Format of some XML files

[Derek Atkins]

Quoting Martin Preuss <aquamaniac at gmx.de>:

> Hi,
> 
> On Thursday 24 February 2005 19:58, Derek Atkins wrote:
> > Martin Preuss <aquamaniac at gmx.de> writes:
> [...]
> > > I'm currently planning on implementing OFX direct connect support for
> > > AqBanking (which already is used by Gnucash in Germany).
> >
> > Have you looked at libofx?
> [...]
> Yes, I have, and I'm already using libOFX for my own import/export framework
> 
> in AqBanking. And I'm going to use it for statements received. 
> However, LibOFX does not manage sending requests, it "only" parses
> responses.

Well, yes, that's a known limitation of libofx at this point in time.  Benoit
would certainly like to support DirectConnect in libofx but his bank doesn't
support it (and he has very little time), so he's had little personal incentive
to actually implement DirectConnect support into libofx.

I'm sort of mixed as to whether OFX Direct Connect should go into libofx (where
I think it belongs), or AqBanking (which already has an "initiate transaction"
model).  There are certainly benefits and drawbacks to either approach.  From a
UI Perspective I don't know what the differences would be if we initiate a
transaction via HBCI or OFX; I don't know whether using the same library there
would help or not.

OTOH libofx already has all the ofx parsing, so one would think that adding in
the necessary SOAP to initiate wouldn't be a huge extension to the existing
infrastructure.

> [...]
> > > I found some XML files with the namespace
> > > "http://www.gnucash.org/XML/bank". For most of the parts these file are
> > > pretty self-explanatory.
> [...]
> > I have no idea; I didn't even know these files existed on the website.
> > Indeed, that URL fails for me, so I have no idea what you're looking
> > at.
> Well, that's the point: They don't ;-)

Ahh, that was sort of unclear from your mail...  Keep in mind that a namespace
does not need to point to any actual data.  It's a URI, not a URL.

> They are created by the famous "ofx.py" script family. However, I didn't find
> any documentation so far...

I suspect it's just that the ofx.py author needed to put _something_ into the
namespace definitions, so he chose something "unique"..  You might want to ask
the author of ofx.py for help.

-derek

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