Forum OpenACS Q&A: What is OpenACS?

1: What is OpenACS?

Posted by Seth Grimes on 07/14/05 02:19 PM

I hope I'm not missing something obvious --

I recently came across a site that uses OpenACS so I followed a link to the OpenACS site to learn more. It's difficult! I learn, for instance from http://openacs.org/faq/one-faq?faq_id=43840 and http://openacs.org/about/what-is-openacs, that OpenACS is a toolkit etc. but beyond the DBMS and app server components, the tool content of the tool kit is buried so deep that I haven't found it.

Functionally, what tools does OpenACS offer?

For instance, is the software behind this forum part of OpenACS toolkit?

2: Re: What is OpenACS? (response to 1)

Posted by Ashwin Kumar on 07/14/05 07:37 PM

1. Open ACS is killer Web Development Framework.
It includes lots of Interesting stuff which is
preconfigured , plug it in on demand,customize and code
it as per requirements.
2. Try to first of all install it.
3. I wud like you to follow phillip greenspun tutors
to get along with openacs

Ashwin Kumar

3: Re: What is OpenACS? (response to 1)

Posted by Torben Brosten on 07/14/05 07:55 PM

Seth Grimes,

OpenACS.org is running the latest stable relase of OpenACS.

OpenACS offers mature components and subsystems (as well as newly developing ones) to help minimize the burden of "Systems design, development, and integration"[1] etc using well tested "Information systems and process architectures"[1]. Besides offering some generic applications (called packages in OpenACS)[2][3], OpenACS provides software components to help you build custom ones. For example, the dynamic API doc[4] creates documentation from code and integrates it with existing documentation. Elements of collaborative systems that are commonly used are prebuilt, such as permissions and objects[5], templating[6], localization[7] et cetera[8].

Hope this helps,

Torben

1. http://altaplana.com/services.html
2. http://openacs.org/projects/openacs/packages/
3. http://openacs.org/doc/current/
4. http://openacs.org/api-doc/
5. http://openacs.org/doc/current/dev-guide.html
6. http://openacs.org/doc/current/acs-templating/
7. http://openacs.org/doc/current/acs-lang/
8. http://openacs.org/doc/current/acs-plat-dev.html

4: Re: What is OpenACS? (response to 1)

Posted by Torben Brosten on 07/14/05 08:00 PM

The Philip Greenspun tutorials that Ashwin Kumar refers to, are here: http://philip.greenspun.com/teaching/

5: Re: What is OpenACS? (response to 1)

Posted by Seth Grimes on 07/14/05 11:24 PM

Thanks for your replies, but I'm no clearer what the preconfigured "interesting stuff" is nor what the components and subsystems and packages are. Is there a list with short descriptions somewhere on the site?

Thanks,

Seth

6: Re: Re: What is OpenACS? (response to 5)

Posted by Steve Manning on 07/14/05 11:53 PM

Seth

Packages are listed here http://openacs.org/projects/openacs/packages/

OpenACS Core Documentation can be found here http://openacs.org/doc/current/index.html and includes an overview of OpenACS and a development guide http://openacs.org/doc/current/acs-package-dev.html

- Steve