OFBiz Integration

[James Hargreaves-2]

Hi

I have been asked to look into a proposed integration with the OFBiz product
on a website I am working on. However, I cannot determine from your
documentation what form the integration should take.

Do you provide the entire web-authoring service or am I able to access your
services through some API?

The site is currently published in plain HTML, but I am considering a switch
to Perl or Ruby on Rails. Do you support this development environment?

Thanks
Jay

[Torsten Schlabach-2]

Hi Jay!

IMO it heavily depends on what exactly you mean by "integration". I know that people will probably ask you the question as fuzzy as you are asking it here, so it might make sense to sort out what's the goal, then check available technologies.

OFBiz does not come with any out of the box integration kind of tools and I think it might be somewhat misleading that there are some portions in OFBiz which are called CMS. OFBiz definitely isn't a general purpose CMS at all.

Can you provide some details on what you are looking at in terms of integration?

Regards,
Torsten


-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:42:33 +0100
Von: "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
An: [hidden email]
Betreff: OFBiz Integration

> Hi
>
> I have been asked to look into a proposed integration with the OFBiz
> product
> on a website I am working on. However, I cannot determine from your
> documentation what form the integration should take.
>
> Do you provide the entire web-authoring service or am I able to access
> your
> services through some API?
>
> The site is currently published in plain HTML, but I am considering a
> switch
> to Perl or Ruby on Rails. Do you support this development environment?
>
> Thanks
> Jay

[James Hargreaves-2]

Hi Torsten

Thanks for your reply. I think the client is after a stock control system
and online shop, which will be linked together. I don't know much about
OFBiz - it seems it can do this but I don't know a) what kind of application
OFBiz is, even what language (Java, Perl, etc) it is written in b) what kind
of hosting is required c) what kind of back-end DB is required or if OFBiz
uses an internal storage format.

Ideally I would like to design and develop the shop myself and link into
OFBiz to retrieve a list of products I should display - the stock control
can then all be handed off to OFBiz. But I don't know how realistic this is.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Jay

On 8/10/07, Torsten Schlabach <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> Hi Jay!
>
> IMO it heavily depends on what exactly you mean by "integration". I know
> that people will probably ask you the question as fuzzy as you are asking it
> here, so it might make sense to sort out what's the goal, then check
> available technologies.
>
> OFBiz does not come with any out of the box integration kind of tools and
> I think it might be somewhat misleading that there are some portions in
> OFBiz which are called CMS. OFBiz definitely isn't a general purpose CMS at
> all.
>
> Can you provide some details on what you are looking at in terms of
> integration?
>
> Regards,
> Torsten
>
>
> -------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:42:33 +0100
> Von: "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
> An: [hidden email]
> Betreff: OFBiz Integration
>
> > Hi
> >
> > I have been asked to look into a proposed integration with the OFBiz
> > product
> > on a website I am working on. However, I cannot determine from your
> > documentation what form the integration should take.
> >
> > Do you provide the entire web-authoring service or am I able to access
> > your
> > services through some API?
> >
> > The site is currently published in plain HTML, but I am considering a
> > switch
> > to Perl or Ruby on Rails. Do you support this development environment?
> >
> > Thanks
> > Jay
>

--
a: 1 Oak Cottage, Town Lane, Mobberley, WA16 7HJ
t: 01565 873 019 | 07899 872 306
e: [hidden email]

[Jacques Le Roux]

Might be interesting : http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/Is+OFBiz+for+Me

Jacques

De : "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>

> Hi Torsten
>
> Thanks for your reply. I think the client is after a stock control system
> and online shop, which will be linked together. I don't know much about
> OFBiz - it seems it can do this but I don't know a) what kind of application
> OFBiz is, even what language (Java, Perl, etc) it is written in b) what kind
> of hosting is required c) what kind of back-end DB is required or if OFBiz
> uses an internal storage format.
>
> Ideally I would like to design and develop the shop myself and link into
> OFBiz to retrieve a list of products I should display - the stock control
> can then all be handed off to OFBiz. But I don't know how realistic this is.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
> Jay
>
> On 8/10/07, Torsten Schlabach <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Jay!
> >
> > IMO it heavily depends on what exactly you mean by "integration". I know
> > that people will probably ask you the question as fuzzy as you are asking it
> > here, so it might make sense to sort out what's the goal, then check
> > available technologies.
> >
> > OFBiz does not come with any out of the box integration kind of tools and
> > I think it might be somewhat misleading that there are some portions in
> > OFBiz which are called CMS. OFBiz definitely isn't a general purpose CMS at
> > all.
> >
> > Can you provide some details on what you are looking at in terms of
> > integration?
> >
> > Regards,
> > Torsten
> >
> >
> > -------- Original-Nachricht --------
> > Datum: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:42:33 +0100
> > Von: "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
> > An: [hidden email]
> > Betreff: OFBiz Integration
> >
> > > Hi
> > >
> > > I have been asked to look into a proposed integration with the OFBiz
> > > product
> > > on a website I am working on. However, I cannot determine from your
> > > documentation what form the integration should take.
> > >
> > > Do you provide the entire web-authoring service or am I able to access
> > > your
> > > services through some API?
> > >
> > > The site is currently published in plain HTML, but I am considering a
> > > switch
> > > to Perl or Ruby on Rails. Do you support this development environment?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > Jay
> >
>
>
>
> --
> a: 1 Oak Cottage, Town Lane, Mobberley, WA16 7HJ
> t: 01565 873 019 | 07899 872 306
> e: [hidden email]
>

[James Hargreaves-2]

Thanks Jacques!

However, I've read through the document you linked to and all I have really
discovered is that OFBiz can almost certainly do what I want - but it
doesn't really tell me how!

For instance, will OFBiz replace the shop and cart facility that my client
already has in place, or will I need to re-write this code to enable me to
serve the product details stored in OFBiz through the shop? I am just trying
to understand where OFBiz lies in the structure of the application - is IT
the application, or does it provide methods by which I can write an
application around IT? Or both??

Thanks
Jay

On 8/10/07, Jacques Le Roux <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> Might be interesting : http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/Is+OFBiz+for+Me
>
> Jacques
>
> De : "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
> > Hi Torsten
> >
> > Thanks for your reply. I think the client is after a stock control
> system
> > and online shop, which will be linked together. I don't know much about
> > OFBiz - it seems it can do this but I don't know a) what kind of
> application
> > OFBiz is, even what language (Java, Perl, etc) it is written in b) what
> kind
> > of hosting is required c) what kind of back-end DB is required or if
> OFBiz
> > uses an internal storage format.
> >
> > Ideally I would like to design and develop the shop myself and link into
> > OFBiz to retrieve a list of products I should display - the stock
> control
> > can then all be handed off to OFBiz. But I don't know how realistic this
> is.
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Jay
> >
> > On 8/10/07, Torsten Schlabach <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Jay!
> > >
> > > IMO it heavily depends on what exactly you mean by "integration". I
> know
> > > that people will probably ask you the question as fuzzy as you are
> asking it
> > > here, so it might make sense to sort out what's the goal, then check
> > > available technologies.
> > >
> > > OFBiz does not come with any out of the box integration kind of tools
> and
> > > I think it might be somewhat misleading that there are some portions
> in
> > > OFBiz which are called CMS. OFBiz definitely isn't a general purpose
> CMS at
> > > all.
> > >
> > > Can you provide some details on what you are looking at in terms of
> > > integration?
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Torsten
> > >
> > >
> > > -------- Original-Nachricht --------
> > > Datum: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:42:33 +0100
> > > Von: "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
> > > An: [hidden email]
> > > Betreff: OFBiz Integration
> > >
> > > > Hi
> > > >
> > > > I have been asked to look into a proposed integration with the OFBiz
> > > > product
> > > > on a website I am working on. However, I cannot determine from your
> > > > documentation what form the integration should take.
> > > >
> > > > Do you provide the entire web-authoring service or am I able to
> access
> > > > your
> > > > services through some API?
> > > >
> > > > The site is currently published in plain HTML, but I am considering
> a
> > > > switch
> > > > to Perl or Ruby on Rails. Do you support this development
> environment?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks
> > > > Jay
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > a: 1 Oak Cottage, Town Lane, Mobberley, WA16 7HJ
> > t: 01565 873 019 | 07899 872 306
> > e: [hidden email]
> >
>

--
a: 1 Oak Cottage, Town Lane, Mobberley, WA16 7HJ
t: 01565 873 019 | 07899 872 306
e: [hidden email]

[Torsten Schlabach-2]

> I am just trying to understand where OFBiz lies in the structure of the
> application - is IT the application, or does it provide methods by which
> I can write an application around IT? Or both??

Both. Depending on what you want to achieve.

You've got two options:

Option 1:

The OFBiz shop (eCommerce app) is your site. In that case, you will want your customer's look and feel, not the default one. This can be achieved by modifying the CSS stylesheets as well as the decorators used in the OFBiz screeens. Through that, if you familiarize yourself with the OFBiz widgets toolkit as well as with FreeMarker templates, you have full control not only over colors and fonts, but also over layout, you can switch elements on and off, etc.

Option 2:

You are looking for a blended site, i.e. you have a website and you are looking to "embed" OFBiz into it. This would be the way to go in case your site is a lot more than just the shop or in case you are looking for a way to present the products which is entirely different from the catalog model that OFBiz implements.

In that case you have to decide if you treat OFBiz as an Engine (using SOAP webservices mostly) and write a complete new frontend for it. That would mean serious web application development; this is no longer web design.

A way in between would be to juggle with URLs a bit and have the site at

www.site.com

and OFBiz at

shop.site.com

You could then create links from the non-OFBiz portion of your site into the shop. OFBiz does support deep links to individual products, for example. But this will still mean you should edit the decorator for OFBiz so it matches the look and feel of the rest of your site as visitors will be dragged into the OFBiz application screens when they checkout or check their order status, for example.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Torsten


-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:41:30 +0100
Von: "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
An: [hidden email]
Betreff: Re: OFBiz Integration

> Thanks Jacques!
>
> However, I've read through the document you linked to and all I have
> really
> discovered is that OFBiz can almost certainly do what I want - but it
> doesn't really tell me how!
>
> For instance, will OFBiz replace the shop and cart facility that my client
> already has in place, or will I need to re-write this code to enable me to
> serve the product details stored in OFBiz through the shop? I am just
> trying
> to understand where OFBiz lies in the structure of the application - is IT
> the application, or does it provide methods by which I can write an
> application around IT? Or both??
>
> Thanks
> Jay
>
> On 8/10/07, Jacques Le Roux <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> > Might be interesting :
> http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/Is+OFBiz+for+Me
> >
> > Jacques
> >
> > De : "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
> > > Hi Torsten
> > >
> > > Thanks for your reply. I think the client is after a stock control
> > system
> > > and online shop, which will be linked together. I don't know much
> about
> > > OFBiz - it seems it can do this but I don't know a) what kind of
> > application
> > > OFBiz is, even what language (Java, Perl, etc) it is written in b)
> what
> > kind
> > > of hosting is required c) what kind of back-end DB is required or if
> > OFBiz
> > > uses an internal storage format.
> > >
> > > Ideally I would like to design and develop the shop myself and link
> into
> > > OFBiz to retrieve a list of products I should display - the stock
> > control
> > > can then all be handed off to OFBiz. But I don't know how realistic
> this
> > is.
> > >
> > > Any help would be appreciated.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > Jay
> > >
> > > On 8/10/07, Torsten Schlabach <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hi Jay!
> > > >
> > > > IMO it heavily depends on what exactly you mean by "integration". I
> > know
> > > > that people will probably ask you the question as fuzzy as you are
> > asking it
> > > > here, so it might make sense to sort out what's the goal, then check
> > > > available technologies.
> > > >
> > > > OFBiz does not come with any out of the box integration kind of
> tools
> > and
> > > > I think it might be somewhat misleading that there are some portions
> > in
> > > > OFBiz which are called CMS. OFBiz definitely isn't a general purpose
> > CMS at
> > > > all.
> > > >
> > > > Can you provide some details on what you are looking at in terms of
> > > > integration?
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Torsten
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -------- Original-Nachricht --------
> > > > Datum: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:42:33 +0100
> > > > Von: "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
> > > > An: [hidden email]
> > > > Betreff: OFBiz Integration
> > > >
> > > > > Hi
> > > > >
> > > > > I have been asked to look into a proposed integration with the
> OFBiz
> > > > > product
> > > > > on a website I am working on. However, I cannot determine from
> your
> > > > > documentation what form the integration should take.
> > > > >
> > > > > Do you provide the entire web-authoring service or am I able to
> > access
> > > > > your
> > > > > services through some API?
> > > > >
> > > > > The site is currently published in plain HTML, but I am
> considering
> > a
> > > > > switch
> > > > > to Perl or Ruby on Rails. Do you support this development
> > environment?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks
> > > > > Jay
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > a: 1 Oak Cottage, Town Lane, Mobberley, WA16 7HJ
> > > t: 01565 873 019 | 07899 872 306
> > > e: [hidden email]
> > >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> a: 1 Oak Cottage, Town Lane, Mobberley, WA16 7HJ
> t: 01565 873 019 | 07899 872 306
> e: [hidden email]

[James Hargreaves-2]

Thanks Torsten - that is VERY helpful and I think it has helped me to a
conclusion.

The OFBiz shop (eCommerce app) is your site. In that case, you will want
> your customer's look and feel, not the default one. This can be achieved by
> modifying the CSS stylesheets as well as the decorators used in the OFBiz
> screeens. Through that, if you familiarize yourself with the OFBiz widgets
> toolkit as well as with FreeMarker templates, you have full control not only
> over colors and fonts, but also over layout, you can switch elements on and
> off, etc.


I think this sounds like the best option. But how do I get the OFBiz app up
and running? Are there companies who specialize in hosting the app? I've
never heard of FreeMarker before, but I've found it on sourceforge and it
seems fairly straightforward and not unlike many other templating mechanisms
I have used, mostly in Perl.

You are looking for a blended site, i.e. you have a website and you are
> looking to "embed" OFBiz into it. This would be the way to go in case your
> site is a lot more than just the shop or in case you are looking for a way
> to present the products which is entirely different from the catalog model
> that OFBiz implements.


I don't think this is necessary, as you suggest this is only required if the
shop is only a small part of the site. I think in the case I speak of the
shop IS the site.

In that case you have to decide if you treat OFBiz as an Engine (using SOAP
> webservices mostly) and write a complete new frontend for it. That would
> mean serious web application development; this is no longer web design.


I'm not troubled by this idea, having designed and used SOAP webservices a
lot before. However, as discussed above, I don't think this is necessary - I
think your first option will do the job.

So, I guess my next question is, where can I see a demo? And how do I get
started in setting up the site shop?

Thanks
Jay

[Adrian Crum]

There are links to demo sites on the OFBiz home page.

James Hargreaves wrote:

> Thanks Torsten - that is VERY helpful and I think it has helped me to a
> conclusion.
>
> The OFBiz shop (eCommerce app) is your site. In that case, you will want
>
>>your customer's look and feel, not the default one. This can be achieved by
>>modifying the CSS stylesheets as well as the decorators used in the OFBiz
>>screeens. Through that, if you familiarize yourself with the OFBiz widgets
>>toolkit as well as with FreeMarker templates, you have full control not only
>>over colors and fonts, but also over layout, you can switch elements on and
>>off, etc.
>
>
>
> I think this sounds like the best option. But how do I get the OFBiz app up
> and running? Are there companies who specialize in hosting the app? I've
> never heard of FreeMarker before, but I've found it on sourceforge and it
> seems fairly straightforward and not unlike many other templating mechanisms
> I have used, mostly in Perl.
>
> You are looking for a blended site, i.e. you have a website and you are
>
>>looking to "embed" OFBiz into it. This would be the way to go in case your
>>site is a lot more than just the shop or in case you are looking for a way
>>to present the products which is entirely different from the catalog model
>>that OFBiz implements.
>
>
>
> I don't think this is necessary, as you suggest this is only required if the
> shop is only a small part of the site. I think in the case I speak of the
> shop IS the site.
>
> In that case you have to decide if you treat OFBiz as an Engine (using SOAP
>
>>webservices mostly) and write a complete new frontend for it. That would
>>mean serious web application development; this is no longer web design.
>
>
>
> I'm not troubled by this idea, having designed and used SOAP webservices a
> lot before. However, as discussed above, I don't think this is necessary - I
> think your first option will do the job.
>
> So, I guess my next question is, where can I see a demo? And how do I get
> started in setting up the site shop?
>
> Thanks
> Jay
>

[Torsten Schlabach-2]

> But how do I get the OFBiz app up and running?
> Are there companies who specialize in hosting the app?

Yes. In case you are really looking for hosting, please drop me a personal mail. Where are you based?

> So, I guess my next question is, where can I see a demo? And how do I get
> started in setting up the site shop?

Well ... What's your timeframe with this?

(Need to leave now, sorry.)

Maybe this can be of help, but it is not yet complete. Let me know if it means anything to you:

http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/Understanding+the+OFBiz+Widget+Toolkit

Regards,
Torsten



-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:32:19 +0100
Von: "James Hargreaves" <[hidden email]>
An: [hidden email]
Betreff: Re: OFBiz Integration

> Thanks Torsten - that is VERY helpful and I think it has helped me to a
> conclusion.
>
> The OFBiz shop (eCommerce app) is your site. In that case, you will want
> > your customer's look and feel, not the default one. This can be achieved
> by
> > modifying the CSS stylesheets as well as the decorators used in the
> OFBiz
> > screeens. Through that, if you familiarize yourself with the OFBiz
> widgets
> > toolkit as well as with FreeMarker templates, you have full control not
> only
> > over colors and fonts, but also over layout, you can switch elements on
> and
> > off, etc.
>
>
> I think this sounds like the best option. But how do I get the OFBiz app
> up
> and running? Are there companies who specialize in hosting the app? I've
> never heard of FreeMarker before, but I've found it on sourceforge and it
> seems fairly straightforward and not unlike many other templating
> mechanisms
> I have used, mostly in Perl.
>
> You are looking for a blended site, i.e. you have a website and you are
> > looking to "embed" OFBiz into it. This would be the way to go in case
> your
> > site is a lot more than just the shop or in case you are looking for a
> way
> > to present the products which is entirely different from the catalog
> model
> > that OFBiz implements.
>
>
> I don't think this is necessary, as you suggest this is only required if
> the
> shop is only a small part of the site. I think in the case I speak of the
> shop IS the site.
>
> In that case you have to decide if you treat OFBiz as an Engine (using
> SOAP
> > webservices mostly) and write a complete new frontend for it. That would
> > mean serious web application development; this is no longer web design.
>
>
> I'm not troubled by this idea, having designed and used SOAP webservices a
> lot before. However, as discussed above, I don't think this is necessary -
> I
> think your first option will do the job.
>
> So, I guess my next question is, where can I see a demo? And how do I get
> started in setting up the site shop?
>
> Thanks
> Jay

[Adrian Crum]

Torsten Schlabach wrote:
> Maybe this can be of help, but it is not yet complete. Let me know if it means anything to you:
>
> http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/Understanding+the+OFBiz+Widget+Toolkit
>
> Regards,
> Torsten

Wow! That is an easy-to-follow description of the request handling/screen rendering process. Good
job Torsten!