Open source ERP Module development tutorial

You might want to build a module for OpenERP/Odoo for solving a specific problem or for sheer curiosity to build something. At Confianz we thought of helping you by coming up with a simple yet effective tutorial.

OpenERP Logger for Connectors

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
TECHNICAL NAME OF THE MODULE	LOGGER
OVERVIEW	This is a generic module developed in order to log all the errors and warnings resulting from all the connectors built on OpenERP .
AIM	The log should be visible only to an Administrative user, yet it should provide enough information to the Administrator/ Development team to identify and fix any issues that occurs during import or export of data between OpenERP and other third party systems integrated with it.
ADVANTAGE	The advantage of this module is that it is not required to access FTP and check the error log file to analyze the error report. Hence, it becomes easy for non-technical users to identify all the errors or warnings that occurred in the system during the previous sync. This will prove to be very much of use in bulk import/export operation. With the help of this module, the connectors are allowed to continue their action even if one the records have failed to import/export, while user can still view the failed records.
FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS EXPECTED	ALERTS: Whenever an error is logged into this module, send an email notification consisting of the error report to the Administrator/ Technical Team using a pre-defined email template. TICKET CREATION & ALLOCATION: As an error is logged, OpenERP will auto-create an issue ticket and assign a technician to it. Once that ticket is marked as ‘Resolved’, the logger removes the log entry corresponding to it.
DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS	Server OS: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Database : Postgres 2  , PG ADmin lll Luggage : Python 2.7, XML IDE: Eclipse with Py Dev Bug Reporting Tool : Mantis Bug Tracker

Development Strategy

1)    Database Design

• Only one new table is required for this module.

Table name	logger
Columns  :
id	integer, primary key
Log_date	datetime
log_uid	integer , foreign key to res_users table
res_id	integer   (holds the resource id where error is reported)
model_name	character (16)     (holds the name of the model )
connector	character  (32)  ( this will hold the name of the connector is the shop)
module	character( 32)   (holds the name of the module reported the error)
message	text   (actual error messages)
‘type’	enum (import, export, delete)
‘state’	enum(info, error, warning)

 

1)    OpenERP module development

• The module is to be developed with a folder name as ‘ logger’.
• The directory structure will be as follows:

Security

ir.model.access.csv

    Static

         Src

             img

                 icon.png

     logger.py

     Logger_view.xml

     __ini

t__.py

    __openerp__.py

• Security directory is used to specify the access controls for the class used with in the module.
• Static will be used to insert the module thumbnail icon, which will be displayed on the OpenERP module Kanban and form view.

• As an icon for this module, use the following PNG file sized 32*32

• Place this image file inside Static/Src/img folder as ‘png’ so that OpenERP will automatically pick this as the thumbnail
• For this module, we will not use any Wizards (popups). Hence, the Wizard directory is not required.

1)    Files and Usage

                    i.            logger.py

• This is the main Python file where the class the all the python modules will be defined.
• STEP 1: Import all the packages needed, by using the ‘import’

In this module, we will be using the following packages:

From openerp.osv import osv, fields

// ORM class used as the base class

import logging

// logging is a class used in openerp for terminal and file logging

import time

// time is a python class for operation on time

 

• STEP 2: Once all the packages are imported, declare the class as

 

class logger(osv.osv):

_name = ‘logger’

_description = ‘Log details’

 

• The first line specifies the name of the class ‘logger’. This class inherits from the base class osv.osv where the ORM functions ( create, write, unlink, etc.) are defined.  

• _name is an attribute of ORM class which will be used as a reference to a class within OpenERP

• In the XML files, this reference will be used to specify this class. In OpenERP, this is called a 'model' (i.e. an ORM class ) 

• _ description is used to give a small deception to that model by the developer 

• STEP 3: Define the columns within the attribute _columns, which is a dictionary. OpenERP will pick the elements inside the dictionary and create them as columns inside the database table automatically.

_columns = {

        'log_date': fields.datetime('Time', readonly=True),

        'log_uid': fields.many2one('res.users', "User"),

        'res_id': fields.integer('Ressource id', readonly=True),

        'connector':fields.char('Connector', size=156, readonly=True),

        'model_name': fields.char('Model name', size=64, readonly=True),

        'message': fields.text('Message', readonly=True),

        'type':fields.selection([('import','Import'),('export','Export'),('delete','Delete'),],'Action', readonly=True),

        'state':fields.selection([('info','Info'),('warning','Warning'),('error','Error')],'State', readonly=True),

        'module':fields.char('Module', size=64, readonly=True),

    }

• ‘fields’  is a class in ORM which defines the type and other attributes as a readonly, size etc. of the columns .Here we can keep all fields as readonly as log should be created by the system and not manually by the user.
  • Now we can also specify the log_date as ‘Time’ by default by using the _default attribute in the ORM

  _defaults = {

  ‘log_date’: lambda *a: time.strftime(‘%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S’)

  }

  • Next , we need the function which the connectors can use to register the log. This function will be named as: register_log

   

  Method : register_log

  Argument s   :

                             self    --  self (this) object

                             cr     --  Database cursor object

                             uid     - id of the logged in user

                            module  -- character , name of the module from where the log is registered

                            connector_name   -- character , name of the  connector(sore)

                            model    --- character , name of the model where error is reported

                            res_id  -- int, resource where where is reported

                            syn_type  -- character , operation type which cause the error ,import, export or delete

                           message  -- text

                            state --- character

   

  return   :    True

• Once we are done with the function, we can initialise the class by using:logger()  This will end all the coding we need in the main py file.

                    i.            logger_view.xml

• This is the view file for OpenERP which defines what and how data will be visible to the user in front end

 

• STEP1: Define the views. We require 3 types of view for this module which are

 

1. Tree : To list the logs

In the tree view we require the following fields to give enough information to the user:

<field name=”log_date”/>

<field name=”module”/>

<field name=”connector”/>

<field name=”model_name”/>

<field name=”res_id”/>

<field name=”type”/>

<field name=”state”/>

 

1. Form: To display the details of a particular logger

In form view we need all the fields to be available

1. Search : To search for logs in OpenERP

In Search view, users should be able to search with date, type, state, store, module, and message. User should also be able to group the log with model name and resource where error is reported

A sample search view will be as follows:

  <record id="log_search_view" model="ir.ui.view">

            <field name="name">Log - Search</field>

            <field name="model">log.details</field>

            <field name="arch" type="xml">

                <search string="Logs">

                    <field name="log_date"/>

                    <field name="type"/>

                    <field name="state"/>

                    <field name="module"/>

                    <field name="connector"/>

                    <field name="model_name"/>

                    <field name="message"/>

                    <newline/>

                    <group expand="0" string="Extended..." groups="base.group_extended">

                        <field name="res_id"/>

                    </group>

                    <newline/>

                    <group expand="0" string="Group By..." groups="base.group_extended">

                        <filter string="Model" domain="[]" context="{'group_by':'model_name'}"/>

                    </group>

                </search>

            </field>

        </record>

• STEP 2: Once the views are defined, the next step is to define the action which will instruct OpenERP as to what view is used first:

• <record id="act_log_details" model="ir.actions.act_window">

              <field name="name">Logs</field>

              <field name="type">ir.actions.act_window</field>

              <field name="res_model">log.details</field>

              <field name="view_type">form</field>

              <field name="view_mode">tree,form</field>

          </record>

• In the action, res_model refers to the class reference used in python file
  • STEP 3: Defining the Menus where user can see the log. Place that log inside Settings >Technical menu

   <menuitem id=”menu_log_details” parent=”base.menu_custom” name=”log Details” sequence=”50″/>

  <menuitem id=”menu_log_details_sub” parent=”menu_log_details” name=”log Details” action=”act_log_details” sequence=”5″/>

  Now, that we are done with the view file as well.

•               i.            __init__py

  • All the python files used with the module is imported into the python init
  • All the class inside logger.py file is initialized by using:

  import logger

                   ii.            __openerp__.py

   

  • This file provides all information about this module to OpenERP and also specifies the cam files used

• # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

  {

      'name': ' Logger',

      'version': '1.0',

      'category': 'tools',

      'sequence': 1,

      'summary': "OpenERP Logger",

      'description': """

  This is a package developed for Logging  error and warning from connector modules developed for openerp  \n

         """,

      'author': 'Confianz Global',

      'website': 'http://confianzit.com',

      'images': [],

      'data': [

          'log.xml',

          'security/ir.model.access.csv',

          ],

      'depends': [base'],

      'installable': True,

      'auto_install': False,

      'application': True,

  }

• Once all these files are packed, this can be moved to OpenERP’s Addons directory and will be available in the modules list to install.
• – Happy Coding!
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