<< New features in openCRX v1.10 >>

• Enhanced GUI with powerful AJAX support
• WYMeditor, a web-based XHTML editor for text fields
• Store-like front-end for openCRX (openCRX extension)
• Support for IBM DB2
• Enhanced ProductOfferings (ComplexProductBundle, BundledProductType, etc.)
• CalculationRules and PricingRules
• Integration with OpenOffice Writer and MS Word (RTF)
• Integration with OpenOffice Calc and MS Excel (XLS)
• Generic E-Mail Adapter (inbound POP3/POP3S/IMAP/IMAPS - outbound SMTP) as a service
• Programmable Reports (HTML, RTF, XLS)
• Support for Apache POI

Enhanced GUI with powerful AJAX support

Thanks to a major rework of the openMDX Portal, openCRX v1.10 will feature a new look and feel:

The new GUI makes heavy use of AJAX and various widgets to improve the user experience:

• AJAX-Autocompleters replace most lookup inspectors
• Grids are loaded in-page and on demand resulting in a much reduced number of page redraws
• Enhanced page layout manager
• etc.

Have a look at the PREVIEW of openCRX v1.10.

A big thank you to Yahoo! and to Jack Slocum for providing both the Yahoo! UI Library (yui) and with BSD-style licenses.

^top

WYMeditor, a web-based XHTML editor for text fields

WYMeditor can be activated (by customizing) for any openCRX text field:

More information about WYMeditor is available from http://www.wymeditor.org/.

^top

Store-like front-end for openCRX (openCRX Extension)

openCRX/Store is a store-like custom front-end that connects to openCRX/Core (i.e. all the data is managed by openCRX/Core). The store is a nice demonstration of how you can hide the complexities of an ERP/CRM system behind a user-friendly facade.

Store objects are mapped to openCRX/Core objects and managed by the openCRX core engine:

• Store Users
  are mapped to openCRX objects Account, AccountAddress, PropertySet
• Store Products
  are mapped to openCRX objects Product, ProductClassification, ProductBasePrice , PriceLevel
• Store Orders
  are mapped to openCRX objects SalesOrder, SalesOrderPosition, ContractAddress

Give it a try and connect to the openCRX/Store Demo Server.

^top

Support for IBM DB2

openCRX now supports IBM DB2. In addition to various commercial editions there is also a free edition called DB2 Express-C (available for Linux and Windows). We would like to point out that DB2 Express-C is the highest performing free DBMS without a limit on the size of data we are aware of.

^top

Enhanced ProductOfferings (ComplexProductBundle, BundledProductType, etc.)

See UML Model.

^top

CalculationRules and PricingRules

Each contract and each contract position (optionally) points to a calculation rule and to a pricing rule. Rules are specified by server-side java scripts to allow for ultimate flexible - rules are basically "scripts" that are programmed in Java and have access to the complete API of openCRX (and anything else that is available, including third-party systems like billing systems, etc.); the scripts are compiled on the fly at runtime (we use Janino - http://www.janino.net/ - an embedded Java compiler) for maximum flexibility, i.e. scripts can be added/modified/deleted at runtime!

^top

Integration with OpenOffice Writer and MS Word (RTF)

openCRX supports the JSP-wizard-based generation of RTF documents. You can generate RTF documents from scratch or merge data with existing RTF templates. The RTF documents are generated on the fly and can be opened with any RTF-compatible word processor including OpenOffice Writer and MS Word.

You can test this feature on our demo server with the following steps:

• connect to to the demo application opencrx/Core and login with user guest and password guest
• navigate to any contact and execute the operation Wizards > RTF Document as shown below
  

A sample JSP and the matching RTF document are available courtesy of CRIXP Corp.

^top

Integration with OpenOffice Calc and MS Excel (XLS)

openCRX supports the JSP-wizard-based generation of XLS documents. You can generate XLS documents from scratch or merge data with existing XLS templates. The XLS documents are generated on the fly and can be opened with any XLS-compatible spreadsheet program including OpenOffice Calc and MS Excel.

You can test this feature on our demo server with the following steps:

• connect to to the demo application opencrx/Core and login with user guest and password guest
• navigate to Accounts and execute the operation Reports > Contacts Report as shown below
  

A sample report JSP is available courtesy of CRIXP Corp.

^top

Generic E-Mail Adapter as a Service

openCRX includes a totally platform independent E-Mail Adapter (JavaMail) which enables you to

• import/export E-mails (including attachments) from/to any E-Mail client (e.g. MS Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, Pine, Elm, ...)
• import/export E-mails (including attachments) from/to any E-mail server (e.g. qmail, Postfix, Sendmail, MS Exchange, ...)
• import/export E-mails (including attachments) from/to any E-mail service (e.g. Gmail, Hotmail, GMX, ...)
• directly send outbound E-mails from openCRX

Importers/Exporters are controlled by activity processes (i.e. you can change/adapt them to your requirements).

Get the new openCRX Administrator Guide for information on how to configure and use the new openCRX E-Mail Adapter.

^top

Programmable Reports (HTML, RTF, XLS)

Reports can be created in various formats:

• HTML (programmed JSPs)
• RTF (see also Integration with OpenOffice Writer and MS Word )
• XLS (Apache POI, see also Integration with OpenOffice Calc and MS Excel)

An Apache POI based example is available here.

^top

Support for Apache POI

openCRX is now POI-enabled, i.e. you can generate or manipulate Microsoft Format Files directly from openCRX. See also Integration with OpenOffice Calc and MS Excel.

^top