Hi Janine,

Please see my answers inline below.

[quote:b2b78dc55e]1.is there a way to search for a variable name in Studio/Eclipse?[/quote:b2b78dc55e]

One quick way this can be done today is to open up the voice project's folder using Windows Explorer (from within the workspace directory of Studio) and search *.xml files for the variable you are interested in. The name of the file list that comes up will give you a hint as to where it is being used.

However, there is no built-in capability for this in Studio. We would be glad to enter a feature request if you or your student could provide additional information about how they'd like it to work (in particular, what it should search for and where).

[quote:b2b78dc55e]2. Lots of requests for being able to write subroutines using Studio
(eg, procedures and pass params) - not Element groups, without writing
everything in Java. Do you have any plans to implement this any time
soon? Is there a recommended workaround (other than element groups) for code re-usability? [/quote:b2b78dc55e]

In Studio, the concept of a "procedure" that lets you "pass params" is a configurable element. These can either be written in Java (which you noted is not an option for this student) or using the XML API. Perhaps the latter choice meets their needs? Note that the XML API cannot be used to create voice elements due to their higher complexity, but a suitable alternative is a VoiceXML Insert element (you can put the params in session or element data, and write custom VoiceXML to do whatever you would like).

[quote:b2b78dc55e]3. Is there a way to 'unit test'?[/quote:b2b78dc55e]

Unit testing is "a procedure used to validate that individual units of source code are working properly" (from Wikipedia). In short, unit tests are developer-created methods that test other methods and classes to make sure they work as expected. We do a lot of unit testing internally against our Java code, to make sure that the product we ship is of the highest quality and stability. For our built-in elements, we both unit test the code itself, and also perform extensive functional and load tests against voice apps using them. So the answer here is really two-part:

[u:b2b78dc55e]To unit test your custom Java code[/u:b2b78dc55e]

Since custom Java classes written for our software are still just POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects), users can leverage the huge array of existing unit test functionality out there. Some tools we find helpful internally are JUnit and JTest, so you might note those if students aren't sure where to start.

[u:b2b78dc55e]To unit test your call flow[/u:b2b78dc55e]

Using the "skip" functionality of Studio (available by right-clicking on an element), you can gray out portions of the call flow you are not interested in testing, to focus on a small section of a call. This is useful during development, as it allows you to quickly bypass most of the call flow, and repeatedly test the functionality of a specific piece. However, once development is complete and you want to test the call flow as a whole, you're not really dealing with unit tests anymore. At that point, we recommend that users concentrate on load testing (a good tool for simulating load is JMeter), functional (call-in) testing, and integration testing (ensuring that back-end integration works as expected).

[quote:b2b78dc55e]4. They would like any recommendations on source/version control when one has multiple developers. They know about CVS, but still say they have issues. Again, any recommendations that work for your large customers? [/quote:b2b78dc55e]

We have customers using CVS, Subversion, and Clearcase (and probably others I'm not aware of). A helpful KB article we have regarding CVS in particular is: "How to use source control to manage an Audium application". If there are additional questions about particular issues this student has had, please post them here and we would be glad to help out.

[quote:b2b78dc55e]5. If only (say) one element is changed, and that app deployed to CS on one box. Is it possible (supported?) to just propogate the change to
that one xml file to other CS servers?[/quote:b2b78dc55e]

The supported mechanism is to re-deploy the voice app, since the deployment process ensures 100% that the voice app is compliant with the format Audium Call Services expects. That said, creative users tend to discover workarounds that are useful to them; however, support may require that they re-deploy using the standard deploy functionality if they have any issues with these voice apps.

[quote:b2b78dc55e]6. Do you have plans to allow changes to the logging level on a
per-element basis?[/quote:b2b78dc55e]

We have an existing feature request for this, with an ID of CSCzc20779. Please pass this along to the student asking about this, and ask them to contact their Account Manager to discuss timing/priority.

Regards,
Vance