the first volume is the one you will use the most for understanding the
data model used by ofbiz. It explains things that are not explained any
other place. I suggest at least a cursory review so as you need info you
know where to go.
the second volume deals with specific industries and has lots of
modeling Ideas you may be able to use.
the third volume focuses more on business logic. though this was not
used in the original design it has some good things to be considered.
the most accurate modeling can be found in the webtools of the version
of ofbiz you are using.
https://demo-trunk.ofbiz.apache.org/webtools/control/entitymaint
or
https://demo-trunk.ofbiz.apache.org/webtools/control/entityref
and for documentation
http://ofbiz.apache.org/
and click on the documentation link.
=========================
BJ Freeman <http://bjfreeman.elance.com>
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation
<http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=52>
Specialtymarket.com <http://www.specialtymarket.com/>
Systems Integrator-- Glad to Assist
Chat Y! messenger: bjfr33man
Vadim Eisenberg sent the following on 9/3/2010 10:32 AM:
Hello BJ and other OfBiz developers,
I was not subscribed to the mailing list so I did not receive the answer
of BJ to my previous message -
http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/ofbiz-user/201009.mbox/%[email protected]%3e
. Because of that I cannot post a response to it. Secondly, I used a wrong
MIME in my previous message, so all the bullets and formatting were
missing. I am reposting the original message below in the right format
(any additional comments/opinions are welcome). In addition, my response
to BJ follows. Sorry for the mess I created.
Hi BJ,
Thank you for your prompt response. I think I've got the general idea. I
still would like to ask a question about learning OfBiz:
The three volumes of the data model book comprise about 1700 pages
together. Should I use the book as a reference or do I have to read all
the three volumes before starting my work on OfBiz ? Which parts of the
book are required before I begin my work ?
Thanks& Regards,
Vadim
My original message:
===========================================================================================================
Hello OfBiz developers,
My name is Vadim Eisenberg and I work at IBM Research - Haifa, on the
UniversAAL project - http://universaal.org/. It is a consortium European
project. Its goal is to create a platform for applications, services and
devices for Ambient Assisted Living, that is a kind of "Smart Home" for
senior citizens. As part of the platform, we - several software developers
- have to develop an e-commerce site - uStore
http://universaal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=9&Itemid=21
. This site would be a one-stop-shop for software, services and devices
for Ambient Assisted Living.
We consider using OfBiz for implementation of uStore.
I would like to ask you several questions about the features we want to
implement. I would be glad to hear any information you can tell me about
how hard could it be for us to implement these features. Please note that
we have no prior experience with OfBiz.
Any your thoughts, intuition, experience, advice about OfBiz/business
programming are welcome.
In particular, the following information would help us very much :
How much work should be done by us in order to implement all the features
that follow (Person/Months, Person/Years, for skilled OfBiz
developers/general software engineers). Which part would be to use
existing "extension" mechanisms of OfBiz and which part would be actually
changing the OfBiz code ? Here your intuition/experience from related
projects is welcome, we do not need exact numbers, just a ballpark.
How much time the general software developers have to learn about OfBiz
and how skilled in OfBiz they should become in order to implement these
features
E-commerce website features:
Using e-commerce site for selling software (such as AppStore of iPhone)
and downloadable files in general (video, presentations of courses etc.).
Here the issue is to manage links where the bought files could be
downloaded. The idea is to prevent a situation in which buyers would buy a
software application, receive a link to it for downloading and share the
link afterwards with anybody they want, so anybody would be able to
download the application without paying for it.
Using e-commerce site for selling services (human services and others)
Extending e-commerce site with general widgets, such as calendar, clock,
map, a widget for downloading files, etc., and integrating the widgets
with the OfBiz
Integration with other websites/services:
Integrating an e-commerce website with another (non-OfBiz backed) site -
adding possibility for sellers to add products to the e-commerce site via
the other site, to see customer feedback provided on the e-commerce site
via the other site
Integrating an e-commerce website with another (possibly non-OfBiz)
e-commerce website, such as eBay/Amazon. What are the current
possibilities of integration with eBay ?
Integrating an e-commerce website with post/delivery services/sites
Adding advanced features:
Adding support for signing business contracts between service consumers
and service providers, between providers of different services etc. via
the e-commerce site
Adding support for applying capability/requirement model, such as
JSR-124, (for example for matching between customer's requirements and
capabilities of software, devices and services). The customer or software
agent on behalf of the customer could provide his requirements as part of
his account information, and the e-commerce solution would match between
the products (according to their capabilities) and the requirements of the
customers.
Has OfBiz a recommendation engine (providing recommendations to a user
based on his activity - searches, purchases, reviews etc.) ? If no, how
hard would it be to add it ?
Can the OfBiz-based e-commerce web site be presented by browsers of smart
phones ? How hard would it be to enable it ?
Changing search/recommendations of OfBiz to be based on the requirements
of the customer
Changing search/recommendations of OfBiz to be based on the geolocation of
the customer
Adding support for customization of products/services and changes in the
prices according to the customization during the purchase process
Adding support for a composition solution of hardware, software and human
services (bundles, kits). A seller could compose a new product by
combining several existing products
Adding support for manual approval of products by site administrators
before submission of the products to the e-commerce site
Adding support for managing versions of the software applications that are
sold on the e-commerce website
Sorry for so many questions and sorry if some of them are out of context.
Best Regards,
Vadim
-------------------------------
Vadim Eisenberg
IT for Healthcare& Life Sciences
IBM Research - Haifa
