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Installing webERP

This post is #1 in a series on using webERP. Search for “webERP” to find other posts in the series.

webERP is a complete web based accounting and business management system that requires only a web-browser to use. weberp.org

webERP is mature web-based open-source ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software that supports best practises and multi-user business administration, purchasing, sales, manufacturing and standard double-entry accounting.

webERP can also be used with a wiki CMS (Content Management System) to provide an integrated Knowledge Base. I will be using WackoWiki, one of the supported wiki engines.

Goals

  • Install webERP software.
  • Install MediaWiki software.
  • Configure webERP and MediaWiki for use.

Install Applications

I will install webERP and MediaWiki on FreeBSD, a Unix-like operating system (GNU/Linux is another popular Unix-type operating system). The server has already been configured with the Apache HTTP server and MariaDB database server.

webERP

Copy the webERP software files to the server and configure the Apache web server.

  • Extract distribution to /usr/local/www/
  • Rename extracted directory webERP/ to weberp-4.13.1
  • Create soft link “weberp” to weberp-x.y.z
  • Create Apache virtual server e.g. http://weberp.dalescott.net

Access http://weberp.dalescott.net with a web browser to run the installer.

  • Language: US
  • Db user and password: root (only for install, future access will be changed to a dedicated user after installation)
  • Company name: e.g. Swift Construction Company
  • Install demo data: YES
  • User “admin” email: e.g. dale@dalescott.net
  • admin user password: (keep this safe)

After the installer has completed, change the database access user to a new database user with privileges to webERP databases only.

  • Create a new database user “weberp” with all privileges to the weberp and weberpdemo databases.
  • Edit the webERP configuration file weberp/config.php and change the database access user and password to the new dedicated user.

MediaWiki

Copy the MediaWiki software files to the server and configure the Apache web server.

  • Download a release archive.
  • Extract the distribution to /usr/local/www/ (which will create mediawiki-x.y.z/) 
  • Create a soft link “wiki” to mediawiki-x.y.z/
  • Create an Apache virtual server http://wiki.dalescott.net

Access http://wiki.dalescott.net/mw-config/index.php with a web browser to run the installer.

  • Name of wiki: webERP
  • User rights profile: Authorized editors only (public viewing is allowed)
  • Enable file uploads

Configure Applications

webERP

Log into webERP using the admin user credentials entered into the auto-installer and create new named user e.g. dalescott. The new user will be used for all subsequent work to identify the administration user specifically for audit purposes. 

  • email: e.g. dale@dalescott
  • system administrator privileges

The original admin user (created by the auto-installer) cannot be deleted due to a now existing audit trail.

Location

I will create a new location “Shopton” for the SCC headquarters.

Main > Setup > Inventory Setup > Inventory Locations Maintenance

Note: Delivery Address 1 must be given a value, otherwise a “missing delivery address” error will occur when later attempting to create a purchase order.

After creating the new location, change the location of the administration user to the new location (and of any other users). 

Currencies

I will create a new CAD currency as some items will need to be purchased in Canadian dollars. webERP will obtain currency exchange rates from either Google or the European Central Bank (Main > Setup > General > System Preferences).

Main > Setup > General Setup > Currencies Maintenance

“USD” is shown as the “Functional Currency” because United States is set as the SCC company currency in the Company Preferences.

Company Preferences

Operating practices for a specific company are configured in the Company Preferences screen (webERP supports multiple companies and the desired company is selected at login). 

Main > Setup > General > Company Preferences.

System Preferences

General system-wide behavior is configured in the System Preferences screen. I will quickly review some interesting parameters, and get into a bit more detail with a few specific parameters.

  • Date format: Y-m-d. I prefer ISO 8601 dates for clarity over familiarity (e.g. 2017-03-08 for March 8, 2017), which avoids the ambiguity of d/m/Y and m/d/Y.
  • Frequently Ordered Items: 0. I left this disabled but may experiment with it once the system has some orders entered.
  • Sales Order Allows Same Item Multiple Times: Yes. I will revisit this later, but at least initially I don’t want anything to block operation.
  • Languages to Maintain Translations for Item Descriptions: None. Don’t complicate things at least initially.
  • Picking note must be produced before an order can be delivered: No. I don’t want to complicate the process too soon.
  • Auto Update Exchange Rates Daily: Automatic. Source Exchange Rates From: Google. 
  • Create Debtor Codes Automatically: No. I want to use my own mnemonic codes, but set to Yes if you don’t care and would prefer to let the system assign a sequential integer.
  • Create Supplier Codes Automatically: No. I prefer to use my own mnemonic codes.
  • Country of operation: United States (used when calculating shipping costs).
  • Purchase Order Allows Same Item Multiple Times: Yes. I will revisit this later, but at least initially I don’t want anything to block operation.
  • Automatically authorise purchase orders if user has authority: Yes. I will disable this later so I can follow the approval process.
  • Financial year ends on: December (if only to avoid having to answer of why not calendar years).
  • Maximum Size in KB of uploaded images: 300. I left this at its default value, although some images and screenshots will likely require re-sizing before uploading.
  • Directory to store images: part_pics (directory already exists)
  • Directory to store reports: reports (directory already exists)
  • Wiki application: MediaWiki (I’m already familiar with MediaWiki), Wiki Path: http://wiki.dalescott.net/ 
  • Inventory Costing Method: Standard. webERP also supports weighted average, but Standard Costing behavior will be more obvious to start with.
  • Auto issue components: Yes. Automatically decrement items from stock according to the BOM for an Item when it is manufactured to reduce admin effort.
  • Prohibit Negative Stock: No. I’m pretty sure I will set this to Yes later, but prefer no blocking operations at least initially.
  • Log Severity Level: All, Path to log files: log. I want to see all possible log entries initially and can be reduced later (I also had to create the “log” directory and set ownership of the directory to the www:www, which is the Apache http server user on FreeBSD).
  • Controlled Items Defined At Work Order Entry: Yes. When set to yes, controlled items are defined at the time of the work order creation. Otherwise controlled items (serial numbers and batch/roll/lot references) are entered at the time the finished items are received against the work order
  • Auto Create Work Orders: Yes. Setting this parameter to Yes will ensure that when a sales order is placed if there is insufficient stock then a new work order is created at the default factory location
  • Default Factory Location: Shopton. This will be the default location for automatically created work orders.
  • Factory manager email: dale@dalescott.net, Purchasing manager email: dale@dalescott.net, Inventory manager email: dale@dalescott.net. I’m setting all email addresses to me for convenience so I see the traffic.
  • Using Smtp Mail: No. My server will route email from webERP out through my ISP’s mail server.

Main > Setup > System Preferences

Wiki Application

In particular, note the setting for “Wiki application”. When enabled by selecting a particular Wiki dialogue (MediaWiki, WackoWiki or DokuWiki), a link to the “Wiki Product Knowledge Base” will be shown in the Inquiries column of the main Items, Vendors and Customers screens (once an Item/Vendor/Customer has been selected).

You also need to set the root path to the wiki (that webERP will append to) in the system parameters screen. In my case, I needed a trailing “/” in the Wiki Path, but YMMV.

Database Maintenance

webERP can be configured to lock out users by setting Perform Database Maintenance at Logon to Allow SysAdmin Access Only. Only users with security profile “System Administrator” will be allowed to login or enter data when this is set, which is important when performing maintenance on the application code or database. A maintenance notice also appears on the login prompt when Allow SysAdmin Access Only is set.

Main > Setup > General > System Parameters

This parameter can also be used to periodically run the query “OPTIMIZE DATABASES” at set intervals. It is not clear how often this should be run, or even if there is a significant benefit. However, users will notice a slight delay during login when the it runs, it might have been a half-second with an almost empty Swift Construction Company database (on a older dual-core desktop PC with 4GB memory). If periodically running OPTIMIZE DATABASES is desired, you may consider creating an entry in the cron table to run the mysql command line interface, giving the query as a command argument.

MediaWiki

The webERP Knowledge Base, MediaWiki in my case, is a completely separate system from webERP, including separate users, user permissions, etc. webERP simply provides structured links into the Knowledge Base (with some variation depending on the wiki protocol selected in webERP Main > Setup > General > System Parameters > Wiki application).

I intentionally configured MediaWiki during install for public access, but required that a user be logged-in to create a new page, edit an existing page or upload a file. This allows anyone to see information, and in most cases get on with their job, without having to be concerned with logging into the Knowledge Base. For me, this is a nice balance of visibility and trust within a homogeneous organization. Users can also set their browsers to remember their login credentials and once set won’t be inconvenienced again (I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this when there are shared workstations, but then again many people use shared workstations and don’t control who the user is, it all depends….).

Upload File Types

I configured the permitted upload file types to include OpenOffice/LibreOffice files, dwg files and zip archives (see MediaWiki documentation).

$wgFileExtensions = array( 'png', 'gif', 'jpg', 'jpeg',
 'odt', 'ods', 'odp', 'odg',
 'txt', 'pdf', 'zip', 'dwg'
);

Site Logo

I also uploaded the SCC logo as a media file and edited LocalSettings.php to use new logo.

Summary

This completes basic webERP and MediaWiki installation and configuration.

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Windows SSH clients

Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol that provides a secure channel between an SSH client application and an SSH server over an unsecured network. The most common application is remote command-line login and remote command execution.
 
This post is based on research performed in 2014.

SSH Clients

An SSH client is typically an interactive terminal interface for logging into and interacting with remote systems over a channel encrypted using SSH.

Connection Managers

 A connection manager is used to provide a consistent environment for organizing ssh credentials and remote connections, and provides a multi-session interface using multiple windows or a tabbed interface.

Several useful reviews include:

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Embedded Command Line Interface (CLI)

What’s a CLI?

A command-line interface (CLI) is a way to interact directly with a software program in the form of text commands and responses. Just as source code is a typed set of commands to produce a result, the CLI is also a typed set of commands to produce a result. The difference is that the commands are typed in real-time by a person (although may be captured for replay later). 

In embedded system development, a CLI is often developed to aid initial driver development and debugging. This CLI may become the interface (or one of the interfaces) used by a sophisticated end-user to interact with the product. Think of typing commands to control a machine, such as a spacecraft or NC mill, or perhaps for low-level access to the control system of an undersea ROV as a development tool, tweaking time-constants and monitoring low-level system performance during testing. 

One of my current projects, a scientific instrument, incorporates a home-grown CLI that has evolved with the project. It has limited functionality and supports simple commands only.  However, the potential exists that eventually a sophisticated end-user might appreciate more advanced functionality, including command history, variable substitution and simple scripting, akin to a unix shell such as csh or bash.  Should that become true, the current CLI will need to evolve, which will have a cost in time and effort. There is no customer demand now that would justify the effort, but it made me wonder if there was any open-source off-the-shelf CLI code that could be used.

CLI projects

Some concerted web searching identified the following projects:

Some general articles on creating a CLI interface are:

Future work

Once the project at hand has passed the basic data collection milestone, I think it will be time to think about the future of the CLI. The complexity of the home-grown solution will not have increased significantly, and there will be time to think through the amount of work to switch to any of the shortlist candidates.

 

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Code Composer Studio v7

Code Composer Studio (CCS) is an excellent free IDE from Texas Instruments for TI processors.  CCS is based on Eclipse and TI recently released CCS v7 in December 2016 based on Eclipse 4.6 with CDT 9.0 and JRE 8. This is reported to be the first CCS release both free of charge and without limitations for all devices and debug probes, although I started using CCS just after v6 was released and it was free then, including the debug probe for the MSP432 and without code limitations when compiling using gcc (included). 

I had been put off Eclipse by its complexity several years ago when settling on an IDE for web app development (at the time I selected NetBeans, and still like its simple elegance), but the MSP432 was the processor of choice for a project and that meant using CCS/Eclipse. Although I was initially apprehensive, TI had made CCS extremely accessible by providing Simple, Edit and Debug perspectives. CCS is now my preferred development environment for embedded work, which works great since I’m also a fan of TI’s 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 MSP432 and 16-bit MSP430 processor families.

CCS is not without its foibles though. For one, it takes a long time to start up. For quick or limited editing I prefer NotePad++, and if I double-click a file in Explorer, NotePad++ is launched not CCS. Also I continue to use TortoiseSVN and GitExtensions outside of CCS. I’ve read there are Plugins available, but that means more learning. NetBeans came with a git GUI built-in and I rarely needed a separate tool.

Here is a quick a refresher for starting a new project after having been away from CCS for a while (it should also apply to CCS v6). 

Tabs vs Spaces

The coding standard followed by the msp432logger project stipulates using tabs to indent code, with a tab width of four spaces. This can be difficult due to how CCS manages tab vs spaces.

CCS provides tab vs spacing preferences (Window -> Preferences -> General -> Editors -> Text Editors “Insert spaces for tabs” enabled or disabled). However, CCS appears to indent a new line according to the convention of the old line (whether tabs or spaces) when Enter is used to create a new line, or when CCS automatically indents based on parentheses (at least with C files). This is regardless of the Preferences setting, and in addition, there is a context menu selection “Uses Spaces for Tab” which must be disabled (right-click in an editor).

Because of the various settings affecting whether indenting will be done with tabs or spaces, it is easy to accidentally introduce and propagate space-based intending within a file. Time will tell if I’ve finally got my preferences set correctly, and it may be simpler to use space-based indenting with CCS if you have the choice. I’m currently watching for spaces in pre-commit diffs, and manually searching and replacing 4-spaces with a tabs using Notepad++ (I haven’t figured out how to specify non-printable characters in CCS search & replace yet). 

Code Folding

Code folding must first be enabled in the Preferences window (Window > Preferences > C/C++ / Editor / Folding) with Show advanced settings selected. Open edit windows must be closed and re-opened before folding will be available.

The configured preferences specify that functions and header comments are to be initially folded. In the screenshot below, the i2cMasterCancel() function has been  expanded.

To quickly expand or collapse all folding, right-click in the left margin of an editor and select Folding from the context menu. 

Split Edit Window (different files)

CCS typically displays files in tabs using the same editor window. To split the editor window and view content from two (or more ) files side-by-side (or top-and-bottom), simply drag the desired tab to the side (or top or bottom) of the editor window.

For example, drag an editor tab to the right margin,

which results in the file appearing in a new editor window to the right.

Split Edit Window (same file)

The method above (moving an editor tab to a new editor) doesn’t work to view different parts of the same file in separate windows. Instead, use

  • Ctrl Shift [
  • Ctrl Shift –

to split the edit window either vertically or horizontally (or to un-split).

So from a single tab,

press ‘Ctrl Shift [‘ to see uartCommand.c in side-by-side panes, 

or ‘Ctrl Shift -‘ to see uartCommand.c in top-and-bottom panes.

 

View Call Hierarchy

CCS show the call hierarchy for a function (i.e. a list of callers of the function). From the CCS Edit perspective, you can right-click on a function and select Open Call Hierarchy from the context menu. 

The screenshot below shows how the i2cMasterSendReceive() is called from the tlvInitSn cli command.

Missing Debugger Buttons in Simple Perspective

The Simple perspective in CCS should show debugger buttons in the toolbar (Run,  Step Into, Step Over, Pause, Stop, etc.) when a debugging session is active, but I have lost the buttons several times now. While switching to the Debug perspective is an option (which should be present in a debugging session) to use the buttons there, I have been able to restore the buttons in the Simple perspective by right-clicking on the menu bar and selecting Restore Hidden Toolbar Entries, then switching perspectives to something else and then back to Simple.