OFBiz › OFBiz - User

OfBiz with JForum

_‹ Previous Topic Next Topic _›

Classic

List

Threaded

34 messages Options

eric

Re: OfBiz with JForum

Hi Taher,

Yes I'm newbie to Ofbiz still play around with Ofbiz. Thank you for your suggestion to my issue.

I understand second option need users data to be replicated to JForum database. It is more straight forward because both are relational database. I can use trigger and db link to replicate the users data.

What about LDAP option? Does it mean all users data will be on LDAP? That means when users register on Ofbiz then I must somehow replicate the users into LDAP. Ofbiz and JForum will authenticated against LDAP then. Is that correct?

Thanks

On Jul 5, 2014 7:54 AM, Taher Alkhateeb <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> Hi Eric,
>
> Assuming you want your users' data to reside on OFBiz, I think one of the below options might be suitable:
> - Authenticate everything through LDAP (I think simpler, cleaner, easier)
> - implement in JForum the interface net.jforum.sso.LoginAuthenticator either by creating a new class or actually modifying net.jforum.sso.DefaultLoginAuthenticator and make that class call a web service to OFBiz to authenticate against it. The details are for you to figure out, I'm just trying to help with the overall picture. Mind you though if you implement it this way I think you still need to replicate the users data in both systems.
>
> Given what you are trying to do is customization, there is no way of accomplishing this without digging into code in both applications. I gather from your questions below you are still somewhat new to OFBiz and this might pose a challenge. You might want to get much more familiar with the framework before going into advanced topics including things like integration with other systems.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Taher Alkhateeb
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eric Halim" <[hidden email]>
> To: [hidden email]
> Sent: Saturday, July 5, 2014 3:00:11 AM
> Subject: Re: OfBiz with JForum
>
> Thanks Taber. I got your point. I don't have problem running these 2 separately. Actually my issue is how to integrate their login.
>
> Once users register on Ofbiz, users are automatically become JForum users and can post a thread on JForum. And also once login into Ofbiz, I don't want users to login again for JForum.
>
> So I was thinking including JForum into Ofbiz component and use external login key feature to integrate the login.
>
> Now if these 2 are separate from each other. I hope someone can help me how to integrate the login issue. Is this called SSO? Or should I explore something on CAS and LDAP? Or maybe little trick like iFrame?
>
> Thanks
>
> On Jul 5, 2014 4:26 AM, Taher Alkhateeb <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Eric,
> >
> > I took another look into JForum as it interested me for our project. I realized, however, that this is as you said not a library but a full application stack. It has security, DAO, mail, file management, user interface, internationalization and a lot more.
> >
> > Therefore, I think it should not be integrated with OFBiz given the huge overlap in functionality. It is like saying let's integrate OFBiz with Drupal or Joomla. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If you are not going to use OFBiz entities, OFBiz interface, OFBiz service engine and indeed any of the core functions of OFBiz then why integrate in the first place!
> >
> > I would suggest a lighter approach of having two separate systems fired up independent of each other and if needed communicate between the two systems through web services.
> >
> > Taher Alkhateeb
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>
> > To: [hidden email]
> > Sent: Friday, July 4, 2014 10:13:24 PM
> > Subject: Re: OfBiz with JForum
> >
> > You could create a Jira issue, JForum is BSD licensed, so we would maybe include it as an OFBiz specialpurpose component... If its quality is good
> > enough...
> > Ad said Mike we could also look at the ecommerce forum, would be another issue then (with more than it does not work)
> >
> > Jacques
> >
> > Le 04/07/2014 17:29, Eric Halim a écrit :
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > JForum does not come as library but a whole folder contains its own file structure.
> > >
> > > So I really don't know where to extract these JForum files in Ofbiz.
> > >
> > > As per now I run JForum on separate TomCat instance. Extracted on TomCat webapp folder. But I wonder how to deploy this JForum inside Ofbiz as Ofbiz component.
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > >
> > > On Jul 4, 2014 5:44 PM, Taher Alkhateeb <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > >> Hi Eric,
> > >>
> > >> Can you specify the difficulty you are facing? Adding libraries to OFBiz
> > >> components is rather trivial.
> > >>
> > >> Taher Alkhateeb
> > >> On Jul 4, 2014 12:39 PM, "eric" <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Hi James,
> > >>>
> > >>> I still having difficulties how to deploy JForum as Ofbiz component. Can
> > >>> you
> > >>> guide me?
> > >>>
> > >>> What I have done for this moment is I have installed JForum but on separate
> > >>> Tomcat server not as Ofbiz component.
> > >>>
> > >>> Thanks
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> --
> > >>> View this message in context:
> > >>> http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/OfBiz-with-JForum-tp4650890p4652217.html
> > >>> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
> > >>>
> > >
> >
> > --

taher

Re: OfBiz with JForum

Hi Jacques,

I missed your mail in the thread, so sure thing, most welcome!

Hi Eric,

LDAP is a subject of its own. You can start in here http://www.zytrax.com/books/ldap/

I do not think triggers and database links are the best solution for replicating the database. It is database dependent and I think an ugly hack. You should figure out IMHO a clean solution at the application level, not the database level otherwise we would all be programming in stored procedures and using custom RDBMS code.

Finally, you need to read on LDAP setup for both OFBiz and JForum. The setup instructions for OFBiz are in https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBTECH/Apache+OFBiz+Technical+Production+Setup+Guide#ApacheOFBizTechnicalProductionSetupGuide-SecuritySettings

Taher Alkhateeb

----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Halim" <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Saturday, July 5, 2014 6:48:57 AM
Subject: Re: OfBiz with JForum

Hi Taher,

Yes I'm newbie to Ofbiz still play around with Ofbiz. Thank you for your suggestion to my issue.

I understand second option need users data to be replicated to JForum database. It is more straight forward because both are relational database. I can use trigger and db link to replicate the users data.

What about LDAP option? Does it mean all users data will be on LDAP? That means when users register on Ofbiz then I must somehow replicate the users into LDAP. Ofbiz and JForum will authenticated against LDAP then. Is that correct?

Thanks

On Jul 5, 2014 7:54 AM, Taher Alkhateeb <[hidden email]> wrote:

Pierre Smits

Re: OfBiz with JForum

HI Eric,

First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters first
to the handling of business transactions. Adding some component
functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the handling of those
business transactions at risk. In the case of forum functionality related
to eCommerce, it could be so that the number of forum postings grows to
such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.

So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system is not
advisable.

Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa is
doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the following into
consideration:

1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever using OFBiz
eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and authorization
in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality available
that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to be the same
for JForum.

If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or JForum
to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the Apache Directory
Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not only does the community
have a (clusterable) Directory server and a good LDAP management solution,
but also api's that you can use for integration.

Regards,

Pierre Smits

*ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
Services & Solutions for Cloud-
Based Manufacturing, Professional
Services and Retail & Trade
http://www.orrtiz.com

eric

Re: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by eric

Thank you Taher.

On Jul 5, 2014 12:53 PM, Taher Alkhateeb <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> Hi Jacques,
>
> I missed your mail in the thread, so sure thing, most welcome!
>
> Hi Eric,
>
> LDAP is a subject of its own. You can start in here http://www.zytrax.com/books/ldap/
>
> I do not think triggers and database links are the best solution for replicating the database. It is database dependent and I think an ugly hack. You should figure out IMHO a clean solution at the application level, not the database level otherwise we would all be programming in stored procedures and using custom RDBMS code.
>
> Finally, you need to read on LDAP setup for both OFBiz and JForum. The setup instructions for OFBiz are in https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBTECH/Apache+OFBiz+Technical+Production+Setup+Guide#ApacheOFBizTechnicalProductionSetupGuide-SecuritySettings
>
> Taher Alkhateeb
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eric Halim" <[hidden email]>
> To: [hidden email]
> Sent: Saturday, July 5, 2014 6:48:57 AM
> Subject: Re: OfBiz with JForum
>
> Hi Taher,
>
> Yes I'm newbie to Ofbiz still play around with Ofbiz. Thank you for your suggestion to my issue.
>
> I understand second option need users data to be replicated to JForum database. It is more straight forward because both are relational database. I can use trigger and db link to replicate the users data.
>
> What about LDAP option? Does it mean all users data will be on LDAP? That means when users register on Ofbiz then I must somehow replicate the users into LDAP. Ofbiz and JForum will authenticated against LDAP then. Is that correct?
>
> Thanks
>
> On Jul 5, 2014 7:54 AM, Taher Alkhateeb <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Eric,
> >
> > Assuming you want your users' data to reside on OFBiz, I think one of the below options might be suitable:
> > - Authenticate everything through LDAP (I think simpler, cleaner, easier)
> > - implement in JForum the interface net.jforum.sso.LoginAuthenticator either by creating a new class or actually modifying net.jforum.sso.DefaultLoginAuthenticator and make that class call a web service to OFBiz to authenticate against it. The details are for you to figure out, I'm just trying to help with the overall picture. Mind you though if you implement it this way I think you still need to replicate the users data in both systems.
> >
> > Given what you are trying to do is customization, there is no way of accomplishing this without digging into code in both applications. I gather from your questions below you are still somewhat new to OFBiz and this might pose a challenge. You might want to get much more familiar with the framework before going into advanced topics including things like integration with other systems.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Taher Alkhateeb
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Eric Halim" <[hidden email]>
> > To: [hidden email]
> > Sent: Saturday, July 5, 2014 3:00:11 AM
> > Subject: Re: OfBiz with JForum
> >
> > Thanks Taber. I got your point. I don't have problem running these 2 separately. Actually my issue is how to integrate their login.
> >
> > Once users register on Ofbiz, users are automatically become JForum users and can post a thread on JForum. And also once login into Ofbiz, I don't want users to login again for JForum.
> >
> > So I was thinking including JForum into Ofbiz component and use external login key feature to integrate the login.
> >
> > Now if these 2 are separate from each other. I hope someone can help me how to integrate the login issue. Is this called SSO? Or should I explore something on CAS and LDAP? Or maybe little trick like iFrame?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > On Jul 5, 2014 4:26 AM, Taher Alkhateeb <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Eric,
> > >
> > > I took another look into JForum as it interested me for our project. I realized, however, that this is as you said not a library but a full application stack. It has security, DAO, mail, file management, user interface, internationalization and a lot more.
> > >
> > > Therefore, I think it should not be integrated with OFBiz given the huge overlap in functionality. It is like saying let's integrate OFBiz with Drupal or Joomla. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If you are not going to use OFBiz entities, OFBiz interface, OFBiz service engine and indeed any of the core functions of OFBiz then why integrate in the first place!
> > >
> > > I would suggest a lighter approach of having two separate systems fired up independent of each other and if needed communicate between the two systems through web services.
> > >
> > > Taher Alkhateeb
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>
> > > To: [hidden email]
> > > Sent: Friday, July 4, 2014 10:13:24 PM
> > > Subject: Re: OfBiz with JForum
> > >
> > > You could create a Jira issue, JForum is BSD licensed, so we would maybe include it as an OFBiz specialpurpose component... If its quality is good
> > > enough...
> > > Ad said Mike we could also look at the ecommerce forum, would be another issue then (with more than it does not work)
> > >
> > > Jacques
> > >
> > > Le 04/07/2014 17:29, Eric Halim a écrit :
> > > > Hi,
> > > >
> > > > JForum does not come as library but a whole folder contains its own file structure.
> > > >
> > > > So I really don't know where to extract these JForum files in Ofbiz.
> > > >
> > > > As per now I run JForum on separate TomCat instance. Extracted on TomCat webapp folder. But I wonder how to deploy this JForum inside Ofbiz as Ofbiz component.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks.
> > > >
> > > > On Jul 4, 2014 5:44 PM, Taher Alkhateeb <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > > >> Hi Eric,
> > > >>
> > > >> Can you specify the difficulty you are facing? Adding libraries to OFBiz
> > > >> components is rather trivial.
> > > >>
> > > >> Taher Alkhateeb
> > > >> On Jul 4, 2014 12:39 PM, "eric" <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >>> Hi James,
> > > >>>
> > > >>> I still having difficulties how to deploy JForum as Ofbiz component. Can
> > > >>> you
> > > >>> guide me?
> > > >>>
> > > >>> What I have done for this moment is I have installed JForum but on separate
> > > >>> Tomcat server not as Ofbiz component.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Thanks
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>> --
> > > >>> View this message in context:
> > > >>> http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/OfBiz-with-JForum-tp4650890p4652217.html
> > > >>> Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
> > > >>>
> > > >
> > >
> > > --

eric

Re: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by eric

Thank you Pierre for pointing Apache Directory Server. I'll look on that.

On Jul 5, 2014 6:15 PM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> HI Eric,
>
> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters first
> to the handling of business transactions. Adding some component
> functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the handling of those
> business transactions at risk. In the case of forum functionality related
> to eCommerce, it could be so that the number of forum postings grows to
> such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
>
> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system is not
> advisable.
>
> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa is
> doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the following into
> consideration:
>
>
>    1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever using OFBiz
>    eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
>    2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and authorization
>    in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
>    3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality available
>    that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
>    name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to be the same
>    for JForum.
>
> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or JForum
> to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the Apache Directory
> Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not only does the community
> have a (clusterable) Directory server and a good LDAP management solution,
> but also api's that you can use for integration.
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Pierre Smits
>
> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
> Based Manufacturing, Professional
> Services and Retail & Trade
> http://www.orrtiz.com

Ron Wheeler

Re: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by Pierre Smits

On 05/07/2014 7:15 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:
> HI Eric,
>
> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters first
> to the handling of business transactions. Adding some component
> functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the handling of those
> business transactions at risk. In the case of forum functionality related
> to eCommerce, it could be so that the number of forum postings grows to
> such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
OTOH, if the forum increases sales to existing customer by 10%, adds 5%
to the sales to new customers, reduces product returns by 30% and
reduces customer support costs by 20% it might be worth the extra costs
of scaling up the OfBiz configuration.

The reduction in transaction related to returns and customer support
might not offset the extra transactions caused by additional sales but
that is unlikely to bring complaints from management.

If the forum activities do not generate addition revenue or customer
satisfaction or reduce costs, you can always turn it off.

It is difficult to make business decisions or propose IT trade-offs for
organizations that you don't know or for general populations of
potential installations of OfBiz.

>
> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system is not
> advisable.
Not sure that this conclusion is true in every case or that there are
not available solutions for scaling problems.
You can make the same argument for many features in an ERP. For example,
many companies do not mix eCommerce with accounting in the same system.

> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa is
> doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the following into
> consideration:
>
>
> 1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever using OFBiz
> eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
> 2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and authorization
> in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
> 3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality available
> that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
> name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to be the same
> for JForum.

I am not sure that JForum is the only way to go and that is a worthy
discussion.
I would also add the suggestion that social networking tools that
support groups and discussion might be a more modern solution that adds
meets the same business need as forums but add ideas such as
"following", "liking", "rich profiling", etc.

Another way to provide this functionality would be to interface with
LinkedIn and use private and public groups. Facebook might also be a
solution if your business is B2C rather than B2B.

>
> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or JForum
> to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the Apache Directory
> Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not only does the community
> have a (clusterable) Directory server and a good LDAP management solution,
> but also api's that you can use for integration.
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Pierre Smits
>
> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
> Based Manufacturing, Professional
> Services and Retail & Trade
> http://www.orrtiz.com
>

--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [hidden email]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102

Pierre Smits

Re: OfBiz with JForum

Ron, all,

For sure, every contribution added to this discussion will help Eric to
make a thought through decision based on various viewpoints.

Luckily, we can agree that hardware cost aren't that much of an issue any
more these days. Unfortunately, metrics (of various kinds) and/or (other)
statistics supporting various business scenarios are not available
indicating what path to follow with OFBiz.

The statement that some organisations don't want to mix front-end
(eCommerce) with back-end (accounting, inventory mgt, etc) on one system
supports the advice not to combine OFBiz with a solution like JForum on one
system. But OFBiz is also suitable for organisations who do want to
separate front-end from back-end. Multi-spoke setup is possible and
addresses the scale up aspect.

Whether JForum is the way to go is for each individual organisation to
investigate. I, for one, just hope that when anyone participant in this
community opt for an integration option (whatever it may be), he or she
will share experiences here so others can benefit from it.

Regards,

Pierre Smits

*ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
Services & Solutions for Cloud-
Based Manufacturing, Professional
Services and Retail & Trade
http://www.orrtiz.com

On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email]
> wrote:

> On 05/07/2014 7:15 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:
>
>> HI Eric,
>>
>> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters first
>> to the handling of business transactions. Adding some component
>> functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the handling of those
>> business transactions at risk. In the case of forum functionality related
>> to eCommerce, it could be so that the number of forum postings grows to
>> such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
>>
> OTOH, if the forum increases sales to existing customer by 10%, adds 5% to
> the sales to new customers, reduces product returns by 30% and reduces
> customer support costs by 20% it might be worth the extra costs of scaling
> up the OfBiz configuration.
>
> The reduction in transaction related to returns and customer support might
> not offset the extra transactions caused by additional sales but that is
> unlikely to bring complaints from management.
>
> If the forum activities do not generate addition revenue or customer
> satisfaction or reduce costs, you can always turn it off.
>
> It is difficult to make business decisions or propose IT trade-offs for
> organizations that you don't know or for general populations of potential
> installations of OfBiz.
>
>
>
>> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system is not
>> advisable.
>>
> Not sure that this conclusion is true in every case or that there are not
> available solutions for scaling problems.
> You can make the same argument for many features in an ERP. For example,
> many companies do not mix eCommerce with accounting in the same system.
>
>> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa is
>> doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the following into
>> consideration:
>>
>>
>> 1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever using
>> OFBiz
>>
>> eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
>> 2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and authorization
>>
>> in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
>> 3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality available
>>
>> that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
>> name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to be the
>> same
>> for JForum.
>>
> I am not sure that JForum is the only way to go and that is a worthy
> discussion.
> I would also add the suggestion that social networking tools that support
> groups and discussion might be a more modern solution that adds meets the
> same business need as forums but add ideas such as "following", "liking",
> "rich profiling", etc.
>
> Another way to provide this functionality would be to interface with
> LinkedIn and use private and public groups. Facebook might also be a
> solution if your business is B2C rather than B2B.
>
>
>> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or JForum
>> to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the Apache
>> Directory
>> Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not only does the community
>> have a (clusterable) Directory server and a good LDAP management solution,
>> but also api's that you can use for integration.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>>
>> Pierre Smits
>>
>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
>>
>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
>> Services and Retail & Trade
>> http://www.orrtiz.com
>>
>>
>
> --
> Ron Wheeler
> President
> Artifact Software Inc
> email: [hidden email]
> skype: ronaldmwheeler
> phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
>
>

eric

Re: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by eric

Thank you Ron and Pierre for thorough discussion. Both have points for me to consider.

But actually I will go for the easiest solution because I'm such a newbie to Ofbiz. I don't really concern whether JForum will be run independently or integrated into Ofbiz component.

I will think about these three solutions.

1. User must register and login from Ofbiz and cannot register from JForum. I will disable the register link on JForum. Users data will then be replicated to JForum. Then using webservice as Taher mentioned earlier to authenticate the users.

2. Setup Apache Directory Server for managing LDAP and integration. Setup LDAP for both Ofbiz and JForum. As Pierre mentioned. Both then authenticate against LDAP.

3. Bring JForum into Ofbiz component then use external login key for authentication. This one I still don't know the details how to do it.

Thanks all.

On Jul 6, 2014 6:44 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> Ron, all,
>
> For sure, every contribution added to this discussion will help Eric to
> make a thought through decision based on various viewpoints.
>
> Luckily, we can agree that hardware cost aren't that much of an issue any
> more these days. Unfortunately, metrics (of various kinds) and/or (other)
> statistics supporting various business scenarios are not available
> indicating what path to follow with OFBiz.
>
> The statement that some organisations don't want to mix front-end
> (eCommerce) with back-end (accounting, inventory mgt, etc) on one system
> supports the advice not to combine OFBiz with a solution like JForum on one
> system. But OFBiz is also suitable for organisations who do want to
> separate front-end from back-end. Multi-spoke setup is possible and
> addresses the scale up aspect.
>
> Whether JForum is the way to go is for each individual organisation to
> investigate. I, for one, just hope that when anyone participant in this
> community opt for an integration option (whatever it may be), he or she
> will share experiences here so others can benefit from it.
>
> Regards,
>
> Pierre Smits
>
> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
> Based Manufacturing, Professional
> Services and Retail & Trade
> http://www.orrtiz.com
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email]
> > wrote:
>
> > On 05/07/2014 7:15 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:
> >
> >> HI Eric,
> >>
> >> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters first
> >> to the handling of business transactions. Adding some component
> >> functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the handling of those
> >> business transactions at risk. In the case of forum functionality related
> >> to eCommerce, it could be so that the number of forum postings grows to
> >> such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
> >>
> > OTOH, if the forum increases sales to existing customer by 10%, adds 5% to
> > the sales to new customers, reduces product returns by 30% and reduces
> > customer support costs by 20% it might be worth the extra costs of scaling
> > up the OfBiz configuration.
> >
> > The reduction in transaction related to returns and customer support might
> > not offset the extra transactions caused by additional sales but that is
> > unlikely to bring complaints from management.
> >
> > If the forum activities do not generate addition revenue or customer
> > satisfaction or reduce costs, you can always turn it off.
> >
> > It is difficult to make business decisions or propose IT trade-offs for
> > organizations that you don't know or for general populations of potential
> > installations of OfBiz.
> >
> >
> >
> >> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system is not
> >> advisable.
> >>
> > Not sure that this conclusion is true in every case or that there are not
> > available solutions for scaling problems.
> > You can make the same argument for many features in an ERP. For example,
> > many companies do not mix eCommerce with accounting in the same system.
> >
> >> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa is
> >> doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the following into
> >> consideration:
> >>
> >>
> >>     1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever using
> >> OFBiz
> >>
> >>     eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
> >>     2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and authorization
> >>
> >>     in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
> >>     3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality available
> >>
> >>     that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
> >>     name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to be the
> >> same
> >>     for JForum.
> >>
> > I am not sure that JForum is the only way to go and that is a worthy
> > discussion.
> > I would also add the suggestion that social networking tools that support
> > groups and discussion might be a more modern solution that adds meets the
> > same business need as forums but add ideas such as "following", "liking",
> > "rich profiling", etc.
> >
> > Another way to provide this functionality would be to interface with
> > LinkedIn and use private and public groups. Facebook might also be a
> > solution if your business is B2C rather than B2B.
> >
> >
> >> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or JForum
> >> to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the Apache
> >> Directory
> >> Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not only does the community
> >> have a (clusterable) Directory server and a good LDAP management solution,
> >> but also api's that you can use for integration.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >>
> >> Pierre Smits
> >>
> >> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
> >>
> >> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
> >> Based Manufacturing, Professional
> >> Services and Retail & Trade
> >> http://www.orrtiz.com
> >>
> >>
> >
> > --
> > Ron Wheeler
> > President
> > Artifact Software Inc
> > email: [hidden email]
> > skype: ronaldmwheeler
> > phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
> >
> >

Ron Wheeler

Re: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by Pierre Smits

On 05/07/2014 7:44 PM, Pierre Smits wrote:

> Ron, all,
>
> For sure, every contribution added to this discussion will help Eric to
> make a thought through decision based on various viewpoints.
>
> Luckily, we can agree that hardware cost aren't that much of an issue any
> more these days. Unfortunately, metrics (of various kinds) and/or (other)
> statistics supporting various business scenarios are not available
> indicating what path to follow with OFBiz.
>
> The statement that some organisations don't want to mix front-end
> (eCommerce) with back-end (accounting, inventory mgt, etc) on one system
> supports the advice not to combine OFBiz with a solution like JForum on one
> system. But OFBiz is also suitable for organisations who do want to
> separate front-end from back-end. Multi-spoke setup is possible and
> addresses the scale up aspect.
>
> Whether JForum is the way to go is for each individual organisation to
> investigate. I, for one, just hope that when anyone participant in this
> community opt for an integration option (whatever it may be), he or she
> will share experiences here so others can benefit from it.

It is possibly worth a discussion about what is the best way to satisfy
the use case for forums.
If there is going to be an investment in new functionality, it would be
a good idea to invest it in the right place.

> Regards,
>
> Pierre Smits
>
> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
> Based Manufacturing, Professional
> Services and Retail & Trade
> http://www.orrtiz.com
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email]
>> wrote:
>> On 05/07/2014 7:15 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:
>>
>>> HI Eric,
>>>
>>> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters first
>>> to the handling of business transactions. Adding some component
>>> functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the handling of those
>>> business transactions at risk. In the case of forum functionality related
>>> to eCommerce, it could be so that the number of forum postings grows to
>>> such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
>>>
>> OTOH, if the forum increases sales to existing customer by 10%, adds 5% to
>> the sales to new customers, reduces product returns by 30% and reduces
>> customer support costs by 20% it might be worth the extra costs of scaling
>> up the OfBiz configuration.
>>
>> The reduction in transaction related to returns and customer support might
>> not offset the extra transactions caused by additional sales but that is
>> unlikely to bring complaints from management.
>>
>> If the forum activities do not generate addition revenue or customer
>> satisfaction or reduce costs, you can always turn it off.
>>
>> It is difficult to make business decisions or propose IT trade-offs for
>> organizations that you don't know or for general populations of potential
>> installations of OfBiz.
>>
>>
>>
>>> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system is not
>>> advisable.
>>>
>> Not sure that this conclusion is true in every case or that there are not
>> available solutions for scaling problems.
>> You can make the same argument for many features in an ERP. For example,
>> many companies do not mix eCommerce with accounting in the same system.
>>
>>> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa is
>>> doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the following into
>>> consideration:
>>>
>>>
>>> 1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever using
>>> OFBiz
>>>
>>> eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
>>> 2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and authorization
>>>
>>> in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
>>> 3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality available
>>>
>>> that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
>>> name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to be the
>>> same
>>> for JForum.
>>>
>> I am not sure that JForum is the only way to go and that is a worthy
>> discussion.
>> I would also add the suggestion that social networking tools that support
>> groups and discussion might be a more modern solution that adds meets the
>> same business need as forums but add ideas such as "following", "liking",
>> "rich profiling", etc.
>>
>> Another way to provide this functionality would be to interface with
>> LinkedIn and use private and public groups. Facebook might also be a
>> solution if your business is B2C rather than B2B.
>>
>>
>>> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or JForum
>>> to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the Apache
>>> Directory
>>> Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not only does the community
>>> have a (clusterable) Directory server and a good LDAP management solution,
>>> but also api's that you can use for integration.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>>
>>> Pierre Smits
>>>
>>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
>>>
>>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
>>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
>>> Services and Retail & Trade
>>> http://www.orrtiz.com
>>>
>>>
>> --
>> Ron Wheeler
>> President
>> Artifact Software Inc
>> email: [hidden email]
>> skype: ronaldmwheeler
>> phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
>>
>>

--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [hidden email]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102

Rajbir Saini-2

Re: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by eric

One more option you can consider is single sign on (SS0). CAS is one
such system and it can be backed by LDAP or DBMS. Looking at [1] it
looks CAS is already integrated with OFBiz. It should not be difficult
to integrate the JForum with CAS as well. Once you have the SSO in place
(Using CAS or some other product), your users will be able to login once
either using JForum or OFBiz and access both applications seamlessly.

[1] https://wiki.jasig.org/display/CASC/CASifying+Apache+OFBiz

Regards,

Raj

On Sunday 06 July 2014 05:57 AM, Eric Halim wrote:

> Thank you Ron and Pierre for thorough discussion. Both have points for me to consider.
>
> But actually I will go for the easiest solution because I'm such a newbie to Ofbiz. I don't really concern whether JForum will be run independently or integrated into Ofbiz component.
>
> I will think about these three solutions.
>
> 1. User must register and login from Ofbiz and cannot register from JForum. I will disable the register link on JForum. Users data will then be replicated to JForum. Then using webservice as Taher mentioned earlier to authenticate the users.
>
> 2. Setup Apache Directory Server for managing LDAP and integration. Setup LDAP for both Ofbiz and JForum. As Pierre mentioned. Both then authenticate against LDAP.
>
> 3. Bring JForum into Ofbiz component then use external login key for authentication. This one I still don't know the details how to do it.
>
> Thanks all.
>
> On Jul 6, 2014 6:44 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> Ron, all,
>>
>> For sure, every contribution added to this discussion will help Eric to
>> make a thought through decision based on various viewpoints.
>>
>> Luckily, we can agree that hardware cost aren't that much of an issue any
>> more these days. Unfortunately, metrics (of various kinds) and/or (other)
>> statistics supporting various business scenarios are not available
>> indicating what path to follow with OFBiz.
>>
>> The statement that some organisations don't want to mix front-end
>> (eCommerce) with back-end (accounting, inventory mgt, etc) on one system
>> supports the advice not to combine OFBiz with a solution like JForum on one
>> system. But OFBiz is also suitable for organisations who do want to
>> separate front-end from back-end. Multi-spoke setup is possible and
>> addresses the scale up aspect.
>>
>> Whether JForum is the way to go is for each individual organisation to
>> investigate. I, for one, just hope that when anyone participant in this
>> community opt for an integration option (whatever it may be), he or she
>> will share experiences here so others can benefit from it.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Pierre Smits
>>
>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
>> Services and Retail & Trade
>> http://www.orrtiz.com
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email]
>>> wrote:
>>> On 05/07/2014 7:15 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:
>>>
>>>> HI Eric,
>>>>
>>>> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters first
>>>> to the handling of business transactions. Adding some component
>>>> functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the handling of those
>>>> business transactions at risk. In the case of forum functionality related
>>>> to eCommerce, it could be so that the number of forum postings grows to
>>>> such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
>>>>
>>> OTOH, if the forum increases sales to existing customer by 10%, adds 5% to
>>> the sales to new customers, reduces product returns by 30% and reduces
>>> customer support costs by 20% it might be worth the extra costs of scaling
>>> up the OfBiz configuration.
>>>
>>> The reduction in transaction related to returns and customer support might
>>> not offset the extra transactions caused by additional sales but that is
>>> unlikely to bring complaints from management.
>>>
>>> If the forum activities do not generate addition revenue or customer
>>> satisfaction or reduce costs, you can always turn it off.
>>>
>>> It is difficult to make business decisions or propose IT trade-offs for
>>> organizations that you don't know or for general populations of potential
>>> installations of OfBiz.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system is not
>>>> advisable.
>>>>
>>> Not sure that this conclusion is true in every case or that there are not
>>> available solutions for scaling problems.
>>> You can make the same argument for many features in an ERP. For example,
>>> many companies do not mix eCommerce with accounting in the same system.
>>>
>>>> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa is
>>>> doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the following into
>>>> consideration:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever using
>>>> OFBiz
>>>>
>>>> eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
>>>> 2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and authorization
>>>>
>>>> in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
>>>> 3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality available
>>>>
>>>> that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
>>>> name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to be the
>>>> same
>>>> for JForum.
>>>>
>>> I am not sure that JForum is the only way to go and that is a worthy
>>> discussion.
>>> I would also add the suggestion that social networking tools that support
>>> groups and discussion might be a more modern solution that adds meets the
>>> same business need as forums but add ideas such as "following", "liking",
>>> "rich profiling", etc.
>>>
>>> Another way to provide this functionality would be to interface with
>>> LinkedIn and use private and public groups. Facebook might also be a
>>> solution if your business is B2C rather than B2B.
>>>
>>>
>>>> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or JForum
>>>> to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the Apache
>>>> Directory
>>>> Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not only does the community
>>>> have a (clusterable) Directory server and a good LDAP management solution,
>>>> but also api's that you can use for integration.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Pierre Smits
>>>>
>>>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
>>>>
>>>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
>>>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
>>>> Services and Retail & Trade
>>>> http://www.orrtiz.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>> --
>>> Ron Wheeler
>>> President
>>> Artifact Software Inc
>>> email: [hidden email]
>>> skype: ronaldmwheeler
>>> phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
>>>
>>>

eric

Re: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by eric

Thanks Rajbir for the suggestion. I thought LDAP and CAS were the same. I'll look deeper into CAS as last time James was also talking about CAS.

On Jul 6, 2014 3:32 PM, Rajbir Saini <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> One more option you can consider is single sign on (SS0). CAS is one
> such system and it can be backed by LDAP or DBMS. Looking at [1] it
> looks CAS is already integrated with OFBiz. It should not be difficult
> to integrate the JForum with CAS as well. Once you have the SSO in place
> (Using CAS or some other product), your users will be able to login once
> either using JForum or OFBiz and access both applications seamlessly.
>
> [1] https://wiki.jasig.org/display/CASC/CASifying+Apache+OFBiz
>
> Regards,
>
> Raj
>
> On Sunday 06 July 2014 05:57 AM, Eric Halim wrote:
> > Thank you Ron and Pierre for thorough discussion. Both have points for me to consider.
> >
> > But actually I will go for the easiest solution because I'm such a newbie to Ofbiz. I don't really concern whether JForum will be run independently or integrated into Ofbiz component.
> >
> > I will think about these three solutions.
> >
> > 1. User must register and login from Ofbiz and cannot register from JForum. I will disable the register link on JForum. Users data will then be replicated to JForum. Then using webservice as Taher mentioned earlier to authenticate the users.
> >
> > 2. Setup Apache Directory Server for managing LDAP and integration. Setup LDAP for both Ofbiz and JForum. As Pierre mentioned. Both then authenticate against LDAP.
> >
> > 3. Bring JForum into Ofbiz component then use external login key for authentication. This one I still don't know the details how to do it.
> >
> > Thanks all.
> >
> > On Jul 6, 2014 6:44 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >> Ron, all,
> >>
> >> For sure, every contribution added to this discussion will help Eric to
> >> make a thought through decision based on various viewpoints.
> >>
> >> Luckily, we can agree that hardware cost aren't that much of an issue any
> >> more these days. Unfortunately, metrics (of various kinds) and/or (other)
> >> statistics supporting various business scenarios are not available
> >> indicating what path to follow with OFBiz.
> >>
> >> The statement that some organisations don't want to mix front-end
> >> (eCommerce) with back-end (accounting, inventory mgt, etc) on one system
> >> supports the advice not to combine OFBiz with a solution like JForum on one
> >> system. But OFBiz is also suitable for organisations who do want to
> >> separate front-end from back-end. Multi-spoke setup is possible and
> >> addresses the scale up aspect.
> >>
> >> Whether JForum is the way to go is for each individual organisation to
> >> investigate. I, for one, just hope that when anyone participant in this
> >> community opt for an integration option (whatever it may be), he or she
> >> will share experiences here so others can benefit from it.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> Pierre Smits
> >>
> >> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
> >> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
> >> Based Manufacturing, Professional
> >> Services and Retail & Trade
> >> http://www.orrtiz.com
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email]
> >>> wrote:
> >>> On 05/07/2014 7:15 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> HI Eric,
> >>>>
> >>>> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters first
> >>>> to the handling of business transactions. Adding some component
> >>>> functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the handling of those
> >>>> business transactions at risk. In the case of forum functionality related
> >>>> to eCommerce, it could be so that the number of forum postings grows to
> >>>> such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
> >>>>
> >>> OTOH, if the forum increases sales to existing customer by 10%, adds 5% to
> >>> the sales to new customers, reduces product returns by 30% and reduces
> >>> customer support costs by 20% it might be worth the extra costs of scaling
> >>> up the OfBiz configuration.
> >>>
> >>> The reduction in transaction related to returns and customer support might
> >>> not offset the extra transactions caused by additional sales but that is
> >>> unlikely to bring complaints from management.
> >>>
> >>> If the forum activities do not generate addition revenue or customer
> >>> satisfaction or reduce costs, you can always turn it off.
> >>>
> >>> It is difficult to make business decisions or propose IT trade-offs for
> >>> organizations that you don't know or for general populations of potential
> >>> installations of OfBiz.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system is not
> >>>> advisable.
> >>>>
> >>> Not sure that this conclusion is true in every case or that there are not
> >>> available solutions for scaling problems.
> >>> You can make the same argument for many features in an ERP. For example,
> >>> many companies do not mix eCommerce with accounting in the same system.
> >>>
> >>>> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa is
> >>>> doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the following into
> >>>> consideration:
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>       1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever using
> >>>> OFBiz
> >>>>
> >>>>       eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
> >>>>       2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and authorization
> >>>>
> >>>>       in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
> >>>>       3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality available
> >>>>
> >>>>       that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
> >>>>       name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to be the
> >>>> same
> >>>>       for JForum.
> >>>>
> >>> I am not sure that JForum is the only way to go and that is a worthy
> >>> discussion.
> >>> I would also add the suggestion that social networking tools that support
> >>> groups and discussion might be a more modern solution that adds meets the
> >>> same business need as forums but add ideas such as "following", "liking",
> >>> "rich profiling", etc.
> >>>
> >>> Another way to provide this functionality would be to interface with
> >>> LinkedIn and use private and public groups. Facebook might also be a
> >>> solution if your business is B2C rather than B2B.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or JForum
> >>>> to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the Apache
> >>>> Directory
> >>>> Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not only does the community
> >>>> have a (clusterable) Directory server and a good LDAP management solution,
> >>>> but also api's that you can use for integration.
> >>>>
> >>>> Regards,
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Pierre Smits
> >>>>
> >>>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
> >>>>
> >>>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
> >>>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
> >>>> Services and Retail & Trade
> >>>> http://www.orrtiz.com
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>> --
> >>> Ron Wheeler
> >>> President
> >>> Artifact Software Inc
> >>> email: [hidden email]
> >>> skype: ronaldmwheeler
> >>> phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
> >>>
> >>>
>

eric

RE: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by Rajbir Saini-2

Thanks Rajbir,

The link you gave seems outdated already.
Doc says about
1. OpenLdap 2.3.8 (Currently now OpenLdap 2.4.39)
2. CAS 3.2.1.1 (Currently CAS 4.0)
3. Ofbiz 4.0 (Currently Ofbiz 12.4.3)

Does it still acceptable?

-----Original Message-----
From: Rajbir Saini [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2014 3:33 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: OfBiz with JForum

One more option you can consider is single sign on (SS0). CAS is one such system and it can be backed by LDAP or DBMS. Looking at [1] it looks CAS is already integrated with OFBiz. It should not be difficult to integrate the JForum with CAS as well. Once you have the SSO in place (Using CAS or some other product), your users will be able to login once either using JForum or OFBiz and access both applications seamlessly.

[1] https://wiki.jasig.org/display/CASC/CASifying+Apache+OFBiz

Regards,

Raj

On Sunday 06 July 2014 05:57 AM, Eric Halim wrote:

> Thank you Ron and Pierre for thorough discussion. Both have points for me to consider.
>
> But actually I will go for the easiest solution because I'm such a newbie to Ofbiz. I don't really concern whether JForum will be run independently or integrated into Ofbiz component.
>
> I will think about these three solutions.
>
> 1. User must register and login from Ofbiz and cannot register from JForum. I will disable the register link on JForum. Users data will then be replicated to JForum. Then using webservice as Taher mentioned earlier to authenticate the users.
>
> 2. Setup Apache Directory Server for managing LDAP and integration. Setup LDAP for both Ofbiz and JForum. As Pierre mentioned. Both then authenticate against LDAP.
>
> 3. Bring JForum into Ofbiz component then use external login key for authentication. This one I still don't know the details how to do it.
>
> Thanks all.
>
> On Jul 6, 2014 6:44 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> Ron, all,
>>
>> For sure, every contribution added to this discussion will help Eric
>> to make a thought through decision based on various viewpoints.
>>
>> Luckily, we can agree that hardware cost aren't that much of an issue
>> any more these days. Unfortunately, metrics (of various kinds) and/or
>> (other) statistics supporting various business scenarios are not
>> available indicating what path to follow with OFBiz.
>>
>> The statement that some organisations don't want to mix front-end
>> (eCommerce) with back-end (accounting, inventory mgt, etc) on one
>> system supports the advice not to combine OFBiz with a solution like
>> JForum on one system. But OFBiz is also suitable for organisations
>> who do want to separate front-end from back-end. Multi-spoke setup is
>> possible and addresses the scale up aspect.
>>
>> Whether JForum is the way to go is for each individual organisation
>> to investigate. I, for one, just hope that when anyone participant in
>> this community opt for an integration option (whatever it may be), he
>> or she will share experiences here so others can benefit from it.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Pierre Smits
>>
>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
>> Services and Retail & Trade
>> http://www.orrtiz.com
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Ron Wheeler
>> <[hidden email]
>>> wrote:
>>> On 05/07/2014 7:15 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:
>>>
>>>> HI Eric,
>>>>
>>>> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters
>>>> first to the handling of business transactions. Adding some
>>>> component functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the
>>>> handling of those business transactions at risk. In the case of
>>>> forum functionality related to eCommerce, it could be so that the
>>>> number of forum postings grows to such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
>>>>
>>> OTOH, if the forum increases sales to existing customer by 10%, adds
>>> 5% to the sales to new customers, reduces product returns by 30% and
>>> reduces customer support costs by 20% it might be worth the extra
>>> costs of scaling up the OfBiz configuration.
>>>
>>> The reduction in transaction related to returns and customer support
>>> might not offset the extra transactions caused by additional sales
>>> but that is unlikely to bring complaints from management.
>>>
>>> If the forum activities do not generate addition revenue or customer
>>> satisfaction or reduce costs, you can always turn it off.
>>>
>>> It is difficult to make business decisions or propose IT trade-offs
>>> for organizations that you don't know or for general populations of
>>> potential installations of OfBiz.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system
>>>> is not advisable.
>>>>
>>> Not sure that this conclusion is true in every case or that there
>>> are not available solutions for scaling problems.
>>> You can make the same argument for many features in an ERP. For
>>> example, many companies do not mix eCommerce with accounting in the same system.
>>>
>>>> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa
>>>> is doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the
>>>> following into
>>>> consideration:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever
>>>> using OFBiz
>>>>
>>>> eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
>>>> 2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and
>>>> authorization
>>>>
>>>> in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
>>>> 3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality
>>>> available
>>>>
>>>> that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
>>>> name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to
>>>> be the same
>>>> for JForum.
>>>>
>>> I am not sure that JForum is the only way to go and that is a worthy
>>> discussion.
>>> I would also add the suggestion that social networking tools that
>>> support groups and discussion might be a more modern solution that
>>> adds meets the same business need as forums but add ideas such as
>>> "following", "liking", "rich profiling", etc.
>>>
>>> Another way to provide this functionality would be to interface with
>>> LinkedIn and use private and public groups. Facebook might also be
>>> a solution if your business is B2C rather than B2B.
>>>
>>>
>>>> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or
>>>> JForum to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the
>>>> Apache Directory Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not
>>>> only does the community have a (clusterable) Directory server and a
>>>> good LDAP management solution, but also api's that you can use for
>>>> integration.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Pierre Smits
>>>>
>>>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
>>>>
>>>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
>>>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
>>>> Services and Retail & Trade
>>>> http://www.orrtiz.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>> --
>>> Ron Wheeler
>>> President
>>> Artifact Software Inc
>>> email: [hidden email]
>>> skype: ronaldmwheeler
>>> phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
>>>
>>>

Pierre Smits

Re: OfBiz with JForum

Hi Eric,

OFBiz 4.0 is already many maintenance cycles out of (official) support by
this community. So, with current lastest stable release (r12.04.03) you'll
need to investigate it.

I would say, if someone had tackled this with any other release that 4.0,
there would have been an update of the document. If, of course, that person
would have felt compelled to share it with this community.

Regards,

Pierre Smits

*ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
Services & Solutions for Cloud-
Based Manufacturing, Professional
Services and Retail & Trade
http://www.orrtiz.com

Rajbir Saini-2

Re: OfBiz with JForum

In reply to this post by eric

Eric,

I am not sure how newer version will behave. I think you would need to
test it and may be adjust things here and there to make it work.

Thanks,

Raj

On Monday 07 July 2014 08:29 AM, Eric Halim wrote:

> Thanks Rajbir,
>
> The link you gave seems outdated already.
> Doc says about
> 1. OpenLdap 2.3.8 (Currently now OpenLdap 2.4.39)
> 2. CAS 3.2.1.1 (Currently CAS 4.0)
> 3. Ofbiz 4.0 (Currently Ofbiz 12.4.3)
>
> Does it still acceptable?
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rajbir Saini [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2014 3:33 PM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: OfBiz with JForum
>
> One more option you can consider is single sign on (SS0). CAS is one such system and it can be backed by LDAP or DBMS. Looking at [1] it looks CAS is already integrated with OFBiz. It should not be difficult to integrate the JForum with CAS as well. Once you have the SSO in place (Using CAS or some other product), your users will be able to login once either using JForum or OFBiz and access both applications seamlessly.
>
> [1] https://wiki.jasig.org/display/CASC/CASifying+Apache+OFBiz
>
> Regards,
>
> Raj
>
> On Sunday 06 July 2014 05:57 AM, Eric Halim wrote:
>> Thank you Ron and Pierre for thorough discussion. Both have points for me to consider.
>>
>> But actually I will go for the easiest solution because I'm such a newbie to Ofbiz. I don't really concern whether JForum will be run independently or integrated into Ofbiz component.
>>
>> I will think about these three solutions.
>>
>> 1. User must register and login from Ofbiz and cannot register from JForum. I will disable the register link on JForum. Users data will then be replicated to JForum. Then using webservice as Taher mentioned earlier to authenticate the users.
>>
>> 2. Setup Apache Directory Server for managing LDAP and integration. Setup LDAP for both Ofbiz and JForum. As Pierre mentioned. Both then authenticate against LDAP.
>>
>> 3. Bring JForum into Ofbiz component then use external login key for authentication. This one I still don't know the details how to do it.
>>
>> Thanks all.
>>
>> On Jul 6, 2014 6:44 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>> Ron, all,
>>>
>>> For sure, every contribution added to this discussion will help Eric
>>> to make a thought through decision based on various viewpoints.
>>>
>>> Luckily, we can agree that hardware cost aren't that much of an issue
>>> any more these days. Unfortunately, metrics (of various kinds) and/or
>>> (other) statistics supporting various business scenarios are not
>>> available indicating what path to follow with OFBiz.
>>>
>>> The statement that some organisations don't want to mix front-end
>>> (eCommerce) with back-end (accounting, inventory mgt, etc) on one
>>> system supports the advice not to combine OFBiz with a solution like
>>> JForum on one system. But OFBiz is also suitable for organisations
>>> who do want to separate front-end from back-end. Multi-spoke setup is
>>> possible and addresses the scale up aspect.
>>>
>>> Whether JForum is the way to go is for each individual organisation
>>> to investigate. I, for one, just hope that when anyone participant in
>>> this community opt for an integration option (whatever it may be), he
>>> or she will share experiences here so others can benefit from it.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Pierre Smits
>>>
>>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
>>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
>>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
>>> Services and Retail & Trade
>>> http://www.orrtiz.com
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Ron Wheeler
>>> <[hidden email]
>>>> wrote:
>>>> On 05/07/2014 7:15 AM, Pierre Smits wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> HI Eric,
>>>>>
>>>>> First of all, OFBiz has a unique set of functionalities that caters
>>>>> first to the handling of business transactions. Adding some
>>>>> component functionality that isn't inline with that is putting the
>>>>> handling of those business transactions at risk. In the case of
>>>>> forum functionality related to eCommerce, it could be so that the
>>>>> number of forum postings grows to such proportions that it might jeopardise the transaction handling.
>>>>>
>>>> OTOH, if the forum increases sales to existing customer by 10%, adds
>>>> 5% to the sales to new customers, reduces product returns by 30% and
>>>> reduces customer support costs by 20% it might be worth the extra
>>>> costs of scaling up the OfBiz configuration.
>>>>
>>>> The reduction in transaction related to returns and customer support
>>>> might not offset the extra transactions caused by additional sales
>>>> but that is unlikely to bring complaints from management.
>>>>
>>>> If the forum activities do not generate addition revenue or customer
>>>> satisfaction or reduce costs, you can always turn it off.
>>>>
>>>> It is difficult to make business decisions or propose IT trade-offs
>>>> for organizations that you don't know or for general populations of
>>>> potential installations of OfBiz.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> So, from a business continuity angle having both in/on one system
>>>>> is not advisable.
>>>>>
>>>> Not sure that this conclusion is true in every case or that there
>>>> are not available solutions for scaling problems.
>>>> You can make the same argument for many features in an ERP. For
>>>> example, many companies do not mix eCommerce with accounting in the same system.
>>>>
>>>>> Apart from that, leveraging JForum with OFBiz data and vice-versa
>>>>> is doable. But there are intricacies. You have to take the
>>>>> following into
>>>>> consideration:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. You're JForum participants can also register without ever
>>>>> using OFBiz
>>>>>
>>>>> eCommerce. So you need means to get the user's profile data into OFBiz
>>>>> 2. When using LDAP as the means to do authentication and
>>>>> authorization
>>>>>
>>>>> in both JForum and OFBiz you need to set both up to use that.
>>>>> 3. For OFBiz, currently there is no integrated functionality
>>>>> available
>>>>>
>>>>> that updates the LDAP data when user details (userid, first name, last
>>>>> name, password, etc) are modified in OFBiz. I expect that to
>>>>> be the same
>>>>> for JForum.
>>>>>
>>>> I am not sure that JForum is the only way to go and that is a worthy
>>>> discussion.
>>>> I would also add the suggestion that social networking tools that
>>>> support groups and discussion might be a more modern solution that
>>>> adds meets the same business need as forums but add ideas such as
>>>> "following", "liking", "rich profiling", etc.
>>>>
>>>> Another way to provide this functionality would be to interface with
>>>> LinkedIn and use private and public groups. Facebook might also be
>>>> a solution if your business is B2C rather than B2B.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> If you want to implement implement functionality in either OFBiz or
>>>>> JForum to update the LDAP data I suggest you have al look at the
>>>>> Apache Directory Server project (http://directory.apache.org). Not
>>>>> only does the community have a (clusterable) Directory server and a
>>>>> good LDAP management solution, but also api's that you can use for
>>>>> integration.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Pierre Smits
>>>>>
>>>>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>*
>>>>>
>>>>> Services & Solutions for Cloud-
>>>>> Based Manufacturing, Professional
>>>>> Services and Retail & Trade
>>>>> http://www.orrtiz.com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Ron Wheeler
>>>> President
>>>> Artifact Software Inc
>>>> email: [hidden email]
>>>> skype: ronaldmwheeler
>>>> phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
>>>>
>>>>
>
>