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1С: Enterprise — the system of programs

• Introduction
• The platform
• Business application solutions

Introduction

The system of programs 1C:Enterprise 8.1 is intended for automation of everyday enterprise activities by automating many business tasks of economic and management activity, such as management accounting, business accounting, HR management, CRM, MRP, MRPII, etc.

Pic. 1 General product structure

1C: Enterprise 8.1 consists of a platform and business applications (application solutions) created on the base of the platform. The platform itself is not software for end-users, as they work with one of many business applications being executed on the platform.

There is a great number of business applications developed on 1C: Enterprise platform. There are 30+ of boxed business application solutions supplied for a wide range of tasks: accounting, sales and warehouse, payroll calculation and personnel records, manufacturing, financial planning, accounting and reporting for private entrepreneurs, public sector accounting, report consolidation, defence and military accounting and others. And more than 400 vertical solutions have been developed by 1C Company’s partners across ex-USSR territory: for armed forces, transportation, public health, educational institutions, agriculture, public catering, insurance, non-profit organizations, manufacturing, tourism, service industry and others. Total number of companies using 1C: Enterprise platform-based solutions comes to 700 000.

This approach with software separated into an application solution and a platform allowed to establish a whole industry of 1C: Enterprise business applications development, automating various types of business activities using the single technologic platform.

The platform

First of all, the platform is a framework where a business application is functioning. I.e., on the one hand, the platform is an executing environment, on the other hand, the platform contains a set of tools, too, necessary to develop, administer and maintain business applications created on the platform.

The important thing about the platform is that it provides a developer with a single development model that isolates him from terms and details of lower-level technologies and other platforms where it operates (such as an operating system). This allows, first, to use various low-level technologies in the platform; second, business applications are created quicker, as a developer doesn’t think of low-level details.

Pic. 2 General 1C:Enterprise architecture

The platform includes a number of templates of business components, such as document templates (for invoices, orders, bills, etc), catalog templates (for various lists, like personnel roll, or catalog of customers), management accounting mechanism template, real-time asset movements registration mechanism, templates for complex periodical calculation (such as payroll calculation, flexibly configurable for various economic conditions), etc. For example, if a developer creates a business application with usual means (universal programming languages), he must think of many details concerning creation of tables, fields, relationships between tables, links, etc. In case of creation one on the platform, it isolates him from such details, providing him with a full set of tables, functions forms and properties in the templates.

At that the scalability support provided by the platform makes a business application indifferent whether it works on a standalone computer, with a file server (a native file server engine is included into the platform) within a distributed database (i.e. on a standalone PC interacting with a central database, but without a permanent connection with it), or in a three-tier architecture with MS SQL Server.

There is an embedded language (similar to Java Script) used for creation an application’s business logic or modification of standard objects’ behaviour; a native SQL-like query language, supporting all SQL standard, but extending it with more business tasks-oriented features.

Reporting mechanism uses this query language to provide a quick and easy visual way for a developer to build representative reports, and for a user to compose his own (customized) reports or modify existing ones without the need to write some code but just using special report building tools. A report may include spreadsheet-styled information, as well as various types of diagrams (charts, histograms, Gantt charts, etc).

Integrated localization support allows to create business applications with multilingual interface with proper date/time formats and number-to-text conversion (for textual representation of totals, for example), so that end-users can use their own native language in a business application.

Data exchange support provides working with distributed databases. This is used, for example, for remote offices in arbitrary interaction scheme (centralized or hierarchical, for example). In this case there is one centralized file database server, and the information base is spread across several offices (warehouses, street vendors, etc.). Data exchange occurs only from time to time, at that various means can be used for this – from data upload over Internet to a courier service (with data on external media, such as floppy or flash drive, etc.).

Pic. 3 Hierarchical data exchange

Integration support provides integration with other business software (from 1C Company as well as from other companies) in various ways, supporting a number of means – through our external components, plain text documents, XML, DBF files, a COM-connection, Automation Client/Server, ActiveX, ActiveDocument templates, interaction over HTTP (Internet), etc.

Web-extension uses .NET Framework technology and makes it possible to arrange access to a business application’s functionality; this is very useful for mobile users or remote departments.

A powerful access rights system controls user access to various business information, from entire documents to particular fields in them (row-level security).

User productivity means include several aspects. First, this is the ergonomic user interface, designed for continuous user work. It provides such convenient features as ‘data entry by line’ (the system displays a drop-down list with items from a catalog, beginning with the one or several letters typed by user), speeding up mass data entry times faster; or ‘auto select’ mode, when a user, using a single adjustable hot-key, selects a unfilled field in a form, fills it with data and goes over to next field, etc. This is important for tasks involving mass data entry. The second thing is that a user is provided with developed help system, on both the platform and the application solution he’s using. The third, there is a set of means making work with the system for a user more productive, such optimization of browsing broad lists and tables, data filtration by a substring, etc.

Developed administration means include 1C native authentication, also support Windows authentication, user actions log, database set up and maintenance, platform and business applications update, client-server and file server administration tools, file database restore tool, lists of active users, etc.

The complete set of development tools are intended for creation of complete commercial business applications and modifying existing ones. Designer is a powerful visual development tool (IDE) specially designed to provide rapid application development (RAD). Development of economic business applications with 1C:Enterprise Designer is times faster than in case of using universal programming languages for the same goal. It is efficient and convenient way for a developer to create, debug and profile business applications. There are means for group development, including versioning, checking-in/out functionality, visual comparison of versions and other means.

This unique composition of integrated means, and technologies makes 1C: Enterprise platform a very flexible and comprehensive tool for realization of the tasks being solved by business applications created and functioning on the base of the platform.

Business application solutions

A business application solution is the part of the program system that a user interacts with, using forms, documents and business logic provided by the business application to solve relevant business tasks of the user.

Pic. 4 1C: Enterprise business aplication solutions

A business application is an independent entity and may be a separate software product, but it is entirely based on the platform technologies.

There are two big groups of business applications: boxed solutions (developed by 1C Company and its partners) and special (individual) business application solutions (developed by 1C Company’s partners only).

Among the boxed solutions there are standard, regional and vertical solutions. Standard solutions include business application solutions for Trading Management, Human Resource Management, Enterprise Accounting and Manufacturing Enterprise Management. Regional business application solutions are adapted standard solutions (to make them meeting a particular region’s conditions). Vertical solutions are standard ones adapted for requirements of a certain industry. This adaptation work and further maintenance is performed by 1C company’s partners. Apart from adaptation of standard solutions, the partners can create and supply their own business applications – both based on boxed ones from 1C, as well as created by them from scratch.

Special (individual) solutions are created by partners, too, and aimed to a particular business task or enterprise, which don’t fit any industry or regional group.

All solutions can be customized corresponding a particular enterprise’s needs and conditions. This adaptation work can be done by 1C specialists, certified specialists of a partner company or by staff of the enterprise itself, with or without participation of the solution’s supplier’s specialists.

Along with these groups of business application solutions there is one more term – 1C:Compatible Certified. The certificate is assigned by 1C Company to a business application which has passed examination of its specialists for meeting a number of strict requirements, such proper code structure, general business application architecture, user dialog convenience, etc. The certificate implies that the business application is ready for replication. All boxed business applications are 1C:Compatible from the beginning, as well as vertical solutions and regional solutions. Other solutions supplied by 1C company’s partners or other companies may be or not 1C:Compatible certified.

Pic. 5 Modules of application solutions in v 8.1

There are several configurations produced by 1C Company itself (i.e. boxed business application solutions): 1C:Enterprise 8.1 Manufacturing Enterprise Management (meeting MRP, MRP II, CRM, SCM, ERP, IAS standards), 1C:Enterprise 8.1 TradingManagement, 1C:Enterprise 8.1 HRManagement (management and regulated accounts) and 1C:Enterprise 8.1 Enterprise Accounting. Solutions have modular structure and the same modules may be used in different business applications and various combinations. For example CRM module is used in Trading Management and Manufacturing Enterprise Management (see the picture).

As 1C: Enterprise users and all partners receive the same development tools as 1C Company’s developers have, they have full control over the solutions, too. Business applications created by 1C Company’s partners or by ordinary users may include some of modules from boxed application solutions, with some modifications or as they are, or they may also create their own modules using just some parts of those, or create entirely new modules interacting with them somehow, etc. Any combinations are possible.

For example, there is a payroll module in HR Management application solution, providing a ready mechanism for payroll calculation, flexibly adjustable for any country, economic conditions and payroll calculation rules. It’s easier to use this module in a new business application and adjust it, than to create a new one from scratch, as this task is very sophisticated.

For more information on issues concerning development on 1C: Enterprise platform see ‘1C: Enterprise 8 - the platform’ document.