GNUe Tools form the backbone of the GNUe project. These platform-independent, fully data-aware applications give you easy, yet powerful, access to your business data. GNUe works with most popular databases, such as the free PostgreSQL, MySQL, MaxDB, Firebird, and SQLite databases, as well as the proprietary Oracle and MS SQL databases.
GNUe Common Library is the basis for the GNUe tools, such as Forms, Reports, Application Server, and Designer. It implements a database-abstraction layer that provides support for most major databases. A builtin XML-to-Object parser and Object-to-XML marshaller are used by Forms, Reports, and Designer to save and read Forms/Report definitions to and from an XML file. It also defines and implements an RPC abstraction layer that will allow server processes to define their public methods once and have them available XML-RPC and Pyro clients.
GNU Enterprise Forms (GNUe Forms) is a generator for data aware user interfaces with support for different platforms and data sources.
GNUe Reports is a platform and output-independent reporting system. It reads an XML-based report definition and generates arbitrary XML output that can further be translated into any format for which there is an adapter. GNUe Reports currently has outputs for Text, HTML, Label Stock, and CSV -- with PDF, Postscript, and Gnumeric/Excel formats in the works. Reports can output directly to a file, as an email attachment, to a printer, or to a HylaFax server.
The GNUe Application Server (AppServer) is the core of the n-tier variant of the GNU Enterprise system. To the front end (be it GNUe Forms, GNUe Reports or any other tool), it provides user-definable business objects with arbitary fields and methods. While transforming access to those fields and methods into database communication and calling of scripts, it cares about stability, security, speed, and consistency.
GNUe Navigator is a menuing system for GNUe Forms and Reports. It presents a consistent menuing interface (in GUI or Text) based on an XML "process definition." GNUe Navigator uses the GNUe Forms or GNUe Reports clients to run the actual forms and reports, so these corresponding tools must be installed.
GNUe Designer is the IDE for the GNUe tools. It allows you to visually layout your forms in a RAD-style environment. Designer has a builtin forms client, so you can quickly test your forms while still in Designer. Designer also has support for form creation wizards... answer a few questions, attach your form to one or more database tables, select the fields to include, and, voila, a basic form is created. Basic support for schema creation is also included.
Bayonne, the telecommunications application server of the GNU Enterprise project, offers a free, scalable, media-independent software environment for the development and deployment of telephony solutions for use with current as well as next-generation telephone networks.