gnucash/README
Linas Vepstas c3416780c8 merge in changes from 1.0 branch
git-svn-id: svn+ssh://svn.gnucash.org/repo/gnucash/trunk@572 57a11ea4-9604-0410-9ed3-97b8803252fd
1998-03-01 17:35:32 +00:00

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############## WARNING ######################
********** ALPHA DEVELOPMENT RELEASE ********
THIS IS VERSION 1.1, WHICH IS AN ALPHA RELEASE,
AND VERY, VERY BROKEN. IT IS FOR DEVELOPERS ONLY!!
IF YOU WANT TO USE XACC, USE VERSION 1.0 INSTEAD!!
##############################################
X-Accountant
------------
xacc is a program to keep track of your finances. It is similar in
concept to Quicken(TM). Although xacc still lacks the advanced
features of quicken, it does have the basic functionality. Some
of the features of xacc are:
- Multiple Accounts
- Each account keeps a running balance and
a reconciled balance, so you can keep track
of the checks that have clear your account.
- A simple interface. If you can use the
register in the back of your checkbook,
you can use xacc.
- QuickFill... if you begin typing a description
in the description fields, and it matches an
previous transaction, hitting <TAB> will copy
the previous transaction. Handy if you have
similar transactions on a regular basis.
(such as depositing your paycheck every week :)
- Stock/Mutual Fund Portfolios. Track stocks
individually (one per account) or in portfolio
of accounts (a group of accounts that can be
displayed together).
- Quicken File Import. Import Quicken QIF files.
Advanced Features
-----------------
X-Accountant offers some features not usually found
in simpler accounting programs.
- Sub-accounts: A master account can have a hierarchy
of detail accounts underneath it. This allows similar
account types (e.g. Cash, Bank, Stock) to be grouped
into one master account (e.g. Assets).
- Double Entry:
Every transaction can appear in two
accounts; one account is debited and the other is
credited with exactly the same amount. With
double-entry, a transaction edited in one window
will be automatically updated in all other windows
showing that transaction, and in both of the
accounts.
- Income/Expense Account Types (Categories).
When used properly
with the double-entry feature, these can be used
to create both Balance Sheet and Profits &amp; Losses
reports. For example, savings account interest,
stock dividends, or paychecks can be marked as
both a deposit in a bank account, and as income in
an Income account type, using the double-entry
(transfer) feature. Similarly, credit card charges
can be noted in the credit card account, as well
as in a corresponding expense account.
- General Ledger: Multiple accounts can be displayed
in one register window at the same time. This can
ease the trouble of tracking down typing/entry errors.
It also provides a convenient way of viewing a
portfolio of many stocks, by showing all transactions
in that portfolio.
Home Page:
----------
http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~rclark/xacc
Important Note:
---------------
Numerous core dumps have been reported that occur with lesstif
version 0.82. These core dumps do not occur with lesstif v 0.81,
nor with RedHat Motif. If it's crashing, please try using the
statically-linked Motif version, as described below.
Running:
--------
The binary-only distribution includes two binary files: 'xacc.bin'
and 'xacc-static.bin'. The former requires a Motif shared library;
the latter has Motif statically linked in. If you have Motif,
then just run xacc. If you do not have Motif, then copy
'xacc-static.bin' to 'xacc.bin'.
Access to the on-line help documentation requires the that
the environment variable XACC_HELP be set to the 'Docs'
directory. The 'xacc' shell script sets this variable to
the configured directory before running the main program,
so you don't have to set this by hand.
If you want to override the path to the Docs directory:
For csh/tcsh
% setenv XACC_HELP /usr/local/share/xacc/Docs
or, for bash/bsh/ksh/sh
% set XACC_HELP=/usr/local/share/xacc/Docs
% export XACC_HELP
You can then start xacc at the command-line, with
"xacc" or "xacc <filename>", where <filename> is an
xacc account file. Sample accounts can be found in
"data" subdirectory. *.dat files are xacc accounts that can
opened with the "Open File" menu entry. *.qif files are
Quicken Import Format files that can be opened with the
"Import QIF" menu entry.
Building & Installing:
----------------------
These steps does not apply to binary distributions; only to
source distributions.
Normally, to build and install xacc, all you have to do is:
# ./configure
# make depend
# make
# make install
You can also build xacc in a seperate directory, which is
useful if you are compiling for several platforms from a
single copy of the source tree:
# mkdir BUILD
# mkdir BUILD/debug
# cd BUILD/debug
# ../../configure --enable-debug
# make depend
# make
# make install
sorry, no "make install" yet.
Status:
-------
As of version 1.0.16:
xacc is known to work in the following configs:
Linux 2.0.x -- Intel w/ RedHat Motif
Slackware 3.4 -- Intel w/ Mootif (OSF Motif 2.0.1)
Linux 2.0.x -- Intel w/ Lesstif v0.81
SGI IRIX --
IBM AIX 4.1.5 -- RS/6000 http://www-frec.bull.com/
Unixware 7 -- Intel
SCO OpenServer 5.0.4 -- Intel
See http://linas.org/linux/xacc for precompiled binaries for these platforms
xacc seems to be having problems with:
Solaris -- Sparc -- won't compile due to va-args in XmHTML
Linux 2.0.x -- Intel w/ Lesstif v0.82
Download Sites:
---------------
All of the precompiled binaries & the latest source versions can be found
at http://linas.org/linux/xacc However, it is recommended that the master
sites for each particular binary be used instead, for two reasons:
1) bandwidth
2) OS-specific info & support
IBM AIX 4.1.5
-- SMIT-installable images
http://www.bull.de/pub/
see also http://www-frec.bull.com/
SCO OpenServer 5.0.4
http://www.sco.com/skunkware/osr5/x11/apps/xacc/VOLS.tar
Unixware 7
-- use pkgadd to install
http://www.sco.com/skunkware/uw7/x11/apps/xacc/xacc.pkg.gz
SGI Irix
-- in SGI install format
-- warning, this is a very down-level version
http://linas.org/linux/xacc/xacc-1.0b7-sgi-irix.inst.tar
Linux Debian
-- use debian tools to install
http://linas.org/linux/xacc/xacc_1.0.15-1_i386.deb
That's all folks!
Main Developers:
----------------
Robin Clark <rclark@hmc.edu> for original xacc
Linas Vepstas <linas@lins.org> for extensive enhancements
Fixes & Patches:
----------------
George Chen <georgec@sco.com> for MS-Money QIF's & fixes
Koen D'Hondt <ripley@xs4all.nl> for Solaris patches to XmHTML
Ciaran Deignan <Ciaran.Deignan@bull.net> for AIX binary version
Dave Freese <DFreese@osc.uscg.mil> for leap-year fix
Otto Hammersmith <otto@bug.redhat.com> for RedHat RPM version
Tom Kludy <tkludy@csd.sgi.com> for SGI Irix port
Peter Norton <spacey@inch.com> for a valiant attempt at a GTK port
Ron Record <rr@sco.com> for SCO Unixware & OpenServer binaries
Richard Skelton <rich@brake.demon.co.uk> for Solaris cleanup
... and I am sure that I have missed many others ...