See the document "What_is_Envelope.pdf" for a quick overview.
Envelope is a product of Workflow Products, LLC. This is the free PostgreSQL version.
Since Envelope websites run in a browser, we don't recommend you use envelope with a non-UTF8 PostgreSQL database.
Currently we release twice a month. To download Envelope for install purposes, please go to "Releases"
In order for Envelope to talk to PostgreSQL you need to have the libpq library installed. If you don't have LibPQ or the Envelope compile process can't find it, please consult the file INSTALL_LIBPQ for some OS-specific advice on how to get libpq.
Envelope works with OpenSSL or LibreSSL, if you wish to use OpenSSL:
sudo apt install libssl-devel # Ubuntu
sudo dnf install openssl-devel # Fedora
Or if you choose LibreSSL, make sure its openssl is first in the $PATH (On OpenBSD you don't need to worry about this).
https://github.com/workflowproducts/envelope/releases
If you'd like to test Envelope before you install, see the section "Testing Envelope Before Installing" further down.
cd envelope
./configure
make
sudo make install
If you are on OpenBSD or FreeBSD, use gmake instead.
Envelope will be installed in /usr/local/sbin. All other files such as the html, javascript and configuration files will be installed to /usr/local/etc/envelope.
To run Envelope:
/usr/local/sbin/envelope
Long version:
/usr/local/sbin/envelope \
-c /usr/local/etc/envelope/envelope.conf \
-d /usr/local/etc/envelope/envelope-connections.conf
Before running Envelope for the first time you may want to configure some options. All the options are explained in the Envelope man file:
man envelope
Current configuration options allow you to set various paths, various access restrictions, web port and log level. Note that in order to make Envelope publish to HTTPS, you need to add paths for a TLS cert and key.
You'll also need to set up a connection string to tell Envelope where your PostgreSQL database is published. The default connection string config file located in /usr/local/etc/envelope/. There are examples in the provided envelope-connections.conf file and further info is available in the man file.
To use Envelope with a connection pool, you need to set up a PostgreSQL superuser for Envelope.
The recommended script for creating this user is:
CREATE ROLE <username> LOGIN SUPERUSER NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE NOREPLICATION PASSWORD '<password>'
Envelope will detect if you want to use this mode if you have a user key in your envelope-connections.conf.
It is recommended to use a .pgpass or some other means of storing the password so that it isn't in the envelope-connections.conf. See the PostgreSQL documentation for this here: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/static/libpq.html
cd envelope
./configure
make
nano config/envelope-connections.conf
make test
If you want to test Envelope before you install, edit the config/envelope-connections.conf file to add a connection string for your Postgres database. Instructions for adding a connection string are included in the Envelope man page. To look at the Envelope man page before installing Envelope:
./configure
man -M man envelope
By default Envelope runs on port 8888, so if you need to change that you do it in the envelope.conf file. You can also set other options like whether to use TLS to connect.
Once you've added a connection string to the envelope-connections.conf file, start the Envelope server with:
make test
Envelope will push a message like:
Open http(s)://<this computer's ip>:8888/ in your web browser
Once you see that message that means Envelope is running, open your web browser to the link shown.
If you still have your original build directory then:
cd envelope
./configure
make uninstall
If you don't have your original build directory check the following locations:
Warning: The /usr/local/etc/envelope folder contains app/, role/, web_root/ and your config files. Make sure you have backups before you remove these folders. If you've made apps or altered your website then back up these folders before removing envelope manually.
rm -r /usr/local/etc/envelope
rm /usr/local/sbin/envelope # this removes the binary
rm /usr/local/man/man1/envelope.1 # this removes the man page
Please contact us with your feedback! Github issues and pull requests are welcome. Please report any issues you have for FREE support. More information is available at the project home page: https://www.workflowproducts.com/envelope.html
If you like some or all of Envelope's functionality and the current license won't suit your needs, commercial licensing is available starting at $99. Please call Justin at Workflow Products, 817-503-9545 for details.
Workflow Products has been building custom ERP and MRP applications, mostly in PostgreSQL and Microsoft Access for about ten years now. At about the four year mark we developed the first in-house only version of Envelope and put up a simple timekeeping application. It allowed us to punch in and out of various customer projects all day. Suddenly, we were getting paid a lot more because the overhead of keeping track of small amounts of time was gone.
Prior to that we had turned down many web projects but no longer! We now have many projects in maintenance mode, some started on very old versions of Envelope that were never open sourced. All are on the latest version now. Once we moved to the Web Components architecture, keeping clients up to date became a breeze.
Envelope seeks to be the easiest way to build web apps for accounting, inventory and other business applications. Over time we notice when we're writing similar Javascript over and over and we'll build another Web Component to remove all that.
Around 2014 we got a government contract and they said they preferred open source. We polished it up and released it. It was a disaster. It had integrated development source and SQL code control and developers were unable to comprehend it. All the feedback was negative. We ripped all the extras out and re-released it. The simpler, cleaner version seems to be easier to understand, install and manage.
No major features on the horizon. Envelope is pretty stable.
We strive to be 508 compliant. If you see any accessibility issues, please post an issue.
If you would like to contribute to Envelope, first submit an issue. Please include how you plan to solve the issue. Then work on the patch. This way we get a moment to give feedback before you invest your time.