OFBiz Tutorial - Custom Components with Apache OFBiz

OFBiz Tutorial series highlighting custom components. OFBiz offers many powerful features which will streamline your enterprise eCommerce solution. With Apache OFBiz, each aspect of the eCommerce experience is looked at from the side of the developer as well as the consumer in order to deliver a well rounded interface that is easy to use.

Custom Copmponents - OFBiz Tutorials

In this post we will use a custom component/application named “hwm” that is deployed in OFBiz for our exercises.

An OFBiz component is essentially a folder that contains a .xml file named "ofbiz-component.xml". This file explains the resources loaded and required by the component.

OFBiz Components - OFBiz Tutorials

• Framework Components: These are lower level components providing a technical layer and tools to the application components. These components include the following features: data layer, business logic layer, transaction handling, data source pools, etc.
• Application Components: Application components are generic ERP applications that can be used as they are or customized to meet demands for product, ordering, manufacturing, accounting, etc. These components have access to the services and tools provided by the framework components as well as services published by other application components.
• Special Purpose Components: Like the application components, they are special purpose applications, e.g. ecommerce, Google Base integration, eBay integration and so on.
  
• Hot-Deploy Components: This is an empty folder where you can place custom components. Custom components can be given access to resources published by other components as well as the ability to extend or override these resources.
  

Prerequisites - OFBiz Tutorials

• JDK 1.6 is properly installed and the JAVA_HOME environment variable is correctly set. Java can be downloaded by following going to this url: java.sun.com
  
• An svn client. svn client is installed in your system (needed to checkout the latest OFBiz sources); you can freely download an svn client from tigris.org

Setting up the sandbox - OFBiz Tutorial

1. Download the OFBiz source files from the official OFBiz SVN Respository (this step can take some time and requires access to the Internet): “svn co http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/ofbiz/trunk ofbiz”.
2. Go to the newly created folder called: “cd ofbiz”
3. Run the ant task to create a standard OFBiz component: “./ant create-component”.
   
4. Build OFBiz and load the demo data: “./ant run-install”.
5. Run OFBiz: “./ant run”.

Now that OFBiz and your custom applications are up, point your browser to: "http://localhost:8o8o/hwm".

Login into the custom “hwm” application with username “admin” and password “ofbiz”.

Create-Component Script - OFBiz Tutorial

Although you can manually create a hot-deploy component, the preferred method is to run the ant task "create component". This will create a layout using OFBiz practices which allows better integration with existing OFBiz components such as:

• Entities (the data model)
• Services (business logic)
• Widgets (user interface elements like screens, forms, menus)
• Security (authentication and authorization)
• Localization
• Tools

This also keeps your custom code seperate from OFBiz code which will come in handy when you need to update your custom applications with new OFBiz versions. By simply writing code into your custom component, you can extend, override or customize specific OFBiz entities, services, screens, etc., as well as any new ones that you add.

Definitions - OFBiz Tutorials

• Component Name: this is the name of the component (and also of the folder that will contain it, created in the hot-deploy folder). following OFBiz’s naming conventions, it should be a single word all lowercased (e.g. hwm).
• Component Resource Name: This is used as a prefix for resources. Use the component name, possibly using an upper case character for the first character in the words (e.g. Hwm).
• Webapp Name: this is the name and uri of the application in which the ui for the new component will be implemented. Following OFBiz’s naming conventions, it should be a single word all lowercased (e.g. hwm).
• Base Permission: this is the prefix for base security permissions; following OFBiz’s naming conventions, it should be a single word all uppercased this time (e.g. HWM).

Now we have the ability to start procticing with the development based on the OFBiz framework. This component will help you perform exercises that will generate a better understanding of OFBiz overall.

Enterprise eCommerce is a powerful tool for your business to utilize. Apache OFBiz makes that tool available to any business large or small and as you can see from this post and others like it, OFBiz is highly flexible for any type of deployment you may be interested in. For more detailed information on this post visit http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/ofbiz-tutorial-custom-components-in-ofbiz/.

OFBiz Tutorials, Dependent Select Boxes using Prototype

Enterprise eCommerce is a rapidly growing industry. Apache OFBiz and it's developers are dedicated to adapting and improving as the spectrum of eCommerce broadens. Developers will continue to create and post OFBiz tutorial pages so that users can easily have questions answered and effectively use the platform.

This OFBiz tutorial will cover building out dependent select boxes using prototype. Today's web developers face the challenge of needing to create a contemporary user interface that lives up the expectations of web designers and end users. In these OFBiz tutorials we discuss options for keeping your interface modern using dependent select boxes.

Dependent Select Boxes | OFBiz Tutorial

Dependent class allows you to link two select boxes in a parent child relationship. Any two select boxes can be linked:

1. Parent select box options should have unique value of title attribute.
2. On child select box, class attribute of options should be set to title of their parent.
3. In javascript Create new Dependent object by passing child and parent select boxes.

The goal is to build a dependent select box that will work in complex enterprise eCommerce application scenarios. A nonstandard case is when the value of a parent select box value is change by background code. It gets even more complex when select boxes are disabled. Good news is, our dependent class is smart enough to deal with just about any scenario that may come up.

Using the Prototype Javascript framework with it's AOP like ability, it has a AOP like ability, we can modify behavior of existing code by wrapping function inside of a custom wrapper function. A Prototype function wrap is applied to the set-Value function on Element to handle the background select value changes and disabled select box value change.

You can download the component from https://code.google.com/p/ue-protoui/. To view code for this exercise visit http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/ofbiz-tutorial-dependent-selects-for-prototype/ at HotWax Media.

OFBiz Tutorial - What is Enterprise eCommerce?

OFBiz tutorial pages are a great way to learn about Apache OFBiz and what it can do for your Enterprise eCommerce platform... so what are the fundamentals of Enterprise eCommerce and why do forward thinking businesses in the 21st century need an Enterprise eCommerce platform?

Plainly put, Enterprise eCommerce is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. Aspects of what OFBiz and enterprise eCommerce can offer are:

• Virtual storefronts on websites with online catalogs, interactive shopping experiences, etc. This is a store that is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Since the advent of eCommerce, Companies that have OFBiz storefronts set up have seen an exponential increase in sales and profits. With new integrations of mobile devices, more people are able to shop anywhere, anytime, which makes your products available to ever increasing demographics.
  
• The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts and other algorithms built into Apache OFBiz. It has been widely recognized that because of the interactive nature of the Internet, companies are able to gather data about prospects and customers in ways that have never been available before. Site registration, questionnaires, etc., all act as avenues for market research.
  
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the business-to-business exchange of data. This allows companies using OFBiz to easily and safely echange purchase data, shipping data, etc. with 3rd party companies that they are in cooperation with.
  
• Email, instant messaging and social networking as media for reaching prospects and established customers. Many enterprise eCommerce companies choose and "opt in" option for email and other social networking promotions. This is an option in which Web users voluntarily sign up to receive email, usually sponsored or containing ads, about product categories or other subjects they are interested in.
• Business-to-business buying and selling. Businesses aren't interested in going to the mall for their products. They want lightening quick deliveries from suppliers and vendors. Enterprise eCommerce and Apache OFBiz give just that option. Supplies can be re-ordered at any time with extreme ease. With OFBiz, order history and inventory are all readily available making re-ordering efficient and painless.
• The security of business transactions. Security includes authenticating business transactors, controlling access to resources such as Web pages for registered or selected users, encrypting communications, and, in general, ensuring the privacy and effectiveness of transactions. OFBiz interacts with trusted companies such as Pay Pal and Google Checkout ensuring that relevant data is encrypted and secured.

Enterprise eCommerce offered by HotWax Media offers a wide variety of OFBiz Tutorials explaining all aspects of the software. They have extensive experience implementing eCommerce platforms with OFBiz and are happy to help with any questions you may have.

OFBiz tutorials, Contegix and OFBiz management

OFBiz tutorials are a fantastic way to broaden your knowledge of OFBiz and enterprise eCommerce. Whether you're looking to move to the Apache OFBiz platform or already a user, OFBiz tutorials help you to understand the platform and why OFBiz is the industry leader.

Managed hosting is an important part of your OFBiz experience. Hotwax Media partners with Contegix (managed hosting). In this OFBiz tutorial we'll discuss how Hotwax and Contegix manage OFBiz installations.

1. It all starts with infrastructure Support | OFBiz Tutorial

Contegix has implemented just about anything you can think of. They have never shied away from a difficult setup request and in fact they generally improve on proposed architecture and give it the same attention they give to their own development projects. The company was built by developers so they are well versed in thinking out of the box and offer valuable insight to any solution you may be interested in.

2. Deployment Matters | OFBiz Tutorial

Hotwax has seen OFBiz development go through many phases over the years from using a vendor branch per customer, to using only the trunk with patches to custom pieces of the code, to working directly off of releases, to using a single vendor branch for all customers, and so on. Because of OFBiz's flexibility and adaptation, I am sure this will continue to change as we develop software. Contegix manages ALL of our staging and production deployments which reduces any confusion or crossed lines as phases of OFBiz are streamlined or modified.

Hotwax provides them with URLs to the branch, trunk, version, etc of OFBiz – and our components – and they not only maintain the files necessary to run the framework (entity-engine configuration, ofbiz-containers, etc), but they do this across the variety of deployment styles and individual instances that were put in place along the way. Contegix works directly with our OFBiz engineers to make sure that there is continuity between our work and theirs.

3. Expert, knowledgeable 24 x 7 Support | OFBiz Tutorials

There are many developers that can do minimal support, but if you really want to feel certain that any catastrophic disaster can be handled your developer needs to have the expertise and willingness to fix any problem. Contegix employs experienced developers who know their tools better than just about anyone. Add in the fact that they are monitoring your application all the time and can preempt your customers from noticing any glitches in the system. This type of proactive support is what sets them apart.

Enterprise eCommerce is the answer to moving your company seamlessly into this electronic age of business.