OFX Downloads in GnuCash

bock@step.polymtl.ca bock@step.polymtl.ca
Wed, 1 Jan 2003 22:23:07 -0500


En réponse à Thomas Frayne <TomFrayne@sjpc.org>:

> The main feature of Quicken that I would not want to give up is
> transaction downloading via OFX.  I use two forms:
>   a.  Web Connect:  I log on to the financial institution and request
> the download.  The OFX file is created and passed to Quicken.

This already works pretty much 100%.  The only big problem is that there is
currently no way to define GnuCash as a helper application to a web browser, so
that it's ofx import module is invoqued when a file is sent to
it.  I wrote LibOFX and a lot of the new generic import architecture in
GnuCash, but implementing this isn't really my area of expertise.  You may
want to file a RFE for this feature in gnucash's bugzilla 
(http://bugzilla.gnome.org/).  What has to be done is either to write an 
algorithm to detect the format of the file sent to a running gnucash, or 
specify it on the command line (gnucash-process --ofx filename) or whatever. 

>   b.  Direct Connect:  From Quicken, I select 1-step update, specifying
> the Pin Vault.  Quicken connects to all the selected accounts and
> downloads their transactions, using the password stored in the Pin Vault
> for each account.  I prefer this form, and have restricted almost all my
> accounts to financial institutions supporting it.

There was a fairly long discussion of this on gnucash devel
(http://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-devel/, searchable archives
available elsewhere).  There are several problems with this.

-It's not implemented yet at the protocol level in libofx, but it is on my
list of future enhancements.  However, the protocol is fully documented, and I
do know how to do it.  Unfortunatly my time (like everyone's I guess) is a
limited ressource.  I'll have more time to spend on LibOFX once GnuCash 1.8 is
released.
-There is no publicly available list of url's for the bank's OFX servers.  
Many banks will actually refuse to give this info to customers when asked.

I've been told that banks actually pay Intuit (Quicken) for them to support
them, so they have a complete list.  The info is feed to Quicken an runtime
using another protocol.

> I was delighted to learn that you were implementing libOFX and OFX
> support in GnuCash.  I plan to test ofxdump on several financial
> institutions that support Web Connect.  I'll let you know the results.

Thanks, more testers -> less bugs!

> It occurred to me that, with a utility to convert Quicken's Qdata files,
> I could use Quicken's 1-step update to download transactions from all my
> financial institutions, and the utility to import the data into GnuCash.
> Have you considered such a utility?  Where is the best place to discuss
> this feature?

LibOFX can (and will) support more file formats.  However, the Qdata format
isn't documented, and probably changes over time.  I don't know how much we 
would gain over exporting to QIF and reimporting in whatever finance
app.  However, if you want to write a new file format
for LibOFX, I'll be glad to assist you.  You could also write a new import
module for GnuCash.

> Are you planning to implement Direct Connect?  Where is the best place
> to discuss this feature?

Yes, but there are many hurdles, not all of them technical.  The best place to
discuss it are:

At the protocol level:  http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/libofx-
devel/

At the UI and 'political' level: http://www.gnucash.org/cgi-
bin/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-devel/


I hope this helps,

Happy new year,

Benoit Grégoire