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diff --git a/doc/manual/LedgerSMB-manual.tex b/doc/manual/LedgerSMB-manual.tex index 708de91f..7ab8eb2b 100644 --- a/doc/manual/LedgerSMB-manual.tex +++ b/doc/manual/LedgerSMB-manual.tex @@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ \usepackage{metatron} \renewcommand{\abstractname}{Executive Summary} -\title{Ledger-SMB Manual v. \version} +\title{LedgerSMB Manual v. \version} \author{The LedgerSMB Core Team} \date{\today} @@ -47,16 +47,16 @@ Documentation License\char`\"{} (Appendix \ref{fdl}). \clearpage -\part{Ledger-SMB and Business Processes} +\part{LedgerSMB and Business Processes} -\section{Introduction to Ledger-SMB} +\section{Introduction to LedgerSMB} -\subsection{Why Ledger-SMB} +\subsection{Why LedgerSMB} -\subsubsection{Advantages of Ledger-SMB} +\subsubsection{Advantages of LedgerSMB} \begin{itemize} \item Flexibility and Central Management @@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ your business. \item Point of Sale \begin{itemize} -\item Run multiple cash registers against main Ledger-SMB installation +\item Run multiple cash registers against main LedgerSMB installation \item Suitable for retail stores and more \item Credit card processing via TrustCommerce \item Supports some POS hardware out of the box including: @@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ reporting framework to meet any local requirement. \end{itemize} \end{itemize} -\subsection{Limitations of Ledger-SMB} +\subsection{Limitations of LedgerSMB} \begin{itemize} \item No payroll module (Payroll must be done manually) @@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ reporting framework to meet any local requirement. broad range of technologies \end{itemize} -\subsection{System Requirements of Ledger-SMB} +\subsection{System Requirements of LedgerSMB} \begin{itemize} \item PostgreSQL @@ -214,12 +214,12 @@ though Windows, MacOS X, etc. do work) \section{User Account and Database Administration Basics} These functions are accessed via the admin.pl script in the -installed directory of Ledger-SMB. +installed directory of LedgerSMB. \subsection{Companies and Datasets} -Ledger-SMB stores its information in locale-specific data sets. When +LedgerSMB stores its information in locale-specific data sets. When a dataset is created, it sets various defaults such as currency, a basic chart of accounts setup, and so forth. Note that the default setup is for Canada, where the author of the software resides. @@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ one company. If a customer is working with multiple companies, he/she must create a dataset to for each. When creating a dataset, the application asks for both a username and a -superusername. If the superuser's information is not filled in, Ledger-SMB will +superusername. If the superuser's information is not filled in, LedgerSMB will attempt to populate an existing dataset, but if this information is filled in, the program will log into the PostgreSQL cluster with the superusername and password, create the database, and attempt to add Plpgsql to it. @@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ the user is created. \subsection{Permissions} -The permissions system is not rigorously enforced within Ledger-SMB, +The permissions system is not rigorously enforced within LedgerSMB, in the sense that the permissions API is generally not used in the application itself. Instead permissions are used to enable/disable menu options. Setting an enforcement of such permissions would require @@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ of debits and credits and of double-entry. \subsection{General Guidelines on Numbering Accounts} -In general, most drop-down boxes in Ledger-SMB order the accounts +In general, most drop-down boxes in LedgerSMB order the accounts by account number. Therefore by setting appropriate account numbers, one can affect the default values. @@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ ledger for that account. \section{Administration} This section covers other (non-Chart of Accounts) aspects to the -setup of the Ledger-SMB accounting package. These are generally accessed +setup of the LedgerSMB accounting package. These are generally accessed in the System submenu. @@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ numbers. This was meant to ensure that one did not erase data from the accounting books (and as such that erasing data would be a sign of foul play). -Ledger-SMB has a capability to require such reversals if the business +LedgerSMB has a capability to require such reversals if the business deems this to be necessary. When this option is enabled, existing transactions cannot be modified and one will need to post reversing transactions to void existing transactions before posting corrected @@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ action was. No direct financial information is included. Departments are logical divisions of a business. They allow for budgets to be prepared for the individual department as well as the business -as a whole. This allows larger businesses to use Ledger-SMB to meet +as a whole. This allows larger businesses to use LedgerSMB to meet their needs. @@ -639,21 +639,21 @@ gain money. For example, the legal department in most companies is a cost center. One of the serious misunderstandings people run up against is that -Ledger-SMB tends to more narrowly define cost and profit centers than -most businesses do. In Ledger-SMB a cost center is any department +LedgerSMB tends to more narrowly define cost and profit centers than +most businesses do. In LedgerSMB a cost center is any department of the business that does not issue AR transactions. Although many businesses may have cost centers (like technical support) where customer -fees may subsidize the cost of providing the service, in Ledger-SMB, +fees may subsidize the cost of providing the service, in LedgerSMB, these are profit centers. -Ledger-SMB will not allow cost centers to be associated with AR transactions. +LedgerSMB will not allow cost centers to be associated with AR transactions. So if you want this functionality, you must create the department as a profit center. \subsection{Warehouses} -Ledger-SMB has the ability to track inventory by warehouse. Inventory +LedgerSMB has the ability to track inventory by warehouse. Inventory items can be moved between warehouses, and shipped from any warehouse where the item is in stock. We will explore this concept more later. @@ -697,14 +697,14 @@ field for custom reporting and marketing purposes. \subsubsection{Overview of Template Editing} The templates for invoices, orders, and the like can be edited from -within Ledger-SMB. The submenus within the System submenu such as +within LedgerSMB. The submenus within the System submenu such as HTML Templates, Text Templates and \LaTeX{} templates provide access to this functionality. \subsubsection{Year-end} -Although the Year-end functionality in Ledger-SMB is very useful, +Although the Year-end functionality in LedgerSMB is very useful, it does not entirely make the process simple and painless. One must still manually enter adjustments prior to closing the books. The extent to which these adjustments are necessary for any given business is @@ -722,7 +722,7 @@ of the amount invested in a business, but any dividends ought not to count against their recipients when new investors are brought on board. -Ledger-SMB automatically moves all income and expense into the specified +LedgerSMB automatically moves all income and expense into the specified year-end/retained earnings account. It does not move the drawing account, and this must be done manually, nor does it automate the process of making adjustments. @@ -731,9 +731,9 @@ Contrary to its name, this function can close the books at any time, though this would likely be of limited use. -\subsection{Options in the ledger-smb.conf} +\subsection{Options in the ledgersmb.conf} -The ledger-smb.conf configures the software by assigning site-wide +The ledgersmb.conf configures the software by assigning site-wide variables. Most of these should be left alone unless one knows what one is doing. However, on some systems some options might need to be changed, so all options are presented here for reference: @@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ be changed, so all options are presented here for reference: email from standard input. \item[language] allows one to set the language for the login screen and admin page. -\item[latex] tells Ledger-SMB whether \LaTeX{} is installed. \LaTeX{} is +\item[latex] tells LedgerSMB whether \LaTeX{} is installed. \LaTeX{} is required for generating Postscript and PDF invoices and the like. \item[Environmental variables] can be set here too. One can add paths for searching for \LaTeX{}, etc. @@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ associated with sales tax. \subsection{Assemblies and Manufacturing} Manufacturers order parts but they sell the products of their efforts. -Ledger-SMB supports manufacturing using the concept of assemblies. +LedgerSMB supports manufacturing using the concept of assemblies. An assembly is any product which is manufactured on site. It consists of a selection of parts, services, and/or labor and overhead. Assemblies are treated as parts in most other regards. @@ -847,7 +847,7 @@ One stocks assemblies in the Stock Assembly entry on the Goods and Services submenu. When an assembly is stocked the inventory is adjusted properly. -The Check Inventory option will cause Ledger-SMB to refuse to stock +The Check Inventory option will cause LedgerSMB to refuse to stock an assembly if the inventory required to produce the assembly would drop the part below the reorder point. @@ -1002,7 +1002,7 @@ The AP Invoice section has a capacity to separate internal notes from notes printed on the invoice. Note, however, that since these are received invoices, it is rare that one needs this ability. -Note that Ledger-SMB can search for partial part numbers or descriptions. +Note that LedgerSMB can search for partial part numbers or descriptions. Also if you have a group you can use this to select the part. @@ -1220,7 +1220,7 @@ not discussed in these notes. A project is a logical collection of AR and AP transactions, orders, and the like that allow one to better manage specific service or product -offerings. Ledger-SMB does not offer comprehensive project management +offerings. LedgerSMB does not offer comprehensive project management capabilities, and projects are only used here as they relate to accounting. One can also add translated descriptions to the project names as well. @@ -1280,7 +1280,7 @@ a variety of customers. \section{Quotations and Order Management} -This unit will introduce the business processes that Ledger-SMB allows. +This unit will introduce the business processes that LedgerSMB allows. These processes are designed to allow various types of businesses to manage their orders and allow for rudimentary customer relationship management processes to be built around this software. In this section, @@ -1611,7 +1611,7 @@ All entries are grouped by date and source in this report. \subsection{GL Basics} -The General Ledger is the heart of Ledger-SMB. Indeed, Ledger-SMB +The General Ledger is the heart of LedgerSMB. Indeed, LedgerSMB is designed to be as close as possible to a software equivalent of a paper-based accounting program (but with no difference between the General Ledger and General Journal). @@ -1739,7 +1739,7 @@ J1 & -\subsubsection{The GL in Ledger-SMB} +\subsubsection{The GL in LedgerSMB} The paper-based accounting procedure works well when one is stuck with paper recording requirements but it has one serious deficiency--- @@ -1751,18 +1751,18 @@ way a General Journal is used in the paper-based systems and then present the same information in ways which are more closely related to the General Ledger book. -This is the exact way that the General Ledger is used in Ledger-SMB. +This is the exact way that the General Ledger is used in LedgerSMB. The actual data is entered and stored as if it was a general journal, and then the data can be presented in any number of different ways. -All modules of Ledger-SMB that involve COA accounts store their data +All modules of LedgerSMB that involve COA accounts store their data in the General Ledger (it is a little more complex than this but this is very close to the actual mechanism). \subsection{Cash Transfer} -The simplest form of GL entry in Ledger-SMB is the Cash-\textgreater +The simplest form of GL entry in LedgerSMB is the Cash-\textgreater Transfer screen. This screen shows two transaction lines, and fields for reference, department, description, and notes. @@ -1873,7 +1873,7 @@ stored for reconciliation purposes.% \subsection{Reports} -The most flexible report in Ledger-SMB is the GL report because it +The most flexible report in LedgerSMB is the GL report because it has access to the entire set of financial transactions of a business. Every invoice posted, payment made or received, etc. can be located here. @@ -1931,7 +1931,7 @@ intervals. To schedule any GL, AR, or AP transaction or invoice, click the schedule button. In general the reference number should be left blank as this will -force Ledger-SMB to create a new invoice or transaction number for +force LedgerSMB to create a new invoice or transaction number for each iteration. The rest of the options are self-explanatory. Note that a blank number if iterations will result in no recurrences of the transaction. @@ -2017,7 +2017,7 @@ been reconciled. If the trial balance does not balance, get technical support immediately. This usually means that transactions were not entered properly. Some may have been out of balance, or some may have gone into non-existent -accounts (believe it or not, Ledger-SMB does not check this latter +accounts (believe it or not, LedgerSMB does not check this latter issue). @@ -2089,7 +2089,7 @@ need to be addressed. \subsection{Balance Sheet} The balance sheet is the second major accounting statement supported -by Ledger-SMB. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of the current +by LedgerSMB. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of the current financial health of the business by comparing assets, liabilities, and equity. @@ -2133,7 +2133,7 @@ transactions were entered or that transactions did not post properly. \subsection{No Statement of Owner Equity?} The Statement of Owner Equity is the one accounting statement that -Ledger-SMB does not support. However, it can be simulated by running +LedgerSMB does not support. However, it can be simulated by running a balance sheet at the end of the time frame in question and comparing it to the beginning. One can check this against an income statement for the period in question to verify its accuracy. The statement of @@ -2142,7 +2142,7 @@ owner equity is not as commonly used now as it once was. \section{The Template System} -Ledger-SMB allows most documents to be generated according to a template +LedgerSMB allows most documents to be generated according to a template system. This allows financial statements, invoices, orders, and the like to be customized to meet the needs of most businesses. Company logos can be inserted, the format can be radically altered, one can @@ -2162,11 +2162,11 @@ This example provides the simplest way to understand the template system. The first two lines are:\\ - \textless\%company align=center width=40\%\textgreater\\ - \textless\%address align=center width=40\%\textgreater\\ + \textless?lsmb company align=center width=40 ?\textgreater\\ + \textless?lsmb address align=center width=40 ?\textgreater\\ -The first line tells Ledger-SMB to print the company name as passed +The first line tells LedgerSMB to print the company name as passed to it via a variable, centered, with a page width of 40 characters. The second line does the same thing with the address. @@ -2175,8 +2175,8 @@ These variables are usually passed to the invoice using form fields however, can disable some of these fields or add others via database lookups and the like. -In all types of templates, variable substitution occurs between \textless\% -and \%\textgreater. One can optionally specify an alignment or a +In all types of templates, variable substitution occurs between \textless?lsmb +and ?\textgreater. One can optionally specify an alignment or a width but these are really only useful in text templates. @@ -2295,8 +2295,8 @@ the rest of the page format is not thrown off by it. \subsection{How are They Stored in the Filesystem?} The template directory (\char`\"{}templates\char`\"{} in the root -Ledger-SMB install directory) contains all the root templates used -by Ledger-SMB. These follow a naming convention of COAType-templatename.ext +LedgerSMB install directory) contains all the root templates used +by LedgerSMB. These follow a naming convention of COAType-templatename.ext where COAType is the type of dataset that was created when the user was created, templatename is the name of the template, and ext is either txt, html, or tex (for text, html, and \LaTeX{}\ respectively). @@ -2304,13 +2304,13 @@ either txt, html, or tex (for text, html, and \LaTeX{}\ respectively). Inside this directory are one or more subdirectories where the relevant templates have been copied as default language templates for the user. Many users can use the same user directory (which bears the name of -the Ledger-SMB username). Within this directory are more subdirectories +the LedgerSMB username). Within this directory are more subdirectories for translated templates, one for each language created. \subsection{Upgrade Issues} -When Ledger-SMB is upgraded, the templates are not replaced. This +When LedgerSMB is upgraded, the templates are not replaced. This is designed to prevent the upgrade script from overwriting changes made during the course of customizing the templates. @@ -2328,7 +2328,7 @@ The command-line API will be referred to as the API. \subsection{Preliminaries} -Logging into Ledger-SMB (1.2+) updates a row in the users\_conf table +Logging into LedgerSMB (1.2+) updates a row in the users\_conf table containing your account configuration defaults and other information. The implication for API users of LSMB is that you must login as part of running API scripts. For security purposes, it is recommended that @@ -2339,19 +2339,19 @@ directory. Consider a simple example: - cd /usr/local/ledger-smb + cd /usr/local/ledgersmb ./ct.pl "login=name\&path=bin\&password=xxxxx\&action=search\&db=customer" The cd command moves your terminal session's current working directory into -the main Ledger-SMB directory. Then the Ledger-SMB perl script ct.pl is called +the main LedgerSMB directory. Then the LedgerSMB perl script ct.pl is called with one long line as an argument. The argument is really several variable=value pairs separated by ampersands (\&). The value for the login variable is the username -that Ledger-SMB is to use, and the value for the password variable is the plaintext password. +that LedgerSMB is to use, and the value for the password variable is the plaintext password. To build our examples we will use a username of "clarkkent" who has a password of "lOis,lAn3". - cd /usr/local/ledger-smb + cd /usr/local/ledgersmb ./ct.pl "login=clarkkent\&path=bin\&password=lOis,lAn3\&action=search\&db=customer" If we execute these commands we will get the html for the search form for @@ -2367,14 +2367,14 @@ to do some useful work. This is a bash script which: 1. sets NOW to the current working directory - 2. prompts for and reads your Ledger-SMB login - 3. prompts for and reads (non-echoing) your Ledger-SMB password - 4. changes directory to /usr/local/ledger-smb + 2. prompts for and reads your LedgerSMB login + 3. prompts for and reads (non-echoing) your LedgerSMB password + 4. changes directory to /usr/local/ledgersmb 5. constructs login and logout commands and a transaction command - 6. logins into ledger-smb (in a real program, output would be checked for + 6. logs into ledgersmb (in a real program, output would be checked for success or failure) 7. executes the transaction - 8. logs out of ledger-smb (although this is not necessary) + 8. logs out of ledgersmb (although this is not necessary) 9. returns to the original working directory 10. exits @@ -2382,9 +2382,9 @@ Running lsmb01-cli-example.sh produces: \$ lsmb01-cli-example.sh -Ledger-SMB login: clarkkent +LedgerSMB login: clarkkent -Ledger-SMB password: +LedgerSMB password: \begin{verbatim} <body> @@ -2435,11 +2435,11 @@ command line API. NOW=`pwd` -echo -n "Ledger-SMB login: " +echo -n "LedgerSMB login: " read LSLOGIN echo -echo -n "Ledger-SMB password: " +echo -n "LedgerSMB password: " stty -echo read LSPWD stty echo @@ -2450,7 +2450,7 @@ ARG="login=${LSLOGIN}&password=${LSPWD}&path=bin&action=search&db=customer" LGIN="login=${LSLOGIN}&password=${LSPWD}&path=bin&action=login" LGOT="login=${LSLOGIN}&password=${LSPWD}&path=bin&action=logout" -cd /usr/local/ledger-smb +cd /usr/local/ledgersmb ./login.pl $LGIN 2>&1 > /dev/null ./ct.pl $ARG @@ -2471,9 +2471,9 @@ above, though it is still fairly limited. If your needs require, rather than hav the script build and then execute the commands it could be written to generate a shell script which is executed by hand. -This script begins by prompting for your Ledger-SMB login and password. Using +This script begins by prompting for your LedgerSMB login and password. Using the supplied values a login command is constructed and passed into the runLScmd -subroutine. runLScmd changes directory to /usr/local/ledger-smb/ for the length +subroutine. runLScmd changes directory to /usr/local/ledgersmb/ for the length of the subroutine. It formats the command and executes it and returns both the output and error information to the caller in a scalar. @@ -2491,7 +2491,7 @@ logout and the script exits. #!/usr/bin/perl -w # # File: lsmb02-cli-example.pl -# Environment: Ledger-SMB 1.2.0+ +# Environment: LedgerSMB 1.2.0+ # Author: Louis B. Moore # # Copyright (C) 2006 Louis B. Moore @@ -2519,12 +2519,12 @@ use File::chdir; use HTML::Entities; -print "\n\nLedger-SMB login: "; +print "\n\nLedgerSMB login: "; my $login = <STDIN>; chomp($login); -print "\nLedger-SMB password: "; +print "\nLedgerSMB password: "; system("stty -echo"); my $pwd = <STDIN>; system("stty echo"); @@ -2605,7 +2605,7 @@ sub runLScmd { my $i = 0; my $results; - local $CWD = "/usr/local/ledger-smb/"; + local $CWD = "/usr/local/ledgersmb/"; $cmd = $cmd . " \"" . $args . "\""; @@ -2654,7 +2654,7 @@ save|vendor|Consolidated Spackle|1379|1010 Binary Lane|Dept 1101|Beverly Hills|C \section{Basic Architecture} -Ledger-SMB is a web-based Perl program that interfaces with PostgreSQL +LedgerSMB is a web-based Perl program that interfaces with PostgreSQL using the relevant Perl modules. The code is well partitioned, and the main operation modules are written in an object oriented way. @@ -2666,29 +2666,29 @@ the main operation modules are written in an object oriented way. \label{fig-sl-stack} \input{sl-stack.tex} -\caption{The Ledger-SMB software stack in a Typical Implementation} +\caption{The LedgerSMB software stack in a Typical Implementation} \end{figure} -Ledger-SMB runs in a Perl interpreter. I do not currently know if +LedgerSMB runs in a Perl interpreter. I do not currently know if it is possible to run it with Perl2C or other language converters to run in other environments. However, except for high-capacity environments, Perl is a good language choice for this sort of program. -Ledger-SMB used to support DB2 and Oracle as well as PostgreSQL. However, +LedgerSMB used to support DB2 and Oracle as well as PostgreSQL. However, currently some of the functionality is implemented using PostgreSQL user-defined functions. These would need to be ported to other database managers in order to make the software work on these. It should not be too hard, but the fact that it has not been done yet may mean that there is no real demand for running the software under other RDBMS's. -One can substitute other web servers for Apache. Normally Ledger-SMB +One can substitute other web servers for Apache. Normally LedgerSMB is run as a CGI program but it may be possible to run it in the web server process (note that this may not be entirely thread-safe). The operating system can be any that supports a web server and Perl (since PostgreSQL need not run on the same system). However, there -are a few issues running Ledger-SMB on Windows (most notably in trying +are a few issues running LedgerSMB on Windows (most notably in trying to get Postscript documents to print properly). On the client side, any web-browser will work. Currently, the layout @@ -2700,29 +2700,29 @@ properly, though the application is usable without these features. \subsection{Capacity Planning} -Some companies may ask how scalable Ledger-SMB is. In general, it +Some companies may ask how scalable LedgerSMB is. In general, it is assumed that few companies are going to have a need for a high-concurrency -accounting system. However, with all the features available in Ledger-SMB, +accounting system. However, with all the features available in LedgerSMB, the staff that may have access to some of the application may be senior enough to make the question worthwhile. This question also becomes more important when companies might look -at integrating Ledger-SMB with a CRM solution, online store, or other +at integrating LedgerSMB with a CRM solution, online store, or other environment. This section looks at a number of the known issues and their solutions. \subsubsection{Scalability Strategies} -Ledger-SMB is a fairly standard web-based application. However, +LedgerSMB is a fairly standard web-based application. However, sometimes the database schema changes during upgrades. In these cases, it becomes impossible to use different versions of the software against -the same database version safely. Ledger-SMB checks the version of +the same database version safely. LedgerSMB checks the version of the database and if the version is higher than the version of the software that is running, will refuse to run. Therefore although one strategy might be to run several front-end -web servers with Ledger-SMB, in reality this can be a bit of a problem. +web servers with LedgerSMB, in reality this can be a bit of a problem. One solution is to take half of the front-end servers off-line while doing the initial upgrade, and then take the other offline to upgrade when these are brought back online. @@ -2738,7 +2738,7 @@ be able to move staff who do not need real-time access to new entries onto a PG-Pool/Slony-I cluster where new transactions are entered on the master and other data is looked up on the replica. In certain circumstances, one can also offload a number of other queries from -the master database in order to minimize the load. Ledger-SMB has +the master database in order to minimize the load. LedgerSMB has very few issues in the scalability of the application. @@ -2753,7 +2753,7 @@ those old rows are removed, performance can degrade as PostgreSQL has to search through all the old versions of the row in order to determine which one ought to be the current one. -Due to the way the SQL statements are executed in Ledger-SMB, most +Due to the way the SQL statements are executed in LedgerSMB, most inserts will also create a dead row. A second problem occurs in that each transaction is given a transaction @@ -2810,20 +2810,20 @@ the source code and edit the database queries to omit unused tables. \section{Customization Possibilities} -Ledger-SMB is designed to be customized relatively easily and rapidly. +LedgerSMB is designed to be customized relatively easily and rapidly. In general, the source code is well written and compartmentalized. This section covers the basic possibilities involving customization. \subsection{Brief Guide to the Source Code} -Ledger-SMB is an application with over 34000 lines of code. While +LedgerSMB is an application with over 34000 lines of code. While it is not possible to cover the entire application here, a brief overview of the source code is in order. In the root of the install directory, one will find a setup.pl program, a number of other .pl programs, and a number of directories. The setup.pl -program is used to update or install Ledger-SMB. The other .pl programs +program is used to update or install LedgerSMB. The other .pl programs provide a basic set of services for the framework (including authentication) and then pass the work on to the data entry screen file in the bin directory. @@ -2839,12 +2839,12 @@ The css directory in the root install directory contains CSS documents to provide various stylesheets one can select for changing various aspects of the look and feel of the application. -The locale directory contains translation files that Ledger-SMB uses +The locale directory contains translation files that LedgerSMB uses to translate between different languages. One could add translations to these files if necessary. The LSMB directory is where the Perl modules reside that provide the -core business logic in Ledger-SMB. These modules provide functionality +core business logic in LedgerSMB. These modules provide functionality such as form handling, email capabilities, and access to the database through its at least partially object oriented API. @@ -2865,7 +2865,7 @@ on the last partnumber field, removed separate print and post buttons to ensure that invoices were always printed and posted together, and removed the ability to print to the screen, and even the ability to scan items in when an invoice was received (using a portable data -terminal) and import this data into Ledger-SMB. Finally we added the +terminal) and import this data into LedgerSMB. Finally we added the ability to reconcile the till online in a paperless manner. For another customer, we added the ability to print AR invoices in @@ -2909,9 +2909,9 @@ on load. \subsection{Reports} The fact that all the data is available within the database manager -is a huge advantage of Ledger-SMB over Quickbooks and the like. The +is a huge advantage of LedgerSMB over Quickbooks and the like. The rapid development of reports allows for one to easily develop reports -of any sort within Ledger-SMB. +of any sort within LedgerSMB. \subsubsection{Examples} @@ -2931,7 +2931,7 @@ integrate a large number of tools. \subsection{Reporting Tools} Any reporting tool which can access the PostgreSQL database can be -used with Ledger-SMB for custom reporting. These can include programs +used with LedgerSMB for custom reporting. These can include programs like Microsoft Access and Excel (using the ODBC drivers), PgAccess (A PostgreSQL front-end written in TCL/Tk with a similar feel to Access), Rekall, Crystal Reports, OpenOffice and more. @@ -2944,7 +2944,7 @@ used the ODBC driver to import these into Excel. Excel can also read HTML tables, so one can use PostgreSQL to create an HTML table of the result and save it with a .xls extension so that Windows opens it with Excel. These could then be served via the same web server -that serves Ledger-SMB. +that serves LedgerSMB. \subsection{Line of Business Tools on PostgreSQL} @@ -2952,14 +2952,14 @@ that serves Ledger-SMB. Various line of business tools have been written using PostgreSQL in large part due to the fact that it is far more mature than MySQL in areas relating to data integrity enforcement, transactional processing, -and the like. These tools can be integrated with Ledger-SMB in various +and the like. These tools can be integrated with LedgerSMB in various ways. One could integrate this program with the HERMES CRM framework, for example. \subsubsection{Known Issues} -Ledger-SMB uses a single 'id' sequence across many tables. At the +LedgerSMB uses a single 'id' sequence across many tables. At the same time it is expected that these tables do not have identical id values in their records as they are used as a sort of pseudo-foreign key by the acc\_trans table which stores the financial transaction @@ -2978,13 +2978,13 @@ from integration in the same database but under different schemas. This allows PostgreSQL to become the main method of synchronizing the data in real time. However, sometimes this can require dumping the database, recreating the tables etc. in a different schema and -importing the data back into Ledger-SMB. +importing the data back into LedgerSMB. One possibility for this sort of integration is to use database triggers to replicate the data between the applications in real-time. This can avoid the main issue of duplicate id's. One issue that can occur however relates to updates. If one updates a customer record in HERMES, -for example, how do we know which record to update in Ledger-SMB? +for example, how do we know which record to update in LedgerSMB? There are solutions to this problem but they do require some forethought. A second possibility is to use views to allow one application to present @@ -2995,15 +2995,15 @@ fields. \subsubsection{Examples} -Others have integrated L'ane POS and Ledger-SMB in order to make it +Others have integrated L'ane POS and LedgerSMB in order to make it work better with touch screen devices. Still others have successfully -integrated Ledger-SMB and Interchange. In both cases, I believe that +integrated LedgerSMB and Interchange. In both cases, I believe that triggers were used to perform the actual integration. \subsection{Line of Business Tools on other RDBMS's} -Often there are requests to integrate Ledger-SMB with applications +Often there are requests to integrate LedgerSMB with applications like SugarCRM, OSCommerce, and other applications running on MySQL or other database managers. This is a far more complex field and it requires a great deal more effort than integrating applications within @@ -3024,7 +3024,7 @@ In general, it is usually advisable to add two fields to the record-- one that shows the insert time and one that shows the last update. Additionally, I would suggest adding additional information to the -Ledger-SMB tables so that you can track the source record from the +LedgerSMB tables so that you can track the source record from the other application in the case of an update. In general, one must write replication scripts that dump the information @@ -3062,7 +3062,7 @@ as instantiating the form object, ensuring that the user is logged in, and the like. They then pass the execution off to the user interface script (usually in the bin/mozilla directory). -Ledger-SMB in many ways may look sort of object oriented in its design, +LedgerSMB in many ways may look sort of object oriented in its design, but in reality, it is far more data-driven than object oriented. The Form object is used largely as a global symbol table and also as a collection of fundamental routines for things like database access. @@ -3078,7 +3078,7 @@ object. \subsection{Customizing Templates} Templates are used to generate printed checks, invoices, receipts, -and more in Ledger-SMB. Often the format of these items does not fit +and more in LedgerSMB. Often the format of these items does not fit a specific set of requirements and needs to be changed. This document will not include \LaTeX{} or HTML instruction, but will include a general introduction to editing templates. Also, this is not intended @@ -3154,7 +3154,8 @@ with two passes (if the inclusion of the cross-reference data moves the object to another page). In this case you will need to use three passes of \LaTeX{}\ in order to have accurate references. -Ledger-SMB as of the time of this writing (2.6.8) only makes one pass +% SC: Check further on this. I know that version is an SL reference +LedgerSMB as of the time of this writing (2.6.8) only makes one pass at the \LaTeX{}\ file. To force it to make more than one pass, open Form.pm with your favorite text editor. Look for the line: @@ -3186,7 +3187,7 @@ alignment). \subsection{Customizing Forms} Data entry forms and other user interface pieces are in the bin directory. -In Ledger-SMB 1.0.0 and later, symlinks are not generally used. +In LedgerSMB 1.0.0 and later, symlinks are not generally used. Each module is identified with a two letter combination: ar, ap, cp, etc. These combinations are generally explained in the comment headers @@ -3252,7 +3253,7 @@ LedgerSMB. You can find his page at \url{http://www.sql-ledger.org/cgi-bin/nav. \section{Where to Go for More Information} -There are a couple of relevant sources of information on Ledger-SMB +There are a couple of relevant sources of information on LedgerSMB in particular. The most important resources are the LedgerSMB web site @@ -3260,7 +3261,7 @@ The most important resources are the LedgerSMB web site site. In addition, it is generally recommended that the main bookkeeper -of a company using Ledger-SMB work through at least one accounting +of a company using LedgerSMB work through at least one accounting textbook. Which textbook is not as important as the fact that a textbook is used. @@ -3298,7 +3299,7 @@ it is posted as an expense. \subsection{Common Installation Errors} \begin{itemize} -\item Ledger-SMB is generally best installed in its own directory outside +\item LedgerSMB is generally best installed in its own directory outside of the wwwroot directory. While it is possible to install it inside the wwwroot directory, the instructions and the faq don't cover the common problems here. @@ -3315,7 +3316,7 @@ For purposes of this example we will use a business that assembles computers and sells them on a retail store. \begin{enumerate} -\item Install Ledger-SMB. +\item Install LedgerSMB. \item Set preferences, and customize chart of accounts. \begin{enumerate} @@ -3382,14 +3383,14 @@ the record and optionally use it to create an invoice, etc. \begin{itemize} \item Saving a customer returns to the customer screen. After the appropriate -invoice, transaction, etc. is entered and posted, Ledger-SMB will +invoice, transaction, etc. is entered and posted, LedgerSMB will return to the add customer screen. \end{itemize} \end{itemize} \item One can use the requirements report to help determine what parts need to be ordered though one cannot generate PO's directly from this report. \end{enumerate} -Note, the needs of Ledger-SMB are mostly useful for light manufacturing +Note, the needs of LedgerSMB are mostly useful for light manufacturing operations (assembling computers, for example). More manufacturing capabilities are expected to be released in the next version. |