Software Requirements

Installing Composer as an Eclipse Plugin

Composer 8.1.3 is installed as a plugin into an existing Eclipse 3.7 (Indigo) or 4.2 (Juno) environment as well as Java Development Kit 1.7.0_0 or higher.

Previously, Composer installation consisted of:

The “basic” Eclipse application download.
Eclipse plugin dependencies.
The Genesys Composer plugins.
A bundled Tomcat for running generated applications.

Starting with 8.1.3, the Composer installer supplies (3) and (4). The “basic” Eclipse (1) is up to you to download.

Update Site

The Composer plugins are distributed as an update site, which is contained in com.genesyslab.composer.updateSite.zip . In Eclipse terminology, “update site” refers to a location from which Eclipse can pull plugins. The installer gives the option to pull the plugins from the update site zip file and install them into an existing Eclipse (1) environment.

If that option is enabled, then the Installer runs a script that automatically finds and downloads the plugin dependencies (2) and installs them along with the Composer plugins (3) and the bundled Tomcat (4). This is optional because you may not have downloaded a basic Eclipse yet, in which case you can install (2) and (3) later from within Eclipse using Help > Install New Software .

Note: Eclipse is not required if you only want to extract the update site without installing Composer plugins into the Eclipse. This is possible, for example, if you just want the update site zip file to copy to multiple machines where the actual Composer installation will take place.

User-Facing Changes as a Result of Plug-in Installation

Change	Before 8.1.3	813 Behavior
Change in file encoding used by Eclipse-based text editors to save files.	Composer based editors such as the VoiceXML Editor and SCXML Editor uses UTF-8 Encoding. Other Eclipse-based generic test editors uses default CP1252 encoding.	All the files and editors within the IDE will use UTF-8 encoding if the General > Workspace > Text File Encoding preference is default while launching the IDE. Otherwise, user-specified encoding takes precedence. However, Composer recommends using UTF-8 encoding.
The Composer splash screen is not displayed anymore.	Composer branded splash screen was displayed showing the Genesys logo, version, and so on.	Eclipse's default screen is displayed. No Genesys specific information shown.
Help > About	The Help About dialog is integrated into Eclipse and displays as part of the Eclipse workbench with information pulled out of the product definition.	The About Composer dialog exists is now a custom implementation. There is now a Help > About Composer in addition to a Help >> About.

JDK

Java Development Kit 1.7.0_0 or higher. Java and Eclipse match, i.e., both 32-bit or both 64-bit. If not already installed, you can download from the Oracle website . Be sure to set the JAVA_HOME environmental variable as described on the Oracle website. Enable the Public JRE option to install both JDK and Java Runtime Environment. Composer requires both the JDK and JRE components.

Operating Systems Supported

Each workstation that you use to develop voice applications with Composer must meet one of the following operating system requirements:

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 or later
Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 3 or later
Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows 7, 32-bit and 64-bit in 32-bit compatibility mode.
Microsoft Windows Server 2008, 32-bit and 64-bit in 32-bit compatibility mode. Note: GVP 8.1 and the Composer Debugger interface both use Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). If you are deploying Composer on Windows Vista, make sure that you have IPv4 enabled for the network interfaces.
Mac OS

Mac OS X Platform Support

Starting with Composer 8.1.3, OS X is a partially supported platform. These are the list of currently supported features in Composer 8.1.3 on Mac:

GVP VXML applications.
WebRequest block - other related blocks such as DB Data and Web Service are not fully supported, but may still work as-is.
Orchestration SCXML applications.
Tomcat deployment.
Sharing of Composer Projects between Windows and Mac OS X.

Limitations

When the preference to show grid lines in Composer diagrams is enabled, grid lines may be difficult to view. However, you can still use the snapping blocks to grid lines feature and change the spacing and units of the grid.

Application Server Requirements

Genesys does not certify Composer with specific Web application server vendors and versions. This applies to developing both:

VXML applications and related resources that will be executed on the Genesys Voice platform and
SCXML applications and related resources that will be executed on the Orchestration platform.

Java Composer Projects can be deployed to any Web application server that meets the following minimum pre-requisites:

Application server should be J2EE 5 compliant.
Support for the JSP 2.1/Servlet 2.5 specification.

When considering a potential Web application server to use for a production deployment of Composer-generated applications, please refer to the vendor's documentation to ensure that the software meets these pre-requisites. In addition, you should run a few basic tests using a Composer sample application, to ensure that the application behaves as expected. For more details, please refer to the section See Suggested Test Plan.

For developing SCXML applications and related resources that will be executed on the Orchestration Server platform, only specific Web application servers are supported. Please refer to the Orchestration Server 8.1 Deployment Guide for more information.

Bundled Tomcat

Composer installs an embedded Tomcat 6.0 web server for your use (code generation and testing). Genesys does not recommend that you use this bundled Tomcat web server for deploying and running your Composer-generated applications as part of a production setup. You may use a separate instance of Tomcat 6.0 as a stand-alone web server, depending upon your needs and the recommendations of your IT department. For deployment of Composer-generated applications that use .NET resources, you can use any version of Microsoft IIS that is compatible with the Windows versions on which Composer is supported.

Web Application Server Configuration

For Composer's server-side pages to work effectively on your Web application server, some configuration changes are required.

Tomcat

See the following sections ahead:

Internet Information Server (IIS)

See the following sections ahead:

Suggested Test Plan

After configuring your Web application server as described above, you should run some basic tests. Here is a suggested testing approach:

Create a new Project based on Project templates supplied with Composer. The New Project Creation wizard will guide you through the process and show a list of Project templates to choose from. Choose a template Project depending on the Project type and feature(s). Note: If you are using both the voice and route features, Genesys recommends that you test both features by running two tests.

Composer Feature Not Using Databases Using Databases

Voice Business Logic Project Database Project

Route Routing Using Web Request Project Database Query Result Access Project
These sample Projects may require configuration to be done, which will be documented in the workflow or callflow diagram(s) in the Project template. Projects that access databases contain a readme.htm file in the doc folder that provides instructions on how to set up the database as well as SQL scripts that may be needed to set up the required database structure and populate tables with sample data.
Validate the diagrams in your Project and verify there are no errors. Generate the code for these diagrams.
Export the Project for deployment. See the Deployment book in the Composer Help for the steps.
Consult the documentation for your application server on how to deploy applications on it. Some application servers may require custom steps.
Once deployed successfully, make a test call to invoke the application. Verify the application behaves as expected. If it does not, check the configuration and Troubleshooting book in the Composer Help for more information.

Database Support

Composer 8.1 supports the following databases/servers:

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008. Note: When installing SQL Server, select SQL Server authentication (Composer does not support integrated Windows authentication).
Oracle 10g, R1 and Oracle 11g.

 Note: Before you can use database blocks in a .NET Composer Project for accessing an Oracle database, 
 you need to install and configure the Oracle client on the Composer machine. The Oracle client will be 
 required on any deployment machines as well where the application will run. As a test, after installing
 the client software you should be able to connect to the Oracle database from SQLPlus. Once that 
 works, database blocks in your .NET Composer Project should also be able to connect to your Oracle 
 database. For configuring Oracle client, please contact your Oracle database administrator. 
 Composer 8.1 has switched to an Oracle Provider from a Microsoft Provider for .NET Composer projects.

At design time, both Java Composer Projects and .NET Composer Projects use bundled JDBC drivers to connect to Oracle, which is why your query will work in the Query Builder in both types of Composer projects. At runtime, Composer .NET projects use OLEDB database drivers, which are installed as part of Microsoft.NET Framework. These are required on each IIS where .NET Composer Projects will be run or deployed.

Composer Java Projects use JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) drivers, which are bundled with Composer and are automatically installed with the software.
Java Composer Projects continue to use JDBC, while .NET Composer Projects use Microsoft’s OLEDB providers from the .NET Framework.

Speech Engines Supported

Composer supports all Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) engines that GVP 8.1 supports.

SIP Phones Supported

Composer supports the following SIP phones:

X-Lite 3.0 (recommended if you are connecting over a virtual private network)
Pingtel 2.4.3
SJphone version 1.65 or later
Express Talk 3.08 (recommended if you are using it on a Microsoft Remote Desktop connection)

Web Browsers Supported

Composer supports the following web browsers:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 and 8.0
Mozilla Firefox 6.0 or earlier

Third-Party Software Requirements

Composer requires the following third-party software on the computer on which Composer is installed:

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.5 (both are required for .NET Composer Projects)
Web Service Enhancements (WSE) 3.0 for Microsoft .NET. The WSE path must be specified in Composer’s IIS/.NET preferences before Composer .NET Projects can work.

Genesys Software Prerequisites

To obtain the full functionality of Composer 8.1, the following Genesys products/software components are required:

Orchestration Server 8.1.3 for debugging and testing SCXML session-based applications.
Genesys Voice Platform (GVP) Media Control Platform 8.1.6 for for video text overlay and Context Services authentication.
If you wish to use Context Services in routing workflows and voice callflows, you will need Universal Contact Server/Context Services 8.1,000,10+.
If you wish to use the Outbound blocks, you will need Outbound Contact Server 8.1.100.09+.
Genesys Rules System 8.1.0 or later for business logic, which can be customized, and then invoked by VXML and SCXML applications.

Minimum System Requirements

Genesys recommends the following:

Pentium 4 2GHz or comparable, 2 GB RAM or higher.

Minimum Screen Resolution

The minimum resolution for the Composer user interface is 1024x768 on a standard 4:3 aspect ratio monitor. The recommended resolution is 1280x1024. Lesser resolutions, such as 800x600, are not supported.