Need tools to develop ...

[dlignier]

Hi everybody,

As the title describes it, my needs are not very specific.

In fact, in order to work on different projects, I need tools to developp IP telephony applications which will work on Call Manager and IP Phones.

I know that I can use XML, ASP, Perl and Php to developp services and applications but, I want to know if you can recommand to me some tools or programs which will help me in my work.

Thanks a lot.

Aurélien.

[ckatene]

i take a very radical approach i think. i have ditched windows and the cisco sdks altogether, and develop using java. grab the xsd files, put them through something like castor (www.castor.org), and you can create an entire java class library of the XML messages (this works really well even for large scale projects, like creating the complete AXL library). then run the whole thing on Linux and Apache Tomcat.

You need to know Java, but the benefits are object oriented (so fast and safe to develop), stable (very much so), much higher performance than scripting, much more power, and, boy, you can keep the costs right down.

c

[aaronw.ca]

You are looking for software packages to help your development?

Assuming you already have the IP Phone SDK (and other SDKs relevant

to what you are doing, of course)

Assuming you are developing in a Windows environment:

A couple decent and inexpensive editors are:

Textpad

http://www.textpad.com/

Macromedia Homesite

http://www.macromedia.com/software/homesite/

A couple other handy tools:

ieHttpHeaders

http://www.blunck.info/iehttpheaders.html

XmlSpy is a nice app, but it isn't cheap:

http://www.xmlspy.com/

[dlignier]

Thanks for all.

For the moment I developp little services in Perl with notepad... :-( and it is not very interesting, you know !!!

But I need to increase my knowledge in IP Phone development to use my experiences I have in Php and Asp.

I found a software on the web : Aptigen which permits to make easily XML services. I want to know if you have an opinion about this product ???

Thanks.

[aaronw.ca]

The Aptigen product looks great for non-developers, though developers may not find as much value there. It depends on your skills and what you are looking to accomplish.

If you already have skills in Perl, PHP, and ASP, then you will probably find that developing Cisco IP Phone XML applications is not that difficult. The SDK explains the XML tags available fairly well, and includes various sample applications. And there's always this forum for questions if you get stuck.

I suggest that you try making applications with PHP or ASP and experiment to become comfortable with the development process, and then you will be better able to choose tools to help you with your development.

Try a few samples, and have some fun! First, make sure that you have the Cisco IP Phone SDK:

http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/dev_support/access_level/product_support

[dlignier]

Hi,

Yeah, I try Aptigen and it is very useful but it is like a Microsoft product ... there is no challenge !!!

About PHP and ASP ... it makes 3 years that I develop Internet sites, management applications, ... And I have already worked with XML format.

Must I install sepcific things to work in PHP under the call manager ???

Or must I work under another computer with another web server ???

I really don't know how to do in order to quickly develop applications.

Thanks.

Aurélien.

[aaronw.ca]

I would suggest using a separate web server for your XML applications. The service definitions on the Call Manager will point to your applications hosted on your web server.

That way you don't have to install anything on CallManager to support your PHP applications.

The IP Phone SDK describes how to define XML services on the CallManager, it is web-based and easy to do!

[stephan.steiner]

@ckatene: I'm curious about your solution. I'm using the java/tomcat combo myself, and so far I haven't had to work with AXL a lot but I've imagined that when I really get started with AXL, I'd eventually end up writing my own class library to handle AXL requests.

Do you run the Castor source code generator on the 4 .xsd files that are in the AXL documentation package and get a class library to handle all AXL requests and replies there are?

I also finally noted that there's a WSDL file in AXL documentation.. this leads me to believe that the AXL API is exposed as a webservice (the wsdl is here: http://ip-callmanager/CCMApi/AXL/V1/AXLAPI.wsdl). I didn't even know there was this possibility (I know the webdialer is exposed as a webservice). Do you have any experience with this?

[ckatene · Accepted solution]

you only need to reference two of the xsd files - axl and axlsoap, from memory. they have include references, so a couple of the others need to be accessible. don't recall exactly.

the trick is in the mapping files that castor requires. I also found many issues with the .xsd files - namely, blatant errors. so you have to turn of castor validation for it to work, but after a little trial and effort, you should be away.

Anyway, I now have the complete AXL library as Java classes, so it makes new development pretty quick and easy.

and when AXL gets changed in the next release of call manager, we just run the .xsd files through castor again!

c

[dlignier]

@ aaronw.ca : Thanks for your piece of advice. I work on a separate Web Server and I export my applications on my Call Manager.

Thanks a lot.