Hi all,

Finally we are 'de-cloaking' the 'birthday present' that I have mentioned a couple of times before. The on-line version of the BaanERP Programmer's Guide can be visited here: http://www.baanboard.com/programmers_manual_baanerp.

About a month ago we received a positive answer from Baan to our queries on allowing Baanboard to publish the full contents of the BaanERP programmer's guide. As we have many developer members and in many posts questions are asked about how and which function can be used in custom program scripts, we thought it would be useful to have this information at hand in an on-line format. Thanks to ~Vamsi for the original idea!
Not only do we offer now the complete manual but we will also update the contents on a regular basis ensuring that always the most-up-to-date information is available on baanboard.

A couple of weeks have passed since then and we have developed a basic content viewing functionality allowing each member to access the programmer's guide using alphabetical ordered keywords. The conversion from the original guide - a CHM or Windows compiled Help file - does not offer the exact same look and feel and functionality but we will continue working on improving it.

Consider this a first release from which we would like to expand further. Here are some of the possibilities:
a small keyword search engine
keyword auto-linking into forum posts
function notes
Note: following options are now implemented in the CMS version!
Any comments/feedback is - as usual - much appreciated. We hope you will find great value in this new addition to baanboard!

Note: please do not ask me (in PM or via email) to send you the original CHM help file. Any such request will be immediately ignored. Use the on-line pages for your development work!

Or as people in my region like to say at such occasions:

Boah, ey!

From time to time I like being in Baan-Business!

Uli

Ulrich,

I guess I should say thanks lol. Is there any English translation possible? :)

In credible


It is only one word but...
This is a really good new Forum's feature.

Also it seems that BaaN will soonly sponsor this board?
In fact many BaaN users are sponsoring BaaN contributing in this site. Because without users there is no BaaN.

Thank's both BaaN and BaaNBoard.

Also I think that hidden Knowledge is a future lost knowledge, and share it is make it grow and grow.

Of course I noticed the library link right away.....not.

Anyway, this marks the beginning of a whole new era for this board. The added value of this option is enormous.

I hope this first "book" will be the start of an extensive repository of Baan documentation, facts and instructions.

This is exactly what this board, the Baan community and Baan as a company need. I fully agree with Alejandro that all parties will benefit from making information like this publicly available.

I also cheer on Baan's involvement in the board lately. It really makes me feel like we are finally on the same team, as it should be.
Sure, the support site is there, BWU is there, but somehow I feel I get a better response from places like this (well, there is nothing like this at the moment really).

Hats off guys.

Hi all,

Just a quick update: I have added a set of 'quick links' or shortcuts on the Library (http://www.baanboard.com/baanboard/bblibrary.php?&action=show_library) page that will allow members to access the different alphabetical sub-sections in the Programmer's Guide more quickly. For those who do not need to see the 'Full Index' each time, it will be a bandwith and time saver!

Hi all,

Though putting the programmer's guide on-line was a success, it brought also some drawbacks with it. One being that we are faced with people trying to leech the whole contents with a web spidering or web ripping programme. We do not oppose this as such although it puts a strain on the server and will slow access down for other users. However, it becomes a problem when the leeching goes on for many many hours, ripping numerous copies from our site. This is not acceptable!

We prefer that people access the pages on-line and if they so wish download one copy for local use. Please remember that you will always find the most recent version on-line. If you fail to stay within these 'leeching' rules, you will be banned from baanboard.com.

Thanks for your understanding.

Maybe I am being stupid, but I don't see a TOC.

Are there plans for one?

I would like to read it from the beginning, without trying to figure out which order things should be in.

Thanks

emd

No, there will be no TOC. The closest thing to it would be the full alphabetical index. We hope to provide a search functionality though. Just one remark: I think you would have a hard time 'reading' the manual from start to end as it is really meant as a reference source.

Thanks.

I just got tasked with writing BOIs and I know pratically nothing about BOIs and Baan. Just looking for as much info as I can find.

It benefits both Baan men and the Customers.

Hi Patrick,

This is a great resource!
I would like to download a copy for those situations when I am without internet access. What is the best way to do this?

Thanks,
Ev

Ev,

Normally I would have to say ahum that you are supposed to come online each time you need the stuff. But we can't stop you from spidering the library. Just make sure you only download each page ONCE otherwise we'll hammer you ;)

Thanks, Patrick. I was hoping there was a way to download it as a single file (preferably zipped) but failing that I'll just treat it as an online resource rather than take the time to download the whole thing page by page.

Ev

An updated version of the programmer's manual (v73_a_11) is now available in the library section.

More news: we have installed a little search engine for the Programmer's Guide.

You can access the search feature from the main library page. When using the search engine, please keep the following in mind:
you must specify words of min. 3 characters length
you can use AND and OR constructions (NOT is not supported)
you can specify wildcards (* for all) but it's fairly useless as each search term will be executed with leading and trailing wildcard. E.g.: 'file' = 'file*' = '*file' = '*file*'
This is only a first version so don't expect a Google :) We have built in alot of checks on the search input but as always we may have overlooked some possibilities that can create bad queries. If this happens for your search, you will probably get a database error. In that case please try again with different search words. Also, we will get notified about the error and see how we can remedy the problem.

As usual comments and feedback are very welcome!

Hello Pat,
BaaN library on this is site has been of great help for BaaN Tools people. But, I have a concern here -
I was going through this script, and found a variable sattr.combined . By it's name it sounded like a system variable. I searched my BaaN help document, and later on the library listing of this site, for this variable. But, only thing I could find was sattr.descr$ !!
I then used this variable in one of my scripts, and on compiling did not get any error (although it's function is still not clear to me)!! Hence, this is a system variable.
Now, there may be so many such system variables and functions which we are not able to find in the help document, but they do help a lot in programming. Where/How do we search for such features!!?

Hey Morpheus,

I can't really answer your question. We have to work with what we got from Baan Development and that's what you see in the Library. Hopefully one of the Baan guys around here will pick up on this.

Morpheus,

The manual here at BaanBoard is for BaanERP, tools version 7.3a. You are working on BaanIV (thanks Pat, it really helps, that version information!!!).
sattr.combined is something that was supported in Baan IV, indicating that two sessions were displayed in a single window. In BaanERP, that feature has been replaced by overview and synchronized child session. That's the reason it is not in the manual.

Regards,
Jaap Zwaan

Thanks Jaap, for the information. Any idea where can I find BaaN IV help!? Or atleast tell me something more about sattr.combined, and if possible have a look at my latest post in Tools.
Hey! Pat, why not have a library for BaaN IV too!!;)

There is no BaanIV manual on the board, because Baan doesn't give BaanBoard the right to publish it. Only the latest version is available here.
I hope it is still helpfull though: 80% remains unchanged.
BaanIV help should be installed on your system. In the session Maintain Program Scripts.

Regards,
Jaap Zwaan

Yes, I know it's not on the board, and BaaNERP help is quite useful for BaaN IV users also. But, I was just wondering that someone has got BaaN IV help (like I got BaaNERP help in my personal collection). And regarding Manual in BaaN IV, that too does not contain features like sattr.combined.
Anyway, thanks for the post.

Sorry!! I finally found sattr.combined in the BaaN IV manual.

Time again for an update: now serving (v73_a_sp1, build 593 of 11/06/2003)

Pat, (again) I would like to say that this is a great addition to the board. You can tell by all the references that are being made from existing posts to aricles in the Library section. Also very helpful to avoid posts on topics documented there.

Another update on the ERP Programmer's Manual: we have finished converting the entire contents into the Baanboard Wiki. From now on please point your browsers at: http://www.baanboard.com/twiki/bin/view/Progmanerp/WebHome

We will remove the 'old' programmer's manual soon. In any case, use the new Wiki for making references to sections of the manual.

Note that by moving the content into the Wiki it has de facto become 'collaborative' content as well. So don't hesitate to add your comments, corrections, examples etc in the developer's notes section of each Wiki page! :)

What will happen to the existing links ...?

They all have been converted :)

I am sure that I am missing something. I just went to find the function run.baan.prog() and when I listed the "r" functions, they are not in an alphabetical (http://www.baanboard.com/programmers_manual_baanerp_TopicList_R) listing. Is there a way to get them that way?

BTW... regardless of where it is... having the manual on-line has been VERY helpful over the past year!

Cheers,

-Dennis

The 'r' functions are on one page, but not sorted :(.

They are alphabetical within a certain category. But there is nothing stopping us from changing the order around in the Wiki page. Or even better: nothing is stopping anyone making it's own 'preferred' way of listing functions. The more entry points we have into the actual manual pages, the better. Don't forget that the Wiki has a powerful search function as well!

Has this guide been updated recently or are there any annexes available?
Thanks in advance!
___________________________________________________
Marius from Clarvision ERP (https://clarvision.ro/)

Hi,


You can download the latest programmers guide from InforXtreme since there has not been any update on the Board for programmers manual due to probability of copyright.

Hi,

You can download the latest programmers guide from InforXtreme since there has not been any update on the Board for programmers manual due to probability of copyright.Hmmm, they approved in the past, it would be nice to have an up to date version online here as well, for x-reference in posts.

Like today I was wondering, did someone try the 3GL Json API functions already. But these are not documented in the current published version here.

You can always post your questions :) May be someone somewhere have used it.

I did talk to Pat about this and he didn't show much interest may be because of the copyrights and all.

Has this guide been updated recently or are there any annexes available?
Thanks in advance!
___________________________________________________
Marius from Clarvision ERP (https://clarvision.ro/)

Hi Marius,

No, it has not been updated since its first publication. The information is provided as-is. We got the rights to publish this manual back in the days when Baan company was actually still Baan company. Many things have changed since and many people have left their positions. I don't have contacts anymore within the Baan/Infor inner circles to see if we can get updated information. If anyone is willing to share some useful information on this, feel free to contact me.

But don't get your hopes up, Baan company and its later owners were not really keen on sharing technical information with the community as a whole. I imagine it has not changed much since then.