Release Notes & Roadmap

Release Notes tell you what’s new in Scipio ERP. We outline all of the larger changes to a given release and try to give an overview of what’s to come. Please be aware, that the release notes of unreleased versions are not finalized and can change drastically during the development.

Releases:

3.0.0

Status Changelog
Released

Source

 Planned and Released: (General Bugfix & Code Quality Improvements)

  • New: Bulma theme
  • New: Enterprise addons: OpenAI, Stripe, SAP OCI Punchout catalog, DHL Shipping, Mailchimp, Facebook Conversions API, Matomo, Amazon Selling Partners Integration, Algolia Search Integration, A new POS (Point of Sale) Component, WordPress Integration, Maileon Integration
  • Java/JDK support: Java 11 (LTS) as default, JDK 8 removal, JDK 17 (LTS) adoption
  • Update Scipio ERP Intellij IDEA integration plugin for 2023.3 – Released 5.2.0
    • Support for 2023.3
    • Improve Reload Resources performance
    • Improve Reload Resources jarDirectory/root duplicate detection
    • Improve and expand service location, controller event, response and view-map reference resolution
  • Service Engine
    • New: @Service/@Seca/@Eeca annotations alternative to services*.xml
    • New: LocalService/ServiceHandler class-based service implementations
    • Dispatcher API
      • from()/fromName()/getDefault() factory methods on interface
      • runAsync improvements: AsyncOptions, JobInfo (return job ID instead of void)
    • Job Manager
      • Statistics
      • Job queueing and crashed job better handling
  • Entity Engine
    • Delegator API
      • from()/fromName()/getDefault() factory methods on interface (DelegatorFactory unneeded)
      • .query()/.querySafe()/.from()/.select() EntityQuery helper standardization
    • New: Standardized JSON storage
      • Automatic JSON field parsing, conversion, storage and caching on GenericEntity via getJson()/setJson()
      • New entity field types, instead of very-long: json-object, json-array, json
      • Standardize generic entityJson json-object field, for use on any object, via getEntityJson()/setEntityJson()
    • Entity and Solr Indexing
      • New/Improved: Global queue-based Entity/Product indexing
        • Efficient global queue system using EntityIndexer
        • Automatic global-transaction handling product indexing scheduling using scheduleProductIndexing
        • Custom client Solr document processing by extending SolrDocBuilder.ProductDocBuilder
        • Multi-platform document conversion support and dispatching using productIndexingConsumer service implementations that can dispatch to Solr, Algolia, Google, Solr, etc., configurable via entityindexing.properties
      • Schema: Migrate more toward dynamic field usage and better currency formats
    • New/Improved: Excel import/export support, configurable using properties (under Admin)
  • Webserver
    • Improved: WebSocket Support
      • Improve SocketSessionManager, simpler-to-use base classes GenericWebSocket/CommonWebSocket, per-app implementations OrderWebSocket, AdminWebSocket, etc.
      • ContextFilter automatic whitelisting (allowedPaths) of @ServerEndpoint-defined request URIs so that web.xml configuration is unnecessary
    • New: Turbo JS/HotWire
      • Define common websocket classes (TurboWebSocket), usage patterns
      • Implement examples (AdminTurboWebSocket, LayoutDemo Hotwire section)
    • Controller and Event
      • New: Implement @Controller/@Request/@View annotations for Java events to define controller.xml-compatible request-map URIs and views, with full response control by returning ControlResponse.View* instances instead of legacy rigid response names, giving events more control; examples in AdminController
      • Support inline groovy scripts with CDATA directly in controller.xml files
      • Security
        • No more dumping of last-view request parameters directly into request attributes – merge via UtilHttp.getParameterMap() instead
        • Allow client code to define request attribute handling policies (RequestAttrPolicy)
        • Filter JSON responses better
  • CMS
    • Robots.txt configuration support
    • Better WISIWYG editor integration
    • Redirect Management
    • Cache Prewarming
  • Rendering
    • New/Improved: Image variants/resizing
      • Better configuration via mediaprofiles.properties/ImageProperties.xml/ImageSizePreset/Content/DataResource
      • Parameter-free, event-safe configuration-based auto-resizing as-needed using contentImageAutoRescale/productImageAutoRescale
      • Batch resizing using productImageAutoRescaleProducts/productImageAutoRescaleAll
      • Auto-triggering of image variant scaling and generation when URLs are printed, through ProductImageVariants/CategoryImageVariants classes
      • New higher-level image variants classes ProductImageVariants/CategoryImageVariants to avoid relying on low-level ProductContentWrapper
    • New: Tinify support, configured in imageops.properties
    • Caching: @utilCache intra-template part caching; better *.ftl file caching using better Configuration and handling in FreeMarkerWorker
    • Remove obsolete javaScriptEnabled flag usage in templates (or ignore)
  • Localized Resource Properties
    • New: Global resource bundle
      • Use a single global resource bundle for all config/*Labels.xml, and always return it even when a resource file specified as long as the label is found; assume label property names are globally unique (mostly true, like global service namespace) and deprecate need for specifying resource file in UtilProperties.getMessage() and almost all property-specifying API
      • Merge all config/*Labels.xml labels into global property map at first access (by file pattern)
      • Allow hot-deploy components to override framework and application labels – now implicit via global map – large improvement for client code
  • Core and Utility API
    • Improve ScipioHttpClient with synchronous/asynchronous and reusable pooling configuration
    • Exceptions
      • Standardize platform-wide exceptions and constructors to extend GeneralException/GeneralRuntimeException
      • Emphasize use of propertyMessageList (setPropertyMessageList) as meant for user-centric error messages, separate from main detail message and propertyMessage used for internal/logging
    • UtilCache optimizations: Remove contention from execution pulses and unneeded synchronization; keep simpler for maximum speed and reliability
    • Distributed cache clearing: Make more data types clearable via ActiveMQ
    • Add ReflectQuery API for Java annotations, with component- and webapp-centric loading, cache and focus
  • Build
    • New build targets: load-extseedonly, rebuild, rebuild-debug, restart, restart-debug, etc.
    • Auto-download Nashorn JS engine when using JDK 15+
    • Build properties: Standardize for JDK 11, make build.properties precede macros.xml and support setting per-developer/per-machine using git-ignored build.scp.local.properties
  • Shop, Order, Products
    • Revamp and standardize locale, timeZone and currencyUom initialization in session everywhere (AttrHandler) so they are finally consistent
    • Improve anonymous ShoppingLists with authToken and other features
    • Improve ShoppingCart features and code quality
    • Localize sitemap generation and improve
    • Improve product promotions handling
    • calculateProductPrice: handle more complex variant cases, VAT/tax and better and more consistent Solr integration
    • Cookies: standardize and guard against RFC-busting characters consistently
    • Improve URL building, ALTERNATIVE_URL generation
    • Solr/Product search: Improve searching and result caching code and configuration for Solr-based queries in frontend
  • Library updates: Update all, especially apache fileupload bug (1.3.3 -> 1.3.5, skipped 1.3.4)
  • Fixes: Many through framework and application logic


2.0.0 (previously: 1.14.5)

Status Changelog
ReleasedDetailed Release Notes Planned: (General Bugfix & Code Quality Improvements)

  • Build-Tools
    • Added download tasks for all preconfigured database drivers
  • Continuous Integration
  • Better & complete German translations
  • Updated Seed-Data & Revised Seed loading
  • Git-Addons Improvements
  • Better US-Letter support
  • Better Email Templates
  • Support for Bitcoin values in applications & new Bitcoin and Lightning labels
  • Templating toolkit
    • Added <@qrcode macro for qr code generation
    • @alert_markup: fix space generation (js bugfix)
    • @cell: fix style parameter
    • Improved image generation and added srcset support to <@img macro
    • Added support for style attributes on code macro
    • Added word-wrap on code blog, to fix a visual bug for overflowing code blocks.
  • New utility functions
  • Overall stability improvements (large rework of all components)
  • Better Websocket support
  • Updated: Marketing component
  • Updated Order Management Screens
  • Updated Warehouse Management Application
  • Updated: Setup component (fully functional)
  • Updated demo data generators
  • New (EE only): Excel Plugin
    • Order Data
    • User Data
    • Product & Category Data
  • New: Angular Shop prototype (released)
  • New: Workeffort component
  • New: Manufacturing Component
  • New (EE only): Project Management component
  • Theme Improvements
    • Ignite Admin & Shop improvements
    • Security / dependency fixes for all themes
  • New (EE only): Support for additional payment providers
    • Bitcoin (Lightning) Payment support
    • Redsys
    • Stripe
  • New: Intellij Plugin
  • Security Updates
  • Dependency Modernization

Released Versions

1.14.4

Status Changelog
Released
  • New: Scipio Plugin Shop (Released: https://shop.scipioerp.com/)
    • New:  Webstore for an easy access to the enterprise addons & themes.
    • New (EE only):  Downloadable European Accounting standards (SKR 04, SKR 07, KMU-Kontenrahmen etc.) – released over time
    • New (EE only):  Downloadable Shop Extensions
    • New (EE only): Apache Camel component
    • New (EE only): Social Shop Login
      • Facebook
      • Google+
      • LinkedIn
      • Twitter
  • New: SEO & Store Improvements
    • Speaking URLs (Released on Github)
    • Sitemap-Generator (Released on Github)
    • Simplified URL Configuration
    • New: URL Filter and Optimized Servlets
    • New: User Ratings & Review system (with management screens in Catalog Manager)
  • New: Scipio Setup Component
    • Simplified Configuration process, covering:
      • Organization
      • Accounting
      • Warehouse / Facilities
      • Store
      • Catalog & Products
      • System users
    • Graphical Workflow
  • Templating Toolkit improvements
    • Improved img macro implementation
    • Lookup-field improvements
  • Updated Party services
  • Human Resource
    • Updated Application process
    • Updated Profile screens
  • RTL (right-to-left) theme support
  • Performance Improvements
    • Admin Dashboard
    • Party Management
    • Order Management
  • Apache Solr search optimization & various bugfixes
  • New: CMS component
    • New: Graphical Page editor
      • Page-Treeview
      • Automatically lists existing requests of all Website endpoints (incl. controller entries)
      • Can override existing requests
      • Compatible with default Scipio rendering
      • User-friendly Page editor built entirely on-top of template definitions
      • Extended Wysiwyg editor
        • Media Gallery
        • Custom Tags
        • Automated Links
    • New: Graphical Template editor (for Assets, Templates, Variables, Scripts)
      • Divided between Page- and Asset-Templates (smaller components)
      • Allows creation and editing of freemarker templates
      • Allows creation of variables that are rendered as fields in Page editor
      • Supports templating toolkit & OFBiz macros as well as widget rendering
    • New: Media Editor
      • Allows creation and editing media files (video, images, audio) stored in database
    • New: Menu Editor
    • New: CMS Groovy file editor
      • Create and manage script that are called prior to page rendering (available for assets & templates and on specific pages)
  • Updated: CRM component
  • New: ANT tasks to create components:
    • “create-component-shop-override” for a shop-component that inherits functions from original shop component and simplifies the customization process
    • “create-theme” for an empty theme component with recommended folder structure and examples
  • Apache Solr improvements
  • New: MariaDB Support
  • Changed: Removed support for outdated databases (Sybase, Daffodil & Axion)
  • Changed: Entity Export now creates zip files stored in database.
  • Security fixes
    • Apache Solr Upgrade
    • Various other libraries
  • Various Bugfixes

1.14.3

Status Changelog
Released
  • External library updates: Apache FOP 2.2, Freemarker 2.3.25, and many more
  • New: Addons Directory
    • New: Addon mechanism
  • New & Updated: Accounting Screens (Rollout began Jan. 25th 2017)
    • Widget & Controller Refactoring
    • Removal of AP/AR sub-components (merged with & redirecting to accounting)
    • Updated Menu Structure
    • Updated / Revised Report screens
    • Updated Chart of account screens
    • New: Chart of account tree
    • New: Transaction Overview
    • New: Transaction CSV Export
    • Creditor / Debtor Screens
  • New: Service to auto-update daily currency conversion rates
  • New: Partial Page Renderer for AJAX based page reloads (Rollout began May 16th 2017)
    • Supported Types: RequestURI, View
    • Partial or full page rendering (rendering target selection)
  • New: Email template rendering (Rollout began Jan. 25th 2017)
  • New: Revamped email templates (Rollout began Jan. 25th 2017)
  • New: Tabs macro, based on (Foundation, Bootstrap) (Rollout began Mar. 23rd 2017)
  • New: revamped invoice templates (Rollout began Dec. 21st 2016)
  • New (EE only): Magnolia Update to V 5.4.x
  • New: Shop & Admin themes “Ignite” (Preview available on demo)
    • New: Experimental “TurboLinks” – a soft-reload feature for graphical interfaces. (Announcement)
  • New: System messages
    • SECA & EECA in place for a variety of system messages (order creation, order cancellation, new tasks, new communication event etc.)
  • New: USPS API Updated to v4 & misc fixes in shipping api implementation
  • New: Split sidebar into “Actions” & “Navigation”
  • Mass screen and menu updates and fixes (Rollout began Jan. 25th 2017)
  • Complex menu widget changes (see widget-menu.xsd)
  • Screen widget language additions and improvements, such as
    • Master if directive for actions
    • if-true/if-false shorthand conditions
    • Inline (groovy) script support (script element)
    • Inline (freemarker) template support (html-template element)
    • More versatile section element (for better actions-only screens)
    • More (see widget-screen.xsd and widget-common.xsd)
  • CRM Screen Fixes
  • Security fixes
  • Various Bugfixes
    • CRM Chart screens
    • Order Manager Quickshipping
    • Shop Login Form – on enter event now triggers correctly
    • Theme fixes
    • Label fixes
    • Various other

1.14.2

Status Changelog
Released Multilevel Menus, Screen-refactoring & Bugfix Release (Rollout began Sept 19th on Github trunk):

  • New: Extension of menu-widget definition for multi-level menu support and patterns for all backend applications (see Common and Admin components CommonScreens.xml & widget-menu.xsd)
    • Migration to multi-level nested menus
    • New: Common*AppSideBarMenu pattern
    • More control on highlighting
  • New: Integration of Docs into the Admin App Sidebar (Development menu item)
  • Templating Toolkit API standardization: (Ref: Updated templating toolkit docs)
    • Standardized language escaping behavior (HTML, Javascript, etc.) across all macros (description in htmlTemplate)
    • Enhanced security for all templates, enhanced macro abstraction and reuse
    • Changes to widget renderer HTML escaping behavior: all now consistently use point-of-use escaping
    • Enabled screen HTML auto-escaping on all major HTML rendering vectors that previously used different escaping methods, notably widget renderer macros (affects macro implementation view of data model – now consistent and safer)
    • All URL generation macros now offer escaping options and can be escaping-aware (default behavior of stock @ofbizUrl unchanged, for compatibility)
  • Content URL generation (ofbizContentUrl) fixes
  • Updated Template standardizations in all applications
  • New: Screen directives for *Screens.xml files (see widget-screen.xsd)
  • New:  Various Decorator Updates & Simplifications
    • Common*AppDecorator simplifcation: We added an extra wrapper around main-decorator to simplify other screens/decorators and enhance extensibility (previously problematic w.r.t. permission handling)
    • New pattern for missing decorator handling (via mainDecoratorLocation), for all applications, using new screen-settings directive and auto-included settings system (based on presence of CommonScreens.xml) – designed to solve webapp extensibility problems in stock Ofbiz and simplify decorator locations
    • *ContentWrapper utility class simplification – now behave like most other variables (no StringWrapper – screen auto HTML escaping instead)
  • New:  Better label utilities: getLabel and variants – support explicit arguments from templates to labels in the label map (missing in stock ofbiz)
  • Various Theme updates
  • Template and screen refactors and fixes for all applications (various)
  • Framework and library fixes
  • Various Bugfixes

1.14.1

Status Changelog
Released Initial Release based on Apache OFBiz 14.07:

  • New: templating toolkit (standardization of html in freemarker &
    widgets)
  • Includes new standardizes elements
  • New: Foundation CSS based Backoffice themes
    • Metro (a modern admin theme)
    • Base (an unstyled foundation theme)
  • New: Modern E-Commerce theme
    • Foundation-Shop
  • New: Modern e-Commerce store
  • New: Modern backoffice applications
    • Demo:  https://ce.scipioerp.com/admin
    • Migration to templating toolkit
    • Simplification & standardization of UI Elements
    • New & Updated screens
    • Various bug-fixes
    •  Update on all menus (so that they are coherent & understandable)
  • Various Bugfixes to the framework
  • Groovy file rewrites
  • Label fixes
  • General code clean-up
  • Updated rendering engine
  • Full solr integration
  • Migration towards new Scipio ERP application set
    • Accounting (combines AP, AR, Accounting)
    • Asset Management
    • Catalog Management
    • Facility Management / Warehouse Management
    • Manufacturing
    • CRM (replaces SFA, parts of Catalog management)
    • Human Resource Management
    • Order Management
    • User Management
    • Shop
    • Solr
  • Marked undesired functionality for removal in future Scipio ERP releases
  • New (EE only): Bootstrap Material CSS based premium Backoffice theme
  • New (EE only): Magnolia Enterprise CMS integration (“Mace”)
    • Full integration into the rendering flow
    • Ubiquituous API for Magnolia & Scipio templates
    • New: Request-Flow Magnolia Application for creation and editing of requests
    • New: Magnolia Applications for direct access of Scipio ERP functionalities
    • New: Example implementation of Magnolia templates for Webstore overrides