Openbravo.com
Wiki
Planet
Log in / create account
View source | Discuss page | Page history | Printable version   
360 Tour
ADVERTISEMENT
Accounting eLearning Courses
Partnerships
SourceForge.net Logo
Openbravo ERP at SourceForge

SourceForge.net Logo
Openbravo POS at SourceForge

Open Solution Alliance Logo
Openbravo at Open Solution Alliance

Technical FAQ about Openbravo ERP

Rating :
2.33/5
(3 votes cast)
You have to be registered to be able to vote

Contents

Frequently asked questions about Openbravo ERP

General Questions

Which version of Openbravo should I use?

Everyone working on production environments, business uses or evaluations of the product should focus on Openbravo R2.x branch. We will keep working and fixing on R2 for a long time.

Openbravo ERP R3.x (codename Green) is just a prototype and it is still in a design stage.

What is Openbravo Network?

Openbravo Community Edition is the community supported version of Openbravo. It is defined as best-in-class, production ready, and award winning.

Openbravo Network builds on top of the Community Edition. It is a commercial bundle that combines all the components you need to run your ERP in an appliance format. It includes the following:

Openbravo Network also includes a support service which basically backports all the patches available in the development trunk and provides a guarantee that Openbravo will address any bug reported by the clients with a certain SLA.

Openbravo Network is a paid service, combining software and support in one package. The price also includes the Oracle and rPath licenses. For more details and a comparison of both Editions, please visit our website page.

Web services for customer info?

Currently, Openbravo doesn't support that feature. At this moment web services are used to receive sales orders and feed product and pricing information to external applications. Customer Import can be achieved using text (CSV - comma separated value) files.

How much time an Openbravo implementation takes?

There are many variables affecting the answer. Mainly:

Localization: Has the country in which the client resides already completed its localization project?

Experience of Openbravo: Does the implementor have any previous experience of Openbravo? The learning curve is steep.

Vertical Market: What does the company manufacture and how does it deal with customers and supplier? What you consider is normal may not be the usual practice within Openbravo.

Specific needs: Do the company or its market segment or sector has specific needs not covered by Openbravo?

Usually a complete implementation includes, among other things, migration of previous data, analysis of customer's business processes, integration with already existing systems, definition of users and roles, setup of windows, or the creating and customization of reporting.

For a country where Openbravo has been already localized and a customer having needs cover by Openbravo, a small implementation project takes an average around 400 hours.

Is Openbravo compatible with Compiere?

Openbravo is an independent project which aims to produce the best open source ERP in the world working together with the community. We have a dedicated and experienced development team (in-house), and we are executing an ambitious plan to continue developing the application from both a functional and technical perspective.

As explained on our website, Openbravo's dictionary is based on Compiere’s releases 2.4.4 and 2.5.0 dictionaries, but has been extended to accommodate our new web-based architecture, WAD engine, and a new set of functionalities developed over time (manufacturing, European accounting practices, ...). Therefore, it is currently incompatible.

We believe, just as many others in the community do, that cooperation makes all of us stronger and enables us to achieve larger objectives. We would be very happy to work together with Compiere again in the future to ensure compatibility between both projects. With this spirit, we have offered our support to Compiere. However at this stage this type of coordination is not guaranteed and therefore we cannot ensure compatibility.

For more information about our relationship with Compiere see our page devoted to it.

What is Openbravo ERP support for security features?

These are the main Openbravo ERP security features:

Two levels of security are implemented:

Can Openbravo be integrated to active directory for list/authentication?

From R2.30 ahead, Openbravo supports pluggable authentication for integration with central authentication services. So it is possible to integrate Openbravo with active directory to authenticate users but you will need to develop a plugin in java to achieve this integration.

If you wanted to develop this plugin, you have to create first a new authentication java class that implements the interface "org.openbravo.authentication.AuthenticationManager". An example is the default authentication manager that is implemented in the java class "org.openbravo.authentication.basic.DefaultAuthenticationManager". And second add a new context param in the file web.xml to use this authentication manager. For example if your authentication class is "org.yourorganization.YourAuthenticationManager" then add:

<context-param>

<param-name>AuthenticationManager</param-name>

<param-value>org.yourorganization.YourAuthenticationManager</param-value>

</context-param>

How difficult is the migration to a new version of Openbravo

It should not be difficult and many users do upgrade their installations after a version is released. Every time that a new stable version is released:

How can I see my Postgresql database?

PostgreSQL has an admin tool called, pgAdmin III. It is very useful to introduce, see, update data in your Openbravo database. You can download in: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=162271&package_id=192201

Installation issues

What is the recommended hardware configuration for Openbravo?

Suggested configurations are:

Small size installation (up to 20 concurrent users)

Medium size installation (up 40 concurrent users)

It is possible to install Openbravo without the default demo data?

It is not possible to install Openbravo without data. You can clean the data from General Rules > Client Rules > Delete Client menu. You can also delete the client which contains all data using ad_delete_client stored procedure. To do it, edit that procedure and replace line 77 where appears p_AD_Client_ID := 1000003; should be p_AD_Client_ID := 1000000; Then run the procedure and you will have a clean installation.

How do I install Openbravo with no admin password for PostgreSQL in Ubuntu/Debian?

Openbravo installer asks for an admin password for PostgreSQL, however Ubuntu/Debian and probably other distributions do not provide a default password.

A possible workaround is:

1) Edit pg_hba.conf (located in /var/lib/postgresql/data or similar) and replace all the password or md5 strings by trust. For example, converting: 

local   all         all            md5

into: 

local   all         all            trust

2) Restart PostgreSQL (doing /etc/init.d/postgresql restart).

3) Change postgres user password: 

psql -d postgres -U postgres
alter role postgres with password 'new_password';
\q

4) Open pg_hba.conf again and replace all the trust strings by md5.

5) Restart PostgreSQL again


Avoiding java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space

In order to avoid HTTP Status 500 - java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space, give more memory space to Apache Tomcat. 

HTTP Status 500 -  
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
type Exception report 
 
message  
 
description The server encountered an internal error () that prevented it from fulfilling this request. 
 
exception  
 
javax.servlet.ServletException: Java heap space 
org.apache.catalina.security.SecurityUtil.execute(SecurityUtil.java:294) 
org.apache.catalina.security.SecurityUtil.doAsPrivilege(SecurityUtil.java:162) 
java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) 
org.openbravo.utils.CharsetFilter.doFilter(Unknown Source) 
sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor51.invoke(Unknown Source) 
sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) 
java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585) 
org.apache.catalina.security.SecurityUtil$1.run(SecurityUtil.java:244) 
java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) 
javax.security.auth.Subject.doAsPrivileged(Subject.java:517) 
org.apache.catalina.security.SecurityUtil.execute(SecurityUtil.java:276) 
org.apache.catalina.security.SecurityUtil.doAsPrivilege(SecurityUtil.java:218) 
 
 
root cause  
 
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space 
 
 
note The full stack trace of the root cause is available in the Apache Tomcat/5.5 logs.

Configuration issues

What is the utility for Application Element?

Every field in the application, has a database column behind it.

For example, the field NAME in many windows in the application. Every single field called NAME has a column in those tables, called NAME ,also. Behind all those columns, there is an application element which "controls" all the fields.

If you change the name of a field NAME in a window and rename it to XXXX, for example. You compile the application, and you will see that field name changed. But then if you click on "Synchronize terminology", the application element NAME (owner of all the fields called name) will overwrite all the NAMEs in the application, and change the NAME of the window you edited by the original NAME.

This is done to make easier the work of the person who parametrizes. So when you create a new window, you create the columns CREATED, CREATEDBY, NAME, ... The application takes them into the group of existing elements, and gives them same name, translation, ...

If you create fields from columns of tables that didnt exist before, it is necessary to click on "Synchronize terminology" in order to create the application element for those new fields that didnt exist before.

Is there a way to display order names in English instead of Spanish?

At the moment the fastest and easiest way to do this is go to Target Document Type directly from the Sales Order window. In Translation tab you can change the name for each Document Type and mark the checkbox Translated.

The document types are also defined in the Initial Client Setup...

How can I change the Openbravo logo that appears on the invoices and delivery notes

Prior to Openbravo Version 2.3

You have two options:

For Openbravo 2.3 onwards

No information currently available

How can I change the default currency?

When creating a new order, the currencies are dictated by the price list you created (and the product you associate with that price list). Check out Product Management|Product Management Rules|Price List and set the Currency there.

How can I configure the log4j file?

Log4j is the way Openbravo saves logs (errors or information about the application data). Logs are very useful in order to know where and why the application crashed.

Log4j configuration is managed with /tomcat/webapps/openbravo/WEB-INF/log4j.lcf file, here is defined where the log will be stored, this is done in a line that looks like: 

log4j.appender.R.File=/tomcat/logs/log4j_TAD.log

The previous line means that the log is stored in /tomcat/logs/log4j_TAD.log file. Note that if your OS is Windows the directory separator is slash (/, like linux) or two backslashes (\\), if you use only a backslash (\) it will not work.

If the $CATALINA_BASE/webapps/openbravo context owner and the $CATALINA_BASE/logs owners do not match, then there's no log. To correct this, if $CATALINA_BASE/logs has the tomca:tomcat ownership be consequent and assign this same permissions to the context.

If you modify the log4j.lcf file you will have to restart Tomcat in order to apply changes.

How do I increase the verbosity of the log4j file?

Messages shown in log files have different categories (debug, info, warn, error and fatal). By default the messages shown are from error to fatal but this can be customized. When you select a category all messages which belong to this category or to a higher one will be displayed. To do this there are two ways:

How can I customize Openbravo Workflow?

You can define new Workflows or customize the existing ones at General Rules -> System rules -> Workflow. There are tabs to define the workflow, access grants and the nodes of the workflow.

How should I configure Openbravo for remote access? I see no images in the Login.

When you install Openbravo, localhost is the hostname by default. To access Openbravo from other machines, you must setup Openbravo as follows: Edit the following properties in AppsOpenbravo/build.xml (AppsOpenbravo/config/Openbravo.properties since 2.4x release) 

 <property name="web.url" value="@actual_url_context@/web"/> 

 <property name="context.url" value="http://servername:port/openbravo"/>

The context.url is only relevant for the web services. Replace servename and port with yours.

Apply changes 

cd AppsOpenbravo
ant compile -Dtab=xx war

Stop Tomcat, delete openbravo and openbravo.war from tomcat/webapps and copy the new AppsOpenbravo/lib/openbravo.war into tomcat/webapps. And finally start Tomcat.

I am not able to see the grids. How should I configure Openbravo in this case?

It can happen that you are able to log in the application but you are not able to see any grid. The problem is that you are trying to access to the application from a direction different that the one you specify on install process. In this case, the dojo library (the javascript that is behind the grid object) interprets that you are trying to access to a context that you are not able to for security reasons, so it does not let you enter and the grid is not displayed.

That is the reason why you have to access to the application with the same host name (machine name or IP direction) that you set in the installation (synonyms do not work): if you entered the machine name on install, then use the machine name in your browser location to access to the application; if you entered 'localhost', then access with 'localhost'; if you entered '127.0.0.1', then access with '127.0.0.1'.

How can I increase my Oracle connection numbers?

In /AppsOpenbravo/config/XmlPool.xml file you have to increase maxConns parameter.

I forgot my password. How do I get it back?

Connect to the database with a client (sqlplus for Oracle, psql for PostgreSQL) and type the following SQL sentence: 

UPDATE ad_user SET password = 'PwOd6SgWF74HY4u51bfrUxjtB9g=' WHERE name = 'Openbravo';

This will restore the 'Openbravo' user's password to 'openbravo'.

Can I force a view for a generated window

Yes you can, for each tab you can define if it is edit view or grid view by default. You must use the Default Default Edit Mode

What is the difference between the system and application roles

Openbravo manages two different role types:

-System: Can just see application dictionary data. Suppose someones is maintaining the application, but you do not want to have access the company activity information.

-Activity: Can just see activity data, but not application dictionary data.

If you want a user to join the application with both roles, the user has to be from organization "0".

How can I change number's format

The numbers can be customized through config/Format.xml file. It is possible to decide between "," and ".", between "10,50" and "10,5", etc.

Functional issues

Is there a file in which all the logged in users along with the time in and out is saved?

There are no files containing this information in the application, but you can get this information from the ad_session table. There is also a window on the application showing this information: General Rules -> Client Rules -> Security -> Session

Does Openbravo support Multi-tenancy (One instance for multiple companies with multiple organizations within each company) ?

Yes, we have implemented the same structure as Compiere. Every table has the columns AD_Client_ID (company ID) and AD_Org_ID (organization ID). It allows to have multiple companies (we say entities) with multiple organizations (related in a hierarchical structure) within the same Openbravo instance.

What kind of Open Source Web Single Sign-On does/can Openbravo support?

For identity management we use our own user/password authentication system, and for session management we use HttpSession. Currently no Open Source Web Single Sign-On nor other Identity management systems are in our development plan.

Is there any functionality within Openbravo to audit user's actions?

We have developed some prototypes for scientific articles (IEEE software), but we have never used it in a real environment.

Is there any future support for Geronimo+Tomcat as the application server?

Actually we think it is not worth to move our system to EJB architecture. Our architecture has been tested in many environments and it is quite scalable and secure and, of course, simpler than EJB's based ones.

How can I cluster Openbravo? (besides application server or database server clustering)?

We do not have clustering tools apart from application server and database server clustering. We think the best way to scale Openbravo is using one instance per company, and one (or more) servers per instance. So, usually, there is no need of clustering.

Can I setup a default value for each field depending on the user?

This can be managed with preferences:

General Rules -> Data -> Utility -> Preferences

Allows you to setup a value for each field. If you don't select a user, this default value will apply to all users.

How can I generate an incremental value for a field?

Do it through Openbravo ERP, not in your database.

Logged as System Administrator:

  1. Go to Application Dictionary > Tables and Columns.
  2. Select the desired table (e.g., C_ORDERLINE)
  3. Go to 'Column' tab and select the desired column (e.g., LineNo)
  4. In Default Value text box write the SQL (e.g., @SQL=SELECT COALESCE(MAX(Line),0)+10 AS DefaultValue FROM C_OrderLine WHERE C_Order_ID=@C_Order_ID@)

Is it possible to define different UOMs for invoices and orders?

Yes, it is possible. You can configure your invoicing unit at Products window, on Products tab. Then, you can add as much ordering units as you want on the units tab on the same window. Ordering units and invoicing unit can have a fixed relation or a flexible relation. You can define the fixed relation on the Units window. At every orders, shipments and invoices, you now can include two quantities, one for each unit of measure. The warehouse is registered with both units of measure.

How can I migrate a test environment, with all the implementations, translations and adaptations to a full production environment?

It's very important if it exists a production environment or not. If you have not a production environment. You can just create another entity at the same application an your developments will be included. Not your customizations. I mean you will keep your window structures, processes, menus, etc. but not your tax, accounting, etc. configuration. If you have a production environment. You must redo your changes on your production environment. You can do it manually or automatically. The new releases do it automatically. How? Not all application dictionary records have the same identifier range. So standard developments have a range, particular dictionary developments have another range and so on. This way, the update script knows what must keep and what not.

Please find technical information at How to move Openbravo ERP article.

What does “error 0” mean?

The error 0 message is a postgreSQL bug that makes all the errors to have the same message. For detailed error message check the log file.

How can I obtain more information if anything goes wrong?

If anything goes wrong executing the application and you need more information you can review the log files.

Openbravo creates its own log file into the Tomcat logs folder. It is usually located in the $CATALINA_BASE/logs folder. To configure application log file see How can I configure the log4j file?

Also, if you are using PostgreSQL you can configure it (see postgresql.conf file) to obtain more information related to the executed queries.

In Windows it is inside the Program Files/PostgreSQL/8.x/data/pg_log folder, but it can be configured since postgresql.conf file. Location can vary for each Linux distribution, but there is also the postgresql.conf file to configure it.

Once configured, restart the database service to apply changes.

Does Openbravo support electronic (EDI) invoices?

It does not directly but they can be generated by producing an XML file using the reports infrastructure.

Can I use Openbravo to run several companies in the same server?

Openbravo supports multiple companies and different roles and users that can help you to setup this kind of scenario. However all the companies should share the same configuration. Openbravo R2.4 will introduce security enhancements for companies working on this scenario.

Can different roles see different fields on the same window

Yes, it is possible. You can manage it on different ways:

-Use display logic to show or hide a field depending on the user's role.

-Create two different, but similar, windows. Show what you want on each of the windows. Assign a window to each role.

How can I set an image for each one of my products ?

These are the steps:

Does Openbravo ERP have human resources functionally?

Currently Openbravo ERP does not have any human resources functionally included in the core product. If you have this need, it can be developed as a custom developed module or an integration with a third party application can be develop using web services.

I cannot see business options

Notice that first log in is done with System Administrator role so you will not be able to see business options (message AccessTableNoView will display instead) but only administration tasks. In order to access business partners, products, sales and procurement orders and so on, change your role to BigBazaar Admin (or Openbravo Admin) by clicking on Openbravo link (left up) image:ChangeRole1.png and selecting it in Role information pop-up window. You can also set this role as default by checking Set as default check box.

Can I use Openbravo ERP for SaaS?

Openbravo is a web based application and can work out of the box as a hosted application, also called ASP applications.

SaaS is based on the idea of providing the same software to a large community of users. This is currently difficult to accomplish using Openbravo ERP since most of the implementations need custom development.

However, it is possible to provide a SaaS services for a group of customers with very similar business requirements. Openbravo R2.40 introduces improvements in security and multitenant areas that are key for anyone considering using SaaS.

Development issues

What is the minimum Java expertise required for being able to develop our own extensions of Openbravo?

Developing extensions of Openbravo within the model (without changing the model nor WAD) can be done without a great expertise, having into account Openbravo is a platform of development of information systems within we have built an ERP. Changing the model is by far much more complicated, and shouldn't be done by now (we plan to refactor WAD to make easy external enhancements)

In Openbravo, is the primary key for tables generated automatically or by the application ?

You have to setup a the column as primary key and then, the application dictionary takes the configuration and sets it on the application dictionary configuration.

Which files code a certain functionality?

There are 2 ways of finding which files code a certain functionality (i.e., a process or a report):

  1. Using the Application Dictionary (the correct but longest way):
    1. Logged in as System Administrator, go to General Setup || Application || Menu and select the item (functionality) you are looking for. Search, for example, Sales Dimensional Report.
    2. In this case, it is a report so navigate through Process link to Application Dictionary || Report and Process.
    3. Go to Process Class tab and you will see the Java class name implementing this process. In this case: org.openbravo.erpCommon.ad_reports.ReportSalesDimensionalAnalyzeJR
    4. Go to Process Mapping file and you will see the HTML file used for filtering (Sales Management || Analysis Tools || Sales Dimensional Report). In this case: /ad_reports/ReportSalesDimensionalAnalyzeJRFilter.html
    5. This step also gives you the entire path to the report: src/org/openbravo/erpCommon/ + ad_reports/
  2. Using Web browser capabilities (the dirty but fastest way):
    1. Logged as a normal user, go to Sales Management || Analysis Tools || Sales Dimensional Report
    2. Right click on the report, select This Frame > View Frame Info and you will get ad_reports/ReportSalesDimensionalAnalyzeJRFilter.html that, combined with src/org/openbravo/erpCommon/ will give you the path to files coding Sales Dimensional Report :)

Find more information on MVC (Model-View-Controller) structure files at Openbravo developer's manual.

Can you recommend a good manual for Subversion?

There are many tutorials and manuals for Subversion source control system. However, we recommend Version Control with Subversion that is a free manual that covers all Subversion functionality.

Is there a published WSDL for Openbravo?

Yes, there is, Openbravo generates it. First, you need to activate Openbravo web services. There is a description of how to do it in the following document: OpenbravoPOS integration.

Once you have the service activated, you can get the WSDL by pointing your browser to: 

http://openbravo:8080/openbravo/services/ExternalSales?wsdl

How do I create a Combobox in an Openbravo window?

For example, have a look on how Price list version drop-down list is displayed in Product Selector window with the new combo system.

First, add the new field to Product_F1.html file inside info folder (View). Then create ProductCategoryCombo_data.xsql file with the query inside ad_combo folder (Model). Then link html and xsql files through Product_F1.xml file inside info folder. Finally, add a new method to Product.java file inside info folder (Controller).

There is more information on how to create (or modify) manual windows in Openbravo ERP at Openbravo developers Manual.

How can I generate an HTML file using XmlEngine ?

PDF tutorials for XMLEngine and Sqlc are available in the Openbravo documentation folder in Sourceforge.

Those tutorials will show to the reader how these tools work and how to develop code using them.

I can't run the export.database ant task because XMLOutputFactoryBase is not found

DBSourceManager uses these XML parsers in the export.database Ant task. Download and copy stax-api-1.0.1.jar and wstx-asl-3.0.2.jar to the ant library path. For example: /usr/share/ant/lib.


How to change the values of a closed drop-down list

For instance, inside Service Project tab (Project & Service Management >> Transactions >> Service Project) there is a drop-down list with a close list of values: Reinforcement, Road and Wall. If this list, or any other, does not match your needs, do the following:

  1. Logged as System Administrator, go to Application Dictionary >> Windows, Tabs, and Fields >> Window.
  2. Then go to Service Project tab and to Work Type field.
  3. Inside Work Type field, navigate to Projectkind column.
  4. From Projectkind column, navigate to Projectkind Reference Search Key.
  5. In Reference Search key, select List Reference tab en grid view and you will be able to see and edit/delete/add all the Work Types.

Et voilà since you will not need to compile in order to see these type of changes :)

Localization issues

General questions about localization

Who is responsible for localizing Openbravo?

We are grateful that the active Openbravo community is leading the localization projects. If you are interested in contributing to an existing one see our on-going localization efforts and offer your help in the appropriate forum. If you want to lead a new localization project post your project in our Translations & Localizations forum or write us.

How can I install an already existent translation?

This is explained in the detail in our translation tutorial.

What is necessary to localize Openbravo to a new country with a new language?

Required steps

Optional steps:

See the document how to localize Openbravo for a detailed description.

How much work is involved in translating the Openbravo interface into a new language?

There are around 400.000 words to translate and it usually takes a month from a full time translator to do a basic translation.

How much work is involved in creating a chart of accounts?

To create a chart of accounts for Openbravo usually takes a week. The persons developing this tasks need to know Openbravo very well and have a deep understanding of the accounting system of their country.

What if my company has operations in two locations that have different accounting rules?

They can upload a different Chart of Accounts for each region and assign to different entities.

Can I test an Openbravo translation without recompiling the whole application?

Unfortunately, this is not possible. To test a translation you must import the translations and do a compilation as described in the translation tutorial.

Can Openbravo be translated to Arabic or Hebrew?

Right now we do not have support for languages written from right to left (RTL) like Arabic or Hebrew. To develop such support represents a very important investment on resources and requires a very close coordination with the Openbravo development team to integrate these enhancements in the core product. Currently, we see two scenarios:

Issue 4402 tracks the progress of adding RTL support to Openbravo ERP.

Do I lose the translations when I update to a new version?

When an Openbravo installation is updated to a new version, the texts that have not changed remain translated and the ones that have been modified or are new (for example, new options) will appear in English and need to be translated.

To upgrade the translation from an old version to a new version just import the old translations into the new version of Openbravo and export translations again. A new set of XML files with the new strings is created.

How can I check if a translation has been correctly imported?

Login into Openbravo and select the new imported language as the language for the user to login in.

How can I fix the application text and commit the changes back?

The standard way to edit metadata in Openbravo is using Openbravo UI. Broadly speaking metadata should not be directly edited in the xml files because it is error prone.

If you have found a mistake in the application text in English and you want to fix it and give us back your fixes, the best procedure to follow is:

At the Development with Eclipse document there is an explanation for each of this steps.

Any tool that you recommend to do the translation process?

If you translate Openbravo using XML files many translators are reporting that the tools from Multilizer are very useful when doing the translation in Windows environments. Other translators are using the multiplatform IDE Eclipse as an editor to translate the XML files.Also There are many other translation tools for linux user like [1] OmegaT is Free cross-platform computer assisted translation tool and another editor to translate po files it is called poEdit

Why some characters are not displayed correctly when the translation is installed?

Openbravo supports UTF-8 and the displaying of any character supported in UNICODE. If you are experiencing problems displaying some characters please make sure that:

After changing the language of the default user I cannot login into the application. How can I setup it back to English?

To set English as the default language you have to change the database performing the following steps:

  1. Go to the command-line (cmd).
  2. Type "sqlplus tad/tad" if you are using Oracle or "psql -d openbravo -U tad" if you're using PostgreSQL. Replace tad/tad with the user/pass you chose in the installation.
  3. Type "update ad_user set default_ad_language='en_US' where name like 'Openbravo';"
  4. Exit with the "exit" command in sqlplus, or "\q" in psql.
How can I change the way the Location/Address is stored, displayed and printed?

The functions in the Openbravo database C_LOCATION_DESCRIPTION, C_LOCATION_IDENTIFIER and C_LOCATION_NAME accomplish this function.

Questions about localizing the chart of accounts file

I have noticed that some Accounting Scheme (ES and US) files include more columns. What is their purpose?

The only columns that are used are the ones from A to I that are the ones explained in our documentation. Some account of charts files may contain additional columns for additional reports or to built the actual file. Just ignore them.

If I import a new set of accounts, can I simply associate the current defaults with the new accounts?

Yes, just associate the defaults to the new accounts and those will be replaced. We recommend that you first flag the old accounts to be able to delete them afterwards. We usually do an update to those accounts setting for example xx before the value, that is, account 10 will become xx10. After the import of accounts just execute a delete sentence to remove only the accounts which value starts with xx ('xx%').


Accounting issues

General questions about accounting

Is it mandatory to create a budget through a spreadsheet?

No. Budget lines can be added manually, but Openbravo provides a tool to help in this task. It creates a spreadsheet with a budget template. With an external tool, budget amounts are fulfilled, and the spreadsheet imported into the application.

How does the budget spreadsheet work?

The process is to go to Financial Management > Accounting > Transactions > Create Budget Reports in Excel. Choose the filters that will be applied to the budget (business partner, products, periods, etc). Run the Generate Excel process. A .xls file will be generated. With a spreadsheet application, open the file, and fill in the amounts budgeted for each row. Create in Master Data Management > Import Data > Import Loader Format > Import Format a new format according to the spreadsheet columns (will be different depending on the filters choosed when generating it). Run the import file loader with the spreadsheet (saved in a .csv format, using "," and not ";" as excel does). Run the "Import Budget" process in the Master Data Management > Import Data > Import Budget > Import Budget window. You can have a look to the imported data in Financial Management > Accounting > Transactions > Budget.

Are the initial client setup and import accounts equivalent process to load a chart of accounts?

No. the import accounts process is more complete . For example, Initial Client Setup do not import the operands of the chart of accounts. Nevertheless, operands can be set manually.

How are the average cost prices calculated?

The Calculate Average Costs process tries to find the purchase invoices of the products. If not available, then looks for the purchase order. If it is, also, not available, then finally obtains the pice from the price list. Once the purchase prices are obtained, the weighted average of all of them is calculated.

How do I configure the initial accounting setup of a new client?

The main accounting data needed for a new client is:

  1. Bank accounts initial balance
  2. Initial balance data (accounts balance)
In order to stablish the initial balance of a bank account, next steps must be followed: Process it, and DO NOT POST IT.

Create a bank statement that includes the payment created in the manual settlement, and with the same date. Complete the bank statement, and DO NOT POST IT.

In order to create the initial balance of the accounts, create the year in which accounting is going to start, and the periods of that year, and open the first period. Create then a G/L Journal, and add lines to create manually the opening entry for the year (this will be done authomatically for the rest of the years. Only the starting year will be done manually). Post this entry, and that's it.

Why can't I see the accounting tabs?

Each user can configure (if has access to General Setup -> Application -> Session Information) if they want to see the accounting and translating tabs. Make sure you have checked the correct option.

Does material receipts and material shipment generate accounting?

By default, it is not activated, but Openbravo can generate accounting through the material receipt and shipment documents. In Financial Management > Accounting > Setup > Accounting Schema > Accounting Schema > Account Schema Tables, double click the row M_InOut, activate the "Active" checkbox, and save. This way, material receipts and material shipment will be able to be posted.

Is there any documentation about the accounting generated for each document?

Yes, in sourceforge http://downloads.sourceforge.net/openbravo/Accounting_Entries.pdf

What is a G/L Item?

G/L items are accounting reasons for the creation of a payment. For example, if you have to pay something that doesn't come from an invoice, you will have to generate a payment through manual settlement window. In this window, you will create a payment, with an amount and a G/L item that explains for the accounting which is the reason of that payment.

How is it calculated the amount of an account to show in an accounting report?

Depending on the characteristics of the node, one of this actions will be taken:

How can I create or modify the entry built by a document when posting it?

Under the src/org/openbravo/erpCommon/ad_forms path, you can find every document type, such us DocInvoice, and their entry build process implemented.

It may be useful to have a look at the documentation about the entries created by each document type, at http://downloads.sourceforge.net/openbravo/Accounting_Entries.pdf

When posting a document, an error ocurred, and now the document appears as "posted". If I try to unpost it, it throws an Error, and I am blocked. What can I do?

Go to Financial Management > Accounting > Transactions > Reset Accounting. UNCHECK the "Delete existing Accounting Entries" option, and press Ok.


Thanks to all the users and developers that have contributed to this answers in the Openbravo forums at SourceForge.

Retrieved from "http://wiki.openbravo.com/wiki/Technical_FAQ_about_Openbravo_ERP"

This page has been accessed 42,730 times. This page was last modified 10:00, 22 August 2008. Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Spain License.


Category: General