OFX Support

[Kevin Cramer]

Thank you for the information.  The only part I am unclear on is how I
would get the OFX file from my bank.  It looks like your library does
not handle getting the OFX file.

I setup my bank in Quicken and I do not know how to get to the OFX
file.  It does all that automatically in the background.  Both the
transaction download and bill pay are done in Quicken--I never go to a
web site.  I haven't installed the beta version of GnuCash yet but I
assume it just imports an OFX file in the same manner that it imports
the QIF file?

Have you found information on how to get the OFX from various banks
and credit card companies?  It seems like that would be helpful.  I
could probably use a packet sniffer to figure out the hostname/IP and
port of the server but it would be a problem if they ever changed it.
I wonder how Intuit handles it.  I guess the banks just give them
updates.

I wonder if GnuCash as a software project could ask banks to provide
them with that information?  There might be a good chance they get
turned down but you never know.  It would also be a lot of work to
partner with all the banks to get that info. and I imagine the banks
would worry about support issues.

Kevin

On Mon, Dec 09, 2002 at 03:19:06PM -0500, Benoit Grégoire wrote:
> On December 9, 2002 02:06 pm, Kevin Cramer wrote:
> > I saw on the website that the latest betas now support OFX import.
> > How can I find more information on this new feature?
> 
> Well, here is the readme on the OFX module.  You may also want to check out 
> http://libofx.sourceforge.net/
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This is the new OFX import module.
> 
> Implemented features (some of these are from the generic import module):
> -OFX file selection
> -Account matching, using unique OFX account ID
> -Account creation
> -Transaction duplicate detection, using the unique OFX transaction ID.
> -Saving of ALL transaction data currently supported by LibOFX.  When no 
> gnucash equivalent, it is put in the Transaction's Note field.  You must have 
> double-line mode enabled to view the notes field.
> -Full OFX investment transaction support, including commodity matching.
> 
> Unimplemented features:
> -Account currency compatibility check
> 
> To compile:
> Add --enable-ofx to ./autogen.sh (for CVS) or ./configure (for tarballs)
> make
> If successfull, an item will appear in Gnucash's File/Import submenu.
> 
> You must have LibOFX > 0.32 installed. http://libofx.sourceforge.net/
> LibOFX depends on OpenSP , read LibOFX's "INSTALL" file.  LibOFX needs a 
> recent version (1.5pre5 as of this writing, 1.4 will probably work fine, 
> 1.3.x MIGHT work, but is very buggy and depends on horrible kludges in the 
> LibOFX code.  You have been warned.).
> 
> You may want to first run your OFX file thru ofxdump to test your libofx 
> installation before you try it from GnuCash.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> > I am currently using Quicken but I've wanted to move over the GnuCash
> > for some time.  I use online banking and bill pay and that is the only
> > thing stopping me from switching.  I am wondering what the new support
> > will do for me and how it will work.  I got the impression that you
> > download the OFX file and then import it but I might have read it
> > wrong.
> 
> You are right, you have to download the OFX responses from your from your 
> bank's website.  If you currently bill pay from a web interface created by 
> your bank and shown in Quicken, you can continue to do it.  
> 
> I am the author of LibOFX.  But to develop direct query and direct bill pay, I 
> need a list of all bank's OFX servers, complete with the IP address and port 
> number of their ofx server.  That information is queried at runtime by 
> Quicken from a central Intuit server.  Most bank refuse to publish this, and 
> without it, we are stuck.  I could reverse-engineer how Quicken requests it, 
> but I would most likely quickly get blocked, and it might not put me in a 
> very comfortable legal position.
>    
> -- 
> Benoit Grégoire
> http://step.polymtl.ca/~bock/
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