Richard Wackerbarth wrote:
> On Thu, 01 Jun 2000, Bill Gribble wrote:
> > tboldt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> > > I would have to agree - having the ability to transfer a transaction from
> > > one account to another using a field in the transaction entry is going to
> > > be very confusing. You are mixing entry fields for the transaction with
> > > actions done to the transaction.
> >
> > Actually, no. The account on "this end" of the transaction is as much
> > of a data field of the transaction as the account on "that end". It
> > makes sense to be able to change either end from a register view of
> > the transaction, just as you could change the "Transfer From" field
> > for a split.
>
> I think that the problem is that the users tend to think of transactions as
> being associated with accounts. In reality, they are not intrinsically
> associated with any account.
>
> The register is just a report that uses the transactions which happen to
> affect that particular account. However, when you edit any transaction, you
> are not doing so in the context of an account. The edit of a transaction
> could just as well be done in its own separate window.
>
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I guess this comes down to who is your intended user:
1) professional accountants who view transactions divorced from accounts and
thus would have no problem with "moving" transactions from one account to
another since they aren't really moved. The transaction cannot be "moved" if it
was never really "in an account" in the first place. Under this view, which I
have a hard time understanding - I compare this to learning OO programming after
too many years in non-OO programming, the terms "moving the transaction" and
"transferring funds", I guess, would tend to meld into the same thing. Thus,
using what I call a data entry field for this purpose makes sense - I guess.
2) non-professionals who want more than a checkbook register. These people would
tend to view transactions as associated with an account. These types would tend
to view the register windows as data entry windows into which they enter data
into "an account" or "transfer funds from one account to another". Under this
view I "transfer" funds and "move" transactions. For example, I "transferred
funds" from account A to account B using the register window for account A.
Later, I decide that account was the wrong source of the funds and account C
should be the proper source. To the non-professional I would "move" the
transaction from A to C and gnucash should take care of resetting the proper
"from" account. A professional accountant would just think, if I get your
argument right, okay I change the "Transfer From" window to read C instead of A
and gnucash then takes care of "moving" the transaction from the A register to
the C register.
I guess that viewed in that manner, both arguments are "right" - which do you
think non-professionals will think of first and which do you think the
professionals will think of first and which do you want as your primary users?
Can you satisfy both - I really don't know.
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