The Gnucash database?

[blfs]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Derek Atkins" <warlord at MIT.EDU>
To: "blfs" <blfs at comcast.net>
Cc: <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2004 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: The Gnucash database?


> "blfs" <blfs at comcast.net> writes:
> 
> >> > So why is it not possible to import text data?
> 
> The "flat file" is really XML.  Gnucash can "import text data" provided
> that data is formatted in QIF or OFX.
> 
> > I must be missing something.  
> >
> > Is there some example data laying around somewhere
> > with instructions on how to load it?  
> >
> > It seems to me that importing text data would be
> > trivial if the data is already in flat text format.
> >
> > Or what format is the data stored in exactly?
> 
> See above.
> 
> -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
>        warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available

I glanced through the OFX stuff on the net.  

There must be code out there somewhere that converts
text to OFX.  I dont know anything about QIF or
OFX but they seem like very different applications.

OFX is for secure transactions over the net and I would
think it would be rather limited.  QIF is an out of the box
financial program I understand with limited security.  

It would seem to me that the most natural way to write
Gnucash would be to write it for a flat text file in the Unix
tradition.  If it is not trivial to translate a flat text file to
the format required for Gnucash that is a rather serious
design flaw.  I can certainly load a flat text file into any
database I know of with relative ease.

I must be missing something here.