diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'NEWS')
| -rw-r--r-- | NEWS | 177 |
1 files changed, 169 insertions, 8 deletions
@@ -1,13 +1,174 @@ -1.7 + Ledger NEWS - Pricing histories are now supported, so that ledger remembers - historical prices of all commodities (if this information is - provided), and can give register reports based on past and present - market values, as well as original cost basis. +* 2.0 -1.6 +This version represents a full rewrite, while preserving much of the +original data format and command-line syntax. There are too many new +options to describe in full, but a quick list: value expressions, +complex date masks, binary caching of ledger data, many new reporting +options, a simple way to specify payee regexps, calculation and +display predicates, and two-way Python integration. Ledger also uses +autoconf now, and builds as a library plus the command-line driver. - Can now parse timeclock files. These are simple timelogs that track +** Differences from 1.7 + +- changes in option syntax: + + -d now specifies the display predicate. To give a date mask similar + to 1.7, use the -p (period) option. + + -P now generates the "by payee" report. To specify a price database + to use, use --price-db. + + -G now generates a net gain report. To print totals in a format + consumable by gnuplot, use -J. + + -l now specifies the calculation predicate. To emulate the old + usage of "-l \$100", use: -d "AT>100". + + -N is gone. Instead of "-N REGEX", use: -d "/REGEX/?T>0:T". + + -F now specifies the report format string. The old meaning of -F + now has little use. + + -S now takes a value expression as the sorting criterion. To get + the old meaning of "-S", use "-S d". + + -n now means "collapse entries in the register report". The get the + old meaning of -n in the balance report, use "-T a". + + -p now specifies the reporting period. You can convert commodities + in a report using value expressions. For example, to display hours + at $10 per hour: + -T "O>={0.01h}?{\$10.00}*O:O" + Or, to reduce totals, so that every $417 becomes 1.0 AU: + -T "O>={\$0.01}?{1.0 AU}*(O/{\$417}):O" + +- The use of "+" and "-" in ledger files to specify permanent regexps + has been removed. + +- The "-from" argument is no longer used by the "entry" command. + Simply remove it. + +** Features new to 2.0 + +- The most significant feature to be added is "value expressions". + They are used in many places to indicate what to display, sorting + order, how to calculate totals, etc. Logic and math operators are + supported, as well as simple functions. See the manual. + +- If the environment variable LEDGER_FILE (or LEDGER) is used, a + binary cache of that ledger is kept in ~/.ledger-cache (or the file + given by LEDGER_CACHE). This greatly speeds up subsequent queries. + Happens only if "-f" or "--file" is not used. + +- New 'xml' report outputs an XML version of what "register" would + have displayed. This can be used to manipulate reported data in a + more scriptable way. + + Ledger can also read as input the output from the "xml" report. If + the "xml" report did not contain balanced entries, they will be + balanced by the "<Unknown>" account. For example: + ledger reg rent + displays the same results as: + ledger xml rent | ledger -f - reg rent + +- Regexps given directly after the command name now apply only to + account names. To match on a payee, use "--" to separate the two + kinds of regexps. For example, to find a payee named "John" within + all Expenses accounts, use: + ledger register expenses -- john + + Note: This command is identical (and internally converted) to: + ledger -l "/expenses/|//john/" register + +- To include entries from another file into a specific account, use: + !account ACCOUNT + !include FILE + !end + +- Register reports now show only matching account transactions. Use + "-r" to see "related accounts" -- the account the transfer came from + or went to (This was the old behavior in 1.x, but led to confusion). + "-r" also works with balance reports, where it will total all the + transactions related to your query. + +- Automated transactions now use value expressions for the predicate. + The new syntax is: + = VALUE-EXPR + TRANSACTIONS... + + Only one VALUE-EXPR is supported (compared to multiple account + regexps before). However, since value expression allow for logic + chaining, there is no loss of functionality. Matching can also be + much more comprehensive. + +- If Boost.Python is installed (libboost_python.a), ledger can support + two-way Python integration. This feature is enabled by passing + --enable-python to the "configure" script before building. Ledger + can then be used as a module (ledger.so), as well as supporting + Python function calls directly from value expressions. See main.py + for an example of driving Ledger from Python. It implements nearly + all the functionality of the C++ driver, main.cc. + + (This feature has yet to mature, and so is being offered as a beta + feature in this release. It is mostly functional, and those curious + are welcome to play with it.) + +- New reporting options: + + "-o FILE" outputs data to FILE. If "-", output goes to stdout (the + default). + + -O shows base commodity values (this is the old behavior) + -B shows basis cost of commodities + -V shows market value of commodities + -g reports gain/loss performance of each register item + -G reports net gain/loss over time + -A reports average transaction value (arithmetic mean) + -D reports each transaction's deviation from the average + + -w uses 132 columns for the register report, rather than 80. Set + the environment variable LEDGER_WIDE for this to be the default. + + "-p INTERVAL" allows for more flexible period reporting, such as: + + monthly + every week + every 3 quarters + weekly from 12/20 + monthly in 2003 + weekly from last month until dec + + "-y DATEFMT" changes the date format used in all reports. The + default is "%Y/%m/%d". + + -Y and -W print yearly and weekly subtotals, just as -M prints + monthly subtotals. + + --dow shows cumulative totals for each day of the week. + + -P reports transactions grouped by payee + + -x reports the payee as the commodity; useful in some cases + + -j and -J replace the previous -G (gnuplot) option. -j reports the + amounts column in a way gnuplot can consume, and -J the totals + column. An example is in "scripts/report". + + "--period-sort EXPR" sorts transactions within a reporting period. + The regular -S option sorts all reported transactions. + +* 1.7 + +- Pricing histories are now supported, so that ledger remembers + historical pricing of all commodities, and can give register reports + based on past and present market values as well as the original cost + basis. See the manual for more details on the new option switches. + +* 1.6 + +- Can now parse timeclock files. These are simple timelogs that track in/out events, which can be maintained using my timeclock tool. By allowing ledger to parse these, it means that reporting can be done on them in the same way as a ledger file (the commodities is "h", @@ -16,4 +177,4 @@ hours into a dollar value via a receivable account, is now trivial. See the docs for more on how to do this. - Began keeping NEWS file. :) +- Began keeping a NEWS file. :) |