Ubercart

I had some free time today so I decided to work on some plans to finish my uc_adresses module.

One concern raised by GileS was the need to normalize the data in the addresses table into a names table and an addresses table. This would allow for one name to have multiple addresses. As some of you who have read the above uc_addresses module post might know, I have been busy working on the implementation of PostBooks ERP solution from xTuple. Now that PostBooks has come into the picture for us, my original need for the uc_addresses module has changed and compounded from a simple address storage system for CRM use to a much more complex data interface for PostBooks.

I know PostBooks integration has been discussed in the past. I'm not sure if rickvug@drupal.org has pursued this any further, but here I am to say that I'm on board and will be working on this in the coming months.

I have outlined the first set of tables that would be needed for this integration. These tables are basically an expansion on the concepts for the uc_adresses module, but based off of the way PostBooks handles CRM data. I think they have a very good model to follow.

• crmacct - CRM Account:one for each Drupal UID, can be a single web consumer or a business
• custtype - CRM Customer Types: Consumer, Retailer, Distrubutor, Sales Rep, etc.
• cntct - Contact: one for billing name and phone info, another can be a CRM correspondence contact for businesses
• addr - Store Address info
• shipto - Ship To: business or location name, preferred shipping method, tax authority, and sales rep assignment
• rep - Sales Rep: commission, Drupal UID

I have attached a Access database with all of the tables setup. I know... it's Access, I just wanted to mock this up quickly.

Here are my goals for this module/integration:

• Allow regular consumers to place orders on the site, but capture their CRM data outside of the orders table to allow for use with other modules; registation, newsletters, etc. These orders will be processed in Ubercart.
• Allow Sales Reps to input orders for their customers through the website. These orders will be sent to PostBooks for processing
• Allow our business customers to place orders through the website. These orders will be sent to PostBooks for processing.
• Allow our business customers and Sales Reps to see full order history/status on the website that is pulled from PostBooks.

PostBooks now has support for XML importing of orders from a shopping cart. You can see a 5 minute video for that here. PostBooks also has a very nice API system for getting and receiving data.

I would like to know what the Ubercart developers think of this concept. I think my time frame for this would be closer to the time frame for Drupal 6.0 support. I know there are talks of some major changes when you migrate to 6.0. Would you consider adding the above tables into core and changing the check out forms to store CRM type data in them?