7 Basic Commands

This chapter explains the basic commands for manipulating objects within VoiceObjects Desktop for Web in a fast and easy way.

These commands can either be accessed through the context menus that open up by right-clicking various areas in the Object Browser or the Dialog Designer, or via the Tools menu.

For an overview refer to Chapter 4 – Object Browser, Chapter 5 – Dialog Designer, and Tools menu in Chapter 3 – Desktop for Web Elements.

For details on the commands available in the object editors, refer to Chapter 6 – Object Editors.

Edit Objects

Once an object has been created it can be edited by doing the following:

· In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, select an object and double-click it.

· In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, select an object and right-click it. From the context menu, select Edit.

The corresponding object editor will open up. For more information on object editors see Chapter 6 – Object Editors.

Add Objects to the Dialog Flow

Within dialog sequences like modules or loops, objects can be added to the current dialog flow. You can either add

· new objects,

· objects from the current project - either from any object type folder or from the Clipboard

· objects from a library project.

Objects can be added by

· being appended at the end of a dialog sequence,

· being inserted before another object within a dialog sequence,

· or replacing an object within a dialog sequence.

Append a new object

You append a new object via the context menu of the Dialog Designer.

In the Dialog Designer, select the object to which you want to append a new object and click it.

1. In the context menu, point to Append, then point to New, and select the object type you want to append. The corresponding object editor will open up.

2. After creating and saving the new object it will be appended at the end of the selected dialog sequence and added to the Object Browser.

i8Note: The context menu command Append is only available in the case of Sequence objects or embedded sequences.

Append an existing object

You can append existing objects to the current dialog flow either out of the Object Browser or within the Dialog Designer.

From the Object Browser

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to append a particular object to and click it.

2. In the Object Browser, right-click the object you want to append. This can either be an object from an object type folder, from the Clipboard or from a library.

3. In the context menu, click Append to Dialog.

The object selected in the Object Browser will be appended at the end of the selected dialog sequence.

Within the Dialog Designer

In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to append another object to and right-click it.

You can select a particular object to be appended by either browsing or searching for it, or by selecting it from the Clipboard.

If you want to browse for all objects of a particular object type do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Append, then point to Browse, and select the object type you want to append.

2. From the Search Result window, select an object and click it.

If you want to search for an object according to particular search criteria do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Append and then click Search.

2. In the Search editor, enter the search conditions to be applied and click Search in the upper left corner. For more information on searching for an object see Search Objects.

3. From the Search Result window, select an object and click it.

If you want to select an object from the Clipboard do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Append, then point to Clipboard.

2. Select an object from the submenu and click it. For further information on the commands All and All Wrapped with Sequence refer to Dialog Designer Context Menus in Chapter 3 – Desktop for Web Elements.

In all cases the selected object will be appended at the end of the selected dialog sequence.

i8Note: The context menu command Append is only available in the case of Sequence objects or embedded sequences.

Insert a new object

You insert a new object via the context menu of the Dialog Designer.

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object above which you want to insert a new object and right-click it.

2. In the context menu, point to Insert, then point to New, and select the object type you want to insert. The corresponding object editor will open up.

After creating and saving the new object it will be inserted above the selected object in the dialog flow and added to the Object Browser.

Insert an existing object

You can insert existing object to the current dialog flow either out of the Object Browser or within the Dialog Designer.

From the Object Browser

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object above which you want to insert a particular object and click it.

2. In the Object Browser, right-click the object you want to insert. This can either be an object from an object type folder, from the Clipboard or from a library.

3. In the context menu, click Insert into Dialog.

The object selected in the Object Browser will be inserted above the selected object in the dialog flow.

Within the Dialog Designer

In the Dialog Designer, select the object above which you want to insert another object and right-click it.

You can select a particular object to be inserted by either browsing or searching for it, or by selecting it from the Clipboard.

If you want to browse for all objects of a particular object type do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Insert, then point to Browse, and select the object type you want to insert.

2. From the Search Result window, select an object and click it.

If you want to search for an object according to particular search criteria do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Insert and then click Search.

2. In the Search editor, enter the search conditions to be applied and click Search in the upper left corner. For more information on searching for an object see Search Objects.

3. From the Search Result window, select an object and click it.

If you want to select an object from the Clipboard do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Insert, then point to Clipboard.

In all cases the selected object will be inserted above the selected object in the dialog flow.

Replace an object by a new object

You replace an object by a new object via the context menu of the Dialog Designer.

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to be replaced and right-click it.

2. In the context menu, point to Replace, then point to New, and select the object type for the new object. The corresponding object editor will open up.

After creating and saving the new object the selected object will be replaced by the new one. The new object will be added to the Object Browser.

Replace an object by an existing object

You can replace an object in the current dialog flow by an existing object either out of the Object Browser or within the Dialog Designer.

From the Object Browser

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to be replaced and click it.

2. In the Object Browser, right-click the object you want to put in. This can either be an object from an object type folder, from the Clipboard or from a library.

3. In the context menu, click Replace in Dialog.

The object selected in the Dialog Designer will be replaced by the object selected in the Object Browser.

Within the Dialog Designer

In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to be replaced and right-click it.

You can select a particular object to be put in by either browsing or searching for it, or by selecting it from the Clipboard.

If you want to browse for all objects of a particular object type do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Replace, then point to Browse, and select the object type you want to insert.

2. From the Search Result window, select an object and click it.

If you want to search for an object according to particular search criteria do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Replace and then click Search.

2. In the Search editor, enter the search conditions to be applied and click Search in the upper left corner. For more information on searching for an object see Search Objects.

3. From the Search Result window, select an object and click it.

If you want to select an object from the Clipboard do the following:

1. In the context menu, point to Replace, then point to Clipboard.

In all cases the selected object will replace the object currently selected in the Dialog Designer.

Wrap with Sequence

The command Wrap with Sequence is typically used if - during the development of a dialog – you require a sequence instead of a particular single object.

Wrap objects in the dialog flow

Wrap with Sequence replaces the selected object with a new Sequence object and at the same time adds it to the new Sequence object. Thus the selected object is “wrapped” with a Sequence object.

This is particularly useful in places where no embedded Sequence object is provided, e.g. in the THEN/ELSE branches of an If object or in a WHEN branch of a Case object.

In the example below the Input object Ask for Phone Number has been replaced by a Sequence object.

To replace an object by a Sequence object do the following:

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to be replaced and click it.

2. In the context menu, click Wrap with Sequence. The Sequence editor will open up.

3. Enter a name for the new Sequence object and click Save and Close.

You will return to the Dialog Designer and find the selected object replaced by the new Sequence object with the original object included.

Wrap the content of the Clipboard

You also find the Wrap With Sequence command in the context menu that comes up when you right-click the Clipboard folder. In this case the entire content of the Clipboard is wrapped with a new sequence and, if desired, either inserted, appended or replaced at a particular place in the dialog flow.

To wrap the content of the Clipboard do the following:

1. In the Object Browser, right-click the Clipboard folder.

2. In the context menu, point to Wrap with Sequence.

3. From the submenu, select New Sequence, if you want to create a Sequence object that is just added to the Object Browser without modifying the current dialog flow. Select Insert into Dialog, Append to Dialog or Replace in Dialog if you want to create a Sequence object and at the same time include it into the dialog flow. In all cases the Sequence editor will open up.

4. Enter a name for the new Sequence object and click Save and Close.

You will find the new Sequence object added to the Object Browser and, if selected, added to the dialog flow accordingly.

Save Object as

The command Save as is only available on the context menu of the Dialog Designer if you select an embedded Sequence object. You use this command to save an embedded Sequence object as an autonomous Sequence object.

To do so, do the following:

1. In the Dialog Designer select the embedded Sequence object you want to save and right-click it.

2. From the context menu, select Save as. The Sequence editor will open up.

3. Enter a name and also a reference ID, if the original object has a custom reference ID, for the new autonomous Sequence object and click Save and Close.

You will return to the Dialog Designer and find the selected embedded Sequence object saved and represented as an autonomous Sequence object now written in blue. The new autonomous Sequence object can also be found in the Object Browser.

Copy Objects

The command Copy is often used when a new object is required that differs only slightly from an existing one and the existing object is to be used as a template.

To copy an object, do the following:

1. In the Object Browser, select the object you want to copy and right-click it.

2. From the context menu, select Copy. The corresponding object editor will open up.

3. Enter a name for the new version of the object. By default the name is “Copy of <Object name>”.

On the toolbar of the object editor, click Save and Close.

The new object has been added to the project and can be found in the Object Browser.

Display of Dialog Flows

In the Dialog Designer, dialog flows are displayed in a graphical representation. This helps you to easily design and develop applications.

How to display a dialog flow

To display the dialog flow for a particular object of the current project, do the following:

1. Select an object either in the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer of another object and right-click it.

2. In the context menu, click Display Dialog. The new Dialog Designer will open up and be displayed as the active worksheet.

Each item displayed in the dialog flow represents an object. The top left object of a dialog flow represents the object that you selected to be displayed.

If you point to an object icon or name a tooltip will show a short description of the object if available.

If you double-click an object in the Dialog Designer the corresponding object editor will open up in a separate window (see Edit Objects).

If a dialog flow does not fit into the worksheet you can scroll up and down with the vertical scroll bar.

For information on display features and on the status icons in front of or behind an object see Chapter 5 – Dialog Designer.

Expand or collapse subtrees

Objects preceded by a plus box [+] include subtrees of one or more objects. Clicking the plus box [+] will expand the corresponding object and display its subtree. Clicking a minus box [-] in front of an object will collapse it.

Alternatively, you can expand or collapse objects by selecting them and clicking the Expand button or Collapse button on the toolbar.

Example 1: Obtain car insurance quote collapsed

Example 2: Obtain car insurance quote expanded

Display options

The view of a dialog flow can be modified via several display options. These options can be switched on or off by selecting or clearing the corresponding check boxes in the Display Options window.

To open the Display Options window, click the Display Options button in the toolbar or select Display Options from the general context menu in the Dialog Designer.

The following options are available to modify the view of the dialog flow:

Option	Function
Show comment icons	Enables the display of available comments for objects.
Show Output items	Enables the display of embedded Output objects and the display of all Output items of autonomous Output objects.
Show pre-/postprocessing	Enables the display of pre-/postprocessing sequences of objects.
Enable validation	Enables the validation of objects during display.
Use as default for new worksheets	Keeps these settings as the default settings for all dialog flows opened in future.

To activate the selected settings and refresh the current Dialog Designer, click OK in the Display Options window.

Display and Validate Dialog

The validation of objects checks the general object structure with regard to missing but required objects.

To enable the validation do one of the following:

· On the toolbar, click the Dialog Options button to open the Dialog Options window and select Enable Validation.

· In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, right-click an object you want to validate. In the context menu, click Display and Validate.

If validation is enabled for a Dialog Designer invalid objects are indicated by a yellow triangle icon behind the object name.

i8Note: The validation looks for missing required property settings within objects. It does not check if all required properties are set to reasonable values and does not perform any logical tests. Therefore, a dialog flow that is valid in the Dialog Designer may still fail when being processed.

Add to Clipboard

The Clipboard folder serves as a temporary container to gather multiple objects.

To add an object to the Clipboard do the following:

In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, right-click the object you want to add to the Clipboard. In the context menu, click Add to Clipboard. A reference to the corresponding object will be added to the Clipboard.

i8Note: The size of the Clipboard is restricted to 15. If the Clipboard is full and another object is added, then the topmost object in the Clipboard is removed and the new object is added at the bottom.

You can also add objects to the Clipboard that are the result of any search. In the Search editor, right-click the object you want to add to the Clipboard. In the context menu, click Add to Clipboard. A reference to the corresponding object will be added to the Clipboard.

If you select the command Add All to Clipboard from the context menu, all objects listed as the search result will be added to the Clipboard. Since the number of objects in the Clipboard is restricted to 15, only the first 15 objects will be added to the Clipboard if there are more than 15 objects in the search result list.

Remove Objects from the Dialog Flow

There are three ways of removing an object from the current dialog flow:

· The object is removed from the dialog flow without any further action. See Remove objects.

· The object is removed from the dialog flow and added to the Clipboard. See Move to Clipboard.

· The object is removed from the dialog flow and deleted from the entire project. See Delete Objects.

Remove objects

To remove an object from the current dialog flow without any further action, do the following:

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to remove and right-click it.

2. In the context menu, click Remove.

In case of autonomous objects the Remove command just removes the object from the dialog flow. It will still be available in the Object Browser.

If you remove embedded objects from the dialog flow they will automatically be deleted from the entire project.

Move to Clipboard

The command Move to Clipboard is particularly useful if you want to remove a group of objects from a particular point within the current dialog flow and insert it somewhere else.

To remove an object from the current dialog flow and move it to the Clipboard, do the following:

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to remove and right-click it.

2. In the context menu, click Move to Clipboard.

Delete Objects

To delete an object from the entire project, do one of the following:

If you want to remove the respective object from the current dialog flow and at the same time delete it from the entire project:

1. In the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to remove and right-click it.

2. From the context menu, select Remove and Delete.

If you want to delete the respective object from the entire project independent of its occurrence in any dialog flow:

1. In the Object Browser, select the object you want to remove and right-click it.

2. From the context menu, select Delete.

The Delete window will open up and ask you to explicitly confirm the deletion. Click Yes to delete the object.

If no other object refers to the object you want to delete, it will be deleted immediately and the Delete window will be closed.

If the object is still referenced by other objects, it cannot be deleted. Instead a list of its parent objects is displayed.

You can either edit the parent object and remove the reference to the object you want to delete or delete the parent object as well.

To edit a parent object do the following:

1. Right-click the parent object you want to edit.

2. From the context menu, select Edit.

The corresponding object editor will open up where you can remove the reference to the object you want to delete.

To delete a parent object do the following:

1. Right-click the parent object you want to delete.

2. From the context menu, select Delete. The same process as described here will start for this object.

After you have removed all references or deleted all parent objects click Retry to finally delete the object.

After the object has been deleted successfully the Delete window will close.

i8Note: Referenced library objects and objects locked by any other user cannot be deleted but only be removed from the current dialog flow, except by administrators.

Re-Order Objects or Object Items

You can re-order objects within object sequences in dialog flows, object items within any object editor that contains items (for instance Menu items in a Menu object, Output items in an Output object, etc.) or objects within the Clipboard by using the following commands:

Movement	Process
Move an object or object item to the first position	Select the object or object item you want to move and right-click it. In the context menu, point to Move and click To Top.
Move an object or object item one position up	Select the object or object item you want to move and right-click it. In the context menu, point to Move and click Up.
Move an object or object item one position down	Select the object or object item you want to move and right-click it. In the context menu, point to Move and click Down.
Move an object or object item to the last position	Select the object or object item you want to move and right-click it. In the context menu, point to Move and click To End.

Lock or Unlock Objects

An object can be locked to prevent it from being modified by any other user. This feature is useful during the development process if more than one designer is working on a project at the same time.

To lock or unlock an object, do the following:

1. In the Dialog Designer or in the Object Browser, right-click the object you want to lock or unlock.

2. In the context menu, click Lock/Unlock.

In the Dialog Designer and in the Object Browser locked objects are displayed with a Lock icon:

- either in green, indicating that the object has been locked by yourself,

- or in red, indicating that the object has been locked by a different user.

A locked object can only be modified or deleted by the user who locked it or by an administrator.

However, a locked object can be viewed by any user and also can be used within dialog flows, which means that you can add it, change its position, or even remove it from a dialog flow.

If an object is locked that contains child objects (like a sequence or a menu) you may still modify the child objects themselves but you may not add or remove any of them or modify their position within the parent object. So if a Sequence object is locked for example, you may not modify the sequence itself which means that you may not add, move or delete any referenced objects, but you may of course change the position of the Sequence object itself within the dialog flow.

If a Module object is locked, its embedded sequence also is locked automatically.

Enable or Disable Objects

Objects that are disabled will not be processed. The disable function is useful during the development or test phase of a project to disable single objects or complete parts of the application.

To enable or disable an object, do one of the following:

1. In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, right-click the object you want to enable or disable.

2. In the context menu, click Enable/Disable.

1. In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, right-click the object you want to enable or disable.

2. From the context menu, select Properties.

3. In the Properties window select or clear the check box Disable Processing at the bottom of the tab.

4. Click Save and Close.

In the Object Browser and in the Dialog Designer, disabled objects are indicated with a Disabled icon in front of the object icon.

@8 Tip: When disabling an object, all references of this object are disabled as well. Sometimes, when you only want to disable a specific reference of an object, it can be useful to wrap this particular reference with a sequence and to disable the (temporarily added) Sequence object instead.

Export and Import Objects

VoiceObjects Desktop provides export and import functionality to exchange objects between different environments, backup applications, apply changes made in the Storyboard Manager to the application, or to re-use an object outside the current project. The format used for this exchange is VoiceObjectsXML.

You can either export a single object (see Export objects) or a complete project version (see Export a Project Version in Chapter 2 – Working with Projects).

Imports are mainly done from a file (see Import objects from a file). The option to import from the clipboard can only be used when working with the Storyboard Manager (see Import objects from the browser clipboard).

Export objects

When exporting an object all its child objects are included.

To export an object, do the following:

1. In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, select an object and right-click it.

2. From the context menu, select Export.

The Export window will open up. The name of the selected object and its short description (if available) are displayed.

3. In the Location field, provide the location for the export file. By default the import_export folder of your VoiceObjects installation is displayed.
i8Note: The location must be a valid physical directory path accessible on the machine running VoiceObjects Desktop.

4. In the Filename field, provide a name for the export file. By default, the name of the object is used with blanks being replaced by underscores. If no file extension is given the extension .xml will be added automatically.
i8Note: Depending on the used operating system there might be restrictions for the filename, e.g. German umlaut characters are replaced by “?” on Linux.

5. In the Export format field, select an export format from the drop-down list.
By default, VoiceObjectsXML is selected. This option generates a VoiceObjectsXML file, which allows developers to continue working on the application definition.
The option VoiceObjectsXML without ID creates a VoiceObjectsXML file without any reference IDs or modification timestamps, which is useful for instance when creating a template application or a template object.

The check box Include library objects in the export is only visible when your object references any library objects. If it is selected, which is the default, all referenced library objects are exported as well.

Note, that after the export the library objects are treated as standard objects. This means that when re-importing an object again that has been exported together with its library objects, the original library objects can no longer be distinguished from standard objects and are integrated into the standard object category folders.

If the check box Include library objects in the export is clear, only the references to the library objects will be exported. This is needed if you want to re-establish the reference to the library after importing the object definition into another project version. Refer to Export a project version with library objects in Chapter 2 – Working with Projects for more details on how to handle this.

6. Click Export.

A status message is displayed: Please wait. Export is in progress. Depending on the number of objects to be exported, the export may take between a few seconds and a few minutes.

When the export is finished, another status message is displayed: The specified object has been exported successfully.

7. Click Close to finish the export.

i8Note: It is also possible to export an entire project version (see Export a Project Version in Chapter 2 – Working with Projects), exporting all objects within a project version, regardless of their parent-child relationships. This is useful if you want to create backup copies of an application or transfer applications between different database repositories.

Import objects from a file

Objects can manually be imported from VoiceObjectsXML files previously generated with the export function, created manually, or through the Storyboard Manager.

To import an object from a file do the following:

1. From the Tools menu, select Import Object from File.

The Import – File window will open up.

2. In the Location field, specify the location in which to search for import files. By default the import_export folder of your VoiceObjects installation is displayed.

3. In the Filename field, specify the name of the file you want to import. You can either type in the name or choose a file by clicking the Browse button to the right of the Filename field.

4. Specify the Import mode.
By default, VoiceObjects retains an object’s internal ID during importing. This has the advantage that when you re-import it again later on, the current version can be overwritten with an updated one. However, you may, choose to create new IDs for all imported objects by selecting the Generate new ID for all imported objects option.
Selecting the option Overwrite objects with the same name results in overwriting objects in your current project version if there are corresponding objects with the same name in the import file.

5. Click Import to start the import process.

A status message is displayed: Please wait. Import is in progress. Depending on the number of objects to be imported, the import may take between a few seconds and a few minutes.

When the import is finished, another status message is displayed: The specified objects from the import file have been exported successfully.

6. Click Close to finish the import process.

i8Note: If naming conflicts occur during the import (i.e. an object with the same type and name already exists in the current project), VoiceObjects automatically appends a time stamp to the name of the newly imported object (unless you selected the option Overwrite objects with the same name). A warning message will inform you that a naming conflict has occurred during import.

8Caution: When using PostgreSQL as database, the automatic renaming in case of import naming conflicts does not work due to database restrictions. Therefore, the import is aborted in this case. You can avoid naming conflicts by providing an appropriate prefix for the objects to be imported.

Import objects from the browser clipboard

Apart from importing objects from XML files you can also import objects directly from the browser clipboard. Note that in this case the browser limits the size of the data to be imported to 32 KB. Also note that the import through the clipboard is only supported for code generated by the Storyboard Manager. VoiceObjectsXML cannot be imported through the browser clipboard.

To import an object from the browser clipboard do the following:

1. From the Tools menu on the menu bar, select Import Object from Browser Clipboard. The Import – Browser Clipboard window will open up.

2. In the Object prefix field, you can optionally specify a prefix to be added to the names of all imported objects. This is useful to avoid naming conflicts between existing and newly imported objects.

3. In the Clipboard field, the current content of the browser clipboard is displayed which can be modified here.
Note, that in case the code stored in the clipboard contained correctly masked ampersands (as "&"), these will have been converted to a single ampersand symbol (i.e. "&"), due to internal technical reasons. You need to convert these back to the masked versions before starting the import.

4. By default, VoiceObjects retains an object’s internal ID during importing. This has the advantage that when you re-import it again later on, the current version can be overwritten with an updated one. However, you may, choose to create new IDs for all imported objects by selecting the Generate new ID for all imported objects option.

5. Click Import to start the import process.

i8Note: If naming conflicts occur during the import (i.e. an object with the same type and name already exists in the current project), VoiceObjects automatically appends a time stamp to the name of the newly imported object. A warning message will inform you that a naming conflict has occurred during import.

Search Objects

The command Search Objects is used to easily find objects within a project according to a specific selection. It opens up a Search editor where you can enter various search criteria and view the search results.

To search for objects do the following:

1. From the Tools menu on the menu bar, select Search Objects.
Or
Select Search and then Objects in any context menu in the Object Browser or in the general context menu in the Dialog Designer.

The Search editor will open up.

2. On the Search Conditions tab, enter your search criteria. The following fields are available:

Containing text
In the Containing text field, you can enter the search text and in the Within field you can specify where to search for this text.
Note that the search function only looks for objects that exactly match the search criteria. If you search for the string play intro within the Name for example, the search result will only contain objects that have exactly the string play intro in their names.

Modification date
Specifies a date before or after which the objects you search for have been modified or a period of time in which the objects you search for have been modified.

Creation date
Specifies a date before or after which the objects you search for have been created or a period of time in which the objects you search for have been created.

Object types
Specifies the object types you are searching for.
If you enter the Search editor via the Tools menu all object types are selected by default. Clear the check boxes of the object types you do not want to include in the search.
If you enter it via the context menu of any folder in the Object Browser, you will find the corresponding object type or category pre-selected.

Object status
Specifies the lock status for the objects you are searching for. This functionality allows you to quickly find all locked objects within a project version.

The example below shows a search for all objects within a project that belong to the Components category and have the string “Caller” within their object names. This can be achieved easiest by right-clicking the Components folder in the Object Browser and selecting Search and then Objects. Enter Caller in the Containing text field and select Name from the drop-down list in the Within field.

After entering your search criteria start the search process by clicking the Search button on the toolbar. The search results will be displayed on the Search Result tab.

If an object from the search result list is locked the lock status is indicated by the respective Lock icon in front of its name. A green Lock icon indicates that it has been locked by you while a red Lock icon indicates that it has been locked by any other user.

By right-clicking an object in the search result list a context menu opens up containing the following commands:

These commands have the following functions, which are explained in more detail in the respective paragraphs in this chapter:

Menu Command	Function
Edit	Opens up the object editor for the selected object.
Copy	Creates a copy of the selected object.
Add to Clipboard	Adds a reference of the selected object to the Clipboard.
Add All to Clipboard	Adds all objects in the search result list to the Clipboard.
Delete	Deletes the selected object.
Lock/Unlock	Locks or respectively unlocks the selected object.
Search Parent Objects	Displays a list of all parent objects of the selected object.
Properties	Opens up a window displaying the standard properties of the selected object and allows to modify them. For more information see Properties in the Object Reference.

Search Parent Objects

With the command Search Parent Objects you find out where a selected object is used. It lists all objects that refer to the selected object. This is helpful to see which places are affected when modifying an object, or to check whether an object has already been introduced in all places where it is required.

To search for parent objects do the following:

1. In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to see the parent objects for and right-click it.

2. From the context menu, select Search Parent Objects.

3. The Search Result window opens up displaying all parent objects.

If you right-click a parent object in the list, a context menu will come up providing options for editing, copying, or deleting the selected parent object.

Search Unused Objects

The command Search Unused Objects is primarily used to determine "junk" in a project. Sometimes you might also find out that objects that were created to be used later on have been “forgotten” and have not yet been placed properly.

To search for objects that are not used within the current project, do one of the following:

On the menu bar, open the Tools menu. From the Tools menu, select Search Unused Objects.

Select Search and then Unused Objects from the general context menu in the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer.

The Search Result window opens up displaying a list of all unused objects.

If you right-click an object in the list, a context menu will come up providing options for editing, copying or deleting the selected object.

i8Note: The Search Unused Objects function returns all objects that are not referenced by other objects. This may also be the case for the start object of your application if not used in any service. Make sure not to delete it accidentally.

Create Project Documentation

The project documentation functionality is used to document the overall structure as well as specific details of your project e.g. to present it to customers, for internal meetings and so on.

You can create a PDF file that either shows the dialog flow similar to its display in the Dialog Designer, or a table overview of all or a selected subset of objects, or both. The PDF document can be created for the entire project version or starting from a particular object. When creating the project documentation for the entire project version, the system loops through all existing Module objects and creates the corresponding documentation. When starting from a particular object the project documentation only shows objects that are referenced within the corresponding subtree of the application.

Prerequisites

In order to work with the created Project Documentation it is required to have Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.3 (or higher) or later including all latest updates installed on your system.

The generated PDF files contain VoiceObjects images by default. A large logo is embedded in the cover page, and a small logo can be found in the header of each subsequent page. You can change these by adjusting a setting in the VoiceObjects Desktop configuration file.

To change the logo, do the following:

1. Open the VODesktop_Configuration.xml file in the WEB-INF\config folder of your VoiceObjects installation.

2. Change the <documentation> element so that <smallLogo> and <mainLogo> point to valid .gif or .jpg files holding the desired logo. Note that due to space restrictions the cover page logo should have a maximum size of 260 x 70 pixels, the smaller logo 16 x 16 pixels.

<documentation>
   <smallLogo>
       http://localhost/VoiceObjects/Desktop/myLogo.gif
   </smallLogo>

   <mainLogo>
        http://localhost/VoiceObjects/Desktop/myLogo.gif
   </mainLogo>

...
</documentation>

3. Restart VoiceObjects Desktop.

i8Note: In some environments, project documentation cannot be created if you leave these settings at default. If this is the case, point the Desktop to Desktop\images\startscreen\VoiceObjects.gif for the main logo and Desktop\images\VoiceObjectsSign.gif for the small logo under the used web context (e.g. http://localhost/VoiceObjects/).

Unicode

If you use Unicode (UTF-8) characters in your project, such as object names, alternative texts in Audio objects, etc. you need to configure a font capable of displaying those characters. To configure a suitable font, do the following:

1. Open the VODesktop_Configuration.xml file in the WEB-INF\config folder of your VoiceObjects installation.

2. Change the <documentation> element so that <unicodeFont> points to the location of a true type font supporting Unicode. This font should be located on the machine that runs VoiceObjects Desktop.

<documentation>
...

   <unicodeFont>
       C:\VoiceObjects\Platform\WEB-INF\config\ARIALUNI.TTF
   </unicodeFont>

</documentation>

3. Restart VoiceObjects Desktop.

@8 Tip: If you do not have a Unicode font available, you can download one from the Internet. The following table shows three examples; please note the respective license agreements.

Font	Download URL
Adobe Song	http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/acrrasianfontpack.html
Arial Unicode	http://www.ascendercorp.com/msfonts/arial_unicode.html
CJK UniFonts	http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/CJKUnifonts/Download/

Open Project Documentation window

To create project documentation for a particular object, do the following:

1. In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to use as the start object for the documentation and right-click it.

2. From the context menu, select Tools and then Project Documentation.

To create project documentation for the entire project version, do the following:

1. On the menu bar, open the Tools menu.

2. From the Tools menu, select Project Documentation.

In both cases the Project Documentation window opens up.

1. In the Project Documentation window, select a documentation format (either dialog flow, object overview, or both) and click Next.

2. Depending on your selection a second dialog comes up to specify further options.

Create dialog flow

In the Dialog Flow window you specify the formatting options for the dialog flow documentation.

1. In the Paper format field, select a paper format for the PDF document.

2. Select the object details to be included in the dialog similar to the display options in the Dialog Designer. See also Display options.

3. If you choose to include a cover page by selecting the check box Include cover page you may add an optional comment in the Comment field.

4. Click Create to start creating the documentation.

A PDF document will be generated displaying the cover page and the dialog flow according to your selection.

Create object overview

In the Object Overview window you specify the formatting options for the object overview documentation and select the object types to be included.

1. In the Paper format field, select a paper format for the documentation.

2. Select the object details to be included in the object overview.

3. If you choose to include a cover page by selecting the check box Include cover page you may add an optional comment in the Comment field.

4. Specify the object types to be included in the object overview. By default all object types are selected. Clear the check boxes of the object types you do not want to see in the PDF document.

5. Click Create to start creating the object overview documentation.

A PDF document will be generated containing the cover page and the object overview according to your selection. If the project documentation has been created for the entire project version the objects will show up in the overview in an alphabetical order. If it has been created for a specific start object they will appear in a logical order, representing their occurrence in the dialog flow.

i8Note: All object that are only referenced in one of the object details not being selected (e.g. hyperlinks that are only referenced in event handling) are left out when creating the object overview. To include them select the appropriate object details. An exception to this rule is that the reference library will always be shown, regardless of the setting for pre-/postprocessing.

Create dialog flow and object overview

If you select to create both a dialog flow as well as an object overview a corresponding window will open up that combines the options to be specified.

1. In the Paper format field, select a paper format for the documentation.

2. Select the object details to be included in the dialog similar to the display options in the Dialog Designer. See also Display options.

3. Select the object details to be included in the object overview.
Note that if you select Show pre-/postprocessing in dialog flow but leave Show pre-postprocessing in overview clear, the object overview tables for the objects appearing in the pre- or postprocessing of an object are created nevertheless, since they are shown in the dialog flow.

4. If you choose to include a cover page by selecting the check box Include cover page you may add an optional comment in the Comment field.

5. Specify the object types to be included in the object overview. By default all object types are selected. Clear the check boxes of the object types you do not want to see in the PDF document.

6. Click Create to start creating the object overview documentation.

A PDF document will be generated containing the cover page, the dialog flow, and the object overview according to your selection. If the project documentation has been created for the entire project version the objects will show up in the overview in an alphabetical order. If it has been created for a specific start object they will appear in a logical order, representing their occurrence in the dialog flow.

i8Note: All objects that are only referenced in one of the object details not being selected (e.g. hyperlinks that are only referenced in event handling) are left out when creating the object overview. To include them select the appropriate object details. An exception of this rule is that the reference library will always be shown, regardless of the setting for pre-/postprocessing.

Cover page content

The cover page lists general information about the name, the short description, the creation date and the owner for both project and project version.

Dialog flow content

The dialog flow shows the objects in the same way as they appear in the Dialog Designer of VoiceObjects Desktop.

If the project documentation is created for the entire project it contains the dialog flow for all Module objects of the application. Otherwise the dialog flow starts with the selected object and shows only a subtree of the application.

If the object overviews are generated together with the dialog flow, every object in the flow is linked with its definition table. By clicking an object's name, you arrive at its definition. Use the PDF viewer's backward button to jump back to the flow.

Object overview content

The object overview lists all object definitions that are referenced either within the subtree the project documentation has been created for, or within any Module object in case the project documentation has been created for the entire project.

As a general guideline, the object overview only shows the fields that are filled by the user, drop-down fields, check boxes, or fields within an Options box. All other fields, especially empty text fields, are left out. In the example above, the Welcome Message box of the Module object Check existing claim is left out, since it is not defined in the object. In both Module objects shown, the Goodbye Message is left out.
The dark-grey header of each object shows the name, short description and comment (if available).

Within the object overview you will find hyperlinks to jump from an object to its child objects. Available hyperlinks are indicated by blue object names.

i8Note: Unused objects are not listed in the object overview, as they are not referenced in any object.

Statistics page content

The statistics page is automatically generated when an object overview is created. It is not included if only a dialog flow is created.

It lists all object types present in the document and displays the total number of objects per type. The statistics page also serves as a table of contents. By clicking an object type you arrive at the corresponding section in the PDF file. Note that a hyperlink for an object type is only available if at least one object of this type exists in your application.

i8Note: The statistics page only shows objects that occur in the exported document. It does not give numbers on all objects of your application.

Create Storyboard Export

A storyboard contains a list of all prompts of your application as a Microsoft Excel document. Storyboards can be created for an entire project version or only a subset thereof (through a start object).

To create a storyboard export for a particular object, do the following:

1. In the Object Browser or in the Dialog Designer, select the object you want to use as the start object for your storyboard export and right-click it.

2. From the context menu, select Tools and then Storyboard Export.

To create a storyboard export for the entire project version, do the following:

1. On the menu bar, open the Tools menu.

2. From the Tools menu, select Storyboard Export.

In both cases the Storyboard Export window opens up.

3. If desired, enter a comment, which will be placed into the Excel sheet.

4. Click Create to start the storyboard export.

i8Note: Depending on the size of your application and the number of prompts, the process of creating the storyboard, together with loading Microsoft Excel, may take up to several minutes.

For further information on how to modify the view, edit and print the storyboard export file with the Storyboard Manager see the Storyboard Manager Guide.

i8Note: In order to work with the created Storyboard Export it is required to have Microsoft Excel 2000 including VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) installed on your system.