3
single: menu; configuring
8
Open ERP's menu organization isn't subject to any restriction, so you can modify the whole
9
structure, the terminology and all access rights to it to meet your specific needs in the best
10
possible way. However, before you do all that and just as you would for any other customizable
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software, you should balance both the benefits you see in such changes and the costs, such as the
12
need to train users, to maintain new documentation and to continue the alterations through
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subsequent versions of the software.
15
This section describes how to proceed to change the structure of the menu and the welcome page, to
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configure the terminology of the menus and forms in the user interface and for managing users'
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access rights to the menus and the various underlying business objects.
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single: menu; duplicating
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As administrator, and using the web client, select a menu item (but don't click it).
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Click on the line containing
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:menuselection:`Administration --> Translations --> Import/Export --> Export a Translation File`
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(but not on the string \ ``Export a Translation File``\ itself) and click the
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:guilabel:`Switch` button to bring up the menu item as an
30
editable form (you can do the same using the GTK client – there you select the line and click the
31
:guilabel:`View` button instead).
33
You could now edit this form (**but don't do that, read the next paragraph first!**) – change
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its :guilabel:`Parent Menu`, which moves the entry to a
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different part of the menu system; edit its :guilabel:`Menu` name to change how it appears in the
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menu tree, or give it a new :guilabel:`Icon`. Or you could give it a new :guilabel:`Action` entirely
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(but this would lose the point of this particular exercise).
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Instead of editing this form, which is the original menu entry, duplicate it. With the web
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client you must first make the form read-only by clicking the :guilabel:`Cancel` button, then you
41
click the :guilabel:`Duplicate` button that appears (in the GTK client, click :menuselection:`Form
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--> Duplicate` from the top menu). The form that remains is now the duplicate entry, not the
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To move this duplicate entry, change the :guilabel:`Parent Menu` field by deleting what's there and
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replacing it with another menu that everyone can see, such as :guilabel:`Tools` or :guilabel:`Human
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Resources`, and make sure that the entry moves to the end of the menu list by replacing the
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:guilabel:`Sequence` with \ ``99``\ . You can experiment with icons if you like. Save the form and
49
then click :guilabel:`Main Menu` to see the results.
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.. tip:: Duplicating the menu
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If you're planning to modify a menu you should duplicate it first.
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In this way you'll always keep a link to the original menu that works if you need it to.
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Personalizing the welcome page for each user
60
--------------------------------------------
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When you sign into Open ERP for the first time, a welcome page appears. In a minimal system, such
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as that created in the original \ ``openerp_ch02``\ database before it was expanded in
64
:ref:`ch-guided`, and in the \ ``openerp_ch03``\ database, you only get the main menu – the same as you
65
get by default when you click the :menuselection:`Main Menu` button. As you add functionality to
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your database you get more choices for the welcome page, with different dashboards automatically
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assigned to various company roles as they're created in the demonstration data.
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The administrator can change both the welcome page and the main menu page individually for each user
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of the system, and can adapt Open ERP to each role in the company to best fit the needs of everyone.
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To make modifications for a particular user, edit the user configuration again in
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:menuselection:`Administration --> Users --> Users`. Open the form for a particular user, and select
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different menu entries for the two fields :guilabel:`Home Action` and :guilabel:`Menu Action`.
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.. figure:: images/new_home.png
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*Selecting a new welcome page*
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The :guilabel:`Home Action` is the menu item that is automatically opened when you first sign on,
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and is also reached when you click the :guilabel:`Home` link in the top right toolbar of the web
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client. There you can choose any page that you'd reach through any menu – one of the dashboards
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could be most useful. The :guilabel:`Menu Action` is the one you reach through the :guilabel:`Main
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Menu` button in the web client (the :guilabel:`Menu` button in the GTK client). You can choose the
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main menu and the dashboards there.
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.. tip:: Actions on the administrator's menu
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It's very easy to change the welcome page and the menu of the different users.
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However, you shouldn't change the main administrator's menu because you could make certain menus
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completely inaccessible by mistake.
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single: field; default value
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Assigning default values to fields
99
----------------------------------
101
You can quite easily configure the system to put default values in various fields as you open new
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forms. This enables you to pre-complete the fields with default data to simplify your users' work in
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entering new documents.
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* If you're using the web client hold :kbd:`Ctrl` down and Right-Click at the same time (that's a mouse right-click while the mouse
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pointer is in the field and the Control key is held down on the keyboard).
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* If you're using the GTK client, you just need to right-click the mouse while the pointer is in the
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An administrator has the choice of making the default work just for that user, or for all users of the database.
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.. figure:: images/set_default.png
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*Inserting a new default value*
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To check this new configuration, open a new partner form: the field :guilabel:`Country` should now
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contain the entry \ ``New Zealand``\ .
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This is a very powerful feature! An administrator can use this functionality to redefine the
123
behavior of your whole system. You can test that in database \ ``openerp_ch13``\ by opening up a
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new :guilabel:`Purchase Order` form, clicking the second tab :guilabel:`Purchase Shippings`,
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selecting \ ``From Picking``\ in the :guilabel:`Invoicing Control` field and then making that the
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From that moment on, you'd automatically create draft purchase invoices only when goods are
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received, so you could very easily restrict your accountants from paying any invoices that turn up
130
until you were sure you had received the goods. It wouldn't stop anyone from selecting another
131
method of invoice control, but they'd start with the default definition.
133
Changing the terminology
134
------------------------
136
You can use Open ERP's language translation functionality to substitute its standard terminology
137
with terminology that fits your company better. It's quite straightforward to adapt the software
138
with different terms specific to your industry. Moreover, this can strengthen acceptance of your new
139
Open ERP system, because everybody will be able to retain their usual vocabulary.
141
You can do this one of two ways:
143
* translate them in a CSV file, which gives you a global overview of all of the system terms so that
144
you can search and replace specific occurrences everywhere,
146
* translate the phrases directly in the client, which means that you can change them in their
147
context, and that can be helpful to you while you're translating.
149
The same approach is used to translate terms that haven't been created yet. This can be useful, for
150
example, with modules that haven't yet been translated into English or any other language that you
156
Translation through a CSV file
157
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
159
To translate or modify all of the system's phrases you first have to export a translation file in
160
CSV form. And to do that, you have to install a language into Open ERP. To load a translation
161
that already exists in Open ERP use
162
:menuselection:`Administration --> Translations --> Load an Official Translation`
163
choose a language and then click :guilabel:`Start Installation`.
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:menuselection:`Administration --> Translations --> Import/Export --> Export a Translation file.
167
Select the language, then the :guilabel:`CSV File` format, then one or more (or all) modules.
168
Click :guilabel:`Get File` to start the download process, then click the small
169
:guilabel:`Save` icon to save the file somewhere. A French translation would be
170
named :file:`fr_FR.csv` by default, but you can name it whatever you like.
172
.. note:: UTF-8 format
174
The CSV file is encoded in the UTF-8 format.
175
Make sure that you retain this format when you open the file in a spreadsheet program because
176
if you **don't** retain it you risk seeing strange character strings in place of accented
179
.. figure:: images/csv_transl.png
183
*CSV translation file with a translation in view*
185
The file contains six columns: :guilabel:`module` ,
186
:guilabel:`type` , :guilabel:`name`, :guilabel:`res_id`,
187
:guilabel:`src`, and :guilabel:`value`. You have to ensure that the first line, which specifies
188
these column names, remains untouched.
190
The :guilabel:`src` field contains the base text in English,
191
and the :guilabel:`value` field contains a translation into another conventional language or into a
192
specialist technical phrase. If there's nothing at all in the :guilabel:`value` field then the
193
English translation will automatically be used on the the form you see.
195
.. tip:: Where should you modify the text?
197
Most of the time, you will find the text that you want to modify in several lines of the CSV
199
Which line should you modify?
200
Refer to the two columns :guilabel:`type` (in column B) and :guilabel:`name` (in column C).
201
Some lines have the name :guilabel:`ir.ui.menu` in the :guilabel:`name` column which shows that this is a menu entry.
202
Others have :guilabel:`selection` in the :guilabel:`type` column, which indicates that you'd see this entry in a drop-down
205
You should then load the new file into your Open ERP system using the menu
206
:menuselection:`Administration --> Translations --> Import/Export --> Import a Translation file`.
207
You've then got two ways forward:
209
* you can overwrite the previous translation by using the same name as before (so you could have a
210
special 'standard French' translation by reusing the :guilabel:`Name` \ ``Français``\ and
211
:guilabel:`Code` \ ``fr_FR``\ ),
213
* you could create a new translation file which users can select in their :guilabel:`Preferences`.
215
If you're not connected to the translated language, click :guilabel:`Preferences`, select the
216
language in :guilabel:`Language` and finally click :guilabel:`OK` to load the new language with its
219
.. tip:: Partial translations
221
You can load a selection of the lines in a translation file by deleting most of the lines in the
222
file and then loading back only the changed ones. Open ERP then changes only the uploaded lines
223
and leaves the original ones alone.
225
Changes through the client interface
226
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
228
You can also change labels and other screen items on screen in the web client.
229
To do that, open the form that you want to translate, then click the
230
:guilabel:`Translate this resource.` icon to its top right.
231
You then have the choice of translating:
233
* the data in the system (contained in the :guilabel:`Fields`),
235
* the field titles (the :guilabel:`Labels`),
237
* all of the :guilabel:`Action` buttons to the right of the form (the :guilabel:`Relates` option),
239
* the terms used in the form :guilabel:`View`.
241
You can modify any of these.
243
The procedure is slightly different using the GTK client. In this you just right-click on a label or button
244
with the mouse. You can choose to translate the item itself or the whole view.
246
This method is simple and quick when you only have a few entries to modify, but it can become
247
tiresome and you can lose a lot of time if you've got to change some terms across the whole system.
249
In that case it would be better to use the translation method that employs a CSV file.
251
.. tip:: Tacking account of translations
253
In the GTK client the modified terms aren't updated immediately.
254
To see the effects of the modifications you must close the current window and then reopen the
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259
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260
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264
.. in bookstores. This helps to distribute and promote the Open ERP product. It
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268
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278
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279
.. resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
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.. Published by Open Object Press, Grand Rosière, Belgium
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