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Developing ERP Software
Developing ERP software using VB and SQL is a complicated process and
requires a team with multiple skills to create one. In this article, I set out to list all major knowledge areas a programmer has to possess to develop an erp software. Each knowledge area is listed below:
Domain
The term domain refers to the knowledge of working of major functions with a clear boundary. There are five major domains or functions of a company one has to learn to develop an erp software. The five major domains are: Finance, Stock Management, Manufacturing, Sales and Purchase. Each domain pertains to a department of a company. For instance, finance domain refers to the working of a finance department of a company. For each domain one has to learn all the events which occur in the respective department and for each activity the data which has to be recorded has to be determined. For example, let us consider the Cash Expense event. The data which has to be recorded for this event are: Date on which the event is occurring or has occurred, the expense amount, the reason for the expense. For every domain, all the events which occur in the department and all data which define the event completely have to be listed. Equiping oneself with this knowledge and being familiar with all the terms and events which occur in each of the departments is a step towards developing an erp software.
Front end tool
The front end tool for .Net framework can be either VB.Net or C#. These tools bring the erp application alive in the eyes of the user. An erp programmer has to learn all the aspects and features of these tools such as how to create forms, menus, using controls and properties for controls. A programmer has to be familiar with using OOPs properties and implementing them in the erp software application. Using these tools the business layer and presentatioin layer can be developed. There are many controls used for making the task of data entry easy and of these the GridView control is an important control.
Database Server
Knowledge of the database working and its role in an erp software is vital to programming an erp software. A programmer should know how to setup the database server, implement security rules, create the database files, and setup the relationship between tables. Stored procedures are a key to the success of a client server erp implementation. Proper use of stored procedures will ensure that the integrity of database is maintained and the data transfer between clients and server is kept at a minimum. Stored procedures are written using T-SQL and are used to implement server side business logic of the erp software. This layer in which the database resides is called data layer.
Data access - ADO.net
Data access refers to the technology of transferring data entered in the user interface of the erp software to the database server and retrieving such data from the server to the user interface. The data access layer does not contain any business logic nor user interface elements. Microsoft’s data access API is ado.net and the latest version is ado.net 3.5. Using ado.net objects, programmers can easily develop the data access layer. Disconnected architecture is supported by ado.net and is a very important feature for developing erp applications. The common data access tasks such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE are performed in the data access layer. These tasks are achieved by creating a separate class and placing them in the data access layer.
Application Architecture
Contrary to earlier erp software design techniques, today erp software are created as layers. Each layer is a set of programs which are created to implement certain functionalities. There are three layers created for an erp software. One is the presentation layer, next layer is the business layer and the last one is the data access layer. The presentation layer contains the code for displaying the user interface of the application to the user. The business layer contains the code implementing the business rules of the erp software application. The data access layer contains the code for connecting the presentation layer to the data layer of the application. Experienced programmers will know that by designing the erp software as layers, great amount of flexibility can be obtained. The fourth layer is the data layer contains the database.
OOPs
OOPs stands for object oriented programming and is a very essential concept for all programmers. All tools and features of software are built using the object oriented technology. This knowledge is useful for building components. ADO.net is built using classes some of which are sql connection class and sql command classes. The objects are derived from these classes and named as desired. VB classes are many and one commonly used class is the control class, and various controls such as text box control and label control are derived from the control class.
ERP Software Development involves many steps and multiple technologies and skills are needed to build one. In this article, I have attempted to outline some of the issues which can be of use to a ERP software developer. Based on ERP book listed at :
Published: October 12, 2009