Hi Michael,
On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 8:59 PM, Michael Richardson <m...@sandelman.ca>
wrote:
> As I finish off my 2015 books, with my database file that is now ~13 years
> old, through numerous versions of smb-ledger and ledgersmb, and many bugs
> and
> database migrations, and lots of problems that may well be due to data-rot,
> I am considering starting from a fresh database.
>
That's an option of course. Do you ever look back all those years? Or do
you simply look back 1 or 2 years? If the latter, it might make sense to
compress everything from before that period into a starting balance and try
to migrate the transactions, invoices, etc as of that start date. That
might eliminate a lot of very old data that could now be the cause of
problems.
> Of course, starting from scratch makes me also think if I should look
> elsewhere.
Yes. That's fair enough.
> I need a web-browser based accounting system that ideally I can
> self-host a VM, and works with *nux desktops (my Amiga 2000 was replaced
> with
> a Sun3... then NetBSD/x86...)
> (So "ACCPAC", etc. are just out)... Freshbooks has been on my list, but
> they
> still don't really support bank accounts (i.e. reconciliation), just
> invoices
> and expenses.
>
If/when I restart on LedgerSMB, then I would like to be able to export my
> contact list and import it. This probably the major issue.
>
You'll be going from 1.3 to 1.4, right? That's no problem. One solution
here would be to cut the 1.3->1.4 migration script down to the bits that
are just for contacts. That'd basically just seed your database with
customers/vendors and other contacts.
Along the same lines, if you want a minimal 1.3->1.4 migration, it
shouldn't be too hard to migrate an ending balance. It's a bit harder to
migrate the ending-balance-and-open AR/AP-transactions, but even that
wouldn't be impossible. Yet it'd greatly reduce the amount of data in the
system and thereby also greatly reduce the chances for problems caused by
old(er) data.
> Copy-As-New is my most used button, and it would be awesome if I could
> bring
> samples along, but I think that will fail...
>
Well, Chris is working to get template transactions in working order. With
template transactions, we actually have something that would allow exactly
this: set up samples/prototypes which can be adjusted and posted.
> If only there was some kind of XML export of an invoice that could be
> imported/emailed/signed. (I've wanted to 2 months on this problem for at
> least 10 years now)
>
I'm thinking the export part is actually pretty simple. The import part is
a bit harder due to the need to catch all possible error conditions that
can arise. However, are you expecting to use the same definition of
services and parts (same codes)? That'd be a prerequisite, but if that's an
option, then even importing might not be too hard (we already have CSV
imports of AR/AP transactions).
> I'd really like to extend Copy-As-New to include
> Copy-As-New-and-include-payments,
>
Ok. As a second button? Anyway, this isn't hard: there's code explicitly
removing payment data in the copy-as-new code path (I think); so all we
need is a bit of code which allows to skip that code...
> and also "copy-as-new-but-add-1-month-to-dates" [for the mobile bill, or
> the
> CC interest charges which changes each month, so recurring transactions
> can't
> capture this...]
>
> Since 1.3.x and non-editable transactions, I still don't have a reasonable
> flow for making changes. 1.4 locked down transactions in the
> reconciliation
> report, and won't include new ones without a delete... so what's the flow
> to
> fix something?
>
This is considered to be a bug. Unfortunately, we haven't had time to work
on this yet. Having grown tired of fixing bugs that I introduced because I
fixed a bug, I have been working on building more testing infrastructure
over the last month. Yes, I also did a similar exercise last year which
then helped to coax out syntax problems and similar issues from the entire
1.5 and 1.4 code bases. This time, I'm building tests from the end-user
perspective. I know you have seen my reports on that. This infrastructure
hasn't been backported (yet) to 1.4 though, but should help me stay sane
when we further work to stabilize 1.5.
> Just now, I entered a purchase as 35.52, when in fact it was 32.52. Off my
> $3
> That's what reconciliation is for... okay, now what? We need a flow to
> *FIX* this.
>
Yes. And the fix is an entry of a new/additional transaction which gets
included in the reconciliation. (Which due to the bug you mentioned,
doesn't work, I'm well aware).
> I am still on 1.4.12, I mostly try to avoid upgrading except at the end of
> the year, when I'll move to the .23 (sometime later tonight), and see.
>
I actually wanted to have .24 out by now, but with all the work on the
testing framework, I'm affraid that didn't materialize. I'm expecting to be
able to work on it in the 2 weeks to come.
> I'm still sick with the problem that I can't create new Contacts.
> (I have several other ledgers for other orgs, but they have fewer issues.
> I'm
> the guinea pig before I upgrade them)
>
> I sure hate the Dojo Toolkit, which I understand has gone away in 1.5.
> If I start a fresh database, shall I start with 1.5?
>
What aspect of the Dojo Toolkit do you hate? The toolkit hasn't been
completely removed in 1.5, but many of the negative side effects have: page
generation and rendering have tremendously improved (speed) and the fact
that you could use the back-button in 1.3 but not in 1.4 has largely been
addressed in 1.5 as well. But saying that the toolkit has gone, no, that
wouldn't be speaking the truth. Is there something we should do in 1.5 to
make the toolkit even more supportive of your work (instead of being in the
way as it was in 1.4)?
Regards,
--
Bye,
Erik.
http://efficito.com -- Hosted accounting and ERP.
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