docs/asciidoc/user-manual.adoc - ofbiz-framework - Git at Google

 ////
 Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
 or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
 distributed with this work for additional information
 regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
 to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
 "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
 with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at

 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
 software distributed under the License is distributed on an
 "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
 KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
 specific language governing permissions and limitations
 under the License.
 ////
 = Apache OFBiz User Manual
 The Apache OFBiz Project
 :doctype: book
 :imagesdir: ./images
 ifdef::backend-pdf[]
 :title-logo-image: image::OFBiz-Logo.svg[Apache OFBiz Logo, pdfwidth=4.25in, align=center]
 :source-highlighter: rouge
 endif::[]

 image::https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache%202.0-blue.svg[link="http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0"]

 == Introduction to OFBiz

 Welcome to _Apache OFBiz_! A powerful top level Apache software project.
 OFBiz is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System written in Java and
 houses a large set of libraries, entities, services and features to run
 all aspects of your business.

 This manual will describe all aspects of this powerful ERP system. The manual
 starts with the basics of what OFBiz is and how it works, and describes high
 level concepts like the entity engine, service engine, widget system and so on.
 In addition the manual explains the core application of this framework like the
 Party Manager, Order Manager, Accounting system, and others.

 If you wish to contribute to OFBiz and help make it better, you may wish to read
 the "Apache OFBiz Developer Manual" for a deeper understanding of the
 architectural concepts of the framework.

 === What is Apache OFBiz

 It is hard to define OFBiz because it offers many different solutions targeted
 at different levels of interests (users, developers, business owners). At a low
 level it may considered a web framework, at another level, it may
 considered a full fledged ERP system, and yet it can also be considered a
 business automation suite.

 === The main parts of Apache OFBiz

 Perhaps to better understand what OFBiz is, it may be necessary to understand
 its main parts and the purpose that each part plays. Thus the main parts or
 sub-systems are summarized below.

 ==== Web MVC Framework

 The lowest or most foundational part of Apache OFBiz is a classical web MVC
 (Model View Controller) framework. This part of the system is designed for basic
 routing of web requests and may be considered as the infrastructure or plumbing
 where everything is wired together.

 ==== Entity Engine

 The entity engine allows OFBiz users to define entities, data, and queries in a
 database-independent domain specific language (DSL) based on XML. Thus, without
 learning any SQL users can create and interact with databases in a
 platform-independent manner and Apache OFBiz would make the translations under
 the hood to each database system.

 ==== Service Engine

 Apache OFBiz is designed specifically around a Service Oriented Architecture
 (SOA). Services are units of business logic that take a set of input values and
 produces a set of output values.

 Services are programming-language-independent. It does not matter whether a
 service is implemented using Java, Groovy, Jython, or something else because
 services are an abstraction away from the underlying technology. This provides
 maximum flexibility for designing business logic without worrying about
 interoperability between different languages.

 ==== Widget System

 Whether the output is HTML, CSV, PDF, or something else, Apache OFBiz provides a
 system for creating user interface that is independent of the actual
 implementation. This makes it possible to publish the same widget to HTML, PDF,
 CSV or some other output format.

 However, the widget system allows users, if needed, to drop down to any
 platform-specific code and mix it with widget designs, thus providing a mix
 between ease of use, platform independence and customizability.

 ==== Data Model Library

 Apache OFBiz is heavily inspired by a book called the "The Data Model Resource
 Book". This book provides a "A Library of Universal Data Models for All
 Enterprises". These models cover things like parties, orders, invoices,
 payments, general ledgers, quotes and much more.

 By using OFBiz, adopters start with a full pre-designed data model that covers
 common and universal business requirements. Hundreds of entities are defined
 which save many hours of thinking, designing, and testing such models.

 It is important to note that the data model library does not only cover
 entities, but also the data that comes with these entities. Data is further
 categorized by function (seed, demo, etc ...)

 ==== Service Library

 Having a rich and powerful data model is not very useful on its own without
 services that apply business logic on this data model. That is where the
 services defined in Apache OFBiz come into play.

 OFBiz provides, out-of-the-box, thousands of services to create, retrieve,
 update, delete, search, and do many other operations on the data model.

 ==== Core Applications

 The <<CORE_APPLICATION_COMPONENTS,core applications>> in Apache OFBiz are web applications that serve common
 business needs found in most enterprises such as accounting, order management,
 party management and so on.

 These core applications are built on top of the data model and service library
 earlier described. The <<CORE_APPLICATION_COMPONENTS,core applications>> are further described in the relevant
 section.

 ==== Plugins

 OFBiz extends any basic functionality through plugins. Plugins are very similar
 to the core applications in design and structure, but are not shipped with
 OFBiz by default. Thus to install a plugin a user must add it to the framework
 first.

 include::_include/OFBizDocumentationSystem.adoc[leveloffset=+2]

 include::../../README.adoc[tags=quickstart]

 include::../../applications/commonext/src/docs/asciidoc/ofbiz-setup.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 = Core Business Applications

 Most businesses share universal needs. They require accounting functionality,
 managing customers, placing orders, book-keeping, invoicing and so on.

 OFBiz is designed so that such basic universal business needs are available
 through a set of core business applications. These applications all share a
 unified data-model with a set of unified services to implement this
 functionality.

 This section of the manual will describe each core business application
 starting with a high level overview of design and purpose down to the details
 of how to achieve common tasks.

 include::../../applications/party/src/docs/asciidoc/party.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/product/src/docs/asciidoc/product.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/product/src/docs/asciidoc/facility.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/order/src/docs/asciidoc/order.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/accounting/src/docs/asciidoc/accounting.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/content/src/docs/asciidoc/content.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/manufacturing/src/docs/asciidoc/manufacturing.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/marketing/src/docs/asciidoc/sfa.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/humanres/src/docs/asciidoc/humanres.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 include::../../applications/marketing/src/docs/asciidoc/marketing.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

 ////
 webtools help should be remove when global glossary exist, and contain a link to developer-manual#webtools
 ////
 === Web tools
 The Webtools application is the UI-gateway to all the framework functions.

 include::../../framework/webtools/src/docs/asciidoc/_include/webtools-main.adoc[leveloffset=+3]
 // Plugins Business Applications

 include::../../plugins/docs/asciidoc/plugins-user-manual.adoc[leveloffset=+0]

 include::_include/ofbiz-glossary.adoc[leveloffset=+1]
	////
	Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
	or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
	distributed with this work for additional information
	regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
	to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
	"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
	with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

	Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
	software distributed under the License is distributed on an
	"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
	KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
	specific language governing permissions and limitations
	under the License.
	////
	= Apache OFBiz User Manual
	The Apache OFBiz Project
	:doctype: book
	:imagesdir: ./images
	ifdef::backend-pdf[]
	:title-logo-image: image::OFBiz-Logo.svg[Apache OFBiz Logo, pdfwidth=4.25in, align=center]
	:source-highlighter: rouge
	endif::[]

	image::https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache%202.0-blue.svg[link="http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0"]

	== Introduction to OFBiz

	Welcome to _Apache OFBiz_! A powerful top level Apache software project.
	OFBiz is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System written in Java and
	houses a large set of libraries, entities, services and features to run
	all aspects of your business.

	This manual will describe all aspects of this powerful ERP system. The manual
	starts with the basics of what OFBiz is and how it works, and describes high
	level concepts like the entity engine, service engine, widget system and so on.
	In addition the manual explains the core application of this framework like the
	Party Manager, Order Manager, Accounting system, and others.

	If you wish to contribute to OFBiz and help make it better, you may wish to read
	the "Apache OFBiz Developer Manual" for a deeper understanding of the
	architectural concepts of the framework.

	=== What is Apache OFBiz

	It is hard to define OFBiz because it offers many different solutions targeted
	at different levels of interests (users, developers, business owners). At a low
	level it may considered a web framework, at another level, it may
	considered a full fledged ERP system, and yet it can also be considered a
	business automation suite.

	=== The main parts of Apache OFBiz

	Perhaps to better understand what OFBiz is, it may be necessary to understand
	its main parts and the purpose that each part plays. Thus the main parts or
	sub-systems are summarized below.

	==== Web MVC Framework

	The lowest or most foundational part of Apache OFBiz is a classical web MVC
	(Model View Controller) framework. This part of the system is designed for basic
	routing of web requests and may be considered as the infrastructure or plumbing
	where everything is wired together.

	==== Entity Engine

	The entity engine allows OFBiz users to define entities, data, and queries in a
	database-independent domain specific language (DSL) based on XML. Thus, without
	learning any SQL users can create and interact with databases in a
	platform-independent manner and Apache OFBiz would make the translations under
	the hood to each database system.

	==== Service Engine

	Apache OFBiz is designed specifically around a Service Oriented Architecture
	(SOA). Services are units of business logic that take a set of input values and
	produces a set of output values.

	Services are programming-language-independent. It does not matter whether a
	service is implemented using Java, Groovy, Jython, or something else because
	services are an abstraction away from the underlying technology. This provides
	maximum flexibility for designing business logic without worrying about
	interoperability between different languages.

	==== Widget System

	Whether the output is HTML, CSV, PDF, or something else, Apache OFBiz provides a
	system for creating user interface that is independent of the actual
	implementation. This makes it possible to publish the same widget to HTML, PDF,
	CSV or some other output format.

	However, the widget system allows users, if needed, to drop down to any
	platform-specific code and mix it with widget designs, thus providing a mix
	between ease of use, platform independence and customizability.

	==== Data Model Library

	Apache OFBiz is heavily inspired by a book called the "The Data Model Resource
	Book". This book provides a "A Library of Universal Data Models for All
	Enterprises". These models cover things like parties, orders, invoices,
	payments, general ledgers, quotes and much more.

	By using OFBiz, adopters start with a full pre-designed data model that covers
	common and universal business requirements. Hundreds of entities are defined
	which save many hours of thinking, designing, and testing such models.

	It is important to note that the data model library does not only cover
	entities, but also the data that comes with these entities. Data is further
	categorized by function (seed, demo, etc ...)

	==== Service Library

	Having a rich and powerful data model is not very useful on its own without
	services that apply business logic on this data model. That is where the
	services defined in Apache OFBiz come into play.

	OFBiz provides, out-of-the-box, thousands of services to create, retrieve,
	update, delete, search, and do many other operations on the data model.

	==== Core Applications

	The <<CORE_APPLICATION_COMPONENTS,core applications>> in Apache OFBiz are web applications that serve common
	business needs found in most enterprises such as accounting, order management,
	party management and so on.

	These core applications are built on top of the data model and service library
	earlier described. The <<CORE_APPLICATION_COMPONENTS,core applications>> are further described in the relevant
	section.

	==== Plugins

	OFBiz extends any basic functionality through plugins. Plugins are very similar
	to the core applications in design and structure, but are not shipped with
	OFBiz by default. Thus to install a plugin a user must add it to the framework
	first.

	include::_include/OFBizDocumentationSystem.adoc[leveloffset=+2]

	include::../../README.adoc[tags=quickstart]

	include::../../applications/commonext/src/docs/asciidoc/ofbiz-setup.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	= Core Business Applications

	Most businesses share universal needs. They require accounting functionality,
	managing customers, placing orders, book-keeping, invoicing and so on.

	OFBiz is designed so that such basic universal business needs are available
	through a set of core business applications. These applications all share a
	unified data-model with a set of unified services to implement this
	functionality.

	This section of the manual will describe each core business application
	starting with a high level overview of design and purpose down to the details
	of how to achieve common tasks.

	include::../../applications/party/src/docs/asciidoc/party.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/product/src/docs/asciidoc/product.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/product/src/docs/asciidoc/facility.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/order/src/docs/asciidoc/order.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/accounting/src/docs/asciidoc/accounting.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/content/src/docs/asciidoc/content.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/manufacturing/src/docs/asciidoc/manufacturing.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/marketing/src/docs/asciidoc/sfa.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/humanres/src/docs/asciidoc/humanres.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	include::../../applications/marketing/src/docs/asciidoc/marketing.adoc[leveloffset=+1]

	////
	webtools help should be remove when global glossary exist, and contain a link to developer-manual#webtools
	////
	=== Web tools
	The Webtools application is the UI-gateway to all the framework functions.

	include::../../framework/webtools/src/docs/asciidoc/_include/webtools-main.adoc[leveloffset=+3]
	// Plugins Business Applications

	include::../../plugins/docs/asciidoc/plugins-user-manual.adoc[leveloffset=+0]

	include::_include/ofbiz-glossary.adoc[leveloffset=+1]