Engine, Inventory, Payroll, etc

[Conrad Canterford]

Dave Peticolas wrote:
> No flaws, but one thing you might consider is implementing the
> inventory and payroll functions largely in scheme and only loading
> them if needed. That way, all the modules could be included in a
> GnuCash distribution, but only loaded when actually used, hopefully
> preventing the bloat you are trying to avoid.

The problem I see with this (from a conceptual viewpoint) is that it
essentially ties people into using the modules that ship with GnuCash.
This:
- discourages people from making alternatives;
- makes it tricky/potentially confusing for people to change between
different modules;
- means that the supplied modules either need to be very general, or
very configurable (and therefore larger). This is particularly the case
with payroll stuff - each country just about will need its own set of
stuff.

> I presume that the inventor/payroll functionality would need to
> use the register? I've been meaning to make the register configurable
> from scheme rather than being hard-coded and this would give me some
> impetus to do that.

I hadn't thought that far. I've only been thinking about it, not looking
into it at this stage (sorry) :-).

I would hasten to add that I do not anticipate doing all the coding
myself (or even a large amount of it). My coding skills are best
described as average, and I really don't have the time to do it in any
case (I need to earn a living somehow). My hope though was to start
things happening in this area, in the hope that a sensible, workable
solution will be available in a year or so. I am, of course, very happy
to test, make comments and suggestions, and if necessary oversee the
project.

Conrad.
-- 
Conrad Canterford (conrad@mail.watersprite.com.au)
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