Thanks again for sharing this. I never even noticed the "Forum" tab on drupal.org before your presentation. Tunnel vision! I have since actually found help on the forums. Of course, it has to be a very old thread to actually have meaningful responses on it. I would never actually post to the forums wanting a response (I think I could grow a Kenny Rogers beard before hearing from anyone).
I'm new to Drupal. I've done a lot of tutorials and reading. I'm about to embark in a pretty big project and from my experience (and the best way to loose your hair) is start projects with technology you really want to understand. This is how I learned the Zend Framework (wow that was tough) but I got a good understanding of it. I want to do the same with Drupal. This project will need the following:
I'm going to be creating a custom ERP/CRM for an International Print Shop. It's project last approximately a year long with many emails and communications between the client and organization.
Besides the common forms, file uploads, jquery slides, etc. My main concerns are:
1) Many cron jobs based on when an email is sent and when a timer expires after that email is sent. In other words, run a cron job when an email is sent and run another cron job an hour later after the email was sent.
2) Print out project based reports at any given time at any stage of the existing project?
3) Convert data from database to a PDF format file for download?
4) Custom code I may have to write to work with the rest of the Drupal environment?
5) International time-zone management and thus synchronizing different time zone?
Thanks in advance, I think Drupal is an awesome idea I'd like to turn into a reality in my development world and eventually contribute.
I'm going to be creating a custom ERP/CRM
If you can talk your client into using Salesforce for the CRM piece that and the Salesforce integration modules will save you a bunch of grey hair, change requests and gnashing of teeth later. If not, there's always CiviCRM :/
1) Many cron jobs based on when an email is sent and when a timer expires after that email is sent. In other words, run a cron job when an email is sent and run another cron job an hour later after the email was sent.
This is pretty straightforward if you're comfortable writing module code. Take a look at the batch API, Triggers and Actions for a few ideas on how to accomplish this. Alternately, you could just hook whatever event is triggering the email and fire off a batch process then, add a flag to the variable table and have your module's implementation of hook_cron() check said flag on an hourly basis or whatever.
2) Print out project based reports at any given time at any stage of the existing project?
If the print shop you're working for is anything like the one I worked for they're gonna want reports in Excel. Fortunately there are a number of PHP libraries that make dealing with spreadsheets a snap. For everything else, there is Views.
3) Convert data from database to a PDF format file for download?
There's a module for that. IIRC one of the printer friendly format modules (name escapes me) also has the option to output content as a PDF download. If you can't find a canned module that fits your needs, there's always PDF libraries.
4) Custom code I may have to write to work with the rest of the Drupal environment?
The print industry has some pretty unique needs. I'd say it's a guaranteed you're going to have to code a bunch of stuff custom. Get a copy of Pro Drupal Development for whatever version of Drupal you plan on implementing this project in. It'll save you from making a lot of classic "learning" mistakes, like stuffing application logic in the theme or (unnecessarily) hacking up contributed modules.
5) International time-zone management and thus synchronizing different time zone?
Supported in core, if you're using Drupal 6 take a look at the Date and Date API modules.
Thanks for the information. I've gotta an understanding of what I have to do. Thanks again for the insight. The project has been postponed 'til Sept 5th.
Comments
Thanks again
Thanks again for sharing this. I never even noticed the "Forum" tab on drupal.org before your presentation. Tunnel vision! I have since actually found help on the forums. Of course, it has to be a very old thread to actually have meaningful responses on it. I would never actually post to the forums wanting a response (I think I could grow a Kenny Rogers beard before hearing from anyone).
Drupal - can it do this list?
I'm new to Drupal. I've done a lot of tutorials and reading. I'm about to embark in a pretty big project and from my experience (and the best way to loose your hair) is start projects with technology you really want to understand. This is how I learned the Zend Framework (wow that was tough) but I got a good understanding of it. I want to do the same with Drupal. This project will need the following:
I'm going to be creating a custom ERP/CRM for an International Print Shop. It's project last approximately a year long with many emails and communications between the client and organization.
Besides the common forms, file uploads, jquery slides, etc. My main concerns are:
1) Many cron jobs based on when an email is sent and when a timer expires after that email is sent. In other words, run a cron job when an email is sent and run another cron job an hour later after the email was sent.
2) Print out project based reports at any given time at any stage of the existing project?
3) Convert data from database to a PDF format file for download?
4) Custom code I may have to write to work with the rest of the Drupal environment?
5) International time-zone management and thus synchronizing different time zone?
Thanks in advance, I think Drupal is an awesome idea I'd like to turn into a reality in my development world and eventually contribute.
Depends on who's driving the bus...
I'm going to be creating a custom ERP/CRM
If you can talk your client into using Salesforce for the CRM piece that and the Salesforce integration modules will save you a bunch of grey hair, change requests and gnashing of teeth later. If not, there's always CiviCRM :/
1) Many cron jobs based on when an email is sent and when a timer expires after that email is sent. In other words, run a cron job when an email is sent and run another cron job an hour later after the email was sent.
This is pretty straightforward if you're comfortable writing module code. Take a look at the batch API, Triggers and Actions for a few ideas on how to accomplish this. Alternately, you could just hook whatever event is triggering the email and fire off a batch process then, add a flag to the variable table and have your module's implementation of hook_cron() check said flag on an hourly basis or whatever.
2) Print out project based reports at any given time at any stage of the existing project?
If the print shop you're working for is anything like the one I worked for they're gonna want reports in Excel. Fortunately there are a number of PHP libraries that make dealing with spreadsheets a snap. For everything else, there is Views.
3) Convert data from database to a PDF format file for download?
There's a module for that. IIRC one of the printer friendly format modules (name escapes me) also has the option to output content as a PDF download. If you can't find a canned module that fits your needs, there's always PDF libraries.
4) Custom code I may have to write to work with the rest of the Drupal environment?
The print industry has some pretty unique needs. I'd say it's a guaranteed you're going to have to code a bunch of stuff custom. Get a copy of Pro Drupal Development for whatever version of Drupal you plan on implementing this project in. It'll save you from making a lot of classic "learning" mistakes, like stuffing application logic in the theme or (unnecessarily) hacking up contributed modules.
5) International time-zone management and thus synchronizing different time zone?
Supported in core, if you're using Drupal 6 take a look at the Date and Date API modules.
Interesting..
Thanks for the information. I've gotta an understanding of what I have to do. Thanks again for the insight. The project has been postponed 'til Sept 5th.