MoneyBaron Blog

I’ve got to admit, I’m really liking the new layout of WordPress 2.7 - specifically the admin screens.  Changing from the top horizontal bar menu structure to the left vertical menu structure is probably the best thing they could have done.  I definitely prefer it.  The graphics and layout is most impressive.  Simple, powerful, easy to understand… what more do you want?

I think I’m going to have to convert some of my other sites to this.

If only blogger.com would be this nice….

UPDATED (8/27/2008)!

I have updated the Scuttle Firefox Extension to work with FF 3.0.1. I also changed the version of the extension to 0.4.1 to differentiate this update.

scuttle-0.4.1-firefox+fl.xpi

Original Post:

I have a personal copy of Scuttle on my web server and use the Scuttle Firefox add-on. Unfortunately, the author hasn’t made any effort to update the add-on to work with FF3. So I’ve changed the code to allow it to work correctly. I hope others find this useful.

Got some great advice about releasing early and releasing often, but is it always a good thing? No, but the concept is great. Maybe I’ll attempt to take that advice. Look for a release in the next week….

Ok, got your attention. Back from being asleep since Christmas and thought I’d give you an update. I’m just about ready to release 0.5 soon. I simply have a couple final touches I need to make and I’ll release it. I’ve touched just about every screen. Need to do some final work on the transactions form and that’ll be it. Looking forward to finally putting something out there for the masses.

Thanks for being patient.

Although time was limited, I was able to make some progress on development during Christmas. For some reason, I got bogged down on the “Types” screens. I’m still not 100% done with it, but once I finish that, I’ll finalize the Transaction screen and I should have Milestone 0.5 done! Whew.

I’ve been thinking about some other projects, although I should be thinking about getting MoneyBaron done, but I’ll share a small tidbit of info to you about some things that may be in the future. First, for MoneyBaron, I may eventually add the ability to scan in receipts and also be able to OCR the images. Lots to “figure out” with the OCR, but something to play around with. I like the concept of NeatReceipts, but wish they were more open to suggestions from the community. That and I don’t want to spend the money on their product.

Another project I’ve been interested in doing is a Document Management System (DMS). One I do like is DocMGR, but would like it a lot more user-friendly. Still not sold on web-based, for ease of use mostly. Again, it may include OCR abilities for searching. Definitely would have to be IRS compliant (link to supporting IRS document - )

To install MoneyBaron, I’ve opted not to use M$’s setup tool that is built-in to VS.NET. Instead, I’ve decided to go with Inno Setup. It’s one of the leading installation tools that falls under the free column. Great tool and lots of support. For basic installations, the wizard is just about all you need. There’s a couple other add-ons/tools that I’ll probably tinker with later…

As far as where I’m at with the development, I had to revamp the Categories a little to include separation of Income/Expense categories. My original design did not have them separated, and once I coded it and actually looked at it, I didn’t like it. So it is now a very clear distinction.

Payees are pretty much done. Will eventually add more fields, but is usable now.

I have the types designed, but not coded. I’ve got the transaction Detail form GUI coded, and most of the code-behind, but don’t have the db updates done. After the above is done, and a completed installation process exists, then I should be ready for the first release! Woohoo! Being the first release, it will definitely be an infant Alpha release, but would love to hear some feedback.

Signing off for now, and probably won’t be able to write for another week, so have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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….