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Accounting System (like SQL-Ledger) in Lisp?

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c hore

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Sep 20, 2002, 12:43:52 AM9/20/02
to
Is there - how hard would it be to develop - a business
accounting system in Lisp similar to SQL-Ledger, i.e.,
with a web interface and storage to an SQL
(in particular PostgreSQL) database.

The Cooper book (on Franz web site) has a simple web-based
personal accounting programming example. I assume that
one could start from that, but not having much experience
with accounting, I don't know how much work there
is between that simple example and a full-blown
"enterprise" accounting system.

SQL-Ledger, surprisingly, does not do something that we
need, namely, arbitrary depth of the account
classification tree, for example:
Current Assets
Cash
Cash in bank
Bank 1
Account 1
...
...
Cash on hand
...
Receivables
...
I was suprised to find that SQL-Ledger can do only
a two-level tree, basically a flat structure,
for example:
Current Assets
Bank Account 1
...
I would have thought that the enterprises that seem
to be the target audience of SQL-Ledger and similar such
open source accounting packages would have
classifications deeper than a two-level tree.

The prospect of having to learn Perl and
read/modify/maintain the Perl source of SQL-Ledger
isn't very appealing, hence the question.

ilias

unread,
Sep 20, 2002, 5:41:16 AM9/20/02
to
c hore wrote:
...

> The Cooper book (on Franz web site) has a simple web-based
> personal accounting programming example. I assume that
> one could start from that, but not having much experience
> with accounting, I don't know how much work there
> is between that simple example and a full-blown
> "enterprise" accounting system.

...

1 year:

1 high-thinking-strength mind
1 expert (of the used tools & technologies)
1 assistent programmer
1 researcher


Thien-Thi Nguyen

unread,
Sep 20, 2002, 5:44:56 AM9/20/02
to
ilias <at_...@pontos.net> writes:

> 1 year:
>
> 1 high-thinking-strength mind
> 1 expert (of the used tools & technologies)
> 1 assistent programmer
> 1 researcher

hehe, i will slip into schizoid mode and underbid you!

thi

ilias

unread,
Sep 20, 2002, 9:47:21 AM9/20/02
to

'high-thinking-strength mind' => in shizoid-mode.

passing tasks to rest of the 3 when he is...
- tired.
- bored.
- confused.

you've to be a bipolar-disordered which can keep himself in something
between hypomania-state and mania-state.

then you'll have a chance to underbid *the above constellation* (which
is not me).

by the way: two synchronized shozoids will beat the above constellation.

but finding them is nearly impossible.

Thien-Thi Nguyen

unread,
Sep 20, 2002, 12:41:14 PM9/20/02
to
ilias <at_...@pontos.net> writes:

> by the way: two synchronized shozoids will beat the above constellation.
>
> but finding them is nearly impossible.

i'm thinking the remembrance agent (by some dude at mit) could be useful for
implementing auto-schizoid mode. but the real[1] constellation requires those
dreaded non-technical roles: sales and marketing (blech).

either that or we must join forces now, here, on usenet. where else can the
heart of accountability grow (to be poisoned by sloth and vindictiveness)? i
will start:

(defun everything-ok-p (accounts)
(and (every #'account-ok-p accounts) ; the one
(gaap-ok-p accounts))) ; the many

ok your turn.

thi


[1] aka "viable business"

ilias

unread,
Sep 20, 2002, 1:58:17 PM9/20/02
to

rejected.

essential core.

should be free of domain knowledge.

please rewrite.

i'm undereducated.

simplify your vocabulary.

need to much time to translate.

and even then: essence extraction doubtfully.

I'm a lisp novice.

Please use C or simple C++ .

-

(i have to continue the C++ project. a clipper front-end. what a waste
of time. so i'll maybe not post for 2 days)

Thien-Thi Nguyen

unread,
Sep 20, 2002, 2:35:57 PM9/20/02
to
ilias <at_...@pontos.net> writes:

> rejected.

good. i see we can easily avoid stepping on each others' toes.

> essential core.
>
> should be free of domain knowledge.

if you mean supporting libraries (a la bottom-up design), i would agree. but
the essence of something cannot be anything but full of its domain knowledge
(almost by definition). translating tautologies bit by bit is my approach.

> please rewrite.

feel free to start from the bottom and write some libraries. e.g., web
spider feeding email notification on content change would be a nice utility
useful outside this application.

> i'm undereducated.

i'm no certified public accountant either, although i understand the basic
philosophy of accounting (and its eminent desirability -- next time someone
wishes to take money from me to "save" for my "retirement", e.g.).

> simplify your vocabulary.
>
> need to much time to translate.
>
> and even then: essence extraction doubtfully.

i'll try to stick to code, which is both concise and precise.

> I'm a lisp novice.

me too!

> Please use C or simple C++ .

this won't help me improve my skills. rejected.

> (i have to continue the C++ project. a clipper front-end. what a waste
> of time. so i'll maybe not post for 2 days)

that's fine. here's another frag (i hope quasi is DTRT, i.e., finding an
accountant to review these schizoid mumblings!):

;; "the one" branch
(defun account-ok-p (account &optional what-time)
(with-account-snapshot (or what-time (now))
(and (history-ok-p account)
(pending-transactions-ok-p account))))

thi

Thien-Thi Nguyen

unread,
Sep 20, 2002, 2:49:29 PM9/20/02
to
Thien-Thi Nguyen <t...@glug.org> writes:

> (defun account-ok-p (account &optional what-time)
> (with-account-snapshot (or what-time (now))
> (and (history-ok-p account)
> (pending-transactions-ok-p account))))

oops! an abstraction violation bug!

(defun account-ok-p (account &optional what-time)

(let ((snap (account-snapshot (or what-time (now)))))
(and (history-ok-p snap)
(pending-transactions-ok-p snap))))

thi

Joe Marshall

unread,
Sep 20, 2002, 3:53:12 PM9/20/02
to
ilias <at_...@pontos.net> writes:

>
> (i have to continue the C++ project. a clipper front-end. what a waste
> of time. so i'll maybe not post for 2 days)

Take your time.

ilias

unread,
Sep 21, 2002, 5:20:24 AM9/21/02
to
Thien-Thi Nguyen wrote:
> ilias <at_...@pontos.net> writes:
>
>>rejected.
>
> good. i see we can easily avoid stepping on each others' toes.
>
>>essential core.
>>
>>should be free of domain knowledge.
>
> if you mean supporting libraries (a la bottom-up design), i would agree. but
> the essence of something cannot be anything but full of its domain knowledge
> (almost by definition). translating tautologies bit by bit is my approach.

insist.

>>please rewrite.
>
> feel free to start from the bottom and write some libraries. e.g., web
> spider feeding email notification on content change would be a nice utility
> useful outside this application.

no need.

>>i'm undereducated.
>
> i'm no certified public accountant either, although i understand the basic
> philosophy of accounting (and its eminent desirability -- next time someone
> wishes to take money from me to "save" for my "retirement", e.g.).

accounting is a 'game for infants'.

>>simplify your vocabulary.
>>
>>need to much time to translate.
>>
>>and even then: essence extraction doubtfully.
>
> i'll try to stick to code, which is both concise and precise.

concise and precise.

coders dream.

>>I'm a lisp novice.
>
> me too!

but i'll stay that.

>>Please use C or simple C++ .
>
> this won't help me improve my skills. rejected.

ok

>>(i have to continue the C++ project. a clipper front-end. what a waste
>>of time. so i'll maybe not post for 2 days)
>
> that's fine. here's another frag (i hope quasi is DTRT, i.e., finding an
> accountant to review these schizoid mumblings!):
>
> ;; "the one" branch
> (defun account-ok-p (account &optional what-time)
> (with-account-snapshot (or what-time (now))
> (and (history-ok-p account)
> (pending-transactions-ok-p account))))
>
> thi

lisp code.

rejected.

Thien-Thi Nguyen

unread,
Sep 21, 2002, 11:53:04 AM9/21/02
to
ilias <at_...@pontos.net> writes:

> accounting is a 'game for infants'.

this is what the adults who steal your candy tell you.

> but i'll stay that.

this is not news.

> no need.
> rejected.

ok, catch you later.

thi

Brian Palmer

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Sep 24, 2002, 1:50:37 AM9/24/02
to
On Fri, 20 Sep 2002 12:41:16 +0300, at_...@pontos.net said...
>
> 1 high-thinking-strength mind $100,000
> 1 expert (of the used tools & technologies) $90,000
> 1 assistent programmer $40,000
> 1 researcher $75,000

... the garbage that ilias types Priceless


There are some things money can't buy. And then there are some that
just you wouldn't want to buy anyway.

quasi

unread,
Sep 24, 2002, 2:57:44 PM9/24/02
to
On 20 Sep 2002 18:35:57 +0000, Thien-Thi Nguyen <t...@glug.org> wrote:
>that's fine. here's another frag (i hope quasi is DTRT, i.e., finding an
>accountant to review these schizoid mumblings!):

DTRT?


--
(quit)
NO-WAY
T

Coby Beck

unread,
Sep 24, 2002, 6:57:28 PM9/24/02
to

"quasi" <quas...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:m140puoq5i1ke62g3...@4ax.com...

http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?String=exact&Acronym=dtrt

--
Coby Beck
(remove #\Space "coby 101 @ bigpond . com")


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