Elixir EDMS: Program by yourself Run then Specify

Transcription

1 Elixir EDMS: Program by yourself Run then Specify

2 1 Introduction Enterprises need to automate their daily processes in order to cut cost and efforts and to enhance the quality. However, Building enterprise applications is time and money consuming, and have very high failure rate. 2 What is the solution "Elixir EDMS" Elixir EDMS (Electronic Document Modeling System) is a generic system which enables us to build workflow based enterprise applications in an incremental way. This would enable us to make use of the developed processes successively, cut the cost, and minimize the risk. Elixir EDMS Supports two types of workflows; RBW (Rule Base Workflow) and SBW (State Based Workflow). SBW is a simple type of workflow that can be specified entirely by a normal user along with the related document or data object. Therefore, the end user would be able to program for himself. Moreover, the specification tool is a part of the executable program itself and this is why Elixir adopts the slogan Run then Specify. The Enterprise Edition of Elixir EDMS supports the Rule Based Workflows and a set of tools that allow user to specify new documents and workflows, to communicate with other enterprise applications (Elixir Enterprise Bus), to add additional languages to the system, and to integrate the resulting program with other Elixir modules, such as, Elixir accounting, Elixir warehouse, Elixir Balance manager, Elixir Tracing, and Elixir Drafting manager. 3 Essential Edition The Essential Edition of Elixir EDMS provides the following functionalities: 3.1 Groups and security management - The administrator can classify users in different groups, so that each user can access his own groups only.

3 - Groups can be classified in a hierarchy where each group has its own administrator. - In addition to the group, other permissions are determined by user roles and the process specification. 3.2 Document classification managmenet - Elixir EDMS allows us to define a hierarchy of classifications to be used when specifying a document. - The depth of classification tree is unlimited - Classifications are shared among the different groups and have no effect on security. Security depends only on groups, roles and workflows. 3.3 Support Structured and unstructured documents - Users can manage unstructured document as well as structured ones. - Elixir supports any unstructured format such as word, PDF,Excel, video, image, or XML. However, users can only search for keywords inside text based documents, such as Word, Power Point, PDF, RTF, Excel and XML. 3.4 Support State Based Workflow - While traditional systems support only one generic workflow for all documents, Elixir allows users not only to specify their own document format but also their own business workflows. - A set of tools are provided in order to define new processes and check their validity before registering them. 3.5 Search Capabilities Elixir provides users with several ways to look for a document: - A user can look for a document based on its groups, classifications, title, summary and keywords - A user can also search for keywords within the body of any attached file - A user can look for a document basing on some attributes of its structure such as name, date, etc.

4 4 Enterprise Edition In addition to the features offered by the Essential Edition, Elixir EDMS Enterprise Edition provides us with the followings 4.1 Support Rule Based Workflow - Rule Based Workflow Engine, allows users to define any workflow without any limitation. In this case, users have to learn a simple scripting language called Elixir TDL or Elixir Task Definition Language. - Elixir TDL allows the administrator to define entries, use cases, tasks, business rules and background jobs. 4.2 Translation Tools Elixir EDMS Enterprise Edition allows user to add new languages to the user interface of his application. 4.3 Elixir Enterprise Bus (EEB) - EEB allows the administrator to set communication between his application and other applications or with some Elixir Modules. - EEB supports both ETL and EAI communications. - EEB tolerates networks and other systems faults. In fact, it keeps messages in a queue and tries to send them several times before notifying the user that a serious problem occurs. The user will have the possibility to resend messages manually by a simple click. 4.4 Elixir Report Generator (ERG) - ERG allows users to define new reports using Elixir TDL. - An interactive GUI version is also available to assist users building their report quickly. 4.5 Integration Tools - Integration Tools allow administrators to integrate the company workflows with existing Elixir Modules, such as: o Accounting,

5 o Inventory, o Balance, o Drafting, and o Auditing - These modules have to be purchased separately 4.6 Source code injection In some cases, when an administrator needs to define a complex calculation formula he may define it using a programming language such as Java. Elixir allows the administrator to inject this java class into his workflow. 5 Example of usage Users can create new templates and workflows, in only three steps: 1- Define and register a template 2- Define and register a workflow 3- Start working 5.1 Define a template The following table is an example of a template of official paper mail. Field ID Name Description type Is man d? Is uni q? Is final? Is R/O? Default value Possible values pat ter n mi n m a x mailtype Mail Type String [in,out] NB number Integer Sequence Date Date Date Current Date

6 CP Counterpart String Desc description Text 5.2 Define a State Based Workflow The following template defines a process of creating a new document by a normal user who has the role creator, then accepting or rejecting the document by a Manager. A validated document can be seen by everybody, but can be modified only by a Manager who can also cancel the document at any time. step name current status Keys Action name Role name Next status new Save Creator Pending review pending + Reject Manager rejected review Pending + Accept Manager validated view validated!+ Creator, manager, member edit validated + Sync Manager validated edit validated + Canceled Manager canceled retrieve Canceled + Sync Manager validated 6 Key Features Web based: can be accessed via the web using most known web browsers, such as Google chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. Collaborative: data input is not a burden, because each user will input his own data.

7 Support two types of Workflows: State-Based Workflows and Rule-Based Workflow. Multi-languages: each user can choose his own language. New languages can be added by the administrator through settings Multi-user: each stakeholder can access the system to do his own work. Flexible: end user can create new SBW or modify RBW easily. The system will automatically update the Data Base and other related structures. Fully integrated: thanks to Elixir Enterprise Bus, the system allows us to communicate with other systems and modules. Easy to use: the system do not impose hard integrities on users, it allows users to specify what they are really doing and only gives them reports and alerts. Scalable: the system is built basing on SOA, so it can be scaled to include more functionality. Monitoring and Tracing capability: a tracing facility allows us to trace the history of user sessions. 7 Technology Basing on Elixir framework: Elixir EDMS has all modern applications features such as SOA, MVC, 3 Tiers, MDA, etc. This increase reliability, and scalability. J2EE: Elixir framework is based on J2EE technology. High level of business security: administrator can assign different levels of security to different users. Platform independent: Based on J2EE technology, Elixir runs over different operating systems such as Windows and Linux. It supports different application servers and different data bases, such as Oracle, SQL Server, Postgres, and MySQL. 8 Benefits Cut cost and time o Fast to develop and reduce man/hour

8 o Program for yourself: the possibility of exploiting internal IT engineers of the company o Easy to maintain because the code is extremely readable Enhance productivity and flexibility Support incremental programming Mitigate risk o Source code is a part of client program, no version control is needed o Workflow are ready to use, no need to wait until all workflows are ready o End user can develop his program himself o The analysis document is also stored along with the process itself, which insure that the documentation is always up-to-date Easy to understand and to make a reverse engineering Support structured and unstructured documents 9 Installation Requirement Server side o Jboss application server o MYSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, or PostGres Data Base Client Side o Only a Web browser 10 Our USPs Cost effective Incremental programming Fast to implement Low investment in money and human resources Easy to learn and use Collaborative with easy to configure access control

9 Elixir for Intelligent Software (L.L.C) Damascus Syria Phone : Fax: web: info@el-ixir.com