converting qfx files to qif

[Linas Vepstas]

On Thu, Apr 26, 2001 at 01:39:06PM -0500, cbbrowne@hex.net was heard to remark:
> On Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:33:17 CDT, the world broke into rejoicing as
> linas@linas.org (Linas Vepstas)  said:
> > If gnucash imports these files, it will be painful, possibly more
> > painful than QIF's !! We'll know what bank, bank account number, and
> > currency things come from (and this is good, an improvement over
> > QIF), but we don't know where things are going to.
> 
> > Maybe we can guess that anything with the string 'ATM' in the memo
> > should transfer to a cash account.  Human intervention is
> > unavoidable when there is a check made out to HEB groceries: neither
> > gnucash nor the bank can make a valid guess.  But I am disappointed
> > that the automatic withdrawls (electronic funds transfers) don't
> > indicate the account name/number/'financial institution id' where
> > the money is going to.  Even in the case of hand-written checks: it
> > would be nice to know what the bank & account number was where the
> > check was deposited.  That way, we could automate things: whenever
> > gnucash saw the account number for 'home depot' gnucash could guess
> > that it goes into the 'home improvement' account.  As it is, human
> > intervention will be required for any ofx import. Arghhhh!
> 
> I'll disagree for a moment...  
> 
> If I'm at Home Depot or some such place, I would be _extremely
> unhappy_ if credit card companies started giving out my account number
> to everyone.

??
Last time I wrote a check, and got the canceleed check back from the bank,
it had the deposit account numbers tamped all over the back.

And the credit-card slip I have from Home depot just from last weekend has 
thier merchant number plastered on it in several places (top and bottom)
How do I know? its always the same, month after month ...

(remember? the old, fill-out-by-hand slips always had the merchant number
printed on them...)


> The first time a check is made out to "HEB Groceries," it will
> certainly be necessary to classify it by hand.

Yes, but I'd like to get a unique UUID for the thing, rather than some
vagaries in spelling , punctuation and capitalization.

> But subsequent times, there should be some [plausible magical
> pattern-matching way] for the OFX loader to guess that "Groceries" is
> a best guess.  Pattern matching would require throwing in extra
> dialogs, and storing an extra table of "memorized past matches," which
> would add a fair bit of code.

exactly my complaint.  the ofx spec could have made this trivial, for
us, *and* for intuit, and for MSMoney2000, by getting the FI's to use uuid's
for things. 

I don't get it. We could issue a unique uuid to every molecule on the 
planet earth and still have plenty left over.  I'd like to see uuids stuck
on everything.

-- 
Linas Vepstas -- linas@gnumatic.com -- http://www.gnumatic.com/