Connect currency exchange transactions and pricedb, or not?

[Derek Atkins]

Christian Stimming <stimming@tuhh.de> writes:

> Actually I'm no longer sure that even using the pricedb for convenience of 
> user-input is a good idea. Does this mean the pricedb serves a similar kind 

There was a complaint by users entering lots of transactions that
the exchange rate was always zero.

> of purpose as the quickfill mechanism, but only for the exchange rate? Then 

Yes, it's just a quickfill mechanism for exchange rates.

> I'm even more unsure about the usefulness, because all the other 
> (online-imported) prices serve a different purpose. This would mean that the 
> price editor shows prices with two different purposes but in one list 
> (distinguished only by price-source). 

Actually, each way of importing prices serves a different purpose,
but that's not important.

> Additionally, the problem I see here in general is that it's totally unclear 
> for the user that prices in the pricedb are automatically created at all. And 

Yea?  So?  There are plenty of other times when prices in the
price editor are automatically created.

> IIRC changes in the multi-currency txn don't trigger changes in the 
> auto-created price.

This is true, currently.  I suppose I could always have it remember
the "last" price at a certain Timespec.

>  The user experience is that he enters a multi-currency 
> transaction, enters the exchange rate, and is happy. Enters another txn, sees 
> the remembered rate ("probably similar to quickfill"), is happy. Enters many 
> more txn. Then, one day the user opens the price editor, and sees a whole 
> bunch of prices: "Where do these come from? And how do I know these are 
> accurate at all?" -- because every txn that triggered an automatic price 

Well, no, he will only see one entry per day which will reflect the
price he entered on that day.

> creation can always be changed later, but IIRC the price doesn't get changed 
> and thus becomes no longer accurate.

Well, as I said, I can always force a change in the pricedb instead of
keeping the "first one".  But there is still the possibility of being
out of sync (for now) if you have multiple transactions in one day and
then decide to change the exchange rate on only one of them.

> Christian

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
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