OIT Software Distribution Store

1. Introduction

OIT has developed an online mechanism to automate purchasing proprietary software with an Account and Fund number. This online mechanism is a online store with typical features that can be found in Amazon, Newegg, etc. Our store is called the OIT Software Distribution Store. To save time and cost of developing an online store from scratch, we used a Open Source e-Commerce Software called Prestashop. By installing Prestashop and using it as our basis, most of the basic and general features of an online store will be automatically implemented. Did I forget to mention that Prestashop is currently the No.1 Open Source Software used in France and Europe?

2. How It Works

The main focus of this project is the implementation of an Account and Fund number payment. Upon checkout of the online store, UCI users will be able to select a registered project(which has an Account and Fund number) to pay with. Afterwards, they can download the purchased software. This is achieved by processing a Project Registration Form in which the user will need to input the following information:

2.1. Account and Fund Number

The user will need to provide a Account and Fund number. If the user does not have an Account and Fund number, then he/she can select to input another person’s Account and Fund number(with permission).
For example, if a graduate student needed to purchase some software for his/her Professor, they can input their Professor’s Account and Fund number

2.2. Project Identifier

The user will need to provide a Project Identifier/Name. It is simply a name for the project.
For example, if a graduate student needed to buy MATLAB for a group of hosts, he/she should name it something similar to UsersMatLabGroup2011.

2.3. Optional Hostgroups

If the user is buying any networked license for a group of hosts, he/she must provide their IP Addresses. After a successful purchase, the store can automatically append the IP Addresses into the Software License Server.

2.4. Departmental Bookkeeper

The user must provide a Departmental Bookkeeper to report the purchase to. Departmental Bookkeepers will be notified of the purchase via email.

Once the user has completed a Project Registration form, they can select that registered project to complete their purchase. An example of how this is done is provided in our user guide.

3. Current Features

Aside from the general online store features(checking out, adding to cart, etc.), the following unique features have been implemented:

3.1. WebAuth Login

Users will login with their UCINetID. The user does not have to provide any personal information since user information is obtained through LDAP.

3.2. Account and Fund Number Payment

Users will be able to purchase proprietary software with a Account and Fund number.

3.3. Excel Spreadsheet Documentation

Departmental Bookkeepers can download a importable spreadsheet text file which contains every Account and Fund transaction found within the OIT Software Distribution Store.

3.4. Email Invoices to Departmental Bookkeeper

After purchasing with a Account and Fund number, the reported Departmental Bookkeeper will be sent an email with an attached PDF file. The PDF file contains an invoice for that specific order.

4. Constraints

The current constraints of our system is an Account and Fund Validation feature. Due to the lack of information access, we are currently trusting users to input a valid Account and Fund number.

5. Future Implementation

A desired future feature we’d like to implement is a automatic licensing process. This feature simply modifies a license text file by appending IP addresses and a Project Name.