Invoice Importer

[Mike Evans]

On Sunday June 13 2010 21:45:32 Munroe Sollog wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:35:30 +0100, Mike Evans <mikee at saxicola.idps.co.uk>
> 
> wrote:
> > On Thursday June 10 2010 13:23:23 Mike Evans wrote:
> >> On Wednesday June 9 2010 22:44:42 Sebastian Held wrote:
> >> > Am Montag, 7. Juni 2010, 18:17:10 schrieben Sie:
> >> > > On Sunday June 6 2010 22:40:17 Sebastian Held wrote:
> >> > > > Am Sonntag, 6. Juni 2010, 10:26:38 schrieb Mike Evans:
> >> > > > > On Saturday June 5 2010 22:29:19 Derek Atkins wrote:
> >> > > > > > Munroe Sollog <sollog at digiraticonsulting.com> writes:
> >> > > > > > > I would like to see what kind of interest there is for an
> >> > > > > > > invoice importer.  I see it on the Wish List page, but I
> >> > > > > > > don't
> >> > > > > > > see any discussion about it.  We use a web based invoicing
> >> > > > > > > system and would love to be able to import/dump invoices
> 
> into
> 
> >> > > > > > > GnuCash. This would save a lot of time for the bookkeeper.
> >> > > > > > > If
> >> > > > > > > our situation is uncommon then I fully understand this
> >> > > > > > > feature
> >> > > > > > > being ignored/postponed/niced. If we are not alone, what
> 
> have
> 
> >> > > > > > > other people done to solve this inconvenience?  We are
> >> > > > > > > currently entering the invoices in twice (once to GnuCash
> 
> and
> 
> >> > > > > > > once to our invoicing system).
> >> > > > > > 
> >> > > > > > I'd certainly be interested in seeing something that would
> 
> pull
> 
> >> > > > > > in items out of gnotime (Gnome Time Tracker) and build an
> >> > > > > > invoice out of it.  So yes, something to import invoices
> 
> would
> 
> >> > > > > > be nice.
> >> > > > > > 
> >> > > > > > -derek
> >> > > > > 
> >> > > > > I track my clients billable time using a mysql based
> 
> application
> 
> >> > > > > and was hoping do this using the Python interface, so far
> 
> though
> 
> >> > > > > I've been unable to figure out how to get the python
> >> > > > > gnucash_business functions working.
> >> > > > 
> >> > > > I did some work on this topic already:
> >> > > > http://tellico.dyndns.org/drupal/node/1
> >> > > > 
> >> > > > I'm not sure, if the patch applies to the current development
> >> > > > version. But it may serve as a start point... I've no time to
> >> > > > finish
> >> > > > the patch.
> >> > > > 
> >> > > > best regards,
> >> > > > Sebastian
> >> > > > _______________________________________________
> >> > > > gnucash-user mailing list
> >> > > > gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> >> > > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> >> > > > -----
> >> > > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> >> > > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
> >> > > 
> >> > > Sebastian
> >> > > 
> >> > > I have your patch compiling and running but I need to test the
> >> > > import,
> >> > > do have a test.csv for invoices, or an example of the format it
> >> > > expects?
> >> > > 
> >> > > 
> >> > > Mike E
> >> > 
> >> > Hi Mike,
> >> > 
> >> > I've updated the patch to work with gnucash-2.3.14 (have a look a the
> >> > webpage).
> >> > Example .csv will be delivered tomorrow...
> >> > 
> >> > SebastianSebastian
> >> 
> >> Hi Sebastian
> >> 
> >> I've got the import format figured out, I just got initially scared by
> >> the
> >> regex.
> >> Mike E
> > 
> > New patch seems to work fine.
> 
> Excellent.  Does this mean it can be merged into gnucash before 2.4, or
> does the string freeze prevent that? 

Really not sure.  It's not my code, it's Sebastian's, although I have a patch 
for it to fix some minor issues.  I think it could be further augmented to give 
more flexibility too.  As a user I can write a script to massage any sales 
application exports to suit the format.  I guess the string freeze will be an 
issue too as, it would need the strings to be made translatable and accepted 
into trunk.  Again, not my code even though it's GPL.  It has a fixed csv field 
sequence so may not be universally useful.  I have no idea whether Sebastian 
wants it included in the build, or whether the devel team want it included, or 
whether my patches (unfinished) to the patch are acceptable.  I suggest you try 
it out and mail here with your views.  That presupposes that you are able to 
compile from sources.  Use a backup data file for testing obviously.

It's written as a plugin and  I'm not sure if plugins are part of the core 
code or what the procedure is for including them is, although it does require 
changes to configure and some makefiles.

Personally I was more looking for purchase order input.  I buy electronic 
components, mechanical parts etc. and I wanted a way to export, say Farnell's 
or RS's order form into GnuCash.  With a little editing and a translation 
script Sebastian's code should do that too.  Not for stock control, just for 
auditing purposes.  He's done most of the work, just needs a tweaking a bit.

Mike E

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