Report customization nightmare

[Mike Leone]

On 6/29/2010 12:01 PM, Mike or Penny Novack had this to say:
>
>> Tim> Maybe once the data gets stored in a relational database you can
>> Tim> use off the shelf reporting tools.
>>
>>
>>
> I'm going to comment on the "coding" issue because not totally unrelated.
>
> This is a case where "getting it to work" (however clumsily) is indeed
> easier with a relational database but I have to say based on experience
> from my days in the "cypher mines" that the average programmer wasn't
> too swift with "set operations" (proper coding instead of clumsy
> queries). There were several of their programs where I rewrote the
> queries getting an ORDER OF MAGNITUDE improvement in performance!
>
> The problem with scheme is of course unfamiliarity working with
> the"functional" languages as most of us learned "procedural" languages
> first and it's a different way of thinking. Not that some of our more
> common languages can't be used both ways. While learning C I was
> challenged to rewrite one of my simple programs so that it would be pure
> "function evaluation" instead of "procedure" and yes it can be done.

The most important point is that requiring a "normal" end-user to learn 
an arcane programming language in order to get a customized report is 
really user-hostile, in my opinion. No, I don't have an alternate 
solution, but I do know that any of non-geek users who I might recommend 
GnuCash to, won't know how, nor will bother to learn, programming for 
just one application.

Just my opinion.