GnuCash Portfolio Web UI

The code is written in Python on the back-end, and HTML/JavaScript/CSS on the front-end.

All the dependent libraries are listed in requirements.txt for Python and package.json for node.

Set Up

To install the required development and runtime dependencies, run

pip install -r requirements.txt

Npm's package.json is in the app directory. Go to app directory and run

npm install

To compile all client-side (.scss, .js) code, run

npm run build

in the "app" directory. This will compile production-ready images, styles, and scripts into /static folder.

npm run dev will do the same but for development. Meaning, the source code will not be minimized and webpack will continue monitoring the folders for any changes to the source files.

CSS

Custom SCSS is compiled with Webpack (when npm run build is executed).

Vendor CSS is bundled with Flask Assets automatically when the site starts.

JS

Custom JavaScript code is compiled through Webpack.

Vendor libraries are currently bundled through Flask Assets. It collects the vendor code from installed development node modules. Make sure all the npm dependencies are installed in order for this to work. The bundle will be built automatically during the app runtime. No additional actions required by the user.

Development

For development, run the web site: python app.py

and compile and monitor the client-side code with

npm run dev

Running

How to run the web app.

Desktop Application

The installation will create a command-line application called gnucash-portfolio. This will start a desktop application, using pywebview to start a cross-platform web view for the Flask Python web application.

First-Time Setup

• Config: In order to run the app, copy config/settings.json.template into config/settings.json. The options can be customized via the Settings link in the web app.

Execution

All the functionality is provided through a web UI. Besides the desktop application, the server can be run with Python using

py gnucash_portfolio_webui

from the root folder.

There are several ways to run the web app:

1. Run py gnucash_portfolio_webui directly,
2. Run the "run" task from VS Code,
3. Run "run.py run" (This script was created so that the app could be debugged with Python extension for Visual Studio Code).
4. Run gnucash_portfolio_webui.run.main()

Server

To run the web server only, go into gnucash-portfolio-webui directory and execute flask run.

Run npm run build to compile the UI for production version.

Lint

• run pylint app/ to run lint on the web app,

Debugging

The configuration for Flask debugging can be set in environment variables:

FLASK_APP=gnucash_portfolio_webui/app
FLASK_ENV=development

See run-server.sh script. Add the variables to vscode Python extension settings.

Web Application

This project contains the web application implemented in Flask. It is intended to be used as the full GUI for accepting user input (parameters) and displaying the output.

The app is located in the /app directory.

It is intended to run on a desktop workstation, with direct access to the GnuCash book file, stored as an SQLite database.

Benefits

Considering several factors below, it might be preferrable to use an independent application to work with Portfolio then to provide the UI functionality through GnuCash reports using gnucash_utilities project. This approach would utilize the gnucash book/database directly.

• Ease of development
  Developing reports on piecash stack seems fairly straightforward and much simpler than Scheme, GnuCash reporting engine. The control of the output is also easier by directly editing HTML templates and CSS styles.

• Performance
  Comparing the output through GnuCash reports on Windows to the output produced using the Python stack (flask + jinja HTML output + piecash), the advantage is significantly on the side of the Python components.