Glossary

This glossary explains terms and keywords used in the brainX manual.

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A

API

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a programming interface, i.e., a part of a software system that is made available to other software systems or programs for connection to the system.

Today, many online services also provide programming interfaces, which are then called web services.

API Key

An API key is a unique key consisting of a secret string of characters that authorizes access to the API. With this key, the API recognizes authorized users and protects programs and systems from unauthorized access.

API Token

An API token is a secure, unique code that serves as a digital key, allowing an application or user to access another piece of software (API), exchange data and use functions securely — similar to a password, but often with specific permissions (scopes) for certain services.

It authenticates the requester to the API server, ensures that only authorized users and applications can communicate, and enables granular control over access, e.g., time-limited or restricted to specific data.

ARR

In accounting, ARR usually stands for Annual Recurring Revenue, a metric for subscription models, or for Accounting Rate of Return in investment calculation.

Automation

An automation in brainX is a configurable rule that automatically executes one or more actions when a specific event (trigger) occurs — optionally dependent on defined conditions.

Automations enable recurring processes to be handled without manual intervention, e.g., automatically sending an email after a record is created or updating fields when statuses change.

Configuration is done in the Automations module. Detailed documentation can be found in the Automations section of the manual.

B

B2B

B2B (Business to Business) refers to business relationships between at least two companies.

B2C

B2C (Business-to-Consumer) describes the relationship between a company and a private individual, typically a consumer or customer.

BCC

"BCC" (Blind Carbon Copy) refers to the header of an email and contains the recipients of emails sent to one or more comma-separated email addresses. The recipients receive a copy of the sent email without their address being visible to the other specified recipients. By addressing in the BCC field, the privacy of recipients of mass emails can be maintained and they can be protected from address harvesting by malicious services such as spam bots.

As a rule, the BCC line is completely removed from the email header before transmission. However, the message is still delivered to all recipients. BCC recipients do not see that they were listed in the BCC field upon receipt of the email. Due to the removed BCC line, accidental identification via the "Reply All" function is only possible towards To and CC recipients, not towards other BCC recipients.

Billing

Billing in brainX refers to the functional package for invoicing and preparatory accounting. It includes modules such as Quotes, Sales Orders, Invoices, Credit Notes, Cancellations and Purchase Orders.

The Billing package is an optional add-on to brainX Basic and supports, among other things, the creation of e-invoices in ZUGFeRD format as well as the transfer of accounting data to DATEV.

Blacklist

The term blacklist refers to a type of filter that typically blocks certain email addresses, IP addresses or domains in an IT context.

brainX APP

brainX APP is a SaaS-based CRM and finance solution by Brainformatik, developed specifically for companies with subscription models. It combines CRM, contract management, automated billing and cashflow analysis in one system.

In contrast to brainX CRM, brainX APP is operated exclusively as a SaaS subscription and is aimed primarily at SaaS companies and providers of recurring services.

Further information is available at brainx.app.

brainX CRM

brainX CRM is the classic CRM solution by Brainformatik with package licensing. It is modular in structure and consists of a base package (brainX Basic) and optional add-on packages for sales, billing, service, projects and marketing.

brainX CRM is available as a cloud-hosted and in-house-hosted variant and is aimed at companies of all sizes in the DACH region.

Further information is available at brainx.de.

Browser

Web browsers, or simply browsers, are specialized computer programs for displaying websites on the World Wide Web or generally for displaying documents and data.

In addition to HTML pages, web browsers can display various other types of documents such as images and PDF documents. Web browsers represent the user interface for web applications.

The most widely used browsers are Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Apple Safari.

Browser Add-ons

Browser add-ons (also called plugins/extensions) are extensions that enable additional functionalities for a browser.

Browser Cache

The browser cache is a buffer storage of the web browser in which already retrieved resources (e.g., text or images) are stored locally on the user's computer as a copy. If a resource is needed again later, it can be retrieved from the cache faster than if it had to be downloaded again from the World Wide Web.

Every time the content of a URL is needed to display a page, the cache is first checked to see if it is already present.

The advantage is that network traffic and the time to download all components of a web page are greatly reduced. The disadvantage is that the data stored in the cache may be outdated if the web page was updated in the meantime.

Browser Tab

Most browsers support tabbed browsing, which makes it possible to open multiple pages in different tabs.

Button

A button is a frequently used control element of graphical user interfaces that allows the user to trigger an assigned function.

BWA

The abbreviation BWA stands for Betriebswirtschaftliche Auswertung (business analysis report). It is a standardized overview that presents the financial and results-oriented situation of a company on a monthly basis.
The BWA is based on data from financial accounting and serves as an important tool for management to obtain current insights for decisions and to analyze earnings, costs and performance.

C

Captcha

A captcha (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) is used to determine whether a human or a machine (robot program, bot) is involved. It is generally used to check who has made entries in internet forms, because robots are often used abusively here. Captchas therefore serve security purposes.

CC

"CC" (Carbon Copy) refers to the header of an email and contains the recipients of an email. One or more comma-separated email addresses to which a copy of the email is sent.

When writing an email, this field is used to send copies to one or more recipients. An entry in this field simultaneously signals that this email is not directed to this user directly, but was sent to them merely "for information" or "for your attention". The entries in the CC field are (unlike BCC) displayed to all recipients and are thus known.

CEO

CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer, the highest executive of a company, comparable to managing director or chairman. The role encompasses strategic leadership, overall development, decision-making and external representation of the company.

Charts

A graphical representation of data, facts or information in a diagram (e.g., bar, line, pie or donut chart).

Checkbox

A checkbox is a control element of graphical user interfaces used for entering and displaying yes/no values.

CKEditor

The CKEditor is a free web-based WYSIWYG HTML editor that can be integrated into web applications and supports numerous web browsers.

Documentation for CKEditor is available at https://ckeditor.com.

Contingent

A contingent in brainX refers to a defined quantity of services or resources (e.g., hours, units) that are available to a customer under a contract. In the Contingents module, such service quantities can be managed and their consumption tracked.

Further information can be found in the Contingents section of the manual.

A cookie is a text item that can be stored in the browser on a user's computer for a visited website. A cookie is created by the web server and sent to the browser via HTTP. The browser stores the cookie and transmits it back to the web server on every page request, as long as it has not been deleted. A cookie can also be created and read by the website via JavaScript.

Cookies serve to enable stateful web applications. For example, the login along with user-specific settings of a website, or the shopping cart at an online retailer, can be stored.

Copy & Paste

Copy and paste is a two-step principle for transferring data between software applications.

First, the data to be transferred is copied from an application to a clipboard (copy). From there, it can then be pasted into the same or another application as many times as desired (paste), since the data remains in the clipboard.

Copy & paste can also be performed via keyboard shortcuts (Windows: Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, Mac: Cmd+C and Cmd+V).

Cronjob

A cronjob is a recurring task based on a so-called cron daemon.

The cron daemon is used for the time-based execution of processes in Unix and Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD or macOS, to automate recurring tasks — so-called cronjobs.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a stylesheet language for electronic documents and, together with HTML and DOM, one of the core languages of the World Wide Web. CSS is used to create style instructions, mainly in conjunction with the markup languages HTML and XML.

CSV

The file format CSV stands for Comma-separated values and describes the structure of a text file for storing or exchanging simply structured data.

The file extension is .csv.

CSV files can represent tables or a list of varying-length lists. Within the text file, some characters have a special function for structuring the data. Depending on the software involved and user settings, these are often commas, semicolons or colons.

The first record can be a header record that defines the column names.

CTO

CTO stands for Chief Technology Officer and is an executive responsible for the technological strategy, innovation and development of a company, often serving as a link between management and technical teams.

Cursor

A cursor marks the current editing position on the screen in a computer program. In a word processing program or editor, it shows the position on the screen where keyboard input will be inserted.

Custom Action

A "custom action" is an action available in the detail view of a record that can be created by the brainX administrator — or by a brainX user with access to the module manager.

With a custom action, a new record for another module can be created directly from the detail view of a record. The special feature here is that freely selectable field values from the base module can be transferred directly to the target module.

Custom Fields

A "custom field" is a field that can be created by the brainX administrator — or by a brainX user with access to the module manager.

Custom List View

A "custom list view" is a list view in a module in which it can be individually defined which fields from the detail view are displayed in the list view.

Using filter and grouping settings, the list view can additionally be restricted or displayed more clearly as needed.

D

Dashboard

A dashboard is a technique used to display information clearly and to present mini-programs called widgets.

DATEV

DATEV is a cooperative and one of the leading software companies for tax advisors, auditors and companies in Germany. DATEV software is used in particular for accounting, payroll processing and tax returns.

brainX supports the transfer of accounting data to DATEV, so that invoices and payment information can be transferred directly to financial accounting.

Detail View

The detail view of a record displays all data fields.

A record is a group of thematically related data fields (belonging to one object), e.g., item number and item name. Records correspond to a logical structure that was defined during software development.

Double Opt-In

Opt-in is an explicit consent procedure in permission marketing, in which the end consumer must explicitly confirm advertising contact in advance — usually by email, phone or SMS.

With "double opt-in" (also called "closed-loop opt-in"), the entry into the subscriber list must be confirmed in a second step. Usually, an email message requesting confirmation is sent to the entered contact address.

Drag & Drop

Drag & Drop is a method for operating graphical user interfaces of computers by moving graphical elements using a pointing device. An element such as an image or an item can be dragged and dropped over a possible target.

This can be, for example, marked text or the icon of a file. In general, drag & drop can be used to perform actions or to establish relationships between two abstract objects.

E

eInvoice / E-Invoicing Requirement

An eInvoice (electronic invoice) is an invoice that is created, transmitted and received in a structured, machine-readable format. Unlike a simple PDF invoice, an eInvoice can be processed automatically.

In Germany, a phased e-invoicing requirement for B2B transactions has been in effect since 2025, based on the European standard EN 16931. Permitted formats include XInvoice and ZUGFeRD.

brainX Billing supports the creation of eInvoices in ZUGFeRD format.

eSignature

eSignature is the term for "electronic signature". An electronic signature is an efficient, legally binding method for having electronic documents signed quickly.

Exchange Account

A Microsoft Exchange account is a business, school or university email account. The organization that set up your Exchange email account has an IT department running a program called Microsoft Exchange Server. This server provides your email service.

Exchange Server

Microsoft Exchange Server is a groupware and email transport server software by Microsoft. It serves the central storage and management of emails, appointments, contacts, tasks and other elements for multiple users.

F

In a flyout navigation, subordinate links expand as soon as the user hovers over or clicks on the parent menu item with the cursor.

FTP

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a stateful network protocol for transferring files over IP networks. FTP is used to download files from server to client, upload files from client to server, or transfer files between two FTP servers.

See also SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol), where the transfer is encrypted using the SSH standard.

FTP Server

From an FTP server, files can be downloaded, uploaded and the folder structure on the server can be viewed and modified. A distinction is made between FTP and SFTP (transfer encrypted with SSH standard).

G

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a project management tool named after Henry Laurence Gantt that graphically represents the chronological sequence of activities in the form of bars on a time axis.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR; German: Datenschutz-Grundverordnung, DS-GVO) is a regulation of the European Union that standardizes the rules for processing personal data by private companies and public authorities across the EU.

The regulation has applied directly in all EU member states since May 25, 2018.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is an online service for personal appointment management by Google. Users must have a Google account to use Google Calendar. The calendar is available both as a web version and as a mobile app for Android and iOS.

Base Package

The base package (also brainX Basic) is the core of brainX CRM and contains fundamental CRM functions such as contact and organization management, activities, tasks, calendar, documents and basic automations. Some integrations — e.g., Microsoft 365, Zapier and ChatGPT — are also available without an add-on package.

The base package is the foundation for all optional add-on packages.

H

Hard Bounce

The term "bounce" is used in connection with the sending of emails. When an email cannot be delivered to an email server, this is referred to as a bounce.

A hard bounce indicates that there is a permanent reason why an email cannot be delivered.

Possible reasons for a hard bounce:

Recipient email address does not exist.
The email server on the recipient's side has completely blocked delivery.

Hash

A hash or hash function is used to calculate a (short) checksum for an object.

A checksum is a value that can be used to verify the integrity of data. Checksums are typically used in data transmission or data backup.

HBCI Standard

The HBCI standard (Home Banking Computer Interface) is an open standard developed in Germany for secure online banking. It was gradually developed further into FinTS (Financial Transaction Services), which is the current version today, and enables secure transactions using chip cards, PIN/TAN or security files.

HGB

HGB stands for Handelsgesetzbuch (German Commercial Code), the central code of German commercial law that governs the legal relationships of merchants and establishes the rules for commercial enterprises and the basis for annual financial statements and bookkeeping.

HTML

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a text-based markup language for structuring digital documents such as texts with hyperlinks, images and other content. HTML documents are the basis of the World Wide Web and are displayed by web browsers.

Hyperlink

A hyperlink, or link for short, is a cross-reference in a hypertext that functionally enables a jump to another electronic document or to another location within a document.

I

IBAN

The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is an international, standardized notation for account numbers described by ISO standard ISO 13616-1:2020.

Icon

An icon in computing is a small image or pictogram that, as part of a graphical interface, often identifies a file or directory and, similarly on buttons, a command to applications.

IMAP

The Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is a network protocol that provides a network file system for emails.

IMAP is a text-based protocol for accessing emails stored on a mail server. A mail client sends requests to the server only for currently needed information. Since all data remains on the server, all clients show the same, current data status of a mailbox — even when using multiple clients.

Intangible Goods

Intangible goods are non-physical assets, including services and rights. They are part of economic goods alongside material goods.

Intranet

An intranet is a computer network that, unlike the internet, can be used independently of the public network. An intranet is not publicly accessible and may offer different, additional or restricted functions.

IP Address

An IP address is an address in computer networks that is assigned to devices connected to the network, making the devices addressable and thus reachable.

ISO-8859-1

ISO-8859-1 (Latin-1, Western European) is, alongside US-ASCII and UTF-8, a frequently used encoding for Latin scripts.

J

JavaScript

JavaScript (JS) is a scripting language originally developed in 1995 by Netscape for dynamic HTML in web browsers, to evaluate user interactions, change, reload or generate content and thus extend the possibilities of HTML.

JSON

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a compact data format in a simple, human-readable text form for data exchange between applications. JSON is independent of programming languages.

K

KPI

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a term in business administration for metrics by which the progress or degree of fulfillment of important objectives or critical success factors within an organization can be measured and/or determined.

L

LDAP

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a network protocol for querying and modifying information in distributed directory services.

Link

Link → See Hyperlink.

List View

The list view is one of the central views in brainX. It displays all records of a module in tabular form and enables quick searching, filtering, sorting and grouping of entries.

Bulk actions can also be applied to multiple records simultaneously from the list view. The displayed columns can be individually configured via a custom list view.

Login refers to the process of logging into a computer system or a specific service. Usually, this serves to inform the system that a session is beginning and that the user wishes to be associated with a user account.

Logout

Logout refers to the process by which a user logs out of a computer system.

M

Material Goods

A material good in the economic sense is a tangible economic asset that is the subject of trade.

Module Dashboard

In the detail view of a record — if the compact module view has not been set — the "Detail Information" and "More Information" tabs are available.

In addition to these two tabs, the "Module Dashboard" tab is another source of information, which can be composed of information from both standard tabs.

Special widgets can be created for a module dashboard to display the data.

Module Manager

The module manager is an administration area in brainX through which administrators can configure modules. This includes creating and editing custom fields, layouts, dropdown lists and custom actions.

Access to the module manager is restricted to users with appropriate administrator rights.

Mouseover

The mouseover effect refers to the display area or popup window that opens as soon as a user holds the mouse pointer over a functional element of an application, a web page or a toolbar.

MQL

MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) is a marketing term that refers to a lead whose interest in the product or service range of a brand or company has been aroused by their marketing activities.

MRR

MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) is a metric for companies with subscription models. It indicates how much predictable, recurring revenue is generated per month.

MRR is a central control metric, particularly in the SaaS environment, as it improves the predictability of income and serves as a basis for growth analysis.

Multi-Tenant

Multi-tenancy enables an IT system or software application to support multiple separate units (tenants) simultaneously and securely.

Each of these units can manage its own data and country-specific settings in the same environment, promoting data protection and individual customization options.

N

NAS

NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a storage system accessible over a network, used for central data storage and sharing.

O

OAuth

OAuth is an open security protocol for token-based authorization and authentication on the internet. Third-party web services can access external resources without exposing usernames and passwords. Services from Google or Microsoft use OAuth, for example.

Opt-Out

Opt-out in permission marketing refers to a procedure in which advertising is sent or personal data stored, unless the person concerned has actively objected. The model is the opposite of the opt-in procedure, in which sending advertising or storing data requires prior consent from the person concerned.

P

PBX

PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange and is a private telephone network within a company or organization. PBX users can make calls both within their company or organization and with the outside world.

PDF

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a platform-independent file format developed by Adobe Systems and released in 1993.

PDF Template

A PDF template in brainX is a pre-configured document layout used for the automated creation of PDF documents — e.g., quotes, invoices or contracts. Templates can be populated with placeholders for data field values from the respective record.

PHP

PHP (recursive acronym for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor") is a server-side interpreted scripting language mainly used for creating dynamic web pages or web applications.

A Personal Identification Number (PIN) is a sequence of digits known only to a person and with which they can authenticate themselves to a machine.

PLAIN

Plain text refers to data that can be directly converted to text using a character encoding.

In relation to brainX, this is primarily relevant for emails. In plain text emails, only the pure text is sent without any formatting of color, font, font size, images, etc.

Port

A port (network address) or port number is a network address in computer networks with which the operating system assigns the data packets of a transport protocol to a process.

PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program by Microsoft. PowerPoint is part of the Microsoft 365 subscription and is available for both Windows and macOS.

PPTX

Since Microsoft previously used the proprietary format .ppt for PowerPoint files, presentations have been saved by default in Office Open XML format (.pptx) since PowerPoint 2007/2008.

Product Block

In all product-related modules (Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Credits, Invoices and Cancellations), the product block is available in the detail view of a record.

In the product block, any number of products and/or services from the Products and Services modules can be selected and added.

Proxy Server

A proxy is a communication interface in a network. It works as an intermediary that accepts requests on one side and then establishes a connection to the other side via its own address.

Q

QR Code

The QR code (Quick Response) is a two-dimensional code developed by the Japanese company Denso Wave in 1994. Due to automatic error correction, this method is very robust and therefore widely used.

Quick Edit

Quick Edit allows the change of a field value of a record in the detail view and list view without having to open the complete record in the edit view. The field to be edited can be edited by double-clicking on the field itself.

R

Regex

A regex is a "regular expression". A regular expression is in computer science a string that describes sets of strings using certain syntactic rules. Regular expressions can be used as filter criteria in text search by matching the text against the pattern of the regular expression.

A recommended site for testing regex online is https://regex101.com/.

Relations

The Relations tab is a fixed component of the detail view of a record in brainX. It displays linked (referenced) records from other modules, grouped in blocks.

Via Configure Module Selection, it can be defined which modules are displayed in the Relations tab. The order of the blocks can be adjusted by drag & drop.

Further information can be found in the Relations Tab section of the manual.

Responsive Design

In responsive design, a website is displayed differently depending on the screen size and the device used, to ensure a user-friendly experience. This method is chosen by web designers to ensure a user-friendly website regardless of the end device.

REST

Representational State Transfer (REST) is a paradigm for the software architecture of distributed systems, especially for web services.

REST API

A REST API (also known as RESTful API) is an API (Application Programming Interface) or web API that complies with the constraints of REST architecture and enables interactions with RESTful web services.

S

SaaS

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) refers to cloud-computing-based service packages for providing application software that companies and organizations use to implement their internal processes.

SEPA

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is a European standard for cashless payments in euros. It standardizes bank transfers, direct debits and card payments within the participating countries.

In the context of brainX APP, SEPA is relevant for the automated collection of payments via SEPA direct debit based on payment mandates.

Session

A session in IT refers to an established connection of a client (e.g., browser) with a server. The beginning of a session is referred to as login and the end as logout.

SFTP

The SSH File Transfer Protocol or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is an alternative to the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) designed for Secure Shell (SSH) that enables encryption.

SFTP Server

From an SFTP server, files can be downloaded, uploaded and the folder structure on the server can be viewed and modified. The transfer via SFTP is encrypted using the SSH standard.

SLA

SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a contractual agreement between a service provider and a customer that defines defined quality and performance standards — e.g., guaranteed response or resolution times in support.

In the context of brainX Service, SLAs can be used to control response times for tickets and to monitor compliance with service agreements.

SMTP

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a protocol of the internet protocol family used for exchanging emails in computer networks. SMTP servers traditionally accept connections on port 25.

Soft Bounce

The term "bounce" is used in connection with the sending of emails. A soft bounce normally indicates a temporary delivery problem.

Possible reasons for a soft bounce include: mailbox is full, mailbox is not correctly configured, email server of the recipient is down or offline, email message is too large, and others.

SQL

SQL is a database language for defining data structures in relational databases as well as for editing (inserting, changing, deleting) and querying data stocks based on them.

SQL Database

A database is a system for electronic data management. An SQL database uses the database language SQL.

SSH

Secure Shell or SSH designates both a network protocol and corresponding programs that enable the establishment of an encrypted network connection with a remote device in a secure manner.

T

Tab

A tab, also called a register card or rider, is a control element of a graphical user interface modeled after the register leaves of filing cabinets.

Tabs also serve as navigation elements in HTML pages. By clicking on the corresponding tab, another register card is brought to the foreground, while the information and any settings made on the previously used register cards are retained.

Tag

The term "tag" comes from English and means "keyword" or "label". Tags are used to categorize content and topics.

TAN

A Transaction Number (TAN) is a one-time password, usually consisting of six decimal digits, predominantly used in online banking. A transaction number is usually required to confirm a single transaction.

Ticket

A ticket in brainX is a record in the Service module that documents a customer request, a support case or an internal concern. Tickets can be assigned to a user, prioritized and given a status to track processing in a structured way.

The ticket system is part of the brainX Service functional package.

A tooltip is a small popup window in application programs or web pages. It shows a description of an element of the graphical user interface.

The tooltip appears when the mouse pointer rests motionless over the corresponding element for a short time.

TOTP

The Time-based One-time Password algorithm (TOTP) is a procedure for generating time-limited one-time passwords based on the Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC), which is used in the context of authentication.

U

URL

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) identifies and locates a resource, such as a website, via the access method to be used (e.g., the network protocol used such as HTTP or FTP) and the location of the resource in computer networks.

In common usage, URLs are also referred to as internet addresses or web addresses.

UTC

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the world time standard in use today. The Central European Time (CET) applicable in Germany, Austria and other Central European countries is obtained from a UTC time by adding one hour.

UTF-8

UTF-8 (8-Bit UCS Transformation Format) is the most widely used encoding for Unicode characters. UTF-8 supports character strings of up to four bytes in length.

Letters of the English alphabet are displayed identically in UTF-8 and ISO-8859-1.

V

VCard

A VCard is an "electronic business card" that a user can import directly into their email program's address book (e.g., Outlook) with a mouse click.

VCards can be embedded in HTML, sent as email attachments, or presented as a QR code.

The usual file extension for VCard files is .vcf = "VCard file".

VoIP

IP telephony or Voice over IP (VoIP) is telephony over computer networks.

VoIP is a technology that makes it possible to implement telephone service on IP infrastructure, so that it can replace conventional telephone technology including ISDN.

W

Watermark

Watermarks are visible or invisible markings embedded in digital media such as documents, images and videos to identify or protect their authenticity, authorship or integrity.

Webhook

A webhook is a mechanism for automated, event-driven communication between web applications, in which one application automatically sends a notification (a "message" or "payload") to another when a specific event occurs (e.g., a new order, a code commit), instead of the receiving application having to constantly ask (polling).

Web Services

Web services are programming interfaces (API) of an online service.

Widgets

A widget (graphical control element) is an interaction element in a graphical user interface (GUI).

Workflow

A workflow executes one or more workflow tasks (field updates, email sending, etc.) — optionally only when self-definable workflow conditions occur — automatically when a record is saved.

Workflows are used in brainX in Automations, for example.

WYSIWYG

WYSIWYG is the acronym for "What You See Is What You Get". In true WYSIWYG, a document is displayed on screen during editing exactly as it will look when output via another device, e.g., a printer.

X

XML

XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a markup language used to store and transport data.

Y

YouTube

YouTube is a video portal founded in 2005, owned by Google LLC since 2006, where users can watch, rate, comment on and upload video clips for free.

Z

Character Encoding

A character encoding enables the unambiguous assignment of characters (usually letters or digits) and symbols within a character set. In electronic data processing, characters are encoded via a numerical value in order to transmit or store them.

The most common and most used character encoding is UTF-8. Other well-known encodings include the older ASCII, which only supports English characters, and the ISO-8859 families.

Time Zone

A time zone is an area on earth, extending from south to north and consisting of several states (and parts of larger states), in which the same state-regulated time applies.

ZIP

The ZIP file format is a format for losslessly compressed files that reduces the space required for archiving and functions as a container file in which multiple related files or entire directory trees can be bundled. The file extension for zip-archived files is .zip.

ZUGFeRD

ZUGFeRD (Zentraler User Guide des Forums elektronische Rechnung Deutschland) is a German format for electronic invoices that embeds structured invoice data (XML) in a PDF file. This makes the invoice both human-readable and machine-processable.

ZUGFeRD is based on the European standard EN 16931 and is one of the formats permitted in Germany for fulfilling the e-invoicing requirement in the B2B sector.

brainX Billing supports the creation of ZUGFeRD invoices.

Further information can be found in the ZUGFeRD section of the manual.

Add-on Package

An add-on package in the CRM version brainX CRM is an optional extension to the base package brainX Basic that provides additional modules and functions for specific business areas. Available add-on packages include Sales, Billing, Service, Projects and Marketing.

Add-on packages can be booked individually or in combination with the base package as needed.

Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) refers to the verification of a user's identity using a combination of two different and in particular independent components (factors).
Typical examples are bank card plus PIN at an ATM, fingerprint plus access code in buildings, or passphrase and transaction number (TAN) in online banking.

Clipboard

The clipboard is a buffer — a temporary memory — for the short-term storage and transfer of data. This process is usually applied only on a computer between documents or applications.

A

API