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iVendNextApp library

iVendNext App library

How apps run

Your business runs on your own iVendNext site: every store, warehouse and till. An app with a service of its own runs somewhere else, and comes in only through your front door, which you open at install. An app you install from Desk sends your store data only where its card says.

The big picture

There are two clouds. On the left is the one you subscribe to. On the right is a separate cloud, where apps that need their own service run. A line shows each thing that may cross between them, and every line ends at the front door. None of them goes past it to the store data.

Where apps run and what crosses into your iVendNextYour iVendNext cloud holds Desk, tills, apps inside your site and the store data behind a front door. To the right, iVendNext App Hosting holds the App library and one isolated box per app. Below it are a partner's own cloud and the customer's own machine. Lines to the front door carry keys, the connect and goodbye, till-key presses, API calls as the app's own user, and the event feed.YOUR iVENDNEXT CLOUDYour subscription · your own site and dataDeskThe App library, for your administratorTillsCounter · tablet · phoneWASM rule · runs here, offline tooApps inside your sitePayments · tax · connectors (by iVendNext)Store dataSales · stock · customers · moneyNo app connects to it directly.Apps ask through the front door,as a user you made, with one role.YOUR FRONT DOORiVENDNEXT APP HOSTING · AWSA separate cloud and network · each app at its own *.ivendnext.app addressApp librarylibrary.ivendnext.app · keys · catalogue · shelvesLIVEgift-card-on-spend.ivendnext.appContainerLIVErule-guard.ivendnext.appFunctionLIVEloyalty.ivendnext.appContainerLIVEmy-till-key.ivendnext.appTemplateLIVE6 more appsPrice checker, till guard,bins, pick route,coupons, price auditYour custom appyour-app.ivendnext.appIts own box, secrets, logsEach app is apart: its own box, secrets and logs; no shared database.Answers presses only: a function. Works on its own: a container.Per app a month: Starter $49 · Standard $129 · Managed $399.An app listed in the App library: no hosting charge for the shop.A PARTNER'S OWN CLOUDAny HTTPS server the partner runsPartner's serviceWorks; each customer connected by handPARTLYTHE CUSTOMER'S OWN MACHINEA back-office PC, a printer, a scale, a local serverLocal agent or bridgePackaging and keys not designed yetTO DESIGNKey · signed appConnect · goodbyeTill-key press, signedAPI as the app's userEvent feed (pull)Till keys · feed · APIAuto-connect: not yetFeed pull, outbound only
Works today Not built yet, or not designed yetEvery line ends at the front door. None goes behind it.

Six ways an app runs

Each card in the App library shows which of these it is: where it sends data, what it needs from your iVendNext, and whether it needs a key.

Inside your site

Live
Code lives
In your iVendNext cloud, beside the POS
Who runs it
iVendNext installs it for you
It reaches
What the product itself reaches
You see
Talk to your partner to add it

Payments, tax and compliance, ERP connectors.

Settings and records

Live
Code lives
Nowhere. The app is a signed list of settings: fields, rules, print layouts, roles
Who runs it
Your own site, after you install it from Desk
It reaches
Only your own site; What it will do lists each change
You see
Get a free key or Enter your key

Till field rules, Warranty terms, Click and collect.

A service on iVendNext App Hosting

Live
Code lives
In its own box on our AWS, at name.ivendnext.app
Who runs it
CitiXsys hosts it; the maker owns the code
It reaches
Your front door, as its own user, with one narrow role
You see
Its address under Sends to on its card, and Hosted by CitiXsys under Connected apps

Installed from the public list, it connects by itself at install and is told goodbye at uninstall. One app serves every shop that installs it, each with its own secret.

A service on the partner's own cloud

Partly
Code lives
On any HTTPS server the partner runs
Who runs it
The partner
It reaches
The same front door: till keys, the event feed, the API as its own user
You see
The address the card names

Works today. The automatic connect reaches only *.ivendnext.app, so each customer is set up by hand.

A WASM rule

Partly
Code lives
A small sealed module that runs inside your site and in the till's browser, offline too
Who runs it
Your site. Nothing is hosted.
It reaches
Only the sale it is handed: a price, or the check before payment. No network, no records.
You see
A Retail Extension Module your administrator adds

Certified by CitiXsys. Today your administrator adds it in Desk. Coming: it arrives inside an app from the App library or your Made for you shelf, with one consent screen.

On the customer's own machine

To design
Code lives
A PC, a printer bridge or a local server in a store or head office
Who runs it
The customer or its partner
It reaches
It pulls the event feed and calls the API. It only reaches out; nothing calls in.
You see
Not listed yet

How such an agent is packaged, listed and given its key is not designed yet.

Your journey: from a sample to your own app

You found a sample in the App library and it is close to what you need. Here is how it becomes yours.

  1. You

    Find the sample

    In Desk, open the App library. Every sample in the Partner Kit is open source (Apache-2.0), so it can be copied and changed.

  2. Your partner or developer

    Change it with the Partner Kit

    They copy the sample into their own repository and change it on a sandbox. Their code stays theirs and never enters our repositories.

  3. Your partner

    Name it and publish it to you

    Your partner names it under its own first word, given once when it signed with us, with no wait on us. It is published to your private Made for you shelf. Only your sites see it, and CitiXsys does not approve it.

  4. You and your partner

    Choose where its service runs

    iVendNext App Hosting. Your partner orders a plan from us, and the app goes live at your-app.ivendnext.app. Whoever orders it pays, never on your iVendNext invoice. Ordering and paying online is coming.

    Your partner's server. No hosting charge. Your partner connects your iVendNext by hand.

    No service. Settings-only apps skip this step.

  5. You

    Install with consent

    Open your shelf in the App library, read What it will do, tick, install. The site adds the app's roles; your administrator gives its service a user with one narrow role.

  6. Your site

    It connects

    A hosted app installed from the public list receives your site's key and address, your own secret and its user's key. Every call for your shop is checked with your own secret. For an app delivered privately, this step is coming; until then your partner connects it by hand.

  7. You

    Update or remove

    A new version installs only with your consent. Uninstall saves the app's records to a private file, then removes its records and roles. A hosted app from the public list is told goodbye and forgets your site; one from your shelf is not told yet, so your partner disconnects it.

Questions every developer asks

Who holds my store data?

You do, in your own iVendNext site. An app installed from Desk sees only what it asks for through the front door, as its own user, with the role you gave it. It never connects to the database.

Can a hosted app see other customers?

One hosted app serves every shop that installs it, and keeps each shop's secret and key apart in its own encrypted table. Every call for your shop is checked with your own secret, and a call made with another shop's secret is refused. Each app runs in its own box, with no database shared with another app.

What happens when I uninstall?

Your site saves the app's records to a private file, then removes the records, rules and roles the install added. A hosted app from the public list is told goodbye and forgets your site. Your own data stays.

Where does a WASM rule run?

Inside your site and in the till's browser, so it keeps working offline. It is handed one sale and returns an answer. It has no network and no records.

Can my partner host the app themselves?

Yes, on any HTTPS server. Their service is connected to your iVendNext by hand: the automatic connect reaches only apps on iVendNext App Hosting.

What does hosting cost?

Per app per month: Starter $49, Standard $129, Managed $399, with no minimum term. Whoever orders the hosting pays, and it is never a line on your iVendNext invoice. An app listed in the App library carries no hosting charge for the shop that installs it.

Building an app? Host with CitiXsys or run your own · Security and the handshake · Trust · Help