<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/xhtml;charset=UTF-8"/> <title>UI / What is frePPLe?</title> <link rel='stylesheet' href='../styles.css' type='text/css' /> <!--PageHeaderFmt--> </head> <body> <div id="container"> <div id="menubar"> <div id="logo" align="center"> <br/><img src='../frepple.bmp' alt="frepple" /><br/> <a href='http://www.frepple.com/'> <strong>a Free<br/>Production Planning<br/>Library</strong> </a></div> <div id="menu"> <br/> <h3><a href='../Main/HomePage.html'>Main</a></h3> <h3><a href='Main.html'>User Manual</a></h3> <h3><a href='../Tutorial/Main.html'>Tutorial</a></h3> <h3><a href='../Frepple/Main.html'>Reference Manual</a></h3> <h3><a href='../Main/FAQ.html'>FAQ</a></h3> <h3><a href='../reference/index.html'>C++ API</a></h3> <br/><div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="content"> <br/> <!--PageText--> <div id='wikitext'> <p><a class='wikilink' href='../Main/HomePage.html'>Main</a> > <span class='wikitrail'><a class='wikilink' href='Main.html'>User Guide</a> > <a class='wikilink' href='Introduction.html'>Introduction</a> > <a class='selflink' href='Features.html'>What is frePPLe?</a></span> </p> <p class='vspace'>FrePPLe is a lightweight open source framework that easily and quickly delivers a solution for production planning problems. The primary focus is on the discrete manufacturing industry. FrePPLe is the first open source production planning toolkit for your day-to-day production planning problems. </p> <p class='vspace'>FrePPLe has two main components. </p><ol><li>The first one is a <strong>core library</strong> containing the model and the solving algorithms. It is generic and can be used in a number of applications. </li><li>A second component is a flexible <strong>user interface and database layer</strong> to support the core library. It takes care of the maintenance of input data, reporting of the plan results, and data integration to other systems. </li></ol><p class='vspace'>The key features of each component are: </p> <div class='vspace'></div><ol><li><strong>FrePPLe core library</strong> <div class='vspace'></div><ul><li>FrePPLe is a <strong>'library' developed in C++</strong>. <br /> It has no graphical user interface and requires to be deployed as part of another application. <br /> Different applications are envisioned: <dl><dd><ul><li>Standalone application for use on the command line </li><li>Accessable from programming languages such as Java, Python, Perl or Visual Basic.<br /> The interface to Python is exceptionally rich and allows direct interaction with the objects. </li><li>Can be linked into your own C or C++ application </li></ul></dd></dl><div class='vspace'></div></li><li><strong>Modeling and solving framework for discrete manufacturing environments.</strong> <br /> Key modeling constructs are: <dl><dd><ul><li>Item </li><li>Buffer </li><li>Resource </li><li>Operation </li><li>Demand </li></ul></dd></dl><div class='vspace'></div></li><li><strong>Heuristic "MRP-like" solving algorithm</strong> respecting capacity, material and lead time constraints. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li><strong>XML</strong>-based data input and output, in addition to the public C++ API. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>Very <strong>fast</strong>! <br /> Performance and scalability have been a consideration from day one... <div class='vspace'></div></li><li><strong>Extensible and customizable architecture.</strong> <br /> New modeling constructs and solving algorithms can be developed in C++ and loaded as a plugin module. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>Embeds <strong>Python</strong> as scripting language. <br /> The embedded interpreter has access to the frePPLe objects in memory, combined with the rich functionality of the Python libraries. The powerful combination allows flexible and performant scripting, integration and customization. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>Supported on <strong>Linux and Windows</strong> environments. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>Licensed under the <strong>GNU lesser general public license</strong>. </li></ul><div class='vspace'></div></li><li><strong>FrePPLe user interface and database layer</strong><br /> A planning solution consist of much more than the core solver algorithms... <br /> It includes data maintenance, reporting, data integration to other systems, workflows, job schedules, etc... <br /> A front-end for the core library is required to meet these requirements with a maximum of flexibility. <div class='vspace'></div><ul><li>Based on the <strong>Django web application framework</strong>. <br /> Django is a high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design.<br /> For frePPLe it provides an excellent toolkit: <ul><li>Flexible and portable modeling of database layer: powerful and intuitive object-relational mapper </li><li>Flexible and performant framework for web applications: auto-generated administration user interface, template system, cache system, internationalization, ... </li><li>Performant and scalable </li></ul><div class='vspace'></div></li><li><strong>Highly customizable</strong> and extendible. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>The web application infrastructure can be <strong>deployed on a web server, supported by a backend database</strong>.<br /> It can also be installed as a <strong>standalone application</strong> on the user's PC. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>Supports the <strong>PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite and Oracle</strong> databases. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>Full support for <strong>internationalization</strong> and <strong>localization</strong>.<br /> The user interface supports unicode, which allows characters of any language to be handled.<br /> Reports can be translated to the user's local language. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>Supported on <strong>Linux and Windows</strong> environments. <div class='vspace'></div></li><li>Licensed under the <strong>GNU lesser general public license</strong>. </li></ul></li></ol><div class='vspace'></div> </div> <!--PageFooterFmt--> <!--HTMLFooter--> </div></div> </body> </html>
