h1. Ledger: Command-Line Accounting

Ledger is a powerful, double-entry accounting system that is accessed from the
UNIX command-line.  This may put off some users, since there is no flashy UI,
but for those who want unparalleled reporting access to their data there are
few alternatives.

h2. For the Impatient

I know, you just want to build and play.  Do this:

<pre>
git clone git://github.com/jwiegley/ledger.git
cd ledger && ./acprep && make check
</pre>

If you have all the dependencies installed (see below), this is all you need.
Now try your first ledger command:

<pre>
./ledger -f doc/sample.dat reg
</pre>

h2. To the Rest

If you're reading this file, you have in your hands the Bleeding Edge.  This
may very well *not* be what you want, since it's not guaranteed to be in a
functionally complete state.  It's under active development, and may change in
any way at any time.

What you may prefer is the current stable release, or the current beta branch.
The *BETA* is what I prefer people use, since I still have a chance to fix
major bugs that you find.  Just e-mail me, or post to the mailing list,
they'll become a part of my work list.

  | *CURRENT* | @git checkout master@ |
  | *BETA* | @git checkout -b v2.6.2b origin/v2.6.2b@ |
  | *RELEASE* | @git checkout v2.6.1@ |

There are also several topic branches which contain experimental features,
though none of these are guaranteed to compile.  Best to chat with me on
"IRC":irc//irc.freenode.net/ledger or via the 
"mailing list":http://groups.google.com/group/ledger-cli before going too
much further with those.

h2. Dependencies

If you wish to proceed in this venture, you'll need a few dependencies:

  |_. Library |_. Min.Ver. |_. When needed |
  | Boost | 1.35 or higher | if you're building *CURRENT* |
  | pcre | 7.7 | if you're building *BETA* or *RELEASE* |
  | GMP | 4.2.2 | for all builds |
  | MPFR | 2.4.0 | if you're building *CURRENT* |
  | libedit | 20090111-3.0 | _optional_, if you're building *CURRENT* |
  | cppunit | 1.12.1 | _optional_, if you're building *CURRENT*, for @make check@ |
  | Python | 2.4 or higher | _optional_ |
  | libofx | 0.8.3 | _optional_, if you're building *BETA* or *RELEASE* |
  | expat | 2.0.1 | _optional_, if you're building *BETA* or *RELEASE* |
  | libxml2 | 2.7.2 | _optional_, if you're building *BETA* or *RELEASE* |
  | lcov | 1.6 | _optional_, for @make report@, used with @./acprep --gcov@|
  | doxygen | 1.5.7.1 | _optional_, for @make docs@ |
  | graphviz | 2.20.3 | _optional_, for @make docs@ |
  | texinfo | 4.13 | _optional_, for @make docs@ |
  | sloccount | 2.26 | _optional_, for @make sloc@ |

h3. MacPorts

If you build stuff using MacPorts, as I do, here is what you would run:

<pre>
sudo port install boost +python25+st
sudo port install gmp mpfr libedit pcre libofx
sudo port install cppunit doxygen texlive texinfo lcov
</pre>

You can even just install the current Ledger *RELEASE* directly:

<pre>
sudo port install ledger
</pre>

h3. Ubuntu

If you're going to be build on Ubuntu, @sudo apt-get install ...@
the following packages (current as of Ubuntu Hardy):

<pre>
build-essential libtool autoconf automake texinfo python-dev
zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev stow libgmp3-dev bjam libboost-dev
libboost-regex-dev libboost-date-time-dev libboost-filesystem-dev
</pre>

h2. Preparing the Build

The next step is preparing your environment for building.  While you can use
@autogen.sh@, I've prepared a script that does a lot more of the footwork for
you:

<pre>
./acprep
</pre>

If you want to run with complete debugging on, as I do, use this:

<pre>
./acprep --devel --boost SUFFIX
</pre>

Where *SUFFIX* is the letters that occur after @libboost_regex-SUFFIX.a@ in
your library directory.  It might be @mt@, or @xgcc40@, or @st@, etc.

Please read the contents of @config.log@ if the configure step fails.

h2. Building

Once you have the dependencies installed and the source prepared for building,
run @make@.  If you have CppUnit installed, I prefer you always run 
@make fullcheck@, as this will verify Ledger against the unit tests, the 
Python unit tests (if applicable), and the regression tests.

If you have extra CPU cycles to burn, perhaps try @make release-distcheck@,
which provides the most thorough shakedown of a healthy source tree.

h2. Resources

Now that you're up and running, here are a few resources to keep in mind:

  | Home page | "http://www.newartisans.com/software/ledger.html":http://www.newartisans.com/software/ledger.html |
  | IRC channel | "#ledger on irc.freenode.net":irc://irc.freenode.net/ledger |
  | Mailing List / Forum | "http://groups.google.com/group/ledger-cli":http://groups.google.com/group/ledger-cli |
  | GitHub project page | "http://github.com/jwiegley/ledger":http://github.com/jwiegley/ledger |
  | Buildbot status | "http://www.newartisans.com:9090":http://www.newartisans.com:9090 |
  | Ohloh code analysis | "http://www.ohloh.net/projects/ledger":http://www.ohloh.net/projects/ledger |

If you have ideas you'd like to share, the best way is either to e-mail me a
patch (I prefer attachments over pasted text), or to get an account on GitHub.
Once you do, fork the "Ledger project":http://github.com/jwiegley/ledger, hack
as much as you like, then send me a pull request via GitHub.