[RndTbl] GnuCash crash on secret payload in XML file

Hartmut W Sager hwsager at marityme.net
Mon Mar 13 21:47:16 CDT 2017


> Usable compared to hand-rolled FoxPro?

I had to read that a few times to conclude that it's a (FoxPro)
compliment.  :)

Thanks hugely for the further info and links.  That "backward compatible
extensions via KVP's" is a ridiculously compromised architecture, and has
me seriously considering not pursuing GnuCash any further.  Since GnuCash
updates are always available for free (and include a boatload of bug fixes
every time), there is not the slightest reason to maintain this backward
compatibility, just forward compatibility (old file can be loaded into next
newer GnuCash version, but not saved backward).

I have also been considering several other "roll my own" options for the
last few years, notably MySQL/MariaDB/PHP.  Being a heavy-duty algorithmic
programmer, I am very intolerant of inadequate software, and "roll my own"
often becomes my best choice.

If you're wondering why I have to leave FoxPro, it's because Microsoft is
letting it disintegrate, despite it still being officially a currently
supported product.  In fact, as I rudely discovered a year ago, it wouldn't
even install on Windows 10 without a special patch being run first.  I.e.,
Microsoft didn't even test the installability (let alone proper operation)
on Windows 10 of a currently supported product of their own!

GnuCash is visually very well done, though, I must say!  And it is quite
feature-laden.

Hartmut W Sager - Tel +1-204-339-8331


On 13 March 2017 at 19:03, Glen Ditchfield <GJDitchfield at acm.org> wrote:

> On Monday, March 13, 2017 6:27:53 PM CDT Hartmut W Sager wrote:
> > Oooh, thanks, this is valuable!  I will experiment further with what you
> > did.  And I presume that this is within the specs or design intentions of
> > GnuCash, so that it should remain usable in further GnuCash versions?
>
> Usable compared to hand-rolled FoxPro?
>
> But, yeah, I'd go with it.  "It's been the (unfortunate) practice through
> most
> of Gnucash 2's development to use KVP to add or extend new variables to
> Gnucash because doing so allows older versions of Gnucash to open the data
> file."  (http://gnucash.1415818.n4.nabble.com/what-is-the-table-
> slots-good-for-td4658122.html)
>
> Keep in mind that GnuCash has database back-ends, too.  I wouldn't trust
> the
> front end to handle anything unless all the back ends support it.  There's
> some weak documentation at https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/
> GnuCash_XML_format
> and https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/SQL.
>
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