A macro is a kind of subroutine. It can contain complex workflows
but is called through a single entry. This reduces repetition in the
dialplan and makes it cleaner and smaller. A simple example might look
like this:
[macro-incoming]
exten => s,1,Dial(SIP/${MACRO_EXTEN},10)
exten => s,n,VoiceMail(${MACRO_EXTEN})Ein solches Macro würde im rest des Dialplanes dann wie folgt
aufgerufen werden:
[sales]
exten => _2XXX,1,Macro(incoming)
[building-mgr]
exten => _2XXX,1,Macro(incoming)
The effect is not quite so impressive with a two-line macro as it
would be with a much longer macro, but the advantages of such an approach
should be clear.
The use of macros tends to divide the Asterisk user community into
two groups. One feels that macros make the dialplan easier to understand,
the other feels that they make the dialplan confusing. We encourage you to
draw your own conclusions!
When defining macros, take care to note the following
points:
When defining a macro, only one extension - the s extension -
is allowed.
The original ${EXTEN} and
${CONTEXT} variables cannot be used inside a
macro. We must use ${MACRO_EXTEN} and
${MACRO_CONTEXT} instead.
When calling a macro, additional comma- (",") or
pipe-separated ("|") arguments can be supplied. These arguments are
called within the macro with ${ARGn} (where
n is a positive integer indicating which
argument in the sequence).
A macro is defined in square brackets
([macro-macroname]) and is called with the
Macro() application in an extension.
More information on macros may be found at
Section B.58, “Macro()”.
Tip
The application
MacroExclusive() ensures
that the specific macro can only be called once at any given time.
If another channel is calling the macro, no other channel can call
it until it completes (see
Section B.59, “MacroExclusive()”).