WaterMark will be a fully functional personal account manager with full
graphing and reporting capabilities. It will handle account registers,
budgeting, and reporting. By deploying on GNOME and KDE, we will
present a uniform look and feel with the free desktop of your choice,
depending on your definition of free.
Without getting into the technical details (you will be able to get those
details as they appear here on this page), the WaterMark developers
aim to support at least XML and QIF data formats, full KDE/GNOME User
Interface Compliance(eventually... primary focus is a nice looking Gtk
interface),
and optional OpenGL/Mesa 3D graphing capability
(Quicken uses a pseudo-3D view for graphing, I say go for the whole
enchilada.)
WaterMark is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). You
will find this license with the distribution and should be aware of two
primary points. This software comes with NO warranty, and it is
copyright by Brian H. Cooper and all developers who contribute to the
software. We pass along all rights of the GPL to you.
KDE uses the Qt GUI toolkit which is a commercial product though
free (in money terms) for free software. GNOME uses the Gimp ToolKit
(GTK) which falls under the LGPL.
You can find all the information you want about either system on
their homepages:
For GUI contributions: It will be greatly appreciated
if these are submitted as pairs, a patch to support both Gtk and
KDE/Qt versions. Jan 17 Mod: Although this would be nice, we are
really only gung-ho about Gtk at this point...
WaterMark is being developed in C/C++. Don't bother suggesting
that the C portions be converted to C++ and all the cutesy things it
can do. Work with either as you see fit.
Preferably you will choose one of the tasks outlined below. Other tasks
and features that you really, really think I haven't thought of and
are applicable to the current stage are eligible for discussion (An
example is to offer to write non-XML non-QIF Import/Export routines
after Stage 1 is complete. Here are the needs I foresee:
Okay, here it is. The current Stage 0 version. This is really just for
developers to bounce ideas off of: Introduction to WaterMark
WaterMark is a fresh start on a personal finances application for X.
We are attempting to deploy WaterMark on the KDE and
GNOME environments in parallel, but central development will be Gtk based
without regard for desktop environment. Introduction to KDE and GNOME
I have no interest in the whole licensing issue between these two
environments, but here is the basic difference: Stages of Development
First, please do not harrass me with suggestions or wishlists
for WaterMark. From the description above you should have a good idea
of what it will become. I have done a little work on coding the internal
structures and barely started on the GUI, but we still have much design work to
do.
Second, though I am providing source on this page, this is ALPHA code.
It may not compile, may not run, may not untar even. Please do not
send bug reports. We know there are problems and there is a long
way to go on this project. Code is provided for potential developers
and curiousity seekers. It comes with no warranty or guarantee. You
play with this code at your own risk.
Version Numbering convention is [Stage #].X where a Stage number as
major component indicates full completion of that stage. The
X's are chosen at my mad whim. The current version is 0.1.
Stage 1 creates a usable checkbook register. Supported account types
are "Checking" and "Cash". The "Other" account type will be available
but will in most cases become obsolete in favor of the real account
types provided in later stages. Functions are adding and deleting
new accounts, editing account entries, administrative (help, quit,
currency and other options, etc.) This is our core account handling
and the most used User Interfaces. No file handling is provided.
So even though I say "usable" it's not really since you can't save your
work. You shouldn't be trying to at this point anyway.
Stage 2 provides file handling. The implication of moving to Stage 2 is
that Stage 1 is believed to be a stable core and we actually think
it is a good idea to save the info coming out of it. A general
Import/Export scheme is devised so that modules for different formats
can be added. Current goals aim to support XML (Extensible Markup Language)
and QIF (Quicken Interchange Format). Other formats may be added through
the general import/export support. The special cases "Open File"
and "Save File" map to importing and exporting XML format files.
Stage 3 is just what it says. This stage is where we will really need some
help to flesh out all the graphs and reports that users want. When
Stage 3 is complete (subject to definition, there will always be new
reports added) you will have a useful account manager and tracker with
pretty graphics to boot.
To Be Determined
Recruiting
If you are interested in contributing to this project, please
send me (my address appears at the bottom of this document)
a description of what you would like to work on. In my Code Manager
role I will try to coordinate work and will integrate patches that
are sent to me. Please do not send patches without getting in touch
with me first.
Who's Who
WaterMark-0.1.tgz
Brian H. Cooper, 1997
bcooper@dnaco.net