command line (was Thanks GNUCash)

[Derek Atkins]

Quoting Neil Williams <linux at codehelp.co.uk>:

> 1. Users' data files can get seriously large - loading the entire data file 
> into a CLI could take as long as loading the file in an already open GUI, 
> which defeats the main objective of the CLI - speed.

I dont think that loading the data is necessarily the bottleneck here.  I think
it's module loading and then report generation and display that takes the vast
majority of load-time.

> 2. It can be hard, IMHO, in a CLI to check that the data is complete and 
> accurate in relation to existing data. Errors that will jump out at you in a
> GUI can be much harder to spot in a terminal window.

Sure, but we wouldn't recommend the CLI for everyday use.

> 3. It's rare, in my experience, to find a single package that has both GUI
> and 
> CLI programs - these are usually installed separately. It may therefore be 
> useful to not make the CLI package dependent on the GnuCash package but 
> instead be able to install it on systems where GnuCash cannot be used - even
> remotely over SSH or other crazy ideas.

Er, maybe.  What about "emacs"?  ;)

-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
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