account matching (was: Generic transaction import)

Derek Atkins warlord@MIT.EDU
29 Jun 2002 09:36:35 -0400


Christian Stimming <stimming@tuhh.de> writes:

> On Freitag, 28. Juni 2002 22:26, Derek Atkins wrote:
> > > 1. Identify that a particular account has a real-world counterpart
> > > accessible with HBCI, therefore present the user a GUI button
> > > "Download transactions for this account by HBCI"
> >
> > I've got a question, here.  What if the user starts at their
> > HBCI-enabled bank instead of starting with Gnucash?  Or is that not
> > possible with HBCI?  Are you assuming that Gnucash is driving the data
> > instead of the bank or the user?
> 
> Err... I think I didn't get the question. Of course at the end of
> the day the bank is driving the data. Gnucash + HBCI is just yet
> another means of accessing that data, but this access method needs
> some special setup (public RSA key exchange and verification, for
> example).

With both QIF and OFX, I can log into a bank via Netscape and pull
down a QIF/OFX file, and then "import" that file into Gnucash.  When I
do so, it will try to map the QIF/OFX accounts to Gnucash accounts
(either by name, OFX AcctID, etc.) and if it can't auto-match, it will
ask me to manually match accounts, and if that fails it will
auto-create.

Is HBCI a protocol where you can do this, or does HBCI necessarily
require a specialized client application?  Perhaps this is my not
understanding HBCI (being a Stupid American and all that ;)

> > If I open a new bank account, does that imply that I must create a new
> > Gnucash account and tie that to HBCI, rather than having the HBCI
> > subsystem notice that I don't have an existing HBCI-enabled account
> > and ask me to choose an existing account or create a new one?
> 
> The latter. I imagine the account properties dialog will have a button "make 
> this account HBCI-enabled", or something like that.

I dont think we need that for QIF/OFX -- why would you need that for
HBCI?  Again, this question may result from my misunderstanding
exactly what HBCI is and how it relates to other financial transaction
protocols.

> Christian

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
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