With the help of the addons_path parameter, you can load your own add-on modules into Odoo. When Odoo initializes a new database, it will search for add-on modules within directories that have been provided in the addons_path configuration parameter. Odoo will search in these directories for the potential add-on module.

Directories listed in addons_path are expected to contain subdirectories, each of which is an add-on module. Following the initialization of the database, you will be able to install modules that are given in these directories.

Getting ready

This recipe assumes that you have an instance ready with a configuration file generated, as described in the Storing the instance configuration in a file recipe in Chapter 1, Installing the Odoo Development Environment. Note that the source code of Odoo is available in ~/odoo-dev/odoo, and the configuration file in ~/odoo-dev/odoo/myodoo.cfg.

How to do it…

To add the ~/odoo-dev...

We recommend that your development and production environments all use a similar directory layout. This standardization will prove helpful when you have to perform maintenance operations, and it will also ease your day-to-day work.

This recipe creates a directory structure that groups files with similar life cycles or similar purposes in standardized subdirectories.

Note

This recipe is only useful if you want to manage similar folder structure development and production environments. If you do not want this, you can skip this recipe.

Also, it is not compulsory to observe the same folder structure as in this recipe. Feel free to alter this structure to suit your needs.

We generate a clean directory structure with clearly labeled directories and dedicated roles. We are using different directories to store the following:

• Code maintained by other people (in src/)
• Local-specific code
• The file store of the instance...

The core functionality of Odoo comes from its add-on modules. You have a wealth of add-ons available as part of Odoo itself, as well as add-on modules that you can download from the app store or that have been written by yourself.

In this recipe, we will demonstrate how to install and upgrade add-on modules through the web interface and from the command line.

The main benefits of using the command line for these operations include being able to act on more than one add-on at a time and having a clear view of the server logs as the installation or update progresses, which is very useful when in development mode or when scripting the installation of an instance.

Getting ready

Make sure that you have a running Odoo instance with its database initialized and the add-ons path properly set. In this recipe, we will install/upgrade a few add-on modules.

How to do it…

There are two possible methods to install or update add...

GitHub is a great source of third-party add-ons. A lot of Odoo partners use GitHub to share the add-ons they maintain internally, and the Odoo Community Association (OCA) collectively maintains several hundred add-ons on GitHub. Before you start writing your own add-on, ensure you check that nothing already exists that you can use as is or as a starting point.

This recipe will show you how to clone the partner-contact project of the OCA from GitHub and make the add-on modules it contains available in your instance.

Getting ready

Suppose you want to add new fields to the customer (partner) form. By default, the Odoo customer model doesn’t have a gender field. If you want to add a gender field, you need to create a new module. Fortunately, someone on a mailing list tells you about the partner_contact_gender add-on module, which is maintained by the OCA as part of the partner-contact project.

The paths that are used in this recipe...

Most add-ons that are available on GitHub are subject to change and do not follow the rules that Odoo enforces for its stable release. They may receive bug fixes or enhancements, including issues or feature requests that you have submitted, and these changes may introduce database schema changes or updates in data files and views. This recipe explains how to install the updated versions.

Getting ready

Suppose you reported an issue with partner_contact_gender and received a notification that the issue was solved in the last revision of the 17.0 branch of the partner-contact project. In this case, you would want to update your instance with this latest version.

How to do it…

To apply a source modification to your add-on from GitHub, you need to perform the following steps:

1. Stop the instance using that add-on.
2. Make a backup if it is a production instance (refer to the Managing Odoo server databases recipe in Chapter 1, Installing...

In the GitHub world, a PR is a request that’s made by a developer so that the maintainers of a project can include some new developments. Such a PR may contain a bug fix or a new feature. These requests are reviewed and tested before being pulled into the main branch.

This recipe explains how to apply a PR to your Odoo project in order to test an improvement or a bug fix.

Getting ready

As in the previous recipe, suppose you reported an issue with partner_address_street3 and received a notification that the issue was solved in a PR, which hasn’t been merged in the 17.0 branch of the project. The developer asks you to validate the fix in PR #123. You need to update a test instance with this branch.

You should not try out such branches directly on a production database, so first create a test environment with a copy of the production database (refer to Chapter 1, Installing the Odoo Development Environment).

How to do it…...