[PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
Locked
[PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
 
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Hi all,
Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the components are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, project task assignment and time registration. The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third party integration solution and another open source project with the same name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business functionality. In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) and improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it in the component and others) to something that is more to the point business wise. I propose we rename it to 'reports'. What do you think? Best regards, Pierre Smits *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>* Services & Solutions for Cloud- Based Manufacturing, Professional Services and Retail & Trade http://www.orrtiz.com |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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Why not get all trendy and 2015ish and call it Analytics
That way it could also produce dashboards and graphs as well as reports. Ron On 25/02/2015 6:46 PM, Pierre Smits wrote: > Hi all, > > Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the components > are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point > of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various > accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and > services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, > project task assignment and time registration. > > The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that > one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third > party integration solution and another open source project with the same > name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could > even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business > functionality. > > In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business > functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) and > improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it in > the component and others) to something that is more to the point business > wise. > > I propose we rename it to 'reports'. > > What do you think? > > Best 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 |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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+1
I am in favor of renaming it period - no matter if its analytics or reports. |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
Administrator
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In reply to this post by Pierre Smits
Sounds a good idea but minor to me, "Analytics" shows off a bit, maybe time for it :D
A good README in the birt root with a link to https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Using+BIRT+with+OFBiz would help! Jacques Le 26/02/2015 00:46, Pierre Smits a écrit : > Hi all, > > Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the components > are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point > of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various > accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and > services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, > project task assignment and time registration. > > The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that > one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third > party integration solution and another open source project with the same > name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could > even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business > functionality. > > In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business > functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) and > improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it in > the component and others) to something that is more to the point business > wise. > > I propose we rename it to 'reports'. > > What do you think? > > Best regards, > > > Pierre Smits > > *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>* > Services & Solutions for Cloud- > Based Manufacturing, Professional > Services and Retail & Trade > http://www.orrtiz.com > |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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In reply to this post by Ron Wheeler
+1
Gil On 26/02/2015 02:22, Ron Wheeler wrote:
Why not get all trendy and 2015ish and call it Analytics |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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In reply to this post by Jacques Le Roux
Analytics - "Loud and Proud"?
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Using+BIRT+with+OFBiz could benefit from some example screenshots and a short desscription of what BIRT can do in terms of reports, charts, dashboards, interactive drilldown, etc. Perhaps someone could tart up the page to make the case for BIRT and help people understand why the investment in learning BIRT is worthwhile. How heavily is BIRT built into other modules to provide graphics for presenting search results or summary data for managers? I am a JasperReports fan and have not used BIRT. Ron On 26/02/2015 5:15 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote: > Sounds a good idea but minor to me, "Analytics" shows off a bit, maybe > time for it :D > A good README in the birt root with a link to > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Using+BIRT+with+OFBiz would > help! > > Jacques > > Le 26/02/2015 00:46, Pierre Smits a écrit : >> Hi all, >> >> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the >> components >> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business >> point >> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various >> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, >> project task assignment and time registration. >> >> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in >> that >> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific >> third >> party integration solution and another open source project with the same >> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could >> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >> functionality. >> >> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business >> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the >> components) and >> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to >> it in >> the component and others) to something that is more to the point >> business >> wise. >> >> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >> >> What do you think? >> >> Best 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 |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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In reply to this post by Pierre Smits
My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" or "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and in some ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) to implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading.
Jacopo On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote: > Hi all, > > Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the components > are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point > of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various > accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and > services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, > project task assignment and time registration. > > The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that > one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third > party integration solution and another open source project with the same > name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could > even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business > functionality. > > In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business > functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) and > improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it in > the component and others) to something that is more to the point business > wise. > > I propose we rename it to 'reports'. > > What do you think? > > Best regards, > > > Pierre Smits > > *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>* > Services & Solutions for Cloud- > Based Manufacturing, Professional > Services and Retail & Trade > http://www.orrtiz.com |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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You think that it might be more aspirational than real?
http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard is the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an interest in enhancing the capabilities. "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what functionality is possible. "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface to produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something pretty easy http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse-BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates Ron On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: > My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" or "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and in some ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) to implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. > > Jacopo > > On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the components >> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point >> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various >> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, >> project task assignment and time registration. >> >> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that >> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third >> party integration solution and another open source project with the same >> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could >> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >> functionality. >> >> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business >> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) and >> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it in >> the component and others) to something that is more to the point business >> wise. >> >> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >> >> What do you think? >> >> Best 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 |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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Administrator
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Le 26/02/2015 16:01, Ron Wheeler a écrit :
> I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface to produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something pretty easy > http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse-BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Template Looking forward ;) Jacques |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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In reply to this post by Ron Wheeler
We already have 18 reports across accounting, warehousing and orders
delivered through BIRT. I can image OFBiz could use more.... Pierre Smits *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>* Services & Solutions for Cloud- Based Manufacturing, Professional Services and Retail & Trade http://www.orrtiz.com On Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 4:01 PM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email] > wrote: > You think that it might be more aspirational than real? > > http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard is > the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. > > Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an interest > in enhancing the capabilities. > > "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what > functionality is possible. > > "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. > I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface to > produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something pretty > easy > http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse- > BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates > > > Ron > > > On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: > >> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" or >> "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and in some >> ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) to >> implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. >> >> Jacopo >> >> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> >> wrote: >> >> Hi all, >>> >>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the >>> components >>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point >>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various >>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, >>> project task assignment and time registration. >>> >>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that >>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third >>> party integration solution and another open source project with the same >>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could >>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >>> functionality. >>> >>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business >>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) >>> and >>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it >>> in >>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point business >>> wise. >>> >>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >>> >>> What do you think? >>> >>> Best 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 > > |
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In reply to this post by Ron Wheeler
Hi Ron and everyone,
BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while on developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more streamlined across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested in the component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for example: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of which I did some partially: - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references to javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the assets (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and feel and unified data preparation scripts for all reports - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter import and validation, exception handling etc ...) - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence requirements. For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole heap of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as its reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense given the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything else that might break from the rename. My 2 cents! Cheers Taher Alkhateeb ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> To: [hidden email] Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component You think that it might be more aspirational than real? http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard is the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an interest in enhancing the capabilities. "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what functionality is possible. "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface to produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something pretty easy http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse-BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates Ron On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: > My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" or "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and in some ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) to implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. > > Jacopo > > On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the components >> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point >> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various >> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, >> project task assignment and time registration. >> >> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that >> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third >> party integration solution and another open source project with the same >> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could >> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >> functionality. >> >> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business >> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) and >> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it in >> the component and others) to something that is more to the point business >> wise. >> >> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >> >> What do you think? >> >> Best 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 |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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Administrator
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For the sake of the conversation in this thread I must add:
* Birt was introduced mostly due to a work done by Chatree (I guess then working for Ant company) * Chatree is now a committer but he will not be really available for few months... Jacques Le 26/02/2015 16:21, Taher Alkhateeb a écrit : > Hi Ron and everyone, > > BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while on developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more streamlined across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested in the component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for example: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 > > To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of which I did some partially: > > - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references to javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the assets (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and feel and unified data preparation scripts for all reports > - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports > - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter import and validation, exception handling etc ...) > - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence requirements. For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) > - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole heap of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! > > The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as its reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense given the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything else that might break from the rename. > > My 2 cents! > > Cheers > > Taher Alkhateeb > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> > To: [hidden email] > Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM > Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component > > You think that it might be more aspirational than real? > > http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard is > the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. > > Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an > interest in enhancing the capabilities. > > "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what > functionality is possible. > > "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. > I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface to > produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something > pretty easy > http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse-BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates > > > Ron > > On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: >> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" or "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and in some ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) to implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. >> >> Jacopo >> >> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote: >> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the components >>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point >>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various >>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, >>> project task assignment and time registration. >>> >>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that >>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third >>> party integration solution and another open source project with the same >>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could >>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >>> functionality. >>> >>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business >>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) and >>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it in >>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point business >>> wise. >>> >>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >>> >>> What do you think? >>> >>> Best regards, >>> >>> >>> Pierre Smits >>> >>> *ORRTIZ.COM <http://www.orrtiz.com>* >>> Services & Solutions for Cloud- >>> Based Manufacturing, Professional >>> Services and Retail & Trade >>> http://www.orrtiz.com > |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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In reply to this post by taher
It seems that BIRT is really something like the Framework.
- It has some assets and code - These assets and code are used throught the Base Applications and SpecialPurpose components whenever you need to display a graphic or dashboard, provide an interactive drilldown or want to produce a nice report for display or PDF output. It is not really a separate component. Guess what! It sounds like a sub-project is the right way to handle this so people with the right skillsets can drive the process. In the meantime, the list of tasks identified by Taher is a very good starting point. Any idea of the number of manhours required to produce an initial toolkit that the application developers could use to integrate Analytics into each component that requires it? How much of this stuff exists buried in applications or in customized OFBIz implementation that could be contributed. Does anybody see why this is essential to the competitive position of OFBiz or is it just a "nice to have"? This goes back to my earlier commens and "marketing" research when someone was looking to get Gartner to look at OFBiz. The lack of integrated Analytics would be a big negative in comparison with other ERPs. For building eCommerce websites reporting is not a big deal but if you are going to provide an ERP, the CFO is going to want dashboards, the production manager will vote for the system that gives him strong tools to see comparisons and trends in order backlog, production, quality, manpower utilisation, costs, etc. The VP HR is going to want graphs on departmental manpower costs, overtime, expenses etc. that can be shown to the CFO and CEO at a moments notice. Ron On 26/02/2015 10:21 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: > Hi Ron and everyone, > > BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while on developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more streamlined across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested in the component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for example: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 > > To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of which I did some partially: > > - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references to javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the assets (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and feel and unified data preparation scripts for all reports > - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports > - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter import and validation, exception handling etc ...) > - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence requirements. For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) > - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole heap of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! > > The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as its reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense given the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything else that might break from the rename. > > My 2 cents! > > Cheers > > Taher Alkhateeb > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> > To: [hidden email] > Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM > Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component > > You think that it might be more aspirational than real? > > http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard is > the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. > > Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an > interest in enhancing the capabilities. > > "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what > functionality is possible. > > "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. > I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface to > produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something > pretty easy > http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse-BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates > > > Ron > > On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: >> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" or "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and in some ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) to implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. >> >> Jacopo >> >> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote: >> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the components >>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business point >>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various >>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, >>> project task assignment and time registration. >>> >>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in that >>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific third >>> party integration solution and another open source project with the same >>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could >>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >>> functionality. >>> >>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business >>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) and >>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to it in >>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point business >>> wise. >>> >>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >>> >>> What do you think? >>> >>> Best 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 |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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We have OLAP capabilities in OFBiz: for each tenant a olap repository is
created via the entity-engine. We have cube definitions: dimensions, facts and star schemas are defined in the bi component. I see interest. Best 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 Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 5:45 PM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email] > wrote: > It seems that BIRT is really something like the Framework. > - It has some assets and code > - These assets and code are used throught the Base Applications and > SpecialPurpose components whenever you need to display a graphic or > dashboard, provide an interactive drilldown or want to produce a nice > report for display or PDF output. > > It is not really a separate component. > > Guess what! It sounds like a sub-project is the right way to handle this > so people with the right skillsets can drive the process. > > In the meantime, the list of tasks identified by Taher is a very good > starting point. > Any idea of the number of manhours required to produce an initial toolkit > that the application developers could use to integrate Analytics into each > component that requires it? How much of this stuff exists buried in > applications or in customized OFBIz implementation that could be > contributed. > > Does anybody see why this is essential to the competitive position of > OFBiz or is it just a "nice to have"? > This goes back to my earlier commens and "marketing" research when someone > was looking to get Gartner to look at OFBiz. > The lack of integrated Analytics would be a big negative in comparison > with other ERPs. > > For building eCommerce websites reporting is not a big deal but if you are > going to provide an ERP, the CFO is going to want dashboards, the > production manager will vote for the system that gives him strong tools to > see comparisons and trends in order backlog, production, quality, manpower > utilisation, costs, etc. > The VP HR is going to want graphs on departmental manpower costs, > overtime, expenses etc. that can be shown to the CFO and CEO at a moments > notice. > > > Ron > > > > On 26/02/2015 10:21 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: > >> Hi Ron and everyone, >> >> BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while on >> developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more streamlined >> across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was >> bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested in the >> component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for example: >> https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 >> >> To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of which >> I did some partially: >> >> - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references to >> javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the assets >> (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and feel >> and unified data preparation scripts for all reports >> - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports >> - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks >> (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter import and >> validation, exception handling etc ...) >> - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence requirements. >> For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the >> system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) >> - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole heap >> of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! >> >> The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as its >> reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense given >> the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything else >> that might break from the rename. >> >> My 2 cents! >> >> Cheers >> >> Taher Alkhateeb >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> >> From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> >> To: [hidden email] >> Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM >> Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component >> >> You think that it might be more aspirational than real? >> >> http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard is >> the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. >> >> Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an >> interest in enhancing the capabilities. >> >> "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what >> functionality is possible. >> >> "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. >> I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface to >> produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something >> pretty easy >> http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse- >> BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates >> >> >> Ron >> >> On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: >> >>> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" or >>> "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and in some >>> ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) to >>> implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. >>> >>> Jacopo >>> >>> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Hi all, >>>> >>>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the >>>> components >>>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business >>>> point >>>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the various >>>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >>>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, >>>> project task assignment and time registration. >>>> >>>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in >>>> that >>>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific >>>> third >>>> party integration solution and another open source project with the same >>>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One could >>>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >>>> functionality. >>>> >>>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business >>>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) >>>> and >>>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to >>>> it in >>>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point >>>> business >>>> wise. >>>> >>>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >>>> >>>> What do you think? >>>> >>>> Best 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 > > |
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Hi Pierre,
I would call the BI component more of a skeleton than a solution. In fact many things (entities, services, etc ...) in it can be used in BIRT. But you do not have charting, drill-down, styling, event model and many other things that a full blown BI engine can provide (like BIRT, jasper or pentaho). Taher Alkhateeb On Feb 27, 2015 11:22 AM, "Pierre Smits" <[hidden email]> wrote: > We have OLAP capabilities in OFBiz: for each tenant a olap repository is > created via the entity-engine. We have cube definitions: dimensions, facts > and star schemas are defined in the bi component. > > I see interest. > > Best 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 Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 5:45 PM, Ron Wheeler < > [hidden email] > > wrote: > > > It seems that BIRT is really something like the Framework. > > - It has some assets and code > > - These assets and code are used throught the Base Applications and > > SpecialPurpose components whenever you need to display a graphic or > > dashboard, provide an interactive drilldown or want to produce a nice > > report for display or PDF output. > > > > It is not really a separate component. > > > > Guess what! It sounds like a sub-project is the right way to handle this > > so people with the right skillsets can drive the process. > > > > In the meantime, the list of tasks identified by Taher is a very good > > starting point. > > Any idea of the number of manhours required to produce an initial toolkit > > that the application developers could use to integrate Analytics into > each > > component that requires it? How much of this stuff exists buried in > > applications or in customized OFBIz implementation that could be > > contributed. > > > > Does anybody see why this is essential to the competitive position of > > OFBiz or is it just a "nice to have"? > > This goes back to my earlier commens and "marketing" research when > someone > > was looking to get Gartner to look at OFBiz. > > The lack of integrated Analytics would be a big negative in comparison > > with other ERPs. > > > > For building eCommerce websites reporting is not a big deal but if you > are > > going to provide an ERP, the CFO is going to want dashboards, the > > production manager will vote for the system that gives him strong tools > to > > see comparisons and trends in order backlog, production, quality, > manpower > > utilisation, costs, etc. > > The VP HR is going to want graphs on departmental manpower costs, > > overtime, expenses etc. that can be shown to the CFO and CEO at a moments > > notice. > > > > > > Ron > > > > > > > > On 26/02/2015 10:21 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: > > > >> Hi Ron and everyone, > >> > >> BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while on > >> developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more streamlined > >> across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was > >> bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested in > the > >> component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for example: > >> https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 > >> > >> To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of which > >> I did some partially: > >> > >> - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references to > >> javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the > assets > >> (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and > feel > >> and unified data preparation scripts for all reports > >> - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports > >> - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks > >> (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter import > and > >> validation, exception handling etc ...) > >> - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence requirements. > >> For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the > >> system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) > >> - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole heap > >> of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! > >> > >> The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as > its > >> reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense given > >> the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything > else > >> that might break from the rename. > >> > >> My 2 cents! > >> > >> Cheers > >> > >> Taher Alkhateeb > >> > >> ----- Original Message ----- > >> > >> From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> > >> To: [hidden email] > >> Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM > >> Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component > >> > >> You think that it might be more aspirational than real? > >> > >> http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard is > >> the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. > >> > >> Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an > >> interest in enhancing the capabilities. > >> > >> "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what > >> functionality is possible. > >> > >> "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. > >> I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface to > >> produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something > >> pretty easy > >> http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse- > >> BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates > >> > >> > >> Ron > >> > >> On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: > >> > >>> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" or > >>> "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and in > some > >>> ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) to > >>> implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. > >>> > >>> Jacopo > >>> > >>> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> > >>> wrote: > >>> > >>> Hi all, > >>>> > >>>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the > >>>> components > >>>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business > >>>> point > >>>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the > various > >>>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and > >>>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project management, > >>>> project task assignment and time registration. > >>>> > >>>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in > >>>> that > >>>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific > >>>> third > >>>> party integration solution and another open source project with the > same > >>>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One > could > >>>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business > >>>> functionality. > >>>> > >>>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of business > >>>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the components) > >>>> and > >>>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references to > >>>> it in > >>>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point > >>>> business > >>>> wise. > >>>> > >>>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. > >>>> > >>>> What do you think? > >>>> > >>>> Best 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 > > > > > |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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Hi Taher,
Indeed, all of those products you mentioned are skeletons. With additions that make them into solutions. The bi component could be the core of any kind of integration solution, whether that is the birt component or external products like jasper or pentaho. Basically i don't care how it is done. As long as it improves the feature set and the adoption of OFBiz. If that means that we chuck current work (in both bi and birt) to attic and start over, so be it. But if we can get some strides made by enhancing (albeit through small steps) what we have, that's ok with me too. Best 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 Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 10:01 AM, Taher Alkhateeb < [hidden email]> wrote: > Hi Pierre, > > I would call the BI component more of a skeleton than a solution. In fact > many things (entities, services, etc ...) in it can be used in BIRT. But > you do not have charting, drill-down, styling, event model and many other > things that a full blown BI engine can provide (like BIRT, jasper or > pentaho). > > Taher Alkhateeb > On Feb 27, 2015 11:22 AM, "Pierre Smits" <[hidden email]> wrote: > > > We have OLAP capabilities in OFBiz: for each tenant a olap repository is > > created via the entity-engine. We have cube definitions: dimensions, > facts > > and star schemas are defined in the bi component. > > > > I see interest. > > > > Best 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 Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 5:45 PM, Ron Wheeler < > > [hidden email] > > > wrote: > > > > > It seems that BIRT is really something like the Framework. > > > - It has some assets and code > > > - These assets and code are used throught the Base Applications and > > > SpecialPurpose components whenever you need to display a graphic or > > > dashboard, provide an interactive drilldown or want to produce a nice > > > report for display or PDF output. > > > > > > It is not really a separate component. > > > > > > Guess what! It sounds like a sub-project is the right way to handle > this > > > so people with the right skillsets can drive the process. > > > > > > In the meantime, the list of tasks identified by Taher is a very good > > > starting point. > > > Any idea of the number of manhours required to produce an initial > toolkit > > > that the application developers could use to integrate Analytics into > > each > > > component that requires it? How much of this stuff exists buried in > > > applications or in customized OFBIz implementation that could be > > > contributed. > > > > > > Does anybody see why this is essential to the competitive position of > > > OFBiz or is it just a "nice to have"? > > > This goes back to my earlier commens and "marketing" research when > > someone > > > was looking to get Gartner to look at OFBiz. > > > The lack of integrated Analytics would be a big negative in comparison > > > with other ERPs. > > > > > > For building eCommerce websites reporting is not a big deal but if you > > are > > > going to provide an ERP, the CFO is going to want dashboards, the > > > production manager will vote for the system that gives him strong tools > > to > > > see comparisons and trends in order backlog, production, quality, > > manpower > > > utilisation, costs, etc. > > > The VP HR is going to want graphs on departmental manpower costs, > > > overtime, expenses etc. that can be shown to the CFO and CEO at a > moments > > > notice. > > > > > > > > > Ron > > > > > > > > > > > > On 26/02/2015 10:21 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: > > > > > >> Hi Ron and everyone, > > >> > > >> BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while > on > > >> developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more > streamlined > > >> across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was > > >> bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested > in > > the > > >> component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for > example: > > >> https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 > > >> > > >> To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of > which > > >> I did some partially: > > >> > > >> - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references to > > >> javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the > > assets > > >> (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and > > feel > > >> and unified data preparation scripts for all reports > > >> - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports > > >> - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks > > >> (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter > import > > and > > >> validation, exception handling etc ...) > > >> - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence requirements. > > >> For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the > > >> system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) > > >> - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole > heap > > >> of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! > > >> > > >> The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as > > its > > >> reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense > given > > >> the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything > > else > > >> that might break from the rename. > > >> > > >> My 2 cents! > > >> > > >> Cheers > > >> > > >> Taher Alkhateeb > > >> > > >> ----- Original Message ----- > > >> > > >> From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> > > >> To: [hidden email] > > >> Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM > > >> Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component > > >> > > >> You think that it might be more aspirational than real? > > >> > > >> http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard > is > > >> the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. > > >> > > >> Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an > > >> interest in enhancing the capabilities. > > >> > > >> "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what > > >> functionality is possible. > > >> > > >> "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. > > >> I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface > to > > >> produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something > > >> pretty easy > > >> http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse- > > >> BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates > > >> > > >> > > >> Ron > > >> > > >> On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: > > >> > > >>> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" > or > > >>> "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and > in > > some > > >>> ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) > to > > >>> implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. > > >>> > > >>> Jacopo > > >>> > > >>> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> > > >>> wrote: > > >>> > > >>> Hi all, > > >>>> > > >>>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the > > >>>> components > > >>>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business > > >>>> point > > >>>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the > > various > > >>>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and > > >>>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project > management, > > >>>> project task assignment and time registration. > > >>>> > > >>>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in > > >>>> that > > >>>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific > > >>>> third > > >>>> party integration solution and another open source project with the > > same > > >>>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One > > could > > >>>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business > > >>>> functionality. > > >>>> > > >>>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of > business > > >>>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the > components) > > >>>> and > > >>>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references > to > > >>>> it in > > >>>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point > > >>>> business > > >>>> wise. > > >>>> > > >>>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. > > >>>> > > >>>> What do you think? > > >>>> > > >>>> Best 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 > > > > > > > > > |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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Administrator
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In this case I'm more for baby steps. There was already an effort to extract the birt component from the framework to specialpurpose, it should not be
thrown to attic. BTW, note that, depite its names, Birt is not only to be used for Business Intelligence. Jacques Le 27/02/2015 10:08, Pierre Smits a écrit : > Hi Taher, > > Indeed, all of those products you mentioned are skeletons. With additions > that make them into solutions. The bi component could be the core of any > kind of integration solution, whether that is the birt component or > external products like jasper or pentaho. > > Basically i don't care how it is done. As long as it improves the feature > set and the adoption of OFBiz. If that means that we chuck current work (in > both bi and birt) to attic and start over, so be it. But if we can get some > strides made by enhancing (albeit through small steps) what we have, that's > ok with me too. > > Best 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 Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 10:01 AM, Taher Alkhateeb < > [hidden email]> wrote: > >> Hi Pierre, >> >> I would call the BI component more of a skeleton than a solution. In fact >> many things (entities, services, etc ...) in it can be used in BIRT. But >> you do not have charting, drill-down, styling, event model and many other >> things that a full blown BI engine can provide (like BIRT, jasper or >> pentaho). >> >> Taher Alkhateeb >> On Feb 27, 2015 11:22 AM, "Pierre Smits" <[hidden email]> wrote: >> >>> We have OLAP capabilities in OFBiz: for each tenant a olap repository is >>> created via the entity-engine. We have cube definitions: dimensions, >> facts >>> and star schemas are defined in the bi component. >>> >>> I see interest. >>> >>> Best 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 Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 5:45 PM, Ron Wheeler < >>> [hidden email] >>>> wrote: >>>> It seems that BIRT is really something like the Framework. >>>> - It has some assets and code >>>> - These assets and code are used throught the Base Applications and >>>> SpecialPurpose components whenever you need to display a graphic or >>>> dashboard, provide an interactive drilldown or want to produce a nice >>>> report for display or PDF output. >>>> >>>> It is not really a separate component. >>>> >>>> Guess what! It sounds like a sub-project is the right way to handle >> this >>>> so people with the right skillsets can drive the process. >>>> >>>> In the meantime, the list of tasks identified by Taher is a very good >>>> starting point. >>>> Any idea of the number of manhours required to produce an initial >> toolkit >>>> that the application developers could use to integrate Analytics into >>> each >>>> component that requires it? How much of this stuff exists buried in >>>> applications or in customized OFBIz implementation that could be >>>> contributed. >>>> >>>> Does anybody see why this is essential to the competitive position of >>>> OFBiz or is it just a "nice to have"? >>>> This goes back to my earlier commens and "marketing" research when >>> someone >>>> was looking to get Gartner to look at OFBiz. >>>> The lack of integrated Analytics would be a big negative in comparison >>>> with other ERPs. >>>> >>>> For building eCommerce websites reporting is not a big deal but if you >>> are >>>> going to provide an ERP, the CFO is going to want dashboards, the >>>> production manager will vote for the system that gives him strong tools >>> to >>>> see comparisons and trends in order backlog, production, quality, >>> manpower >>>> utilisation, costs, etc. >>>> The VP HR is going to want graphs on departmental manpower costs, >>>> overtime, expenses etc. that can be shown to the CFO and CEO at a >> moments >>>> notice. >>>> >>>> >>>> Ron >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 26/02/2015 10:21 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi Ron and everyone, >>>>> >>>>> BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while >> on >>>>> developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more >> streamlined >>>>> across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was >>>>> bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested >> in >>> the >>>>> component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for >> example: >>>>> https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 >>>>> >>>>> To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of >> which >>>>> I did some partially: >>>>> >>>>> - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references to >>>>> javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the >>> assets >>>>> (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and >>> feel >>>>> and unified data preparation scripts for all reports >>>>> - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports >>>>> - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks >>>>> (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter >> import >>> and >>>>> validation, exception handling etc ...) >>>>> - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence requirements. >>>>> For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the >>>>> system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) >>>>> - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole >> heap >>>>> of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! >>>>> >>>>> The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as >>> its >>>>> reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense >> given >>>>> the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything >>> else >>>>> that might break from the rename. >>>>> >>>>> My 2 cents! >>>>> >>>>> Cheers >>>>> >>>>> Taher Alkhateeb >>>>> >>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>> >>>>> From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> >>>>> To: [hidden email] >>>>> Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM >>>>> Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component >>>>> >>>>> You think that it might be more aspirational than real? >>>>> >>>>> http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard >> is >>>>> the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. >>>>> >>>>> Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an >>>>> interest in enhancing the capabilities. >>>>> >>>>> "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what >>>>> functionality is possible. >>>>> >>>>> "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. >>>>> I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface >> to >>>>> produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something >>>>> pretty easy >>>>> http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse- >>>>> BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Ron >>>>> >>>>> On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" >> or >>>>>> "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and >> in >>> some >>>>>> ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) >> to >>>>>> implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. >>>>>> >>>>>> Jacopo >>>>>> >>>>>> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the >>>>>>> components >>>>>>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business >>>>>>> point >>>>>>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the >>> various >>>>>>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >>>>>>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project >> management, >>>>>>> project task assignment and time registration. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in >>>>>>> that >>>>>>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific >>>>>>> third >>>>>>> party integration solution and another open source project with the >>> same >>>>>>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One >>> could >>>>>>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >>>>>>> functionality. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of >> business >>>>>>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the >> components) >>>>>>> and >>>>>>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references >> to >>>>>>> it in >>>>>>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point >>>>>>> business >>>>>>> wise. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> What do you think? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Best 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 >>>> >>>> |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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Hence the suggestion to rename the component.
Best 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 Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 10:32 AM, Jacques Le Roux < [hidden email]> wrote: > In this case I'm more for baby steps. There was already an effort to > extract the birt component from the framework to specialpurpose, it should > not be thrown to attic. > BTW, note that, depite its names, Birt is not only to be used for Business > Intelligence. > > Jacques > > Le 27/02/2015 10:08, Pierre Smits a écrit : > >> Hi Taher, >> >> Indeed, all of those products you mentioned are skeletons. With additions >> that make them into solutions. The bi component could be the core of any >> kind of integration solution, whether that is the birt component or >> external products like jasper or pentaho. >> >> Basically i don't care how it is done. As long as it improves the feature >> set and the adoption of OFBiz. If that means that we chuck current work >> (in >> both bi and birt) to attic and start over, so be it. But if we can get >> some >> strides made by enhancing (albeit through small steps) what we have, >> that's >> ok with me too. >> >> Best 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 Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 10:01 AM, Taher Alkhateeb < >> [hidden email]> wrote: >> >> Hi Pierre, >>> >>> I would call the BI component more of a skeleton than a solution. In fact >>> many things (entities, services, etc ...) in it can be used in BIRT. But >>> you do not have charting, drill-down, styling, event model and many other >>> things that a full blown BI engine can provide (like BIRT, jasper or >>> pentaho). >>> >>> Taher Alkhateeb >>> On Feb 27, 2015 11:22 AM, "Pierre Smits" <[hidden email]> wrote: >>> >>> We have OLAP capabilities in OFBiz: for each tenant a olap repository is >>>> created via the entity-engine. We have cube definitions: dimensions, >>>> >>> facts >>> >>>> and star schemas are defined in the bi component. >>>> >>>> I see interest. >>>> >>>> Best 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 Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 5:45 PM, Ron Wheeler < >>>> [hidden email] >>>> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> It seems that BIRT is really something like the Framework. >>>>> - It has some assets and code >>>>> - These assets and code are used throught the Base Applications and >>>>> SpecialPurpose components whenever you need to display a graphic or >>>>> dashboard, provide an interactive drilldown or want to produce a nice >>>>> report for display or PDF output. >>>>> >>>>> It is not really a separate component. >>>>> >>>>> Guess what! It sounds like a sub-project is the right way to handle >>>>> >>>> this >>> >>>> so people with the right skillsets can drive the process. >>>>> >>>>> In the meantime, the list of tasks identified by Taher is a very good >>>>> starting point. >>>>> Any idea of the number of manhours required to produce an initial >>>>> >>>> toolkit >>> >>>> that the application developers could use to integrate Analytics into >>>>> >>>> each >>>> >>>>> component that requires it? How much of this stuff exists buried in >>>>> applications or in customized OFBIz implementation that could be >>>>> contributed. >>>>> >>>>> Does anybody see why this is essential to the competitive position of >>>>> OFBiz or is it just a "nice to have"? >>>>> This goes back to my earlier commens and "marketing" research when >>>>> >>>> someone >>>> >>>>> was looking to get Gartner to look at OFBiz. >>>>> The lack of integrated Analytics would be a big negative in comparison >>>>> with other ERPs. >>>>> >>>>> For building eCommerce websites reporting is not a big deal but if you >>>>> >>>> are >>>> >>>>> going to provide an ERP, the CFO is going to want dashboards, the >>>>> production manager will vote for the system that gives him strong tools >>>>> >>>> to >>>> >>>>> see comparisons and trends in order backlog, production, quality, >>>>> >>>> manpower >>>> >>>>> utilisation, costs, etc. >>>>> The VP HR is going to want graphs on departmental manpower costs, >>>>> overtime, expenses etc. that can be shown to the CFO and CEO at a >>>>> >>>> moments >>> >>>> notice. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Ron >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On 26/02/2015 10:21 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Hi Ron and everyone, >>>>>> >>>>>> BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while >>>>>> >>>>> on >>> >>>> developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more >>>>>> >>>>> streamlined >>> >>>> across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was >>>>>> bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested >>>>>> >>>>> in >>> >>>> the >>>> >>>>> component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for >>>>>> >>>>> example: >>> >>>> https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 >>>>>> >>>>>> To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of >>>>>> >>>>> which >>> >>>> I did some partially: >>>>>> >>>>>> - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references to >>>>>> javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the >>>>>> >>>>> assets >>>> >>>>> (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and >>>>>> >>>>> feel >>>> >>>>> and unified data preparation scripts for all reports >>>>>> - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports >>>>>> - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks >>>>>> (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter >>>>>> >>>>> import >>> >>>> and >>>> >>>>> validation, exception handling etc ...) >>>>>> - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence requirements. >>>>>> For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the >>>>>> system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) >>>>>> - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole >>>>>> >>>>> heap >>> >>>> of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! >>>>>> >>>>>> The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as >>>>>> >>>>> its >>>> >>>>> reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense >>>>>> >>>>> given >>> >>>> the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything >>>>>> >>>>> else >>>> >>>>> that might break from the rename. >>>>>> >>>>>> My 2 cents! >>>>>> >>>>>> Cheers >>>>>> >>>>>> Taher Alkhateeb >>>>>> >>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>>> >>>>>> From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> >>>>>> To: [hidden email] >>>>>> Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM >>>>>> Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component >>>>>> >>>>>> You think that it might be more aspirational than real? >>>>>> >>>>>> http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard >>>>>> >>>>> is >>> >>>> the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. >>>>>> >>>>>> Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an >>>>>> interest in enhancing the capabilities. >>>>>> >>>>>> "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what >>>>>> functionality is possible. >>>>>> >>>>>> "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. >>>>>> I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface >>>>>> >>>>> to >>> >>>> produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something >>>>>> pretty easy >>>>>> http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse- >>>>>> BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Ron >>>>>> >>>>>> On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" >>>>>>> >>>>>> or >>> >>>> "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and >>>>>>> >>>>>> in >>> >>>> some >>>> >>>>> ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) >>>>>>> >>>>>> to >>> >>>> implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Jacopo >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> >>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the >>>>>>>> components >>>>>>>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business >>>>>>>> point >>>>>>>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> various >>>> >>>>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >>>>>>>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> management, >>> >>>> project task assignment and time registration. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say in >>>>>>>> that >>>>>>>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific >>>>>>>> third >>>>>>>> party integration solution and another open source project with the >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> same >>>> >>>>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> could >>>> >>>>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >>>>>>>> functionality. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> business >>> >>>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> components) >>> >>>> and >>>>>>>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> to >>> >>>> it in >>>>>>>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point >>>>>>>> business >>>>>>>> wise. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> What do you think? >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Best 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 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> |
Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component
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'Reports' doens't over commit and under deliver when it is added to the
OFBiz value proposition (e.g. on our homepage at). 'Reports' appeals to all kinds of persons in the various domains of a business, whether that is accounting, manufacturing, sales, etc. It appeals - due to its simplicity - to the people who evaluate products such as OFBiz on the basis of feature comparison. A good example of a feature comparison related to OFBiz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software 'Report-engine' appeals more to the persons who look for a report-engine specifically. 'Report-tools' appeal more to the persons who look for a specific report tool. 'Analytics' implies statistics, it also implies that is says something about the data presented in a report. Like dashboards do. Best 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 Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 10:34 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> wrote: > Hence the suggestion to rename the component. > > Best 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 Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 10:32 AM, Jacques Le Roux < > [hidden email]> wrote: > >> In this case I'm more for baby steps. There was already an effort to >> extract the birt component from the framework to specialpurpose, it should >> not be thrown to attic. >> BTW, note that, depite its names, Birt is not only to be used for >> Business Intelligence. >> >> Jacques >> >> Le 27/02/2015 10:08, Pierre Smits a écrit : >> >>> Hi Taher, >>> >>> Indeed, all of those products you mentioned are skeletons. With additions >>> that make them into solutions. The bi component could be the core of any >>> kind of integration solution, whether that is the birt component or >>> external products like jasper or pentaho. >>> >>> Basically i don't care how it is done. As long as it improves the feature >>> set and the adoption of OFBiz. If that means that we chuck current work >>> (in >>> both bi and birt) to attic and start over, so be it. But if we can get >>> some >>> strides made by enhancing (albeit through small steps) what we have, >>> that's >>> ok with me too. >>> >>> Best 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 Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 10:01 AM, Taher Alkhateeb < >>> [hidden email]> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Pierre, >>>> >>>> I would call the BI component more of a skeleton than a solution. In >>>> fact >>>> many things (entities, services, etc ...) in it can be used in BIRT. But >>>> you do not have charting, drill-down, styling, event model and many >>>> other >>>> things that a full blown BI engine can provide (like BIRT, jasper or >>>> pentaho). >>>> >>>> Taher Alkhateeb >>>> On Feb 27, 2015 11:22 AM, "Pierre Smits" <[hidden email]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> We have OLAP capabilities in OFBiz: for each tenant a olap repository >>>>> is >>>>> created via the entity-engine. We have cube definitions: dimensions, >>>>> >>>> facts >>>> >>>>> and star schemas are defined in the bi component. >>>>> >>>>> I see interest. >>>>> >>>>> Best 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 Thu, Feb 26, 2015 at 5:45 PM, Ron Wheeler < >>>>> [hidden email] >>>>> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> It seems that BIRT is really something like the Framework. >>>>>> - It has some assets and code >>>>>> - These assets and code are used throught the Base Applications and >>>>>> SpecialPurpose components whenever you need to display a graphic or >>>>>> dashboard, provide an interactive drilldown or want to produce a nice >>>>>> report for display or PDF output. >>>>>> >>>>>> It is not really a separate component. >>>>>> >>>>>> Guess what! It sounds like a sub-project is the right way to handle >>>>>> >>>>> this >>>> >>>>> so people with the right skillsets can drive the process. >>>>>> >>>>>> In the meantime, the list of tasks identified by Taher is a very good >>>>>> starting point. >>>>>> Any idea of the number of manhours required to produce an initial >>>>>> >>>>> toolkit >>>> >>>>> that the application developers could use to integrate Analytics into >>>>>> >>>>> each >>>>> >>>>>> component that requires it? How much of this stuff exists buried in >>>>>> applications or in customized OFBIz implementation that could be >>>>>> contributed. >>>>>> >>>>>> Does anybody see why this is essential to the competitive position of >>>>>> OFBiz or is it just a "nice to have"? >>>>>> This goes back to my earlier commens and "marketing" research when >>>>>> >>>>> someone >>>>> >>>>>> was looking to get Gartner to look at OFBiz. >>>>>> The lack of integrated Analytics would be a big negative in comparison >>>>>> with other ERPs. >>>>>> >>>>>> For building eCommerce websites reporting is not a big deal but if you >>>>>> >>>>> are >>>>> >>>>>> going to provide an ERP, the CFO is going to want dashboards, the >>>>>> production manager will vote for the system that gives him strong >>>>>> tools >>>>>> >>>>> to >>>>> >>>>>> see comparisons and trends in order backlog, production, quality, >>>>>> >>>>> manpower >>>>> >>>>>> utilisation, costs, etc. >>>>>> The VP HR is going to want graphs on departmental manpower costs, >>>>>> overtime, expenses etc. that can be shown to the CFO and CEO at a >>>>>> >>>>> moments >>>> >>>>> notice. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Ron >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On 26/02/2015 10:21 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Hi Ron and everyone, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> BIRT is very powerful but by no means easy! I was working for a while >>>>>>> >>>>>> on >>>> >>>>> developing an infrastructure for OFBIZ to make it a bit more >>>>>>> >>>>>> streamlined >>>> >>>>> across the pages but stopped after a while for two reasons: 1) it was >>>>>>> bigger work than I expected and 2) the community seemed uninterested >>>>>>> >>>>>> in >>>> >>>>> the >>>>> >>>>>> component as you can observe in our discussion in this JIRA for >>>>>>> >>>>>> example: >>>> >>>>> https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5070 >>>>>>> >>>>>>> To make it reach its potential, there are multiple things to do of >>>>>>> >>>>>> which >>>> >>>>> I did some partially: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> - Create a BIRT library (filename.rptlibrary) which hold references >>>>>>> to >>>>>>> javascript source files, CSS files, etc .. and it contains all the >>>>>>> >>>>>> assets >>>>> >>>>>> (logo, fonts, colors, you name it) so that you have a unified look and >>>>>>> >>>>>> feel >>>>> >>>>>> and unified data preparation scripts for all reports >>>>>>> - Create CSS files unifying the look and feel of all reports >>>>>>> - Create javascript files that contain scripts for repeating tasks >>>>>>> (library imports, UI label preparation, report layout, parameter >>>>>>> >>>>>> import >>>> >>>>> and >>>>> >>>>>> validation, exception handling etc ...) >>>>>>> - Create sub-libraries that handle business intelligence >>>>>>> requirements. >>>>>>> For example, you can prepare common cubes on the main entities of the >>>>>>> system (Party, Product, OrderHeader, Accounting Transaction, etc ...) >>>>>>> - Finally, once the above is in place, then you can design a whole >>>>>>> >>>>>> heap >>>> >>>>> of reports, OLAP cupes, Charts, you name it! >>>>>>> >>>>>>> The question remains, is the community interested in adopting BIRT as >>>>>>> >>>>>> its >>>>> >>>>>> reporting tool? If not, then renaming it would not make much sense >>>>>>> >>>>>> given >>>> >>>>> the effort put into fixing all the links to the component and anything >>>>>>> >>>>>> else >>>>> >>>>>> that might break from the rename. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> My 2 cents! >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Cheers >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Taher Alkhateeb >>>>>>> >>>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>>>> >>>>>>> From: "Ron Wheeler" <[hidden email]> >>>>>>> To: [hidden email] >>>>>>> Sent: Thursday, 26 February, 2015 6:01:09 PM >>>>>>> Subject: Re: [PROPOSAL] Change name of birt component >>>>>>> >>>>>>> You think that it might be more aspirational than real? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> http://bod-wiki.birtondemand.com/wiki/index.php?title=App_Mashboard >>>>>>> >>>>>> is >>>> >>>>> the kind of thing that I expect OFBiz to support one day. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Perhaps a more ambitious name might encourage someone to take an >>>>>>> interest in enhancing the capabilities. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> "BIRT" is just the name of a tool and gives no idea about what >>>>>>> functionality is possible. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> "Reports" seems to understate what BIRT can do. >>>>>>> I am not sure of the work required to enhance the existing interface >>>>>>> >>>>>> to >>>> >>>>> produce more of what BIRT can do OOTB but it seems to be something >>>>>>> pretty easy >>>>>>> http://www.theserverside.com/news/1364376/Using-Eclipse- >>>>>>> BIRT-Report-Libraries-and-Templates >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Ron >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On 26/02/2015 9:19 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> My main concern is that assigning a generic name (such as "reports" >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> or >>>> >>>>> "analytics") to a component that is just one very specific way (and >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> in >>>> >>>>> some >>>>> >>>>>> ways limited/questionable for the way the Birt has been integrated) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> to >>>> >>>>> implement an integration with a reporting tool may be misleading. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Jacopo >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Feb 26, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Pierre Smits <[hidden email]> >>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Currently, all component names describe - in one word - what the >>>>>>>>> components >>>>>>>>> are about and what kind of functionality the user - from a business >>>>>>>>> point >>>>>>>>> of view - can expect. As examples: accounting is related to the >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> various >>>>> >>>>>> accounting (financial, gl, invoicing, payment, , etc) functions and >>>>>>>>> services, and projectmgr is related to program and project >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> management, >>>> >>>>> project task assignment and time registration. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> The birt component is a bit the odd one out. The name doesn't say >>>>>>>>> in >>>>>>>>> that >>>>>>>>> one word what it delivers. In stead it is an acronym for a specific >>>>>>>>> third >>>>>>>>> party integration solution and another open source project with the >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> same >>>>> >>>>>> name (birt, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRT_Project ). One >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> could >>>>> >>>>>> even say it is the name of a tool, not the name of a business >>>>>>>>> functionality. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> In order to be able to increase awareness of the multitude of >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> business >>>> >>>>> functionalities (as could be done by using the name of the >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> components) >>>> >>>>> and >>>>>>>>> improve adoption, I suggest to change the name (and the references >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> to >>>> >>>>> it in >>>>>>>>> the component and others) to something that is more to the point >>>>>>>>> business >>>>>>>>> wise. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I propose we rename it to 'reports'. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> What do you think? >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Best 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 >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> > |
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