MoneyBaron Blog

Just some stuff to share.

M$ Visual Studio 2005 (standard version)
SQLite
System.Data.SQLite
sqliteadmin

I’m also using an old VS.NET plugin that allows me (mostly) to manage my source in CVS rather than through SourceSafe. I prefer CVS, since that is more of an industry wide standard (not specific to M$). The plugin is called Jalindi – Igloo. It’s way old and doesn’t function 100% in VS.NET but serves its purpose. If I need any additional control, I use

I also use M$’s Enterprise Library 3.1, which seems to be pretty solid. Go check it out, too much stuff to list here. Right now, I use it for the Database connectivity.

I’ve procrastinated long enough. Here are some rough milestones that you can look forward to. I had to put something down to have a starting point. I’m probably going to get more into the 1.0 release, but I hope it gives you an idea what to expect.

Primary Goals:
- Free Product
- Open Source
- Simple, easy to use and understand
- Robust with solid accounting principles
- Did I mention free? No charge. Period.

Prior to 0.5 (completed)
- Base shell of the application
- Simple splash screen
- Basic menus
- Basic About page
- Connectivity to SQLite (bonus is MySQL)

Milestone 0.5 (first release)
- Accounts Management
- Categories Management
- Payees Management
- Types Management
- Installation Process and Documentation

Milestone 0.6
- Budget Section
- Repeating Transactions

Milestone 0.7
- Charting
- Reporting

Milestone 0.8
- Help System

Milestone 0.9
- Import and Export Utilities (minimally CSV files)

After each milestone, there will be a new release. Once I get beyond the last milestone, assuming there has been adequate testing, I’ll officially release 1.0.

What’s beyond release 1.0?
- Multiple Financial databases
- Full MySQL support
- Goals module (debt reduction, savings goals, etc)
- Reconcile Accounts
- GUI enhancements
- Enhanced Import options (import OFX, QFX, and QIF files)
- Better financial “Snapshot Summary”
- Manage Stocks, Bonds, CD’s, etc.
- Business module/version
- Enterprise wide reporting
- And much more…

Figure I’d show some of my progress….

First screen is the main screen. Not very happy with the left sidebar, but it’s functional for now.

Another shot of the main screen with the tools options shown. Still not sold on having the database conversion within the application, but will have some type of utility for a user to convert the SQLite database to MySQL or other database.

Edit Accounts screenshot. Basic, but very usable. Probably add additional fields for accounts.

Categories must be usable. Treeview has easy drag-drop features, etc.

Slowly but surely getting there….

It’s been difficult to find good quality time to program with two little girls wanting daddy’s attention. However, last night I was able to squeeze in an hour or two of more core development. Here are some notes:

Database
I initially started developing some of the core forms using MySQL as the back-end. However, I saw the need to have a SQLite backend (for the typical user), so I setup the database file, pointed my database calls to the db file and with a little tweaking I got it to work. What I’ll probably do is have the default installation use SQLite, but provide advanced settings that would the user to specify a database engine (for now MySQL will be the only other one). If the need arises, I can see adding several different db engines. For right now, I’m using the Enterprise Library 3.1 from Micro$oft to call the database. I like the simplicity of using this library.

Forms
Added several new forms, tweaking existing forms, and all that good stuff. I added a splash screen (using the default screen that VS.NET adds but added a fade-in). Added an About form (again the VS.NET default). Tweaked the accounts form and almost have that complete – would like to add currency formatting to the “Initial Balance” field (looking at the Money.NET code that does currency formatting). Also started on the budget screens, but was stuck on this because I really didn’t know if I needed to allow for multiple budgets or a single budget. The db will allow for multiple budgets, but right now I think I’ll code for one budget. Fresh on my to-do list is some utility screens to manage categories, clients (pay to), and other various “types” fields. Mostly have the transaction forms written, but not complete.

Other Thoughts

• Is there a better name for “clients”? That seems more “business” oriented, but for some reason I was thinking that “Pay To” was too specific. Got to think about that one.
• When I get to reporting/charting, do I attempt to dynamically calculate totals, or do I manage an accumulators table? My gut tells me that as long as I have an adequately built database, the dynamic calculations shouldn’t be an issue. That’s the direction I’m leaning.
• Not happy with the main page left sidebar. That’ll probably go through some iterations.
• Code is not presentable to the public. Must document better.

Progress….

Where did the name come from? MoneyBaron started off as Money Manager, but since that already existed, I had to find a suitable replacement. I felt the word “money” needed to be in the name, and I needed something that was like “manager”, but slightly different. I looked through the thesaurus and for “manager” the word “baron” stood out. I remember the old “oil barons” and thought that might be something I can use. The dictionary states “an important financier or industrialist, esp. one with great power in a particular area: an oil baron.” Just as I was thinking. It had a good ring, was easy to remember, so that’s where MoneyBaron came from.

Blessings!

I looked to see if www.moneybaron.com was taken, and it’s available, but as a Premium Domain Name! I’d never heard of a Premium Domain Name.

It says “Premium domain names are more valuable than typical domain names because they are based on common words or phrases.” Big deal!

So I went to see who actually owns this domain and there’s a DC company that’s called “RareNames” that apparently purchases these domain names to try to make a buck by reselling them. It was registered back in 2004, expires next year, and I doubt they’ll ever get rid of it. This is a pretty sad attempt at someone making a buck.

If I were to stoop to their level, maybe I’ll go buy the domain “www.YouAreASuckerIfYouBuyThisDomainName.com”.

UPDATE: I went with MoneyBaron.org, end of discussion. (Happy, but still irritated…)

Just getting started, but wanted to give you the scoop on what’s going on. I decided to write a simple personal money manager because I couldn’t find a free application that met all my needs. I’m writing it in VB.NET with a SQL based database (starting off with MySQL, but will eventually have a SQLite option for those who don’t want/have a personal DB running). I considered writing a web-based app, but I don’t think that would appeal to many people. My intention is to have MoneyBaron focused around budgeting, but will have as many bells and whistles of your average personal money manager application. Keeping it simple is key, but with enough functionality that it is worthy of using.

Hoping that I reach a small number of people who like the product, I also hope to reach some developers who can learn from some of my VB.NET coding. There are things that I’ll be learning about through the process and hope to document those learning curves, but will depend on the availability of time.

Looking forward to what’s ahead….