Frequently Asked Questions

We recommend entering G/L Chart of Account opening balances using one of two possible methods described in the document Entering Opening Balances.

The process of closing Accounting Periods and Fiscal Years requires an understanding of several xTuple ERP configuration options. This topic is covered fully in the Closing Procedures document.

In that document you will look at General Ledger (G/L) Account Number settings and how they relate to Accounting Periods that are open and/or frozen. Next, you will see two scenarios based on different configurations of these settings. Finally, you will see important issues to consider before closing Accounting Periods and Fiscal Years.

Forward-updating carries the ending balance for an Accounting Period forward to the beginning balance of the next Accounting Period, continuing the process until the current Accounting Period is reached. Keep in mind that balances cannot be forward-updated into Periods that are in the future relative to the current Period.

Forwarding trial balances is discussed in the Closing Procedures document.

This issue was raised in our forum, and we thought we'd post a possible answer here. We have spoken with various users who encountered this error and discovered something in common with both. Both had prior installs of other Open Source solutions on their computer, prior to installing PostBooks. In both cases the the other product also installed an instance of PostgreSQL. It appears the two installations of Postgres are conflicting, and preventing the PostBooks installer from finishing the install. If you are done for the moment evaluating the other Postgres-powered application, try uninstalling it, and then running the PostBooks installer again.

If you are going to use credit card processing or if you're getting this message ERROR:  function decrypt(bytea, bytea, unknown) does not exist then you need to install pgcrypto. Pgcrypto is a library used for encrypting sensitive data. The pgcrypto software is a popular add-on package included with the PostgreSQL source code distribution. The pgcrypto module is used by our credit card encryption functionality.  Even if you are not processing credit cards, we still recommend that pgcrypto be installed. 

First, we need to locate the pgcrypto.sql file.  One typical path to this is:  /usr/local/pgsql/share/contrib/pgcrypto.sql

If it isn't there you can always search for the file.  You may need to perform the search as root:  find / | grep pgcrypto.sql (be patient, this takes awhile)  Or if you're on Windows just use the Windows file search.

Once you've located the file the next step is to install it.  The command to install pgcrypto onto your database is: psql -U mfgadmin NameOfDB < /wherever/the/file/is/pgcrypto.sql  Or if you prefer using pgAdmin, connect to the database you want to install pgcrypto and open/execute pgcrypto.sql through the SQL Editor.  It is also a good idea to install pgcrypto.sql on the template1 database.

If this is happening to you, check your Item masters for the Items in question. Make sure the "Fractional" option is selected for any Items which you plan to use in partial quantities. If that flag is not selected, then the costs for the Item will be rounded up to the next whole number. This upward rounding would explain your inflated costs.

Yes, there are several reports which provide historical tracking number information. Look under Inventory > Shipping > Reports > Shipments. All of the reports in this section include a tracking number column. If you entered a tracking number for an order when you shipped it, then that information will be shown in all of these reports.

That error typically indicates there is either an incorrect mail server configuration or a network problem of some kind. Check the mail server Options in the Batch Manager menu. Also check your mail server and network routing to make sure all is in order.

You have to create a key file before you can enter all of the Credit Card Configuration settings.

How to fix this:
Create a new text file with a text editor such as Notepad.
In the text file, enter your key, for example:
xTupleKeyText12345
Save this file, for example:
xTuple.key
Save it to a folder where you want to store this key, for example:
C:\KeyFileFolder\

Now open the PostBooks Client.
Go to:
"System > Master Information > Credit Cards...":
The following error will display:
Cannot read encrypted information from database.
Click on the "Key File" tab.
Enter your Key File Name, for example:
xTuple.key
Enter your Key File Location for your system, for example:
C:\KeyFileFolder\
Click on Save and then Restart the PostBooks client
Go to:
"System > Master Information > Credit Cards...":
Now there is no error and the Login and Password fields are no longer grayed out.

You should make your "Key" a long string of random upper and lower case letters and numbers. Special characters should not be used. You should also make the key file, for example, "xTuple.key" a hidden file and also make the directory it is in hidden. Do not use the actual key and file name and location given above, those are just an example.

That's called CIDR notation. Here's a handly calculator for figuring out an appropriate value: http://www.subnet-calculator.com/cidr.php You need to know a little about the network you're setting the server up on and a bit about subnetting. A client may need to allow various networks to connect - they may have several subnets, etc - each network from where you want to allow connections from needs to have an entry in the pg_hba.conf, or at least a rule that fits. 0.0.0.0 is a catch-all - any address will match with that rule. But, suppose you have a remote office, with a fixed IP on their router - all traffic from inside the office goes out with the same WAN IP of that router, say the WAN IP is 129.42.60.216 - that's a single address from a single device. So, on your postgres server where they are connecting to you would create a pg_hba.conf entry similar to: host all all 129.42.60.216/32 md5 /32 is the same as 255.255.255.255 ( 1 address) /24 is the same as 255.255.255.0 (254 addresses) Also, keep in mind that the pg_hba.conf file is read top to bottom. As soon as Postgres finds a rule that allows access, it stops reading rules - so make sure your access rules make sense. You can do all sorts of interesting things with the pg_hba.conf. Read the comments at the top of that file.

The quick and dirty answer is you can right click and export from any list in the application. The more advanced option is to use the xTuple API.

You can read more about using the API to export from xTuple ERP in the docs section.

There are two methods for importing data into the database of xTuple ERP.

• CSVimp
  First, xTuple offers a free application called CSVimp that is designed to import Comma Separated Value (CSV) files into the database for the xTuple Applications (The same tool works for PostBooks, Standard and Manufacturing Editions). You can download CSVimp from our SourceForge project site. And detailed instructions for using CSVimp are available in our documents section.
• xTuple API
  The second method is to use the API. The goal of the xTuple Application Programmer Interface (API) is to make importing data directly into the database much safer and easier than it is going directly into the regular table structure. Our appoach is to allow users to create, access, and update xTuple documents using a special database schema that closely mirrors the graphical user interface (GUI). You can read more about using the API to import data into xTuple ERP in the docs section.

The Yahoo Store integration document has recently been updated. The most current version can be found online at:

http://www.xtuple.org/YahooStoreIntegration.

Make sure you scroll down to the Installation Details section. In particular, there is a note on how to find the hidden directories on a Mac:

On the Mac, the lower-level folders are hidden by default; you won't see these in the Finder unless you make a modification. This site will help you with the Finder issue:

http://www.macworld.com/article/51830/2006/07/showallfinder.html

As for the Xalan commands, I recommend that you take the alternate path described in the document and use xlstproc, which is standard on a Mac. The commands for the import are described in step 8 (in the detailed instructions).

First of all, please be aware that there are two types of demos available: the Free Hosted Demo and the local demo.

• Free Hosted Demo
  If you signed up for the "Free Hosted Demo" and your application has been approved, then you are authorized to access the online demo of xTuple ERP Manufacturing Edition. You'll need to download and install the xTuple client software (filename begins "xtuple-3.2..."), but the database is located on the xTuple server.
  For more information, read the instructions for accessing the Free Hosted Demo. (You must be approved and logged in to view the instructions page).
• Local Demo
  If you downloaded and installed the "PostBooks Installer" (the filename begins "xTuple-PostBooks-Installer...") then you have the local demo, meaning both the xTuple client and the PostgreSQL database are installed on your local computer. To connect to the database, launch the xTuple client and select "Log in to server I specify." The xTuple client is pre-configured to access your local database.
  Default port for the local install is: 5432
  The default username for the local demo is admin and the password is admin.

This is a known issue related to changes made to xTuple Locales. Users have reported running into this problem during upgrades to xTuple version 3.2.1. In order to resolve this issue, please go to System > Master Information > Locales and follow these steps:

1. Open each Locale
2. SAVE each Locale
3. Restart the application

Performing these steps should resolve the problem.