xTuple ERP Programmer Reference Index Page

xTuple ERP is an application written in C++ using the Qt cross-platform application and user interface framework.

Introduction

This document provides reference information for people who want to either understand the core application code or develop scripts and packages to extend the xTuple ERP core.

To navigate this documentation you should know the following:

• Most xTuple classes are derived from Qt classes. Much of the behavior that is available to you is provided by the Qt classes.
• Most classes with names starting with the letter 'Q' are Qt classes while the others are xTuple classes. The documentation of Qt classes comes directly from Qt and so has a different visual style than the xTuple documentation.
• Most windows and widgets implemented by xTuple use multiple inheritance. An application window class might inherit properties and behavior from QMainWindow (probably indirectly through XMainWindow) and its collection of widgets from a related class in the Ui namespace. Look for the following xTuple conventions:
  • Widget names typically begin with an underscore ('_'). If a widget name does not begin with this character then it's probably not important for manipulation (e.g. it's a layout or spacer).
  • Widget names that end with 'Lit' are usually given to the labels for widgets that do something interesting. For example, if you see a QLabel named '_currencyLit', then there is probably another widget named '_currency' that you might want to manipulate. If you hide a widget then you should probably hide the corresponding label, too.
• Because of these inheritance relationships, you should use the 'List of all members' link frequently. The page documenting an xTuple class only shows the slots, signals, methods, and properties unique to or overridden by that class. The inherited features are only displayed if you look up the inheritance hierarchy either directly or through the 'List of all members.'
• If you are writing scripts, you can use any slots, signals, and properties displayed on these pages. You can also use any methods marked Q_INVOKABLE. Methods which are not Q_INVOKABLE are not available for scripting.

• The documentation for xTuple classes is sparse at the moment. The addition of details is a work in progress. If you would like to help with this effort, please send email to devdocs@xtuple.com. You can attach file diffs with comment changes to the email for us to review and hopefully merge into the core.

  See the Special Commands chapter in the Doxygen Manual for information on how to tag the documentation.

• The application code is continually changing as we improve the product. Classes and object and method names will change over time. Each page in this documentation is marked with the xTuple ERP version for which it applies. The fact that it is documented is not meant to imply that it will remain unchanged in future versions.