Openbravo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Openbravo
Developed by	Nicolas Serrano and Ismael Ciordia
Latest release	2.35 / November 2, 2007
OS	Windows, Linux, Unix, Solaris, FreeBSD
Genre	ERP, CRM
License	Openbravo Public License, based on the MPL^[1]
Website	www.openbravo.com

Openbravo is an open source web-based ERP business solution for small and medium sized companies that is released under the Openbravo Public License, based on the Mozilla Public License.^[1] The model for the program was originally based on the Compiere ERP program that is also open source, released under the GNU General Public License version 2. The company is also a member of the Open Solutions Alliance, a non-profit organization working for open-source standardization.^[2] The program is among the top ten most active projects of Sourceforge as of January 2008.^[3] Development decisions are made by Openbravo, S.L., located in Pamplona, Spain.^[4]

1 History
2 Features
3 Architecture
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] History

Openbravo was first developed by the two employees of Engineering School Tecnun of the University of Navarra, Nicolas Serrano and Ismael Ciordia. They were both involved in the mid 1990s in developing the management of the university. They used the new Internet technologies while doing their work, and when time passed by, came out with a new approach for Web applications. Their new idea was realized in a new company called Tecnicia (today known as Openbravo), which was founded in August 2001 by Serrano, Ciordia, and Aguinaga. The product was a new framework for the ERP world, called Openbrave ERP. In 2005, two experts started with analysis for the opportunity of creating a new open source business model. They became participants of the company in 2006.

As it is the case for all open source projects, the source code was published in April 2006.^[5]

[edit] Features

Openbravo features a web-based interface, where the user can view the entire status of a company, including production information, inventory, customer information, order tracking, and workflow information. It is possible to synchronize this information with other applications through the Java-based Openbravo API. Openbravo can also create and export reports and data to several formats, such as PDF and Microsoft Excel. As Openbravo is web-based, it is possible to access the interface from anywhere that there is an internet connection.^[6]

[edit] Architecture

Openbravo's architecture, based on that of Compiere, focuses on two development frameworks:

model-view-controller, in which data is not directly handled by the user but instead manipulated by the controllers,
model-driven development, in which models of code are created, and user-created code is inserted.

These two models allow for integration with other programs and for a simple interface.^[7]

The architecture bases on the MVC model. The Wizard for Application Development (WAD) generates most code automatically by referring to the Data Model Dictionary. The engine recompiles the application whenever a modification is made by the administrator according to new user needs.

A series of applications have to be installed to run Openbravo. These are the Java Platform, the Apache-Tomcat server, and a database engine (currently Oracle or PostgreSQL).