Gnucash suggestion

[Mike or Penny Novack]

Stuart Andrews wrote:

>Dear Gnucash team,
>
>I've been happily using your software since the end of last year, having
>ditched Windows completely.  I was using Microsoft Money before.
>
>Can I make a suggestion for possible inclusion in the future?  It would
>save me a lot of time reviewing scheduled transactions if the entry date
>could be set to the first/last business day of the month, or first
>Monday etc. rather than setting a date.  I see there is an option to
>enter a transaction on the first day of the month but this is the
>absolute first day, not first weekday.
>
>It's fantastic software though, very powerful and apart from that
>suggestion it does everything I could need.  Many thanks for the hard
>work.
>  
>
As a person who among other things did "calendar" programs to control 
task running let me explain that while Stuart's suggestion is a good 
starting point the problem is really MUCH more complex. Adding just one 
more option that will please few not the best way to proceed.

1) "Business day" is NOT well defined. Sorry Stuart, but that's just the 
way things are in this world of ours. We humans do not agree on 
calendars, do not agree what's a work day and what a holiday. Even 
within a country there may be regional differences (like in the US, 
state holidays). And we're not all in the same country.

2) The only thing guaranteed to work IS "specified dates". Might allow 
three year's of calendar data (file) so users can establish "business 
days" for last year, this year, and next year  (and in the new year drop 
the oldest and add a new one). Of course that depends upon just how much 
look ahead and look back you need.

3) And yes, I designed (and wrote) the very fancy automated calendar 
program* still used by one of the world's largest "financials" that 
allows specification by "rules". But that still requires calendar data 
---- sometimes when work falls behind (or at expected busy times) you DO 
run a business cycle on a weekend, etc. So a general rule might be 
"Saturday is not a business day" subject to the specific override "but 
February 6th is" The point is that I know very well just how much work a 
comprehensive "fits everybody" (can be user modified to fit) system 
would be, how many months of my time to design/write such a thing. WAY 
out of scope for a volunteer project like this.
   It also would NOT be all that easy for end users to learn how to use. 
Has to TRAIN people how to set up the "next year's calendar of events".

Michael D Novack

* replacing the old control system where all data had to be entered 
manually and mistakes were common even with the procedure that one 
person did each day's data and one person checked.


There is no possibility of social justice on a dead planet except the equality of the grave.