gmoskowitz's blog

A few months ago I wrote to warn you that some old database views and script toolbox methods would be removed from the xTuple core product. This work has been completed and will first appear in the 4.0.0Beta2. We don't yet have a date for that beta release.

Several of our partners have already made the necessary changes to their extension packages so they will be ready for the new release. Make sure you are ready, too. As I said in December, "You can start this work now...." Read more »

Internal work on the xTuple ERP 3.8.0 release is winding down - the first release candidate was published a few weeks ago and a second RC and final release are coming soon. Now is the time to start planning for 3.9.

I don't know yet what features will be added in 3.9. There will be some internal changes, though, that you need to prepare for if you write scripts, MetaSQL statements, or reports. Read more »

The xTuple Batch Manager package (xtbatch) is changing its name to xTuple Connect (xtconnect). The new name reflects the greatly expanded EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) capabilities that this package offers in the upcoming xTuple Connect 3.5.0 release.

A primary goal behind these changes was to build a completely automated order receipt and invoicing process. The companies that buy goods from our development sponsors generate orders as CSV and XML files and place them on an FTP server. These orders have to be retrieved, reformatted, and imported into the xTuple database. xTuple then must create invoices for these orders, print them, and send electronic versions back to the companies that placed the orders.

Thanks to our two development sponsors we have been able to add the following features : Read more »

 A software guy I know recently said that he prefers PHP to C++, something about C++ being "too fussy". I didn't comment at the time but the issue is an interesting one and is relevant to the haxTuple bug derby and xTuple application scripting. Read more »

I started to write a description of how to report bugs, but found that others have done a much better job than I could. Take a look at the following:

• Simon Tatham's How to Report Bugs Effectively
• http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php (written specifically for PHP but the general principles apply to any software you use).

With that out of the way, here's a problem of a different sort:

When is a problem with xTuple ERP a bug and when is it a feature request? Most software companies get lots of queries asking, "Why doesn't the program do X?" or "Why does it do Y?" xTuple is no exception. Read more »