Invoice - Custom Design Header for No. 9 Double Window Envelope

[L. D. James]

On 03/21/2015 10:28 AM, Geert Janssens wrote:
>
> On Friday 20 March 2015 12:16:51 L. D. James wrote:
>
> > >> For my modest company, spending a lot of time (hours, days, months)
>
> > >> to get a template of this time would save a lot of time in the end.
>
> > >> From your comment, it appears that this isn't going to be an easy
>
> > >> task. But hopefully someone with some knowledge of the details of
>
> > >> accessing the templates can help me with where to start. If
>
> > >> nothing
>
> > >> else, just the request might inspire the developers of gnucash to
>
> > >> feature a more diverse style editor for the various reports.
>
> > >>
>
> I think the "Tax Invoice" report is the most flexible one in this 
> respect. Contrary to all other reports its layout is controlled by css 
> instead of the built-in styles.
>
> So what you can do is copy the file taxinvoice.css from
>
> <gnucash-install-path>/share/gnucash/scm/gnucash/report/
>
> to some place convenient and modify it to your needs. It will allow 
> you for example to move the address block to match your envelope window.
>
> Once happy with it, you can refer to this modified css file in the 
> report's options.
>
> This assumes of course you have some css knowledge. If you don't, my 
> suggestion may not helpful at all.
>
> If your css knowledge is limited, http://www.w3schools.com/ has some 
> tutorials to learn the basics.
>
> And a good way to experiment with css is installing the firebug plugin 
> in mozilla firefox. It allows you to modify several css properties and 
> the webpage will be updated on the fly.
>
> If that webpage happens to be an exported version of one of your 
> invoices using the tax invoice report, you immediately see which 
> changes affect which parts of your invoice. Do keep in mind that 
> changes you make in firefox/firebug are not saved. If you're happy 
> with the changes you have to manually enter them in the custom 
> invoice.css file to use them in gnucash as well.
>
> Hopefully this can help you achieve your goal.
>

Thanks, Geert!  This is what I was looking for.  I'm not that good with 
css programming, but I am a fast learner.  It has come up many times 
where I have taken a peek at it and done some limited formating.  This 
will be an ideal time for me to  become more fluent... working on this 
project.

I already mentioned that I don't mind spending time on customizing the 
format, I just needed to know where I could do it to get started.  I 
don't mind spending a week or a month on it.  From your description I'm 
sure I can handle it with no problem... just a bit of time.  I'll most 
likely be purchasing this css package 
(http://www.bluegriffon.com/index.php?pages/CssEditor) to help me with 
the task.

Once I have it done, I'll consider updating this thread with the 
template so that others can benefit from... that is, if I can get the 
steps easy for a novice to follow.  I may include a script file with it.
>
> In my opinion, gnucash should provide a decent reporting base with 
> room for customization. That has always been the idea. The stylesheet 
> editor is one example of this. I believe (as most developers) though 
> that the current reporting system is showing its age and at some point 
> we'll need to investigate how to bring it into the modern day and age. 
> There are currently other priorities though so for now the stylesheet 
> editor is the best we can offer for most reports. With the exception 
> of a few reports based on eguile, which allow for more drastic 
> layouting via a custom css file.
>
> > You appear to be very stern on devaluing a feature of custom form
>
> > (namely in this case invoice) output.
>
> Which is clearly a way accounting is done in large firms with separate 
> accounting and mailing departments (and probably a dedicated IT 
> department as well). GnuCash is for a different audience.
>
> > Most GNU developers appreciate
>
> > input and feedback from their users. This functionality has been
>
> > brought up many times. In my experience being able to customize
>
> > reports output is always a basic feature of all programs. The
>
> > developers of Gnucash appears to realize this also as they have a
>
> > nice start with their style editor.
>
> >
>
> Yes, the developers do agree on this.
>
> > I'm sure discussions like this may inspire the developers to give this
>
> > a higher priority.
>
> >
>
> As said earlier, the developers are well aware the reporting system in 
> general needs a big overhaul. Unfortunately so do other parts of the 
> code and developer time is limited. Hence it was decided to first 
> focus on modernizing the core and continue from there to the gui and 
> the report system. The report system is on the list, but it will take 
> a few years given the current developer's time and availability.
>

It appears that you might have some type of connection (or 
communication-ability) with the developers/development.  I hope to 
develop some connection also so that I can follow the development, 
priorities, and feature requests being considered.  One feature request 
that could probably go a long way is to develop some type of plugin 
system to make it easier for o6thers to contribute to various aspects.  
Report formating would be a good area to allow plugins from the 
community.  With community shared plugins, while it appears we have a 
wealth of expertise in this maillist sharing their skills, workarounds 
and tips, the plugins would spare a lot of us from having to continue to 
reinvent the wheel.

I kindly thank everyone who contributed to this thread, keeping it open 
long enough for me to see the light.

-- L. James

-- 
L. D. James
ljames at apollo3.com
www.apollo3.com/~ljames