Education: Training

Training : Basic Technical Training 3

The objective of the Basic Technical Training is to give partners and consultants the chance to learn the fundamental technical knowledge required to perform a basic Openbravo ERP implementation.

By the end of the course the student will have deployed and packaged a complete real life instance of Openbravo ERP application according to a fictitious customer's requirements given.

Note: This course does not cover the functional configuration topics required to complete an implementation which is given during the Basic Functional Training.

Audience
Content
Formats
Requirements
Terms & Prices

This course is aimed at potential and current partners, consultants, developers or anyone required to learn the skills needed for a basic implementation of Openbravo ERP.

Session 0 - Welcome and Introduction

This first session will welcome the student to the course, present the schedule and give an overview of the topics and assignments.

To resemble a real-life scenario, an Openbravo ERP implementation will be simulated for a pet food distributor called Woof Inc. The following scenario and its requirements will be presented and later on implemented:

the Woof Inc fictitious customer needs to automate procurement, warehousing and sales
its retailers need access to the system so they can enter sales orders by themselves, of course without accessing any other vital information of the Woof Inc business
main reports customized with their logo and an additional field CreatedBy visible so that they can see who created it
an alert must indicate new Sales Orders entered directly by retailers
they run two departments, the food sales and the services sales and they want separate reporting for each
a simpler menu where daily items are accessible directly from the root level
product window is too complicated as is, must be simplified
they require an image for each product to be kept in the system
they have a large number of retailers they would like to import
they need a full audit trail of orders and invoices
they would like an overview of incoming sales orders from their workspace

Session 1 - Openbravo User Interface

The use of the application and the common behavior of the user interface will be discussed and shown within this chapter:

Logging in
Workspace
Top Navigation
Tabs
Views and levels
Grid
Form
Widgets
Keyboard Operation

Consequently, this gives an idea of the elements and the terminology that is referenced and can be customized later on.

Session 2 - Setup and System Configuration

Before any other task, a development environment needs to be set up and configured. All exercises and customizations within this course will have to be performed on the latest version of Openbravo ERP, activated with the Openbravo Professional Subscription.

The following tasks will be shown and discussed:

deployment options, in particular, virtual appliances
activation of an instance
setting up logos
system settings
workspace configuration
audit trail

Session 3 - Modularity

Development of any artifact in Openbravo ERP v2.50 or later must be part of a module. Modularity is an important concept of the application that all consultants and developers must be aware of and will be discussed here.

The student will first learn how to install and take advantage of existing external modules, free community ones as well as commercial ones:

Spain Localization Pack
Initial Data Load
Easy Extensible Attributes
Afterwards, a new Woof Inc template + module will be created which all subsequent adjustments will belong to.

Session 4 - Client Setup

Before any data can be configured or adjustments made, a new client and the organizational structure needs to be set up. The following concepts and processes will be covered within this chapter:

multi-tenancy concept
Initial Client Setup process
Initial Organization Setup process
warehouse setup
minimum required functional setups

Session 5 - Data Architecture

Before legacy data can be imported and screens or reports can be extended and developed, a good knowledge of the underlying data structures is of utmost importance. Two related topics will be presented:

Openbravo ERP data model
Import of legacy data using the Initial Data Load module
Data partitioning (system vs client)

Session 6 - Roles and Users

As the title suggests, privileges grouped into roles and users assigned to them will be presented. Having a multi-tenancy environment, the System vs Client administrator role concept is new and explained here. The student will learn to define a few roles and users on top of the Woof Inc. scenario and its requirements. User preferences will also be discussed here.

Session 7 - Application Dictionary

One of the major strengths of Openbravo ERP is its Model Driven Development (MDD) architecture. Openbravo calls its metadata the Application Dictionary. This metadata contains the majority of the UI definition and is very important to master when it comes to adjusting the application as well as defining new UI elements.

The following concepts will be explained and practiced:

tables and columns (adding a new column and field)
references (data types and input widgets)
windows, tabs and fields (changing existing windows as well as defining new ones)
application element (changing labels and help text)
application menu (customizing the menu and defining new items)
creating new selectors
re-compilation of the application to reflect the changes made

Session 8 - Reporting

The majority of reports within the application are based on the Jaspersoft engine. Hence, the student will learn about it and how to execute the most common tasks:

use of iReport to design reports
customizing core reports (adding logos and additional fields to a Sales Invoice)
creating new reports from scratch (using the wizard vs manual design, various formats, user parameters, security issues, adding graphs)
ways of embedding reports into Openbravo ERP application
creating Query/List widget reports for the workspace

Session 9 - Goodies

There are a few smaller but interesting topics we would still like to show you within this chapter:

creating alerts
background services
pulling information from Openbravo ERP through webservices
creating simple HTML and URL widgets

Session 10 - Packaging/Development Cycle

By this point, the student will have several developed and customized artifacts done compared to the out-of-the-box Openbravo ERP. Packaging them together and migrating them to the customer's site is the next logical step. Here are a few tasks you will be taught:

packaging the module/template
exporting a client
migration to the production site using the Openbravo Professional Subscription appliance
recommended development-testing-production process

Online Format

The online version of the course delivers the same content as the classroom one but in a self-study manner and over a longer period of time, 3-weeks. The online format of this training is an alternative designed for participants with financial and/or resource constraints. To make up for the classroom interactivity, the online elearning platform comes with the following collaboration elements:

News blog where live sessions and other news will be published
Documentation for each topic and assignments that can be printed out
Links to Howto articles and additional readings
Q&A forums monitored and answered by Openbravo training specialists
Exercises and assignments
Embedded IRC live chat sessions/support tutored by a Openbravo training specialists
A link to a private virtual instance of Openbravo ERP application where exercises will need to be executed

The course requires roughly 40 hours of dedication which the student may invest as he or she sees fit across the 3-week availability:

	Two 45-minute webcast sessions with Q&A periods: The first one introduces the course, the e-learning platform and the workflow to be followed for efficient learning. Takes place on Monday of the first week, at 4PM (CET). Second one wraps-up the course and provides information on the next steps that can be taken after completing it. Takes place on Thursday of the last week, at 4PM (CET).
	Two 30-minute IRC chat sessions are offered every Wednesday at the following times: 9AM CET and 5PM CET. This is essentially a live Q&A session with the Openbravo Instructor to resolve any questions, issues or doubts that may arise.
	Forum support by Openbravo Training Specialists is provided during working hours in Spain, i.e. Monday to Thursday 9AM to 6PM CET, and Friday 9AM to 3PM CET. We will respond within one working day from the moment a forum post or inquiry is submitted. We do our best to provide responses within a few hours (as well as on weekends), though not obliged to do so.
	This course is based on a self-study model with an estimated 40h student dedication required. During the entire course length the student can choose his or her own pace to follow and go through the chapters to complete the course. Depending on the student's effort the course can be completed in any time between one and four weeks.
	The elearning platform with all its elements such as study materials, virtual environment, forums and assignments is available for the full length of the course.

Note: Additionally, a one-week (7-day) extension can be purchased for the course with full access and instructor support.

Classroom Format

Classroom format of the training is aimed at those in need to learn how to implement Openbravo ERP in the shortest and most efficient manner possible. When given as such and delivered by an Openbravo Training Specialist, the Basic Technical Training is a 5-day course with the following schedule:

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Welcome and Introduction Openbravo User Inteface System and Workspace Setup Modularity	Client Setup Data Architecture Roles and Users	Application Dictionary	Reporting Goodies (alerts, webservices, background jobs, widgets)	Packaging/ Development Cycle Resolving left issues

Note: The schedule above is only an estimate and is subject to change depending on the number of students and additional content that might be added by subsequent minor releases.

Within the classroom training the student will receive a USB key with:

electronic materials
tools and installers required for the course
implementation source examples

Knowledge prerequisites

basic functional knowledge of Openbravo ERP
good knowledge of SELECT queries (SQL) and HQL (Hibernate Query Language)
basic system and database administration
ERP consulting experience is a considerable plus

Computer Requirements

dual core processor (2GHz or faster)
3Gb RAM or more
A compatible web browser. Due to the fact that Openbravo 3 is a rich-internet-application, the newest browsers with optimized Javascript engines are recommended for the best user experience:

Firefox 4
Google Chrome 9
Internet Explorer 9
Safari 5

Times, Prices & Registration

Please visit http://www.openbravo.com/education/training for a list of scheduled dates and locations and to purchase seats for attending one of the upcoming courses.

Language

All training materials are available in English only. Classroom teaches and online course support however can also be delivered in Spanish.

Notes

The course is led and supported by an Openbravo Training Specialist.
Training is based on Openbravo ERP release 3.
Prices are quoted per student and do not include taxes.
This course is open to all participants, regardless of affiliation with Openbravo.
This course does not cover the functional configuration topics required to complete an implementation which is given during the Basic Functional Training.
A one-week (7-day) extension can be purchased for the course with full access and instructor support once the course is enrolled.

For detailed Terms and Conditions of Openbravo courseware delivery, please visit the following link: http://university.openbravo.com/university-terms.html