Getting Started
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The TeleFlow Icon is created during the installation process and can be found in the TeleFlow folder under the Programs area of the Start menu. From the title page of TeleFlow, you can either create a new application, or open an existing one. If you have been previously working on an application, you will likely find it listed on the 'hot list' of applications listed under the File menu.
• Open an Existing Application
The TAP Screen is the first window you will see after creating a new application or loading an existing one. This screen keeps track of and documents the various objects that comprise a telephony application. All Flowcharts and other components used by the system appear in this window. For information on adding or editing flowcharts, click here.
Two other windows that open automatically are:
The TAP screen manages all of the flowcharts that you will create as you build the application. For an example of what a TAP screen may look like when you are finished, click here.
The main TAP Screen has three icons already placed on it when you create a new application. The three icons each manage a distinct section of the telephony application. For a more detailed description of the icons, click on the corresponding link below:
TeleFlow Basics
This section describes a number of important or key concepts that a TeleFlow application developer will need to understand in order to be successful with TeleFlow. It may not be important to absorb all of them right away (in fact, you might wish to skip this altogether, and walk through some of the demo applications first, before trying to understand this section), but ultimately, you will need to know most of the concepts presented here in order to develop all but the most basic of TeleFlow Applications.
TeleFlow Variables: TeleFlow variables are defined/denoted with the @ symbol. So, @VARIABLE could be a TeleFlow Variable name. Variables in Teleflow are NOT case sensitive, and are essentially all treated as UPPERCASE (in fact, they display that way in log output). At enGenic, we generally name our variables in UPPERCASE, because it makes the flowcharts easier to read. Since much of the information shown in flowcharts is in mixed case, this makes reading variables a little easier. You may find some of the samples will name variables with a leading lowercase "p". This is done when a variable is a parameter variable (passed into a flowchart), and is again to encourage easy readability. Obviously, this is all a matter of style. This has simply proven to work well for us.
Variables and Data Types: TeleFlow does not have strict data typing like you might be accustomed to in typical programming or scripting languages, or databases. Instead, TeleFlow treats all variables as strings, but will treat them as a different data type when the context of the operation being performed makes it sensible to do so. For example, if you use a TeleFlow Math step to add @VAR1 (contains "1") and @VAR2 (contains "1"), the result would be "2". If you attempt to simply append them together, they would make "11" instead.
System Variables: System Variables are read-only (generally) variables created and maintained by the system. They contain standard information that a TeleFlow Application developer might need available in an application, but cannot be readily accessed without TeleFlow's "help". (The date or time, for example) The chapter on system variables has help on the system variables available, and their names. Just like normal TeleFlow variables, system variable names start with the @ symbol. (Eg. @TIME)
Variable Scope: Unless you specifically use the Set Local Variable step, or pass in a variable as a flowchart parameter on a Run Flowchart step, all variables created in TeleFlow are automatically global. Since TeleFlow is a flowchart environment, a variable (even a global one) does not exist until the application has "passed through" the step that creates it. For this reason, it is wise to have a single flowchart near the beginning of your application, that sets all the global variables you use throughout your application with a default value of some kind. Local variables are available only in the flowchart in which they are created. If you run another flowchart, or leave the current flowchart, the local variable falls out of scope.
