abas ERP is an

enterprise resource planning Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of Business management tools, business management ...

(ERP) and e-business application for manufacturers such as those using make to order and other related sales models. It was developed by ABAS Software AG, since 1980 based in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Main product

The main product of the company is abas ERP, an ERP system for

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

. The functionality includes purchasing and sales, production, materials management and financial accounting. The system is used in mechanical and plant engineering, in the automotive industry and in trade and service companies. The system uses a

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...

character set and is operated in 28 languages.

Architecture

The software uses a tiered software architecture. The foundation is an object-oriented database. The application tier is based on the database and contains the main functions. The presentation tier, or "Flexible User Interface (FOP)", comprises the third and final tier, which interfaces with the user. The "Individual User Interface", the "Standard Flexible User Interface" and the "abas Tools" belong to the presentation tier.

OS basis

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

, other

UNIX Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...

derivates and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

are available as server operating systems. Windows or Linux (

Wine (software) Wine (formerly a recursive backronym for ''Wine Is Not an Emulator'', now just "Wine") is a free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow application software and computer games developed for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like ...

) is used on the workstations.

Database

ABAS Business Suite is based on its own object-oriented database. The log structure offers usual database features such as online backup, rollback and copying in running operation. The following APIs are possible for the database access: a

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

-based framework (AJO), a simple proprietary 4GL language (FO), APIs in C,

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

, C#, VB, VBA as well as the standard interfaces

ODBC In computing, Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard application programming interface (API) for accessing database management systems (DBMS). The designers of ODBC aimed to make it independent of database systems and operating systems. An ...

and SQL.

Individual adjustments

Individual fields and tables can be added to the standard software on database level. Existing or individual screens can be adjusted and layouts can be designed using a graphical screen editor. On the event level, the

business logic In computer software, business logic or domain logic is the part of the program that encodes the real-world business rules that determine how data can be created, stored, and changed. It is contrasted with the remainder of the software that might ...

and dialog control can be adjusted or configured using

event handlers In programming and software design, an event is an action or occurrence recognized by software, often originating asynchronously from the external environment, that may be handled by the software. Computer events can be generated or triggered ...

. These can be optionally implemented in FO or Java. These adjustments remain during upgrades if the programming has been clean. Since 2008, Groovy is also being supported. FO programs can be written using the structogram editor EasyCODE, for example. The Java-based implementation is supported by an AJO workbench, which is integrated into the

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

development environment.

Web interface

A business portal, based on

Liferay Liferay, Inc., is an open-source company that provides free documentation and paid professional service to users of its software. Mainly focused on enterprise portal technology, the company has its headquarters in Diamond Bar, California, United ...

, is integrated into abas ERP using which the database can be accessed via

portlets The Java Portlet Specification defines a contract between the portlet container and portlets and provides a convenient programming model for Java portlet developers. Portlets are pluggable user interface software components that are managed and ...

. With the additional product abas eB, applications such as a webshop, a product catalog, the connection of the external sales force and a browser interface for abas ERP can be realized.

SOAP Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

services are available to exchange data with other business software.

Print and reporting

abas is released together with the open source product

JasperReports JasperReports is an open source Java reporting tool that can write to a variety of targets, such as: screen, a printer, into PDF, HTML, Microsoft Excel, RTF, ODT, comma-separated values (CSV) or XML files. It can be used in Java-enabled applica ...

. Direct print of documents is thus possible, but also the generation of reports in various file formats (e.g. PDF, Excel, XML). An open interface makes it possible to integrate additional reporting systems by third-party providers. HTML help is available for users, administrators and developers and the various Java interfaces are documented in the common

Javadoc Javadoc (originally cased JavaDoc) is a documentation generator created by Sun Microsystems for the Java language (now owned by Oracle Corporation) for generating API documentation in HTML format from Java source code. The HTML format is used for ...

format. Mobile

smartphones A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...

or tablets have become the standard as mobility plays an even bigger role in living and working environments. Apps for

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

, iPhone, Android and other devices have become more than just a trend, they can be a decisive competitive edge for companies. Users can also have mobile access to their company data, using abas. There is a customer sponsored user group active on LinkedIn. Abas was sold to Forterro in 2019. Forterro is based in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

References

{{Refend ERP software companies Software companies of Germany Multinational companies headquartered in Germany Companies based in Baden-Württemberg Companies established in 1980 German brands