by I am pleased to announce the next alpha release of ``CBB'', a check
book balancing program written specifically for Unix. It is
implemented in two parts. The data base ``engine'' is written in Perl
and the graphical front end is written in Tcl/Tk.
It is available at ftp.me.umn.edu:/pub/finance/cbb-0.51a.tar.gz It
should also be available someplace on sunsite before too long.
The primary changes from the last release are:
- Transfers between accounts. (Provided by Chris Browne & Curt
Olson)
- A manual! (Written in TeX)
- Some simple reports.
- A text based front end. (Provided by Christopher Browne)
and Liem Bahneman. This is done via a program called latex2tkhlp
which quickly generates a tk hypertext help function from a*
file. latex2tkhlp has a ways to go, but so far is very cool.
- Data is now stored in dbm files. (With an easy conversion
procedure from the previous file format.)
- Logging of transaction changes. Theoretically if the data base
file is corrupted, it could be reconstructed from the log.
- Dates represented by four digits instead of two. This means cbb
will break in the year 10000, not in the year 2000.
I consider this software to still be in the ``alpha'' stage. There is
quite a bit of work left to be done, but since the package is
progressing nicely, I have been releasing it to the net. Hopefully
others will be able to find it as useful as I do.
I embarked on this project primarily because I was incredibly sick of
having to reboot my Linux machine just to run windows and Quicken.
(Now don't get me wrong, Quicken is not a bad program, but I hated
having to stoop down to ``window's'' level in order to keep track of
my money.)
Since I am in the process of developing this software, I welcome all
questions, comments, suggestions, complaints, assistance, etc., etc.
I am including the ``README'' for those who are interested in further
details.
=======================8<====README=====8<============================
The latest version is always available at:
ftp.me.umn.edu:/pub/finance/cbb-[version].tar.gz
Note, this program requires specifically: perl 4.036 (or 5.000) and wishx.
(wishx is the tclX interpreter -- i.e. extended tcl/tk) If you run
Linux/Slackware installing the perl (d-series), and tclX (tcl-series)
packages should satisfy this requirement. Note: the perl pieces seem to
run just fine under Perl5.
NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE
NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE
NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE
This notice is for users of any pre-0.50a versions only!!
In this *new* version, the data file formats have changed. Data is
now saved in `dbm' format. The conversion procedure is simple.
Follow the directions in the manual for creating a new account. Then,
follow the directions for importing your pre-0.50a data file into the
new account.
Specific directions for these two steps can be found in cbb-man.tex
(a*manual) or online under the Help menu.
NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE
NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE
NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE==NOTICE
Here is a quick run down of the current features:
* Transfers between accounts. (Provided by Chris Browne & Curt Olson)
* A manual! (Written in TeX)
* A text based front end. (Provided by Christopher Browne)
* Some simple reports.
and Liem Bahneman. This is done via a program called latex2tkhlp
which quickly generates a tk hypertext help function from a*
file. latex2tkhlp has a ways to go, but so far is very cool.
* Data is now stored in dbm files. (With an easy conversion procedure
from the previous file format.)
* Logging of transaction changes. Theoretically if the data base file
is corrupted, it could be reconstructed from the log.
* Dates represented by four digits instead of two. This means cbb
will break in the year 10000, not in the year 2000.
- Ability to import *and export* quicken export files. This feature
has not been extensively tested, but should provide the ability
to move back and forth freely between quicken and ``Cbb''.
- Ability to enter transactions. Automatically calculates the running
balance.
- Some input accelerators. i.e. +/- in the date and check # fields work
as in quicken. Category completion: type the first few characters of
the category, and the rest will be filled in from the category list.
- Entry field keyboard bindings!
- Better category handling.
- Memorized transactions to speed entry.
- Simple, but functional undo.
- Ability to handle ``quicken style'' splits.
- Balancing: Ability to enter a statement starting/ending balance, select
uncleared transactions, verify start balance + transactions = end balance,
then clear all selected transactions.
- An install script.
Planned features (future work)
- Include many more error/sanity checks.
- Interactive category editor ... right now you must use a text editor :)
- Generate more reports.
- Work on increasing performance.
- Clean up a lot of things ... certain traditional interface things act
funny or aren't included yet.
- A more sophisticated multilevel undo?
Things that would be nice but are far in the future (probably)
- Ability to manage budgets.
- Ability to handle recurring transactions
- Ability to handle investment accounts
- Double accounting ???
- ??? ... The possibilities are endless :)
PREREQUISITES
=============
Tcl & Tk is available via anonymous ftp from:
ftp.cs.berkeley.edu:/ucb/tcl/[tcl7.3.tar.Z tk3.6.tar.Z]
ftp.neosoft.com:/pub/tcl/distrib/[tcl7.3.tar.gz tk3.6.tar.gz]
ftp.uu.net:languages/tcl/[tcl7.3.tar.Z tk3.6.tar.Z]
Extended Tcl 7.3b can be down loaded by anonymous FTP from:
ftp.neosoft.com:/pub/tcl/distrib/tclX7.3b.tar.gz
harbor.ecn.purdue.edu:tcl/extensions/tclX7.3b.tar.gz
Perl is available via anonymous ftp from:
prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/perl-4.036.tar.gz
ftp.cs.umn.edu:/pub/gnu/perl-4.036.tar.gz
INSTALLATION
============
Type "make install"
Answer the questions.
Let me know what you think!!! Thanks,
Curt.
--
.
Try Linux ... \__[0]__/
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PLEASE remember Keywords: and a short description of the software.