egroupware_official/doc/sgml/README

** This file is mostly out of date, please see the HOWTO docs **

This program was created becuase I needed a more centralize means of conduting
my daily life.  I have seen many great programs out there, calendars, todolist,
addressbooks, email, etc...  But, there is a very common problem with 95% of 
them, they don't like each other. ( The programs, not the people :)  If I was
logged into the calendar and wanted to grab a phone number, I would have to
login to another app.  Which became a real pain real quick.  So, I search high
and low for something that would have all these systems tied in to one.  Well,
I didn't find anything I really liked.  So, I made my own. ( Isn't that the 
driving force of 99% of Open Source apps ? :)

Before I bore you to death, not all of these programs are written by me.  Some,
I wrote my self.  Some where downloaded and converted.  All apps are released
under the GPL license.  I would not use anything but.  If you are intrested
in adding/recommending a program to be included in this ditro.  Please, send
me the URL.  I will not except restrictive licenses.  I will only accept GPL
or freeware.  If you are intrested in helping out with development, or think
you might be able to help out.  Let me know what your plains are.

You might have noticed there are a few references to programs that can't be
found anywhere in the archive or on the site.  Thats becuase there not ready
yet.  For example, pop_mail.  This is a feature that will be added in the
future.  It will give the admin control over who has POP-3 access for virtual
users.  Becuase the system does not use nor require the user to have a shell
account on the system, a special POP-3 server is going to be used.  It will
verify the user from the accounts table, then allow or disallow access to there
messages.  I don't think this feature will be used too often, but, it gives
a nice bit of control for some added flexablity.  Currently users that have
access to email will be required to have an account on the server.  This will
change in the future.  I am looking into other IMAP servers that can verify
logins through the accounts table.  This will take some time for me to find the
best solution.

Some things you should note on how this system works.  Think of the navigation
bar as the glue sticking all of these apps together.  It is handling the
login portions, session info and account info.  If you notice the layout of
the directorys, it can give a good clue to how this system is layied out.

/phpGroupWare
 |- inc			[ The common files used by the distro	]
 |- addressbook		[ File needed by the addressbook only	]
 |  |- inc		[ The include files for the addressbook	]
 |  \- icons		[ Images for the addressbook, unless commonly
 |			  used through out the program		]
 |- icons		[ Images used throughout the program	]

I think you can get the idea of it.  Another thing that should be noted is the
structure of the database.  Yes, it looks pretty odd, but, for the most part
makes a lot of sense.  Lets say you didn't need the addressbook.  Delete 
/phpGroupWare/addressbook and change the settings in /phpGroupWare/config.inc  There are 
still a few references to it, like in the account table.  But, there not used.
This is one of the main reasons I use $dbase->f("con") instead of $dbase->f(0)

Which brings me to another point, I _try_ to use standared colum names through 
out the database.  con = control number, owner = the users loginid, 
status = that records status.  This makes it easier to keep track of what does 
what.  Refear to CODES in the doc directory.

BTW: Please, ingnore my very poor spelling and grammer.  I am a programmer
     not an English teacher.

Happy hacking :)