
Standard 1.0
February 1996
Printed in the United States of America
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