[GNC] future of custom reports in 3.x

[Saša Janiška]

John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us> writes:

> While we would like to replace the reporting system with something
> more flexible and user friendly we’re a very long way from being in a
> position to even start on it.

OK - that's nice to know. ;)

> In the meantime there are four alternatives for custom reports:

> 4. With an XML file use your favorite language's XML bindings with
> XPATH or XQUERY to retrieve the data and format your report.

I'd rather stay away from fiddling with XML stuff.

> 3. Learn Python and use either the python bindings or PieCash (also
> requires the SQL backend) to query the database and write custom
> reports.

I'll take a closer look at this option.

> 2. Learn SQL and use a SQL backend to extract the data you want. The
> results are generally amenable to import into a spreadsheet for
> further processing; you could also install the appropriate ODBC module
> for your SQL engine of choice and connect to it with Libre/OpenOffice,
> Microsoft Access, or some similar tool with a custom report writer or
> your favorite programming language’s SQL interface (e.g. DBAPI for
> Python).

This one seems to be close to 2nd option...

> 1. Learn Scheme and qof-query to make custom reports for use inside
> GnuCash.

This seems to be the most lucrative option enabling one to take
advantage of GC's infrastructure, but just wonder if replacing qof-query
with SQL query query would still allow using it along with Scheme since
"make reports for use inside GnuCash" certainly has its adavantages?


Sincerely,
Gour

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