PostgreSQL & Freecoins

John F Meinel Jr gnucash@johnmeinel.com
Mon, 04 Nov 2002 20:16:38 -0600


It's more that the data is already split up into "tables" so that he 
doesn't have to worry about the layout of the final storage.  That is 
what I meant by db-db.
The way the storage is working on the palm is that you have 3 (now 4 
with one for currency.) "tables".  I believe they are each considered to 
be a "database" by palm, but I will call them "tables" as I think it is 
more accurate in this sense.
One is a listing of accounts, one is a listing of transactions, and the 
third is a listing of splits.  A transaction just records the name of 
the transaction, and the memo for it.  The splits include pointers to 
the accounts the money came from/went to and a pointer to the 
transaction.  Accounts is the name of all the accounts and their current 
total value.  [And the currency lists the conversion rate between a few 
different currencies, this is a new feature so I'm not sure exactly how 
it works.]

The "ease" to go to another db format, is that everything is already 
split up and referencing eachother.  So it is already similar to an RDB. 
 I'm not a true database person, I'm only trying to figure out 
information for someone else.  I'm more sold on the XML format... 
 Actually, I'm mostly sold on using gnucash as the "front-end".  But 
that would restrict people to Linux, and freecoins is supposed to be 
cross-platform.  [At least I haven't heard of anyone that has gotten a 
cygwin/win32 port of gnucash.  If I'm wrong please correct me.].

Again, I'm looking into SQL more for someone else, than because it is my 
personal favorite.  But just telling me that it isn't well supported is 
enough to give me a little more leverage to push another format.

Thanks for the quick reply,
John
=:->

gnucash@cbbrowne.com wrote:

>On Mon, 04 Nov 2002 19:19:30 CST, the world broke into rejoicing as
>John F Meinel Jr <gnucash@johnmeinel.com>  said:
>  
>
>>Once again I'm here to ask a question for freecoins, the palm record 
>>keeping software (http://freecoins.sourceforge.net)...
>>Someone believed that gnucash supported a SQL backend instead of using 
>>an XML file.  Is that true?  The reason is that the author and lead 
>>developer of freecoins would like to see it connected with a SQL db as a 
>>generic conduit.  And then have gnucash connect to the same db.
>>So were they right?  Or is that an old, unused feature that isn't 
>>supported anymore?
>>I believe his thought was that since it is already in database format 
>>(palm db), it is easier to convert it to another database format, then 
>>to try and go back to QIF's or something like that.
>>John
>>    
>>
>
>What do you understand "database format" to mean?
>
>The way I usually understand it as is as "something totally irrelevant
>that the DBMS takes care of so that I don't need to give a rip about
>it."
>
>At any rate, the SQL back end does function, at least marginally. It is
>not well-maintained, so it doesn't work well at this point.
>
>And it is totally irrelevant that FreeCoins uses "a database" and that
>GnuCash can use "a database;" that does nothing to establish that it
>will be easy to transfer data back and forth...
>--
>(concatenate 'string "chris" "@cbbrowne.com")
>http://cbbrowne.com/info/finances.html
>Rules of the Evil Overlord #38. "If  an enemy I have just killed has a
>younger sibling or offspring anywhere,  I will find them and have them
>killed immediately, instead  of waiting for them to  grow up harboring
>feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age."
><http://www.eviloverlord.com/>
>  
>