= merb_mart

merb_mart is an open-source e-commerce engine, developed on top of the recent
Ruby-language Merb MVC framework. Although merb_mart is designed for e-commerce
sites of all sizes, the speed and scalability of the Merb framework make it
suitable for even large online stores.

In addition to Merb framework, merb_mart is also built around the following 
open-source projects:
  * DataMapper (0.9 branch), for persistence / object relation mapping (ORM).
  * RSpec, for behavior driven development (BDD).
  * ActiveMerchant, for Credit Card, payment and shipping processing.
  as well as attachmerb_fu, merb_paginate, 

See INSTALL or the project wiki for a full list of dependencies.

merb_mart is a loose port of the Substruct e-commerce application for Ruby-on-
Rails. The initial 0.1 release of merb_mart will be a feature-equivalent port
of Substruct 0.97. merb_mart borrows many ideas, its database entity design and
some lines of code from Substruct, and is grateful to its developers for
developing such a great tool:
  http://code.google.com/p/substruct/
  http://substruct.subimage.com/

** WARNING ** : merb_mart is in very early development stages. At this stage, 
the application should be considered only for consumption by advanced Ruby and
Merb developers. If you're looking for something for production consumption,
or not yet ready to jump from Ruby on Rails,  then we would strongly advise 
going with Substruct.

** REQUEST ** : Your development support is very much appreciated. Please 
contact us below if you're interested in lending a hand with the development of
this project.

== License

merb_mart is released under the Artistic License, and under GPLv2 (TODO: verify
that Substruct developers have definitely dual-licensed the code). Copyright
information, as well as a copy of the Artistic License may be found in the 
LICENSE file.

== Installation and Setup

Please seem the INSTALL file for details on getting up and running with 
merb_mart

== Support

** WARNING REPEATED ** : merb_mart at a very early stage of development. You
should not use this code unless you're reasonably secure with both Ruby and
Merb. That said, please do get involved - and if you're happy to contribute
back with bug reports and patches, then we'll be happy to help you get the 
application up and running.

Your best source for support currently is either the wiki, IRC or the mailing
list:

    merb_mart Wiki (this is its temporary residence):
    http://github.com/myabc/merb_mart/wikis

    merb_mart mailing list:
    http://groups.google.com/group/merb_mart

    merb_mart homepage:
    http:// -- coming soon -- /

    Contact the developers directly:
    - alex@alexcolesportfolio.com | myabc on #datamapper, #merb IRC