Back-end Training Programme
This section follows the official HCPI Back-end Training programme. It exists alongside the installation guides — those tell you what to type; the training pages tell you what's happening and why.
How to use this section
- If you're following a trainer, read each page in order. Each topic has a "Practical steps" block at the bottom that links out to the installation guide for the exact commands.
- If you're self-studying, the same pages still work — but plan to spend more time on the conceptual sections and come back to the practical steps when you sit down at a machine.
Programme
| Topic | Theme |
|---|---|
| Setup & Foundations | System overview, server, dependencies, PostgreSQL, virtualenv, IDE, config, user admin |
| Python for HCPI | Language essentials — types, collections, control flow, functions, modules, classes, comprehensions, exceptions, decorators |
| Building an HCPI Module — Part 1 | Module structure, models, field types, relationships (M2O, O2M, M2M), computed fields, ORM CRUD |
| Part 2 | View types (List, Form, Kanban, Graph, Pivot, Calendar), search filters & group bys, inline One2many, list decorations |
| Part 3 | HCPI security conventions, groups, ACLs, record rules, GPS validation, auto-numbered references, mail.thread chatter, hardened workflow buttons, plus a closing note on controllers and the XML-RPC endpoint that replaces them |
| Coicop & Location modules | coming soon |
| Outlets, Items, UoMs, Price Relatives | coming soon |
| Data collection, validation (Tukey), processing | coming soon |
| Data importation, cleaning, templates | coming soon |
| Mobile app source, HCPI–Flutter API, custom APIs, Q&A | coming soon |
Setup & Foundations — contents
The setup pages start with concepts and end with a running HCPI on every trainee's machine:
- Introduction to HCPI — system overview, architecture, what's on disk
- Server Setup — picking a host OS, directory layout, user accounts
- Installing Dependencies — the system packages HCPI needs and what each one is for
- PostgreSQL Setup — installing, creating the HCPI user and database, authentication modes
- Virtual Environment & HCPI Install — why a venv, getting the code in place, Python deps
- Development Environment — VS Code with WSL, the Odoo extension, PyCharm alternative
- Configuration File —
hcpi.confwalkthrough,addons_path, ports, DB connection - User Administration — adding users, resetting passwords, the master password, developer mode