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.  If you have all the dependencies
installed (see below), then simply do this:

<pre>
git clone git://github.com/jwiegley/ledger.git
cd ledger && ./acprep update  # Update to the latest, configure, make
</pre>

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.

|*RELEASE*|@git checkout v2.6.3@|
|*CURRENT*|@git checkout maint@|
|*BETA*|@git checkout -b master origin/master@|
|*ALPHA*|@git checkout -b next origin/next@|

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.  The
easiest way to get them for your platform is to run:

<pre>
./acprep dependencies
</pre>

If that doesn't completely work, read on.

h3. For building the current master branch

|_.Library|_.Min.Ver.|_.When needed|
|Boost|1.35||
|GMP|4.2.2||
|MPFR|2.4.0||
|gettext|0.17|_optional_|
|libedit|20090111-3.0|_optional_|
|Python|2.4|_optional_|
|doxygen|1.5.7.1|_optional_, for @make docs@|
|graphviz|2.20.3|_optional_, for @make docs@|
|texinfo|4.13|_optional_, for @make docs@|
|lcov|1.6|_optional_, for @make report@, used with @./acprep gcov@|
|sloccount|2.26|_optional_, for @make sloc@|

h3. For building the current @maint@ branch

|_.Library|_.Min.Ver.|_.When needed|
|GMP|4.2.2||
|pcre|7.7||
|libofx|0.8.3|_optional_|
|expat|2.0.1|_optional_|
|libxml2|2.7.2|_optional_|

h3. MacPorts

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

<pre>
sudo port install -f automake autoconf libtool python26
    libiconv +universal zlib +universal gmp +universal
    mpfr +universal ncurses +universal ncursesw +universal
    gettext +universal libedit +universal boost-jam
    boost +st+python26+icu texlive doxygen graphviz
    texinfo lcov sloccount
</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>
sudo apt-get install build-essential libtool autoconf automake     \
     zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev python-dev bjam cvs gettext libgmp3-dev \
     libmpfr-dev libboost1.35-dev libboost-regex1.35-dev           \
     libboost-date-time1.35-dev libboost-filesystem1.35-dev        \
     libboost-python1.35-dev texinfo lcov sloccount
</pre>

Or, for Ubuntu Karmic:

<pre>
sudo apt-get install build-essential libtool autoconf automake   \
     texinfo python-dev zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev libgmp3-dev        \
     bjam gettext cvs libboost1.40-dev libboost-regex1.40-dev    \
     libboost-date-time1.40-dev libboost-filesystem1.40-dev      \
     libmpfr-dev
</pre>

h2. Building

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

<pre>
./acprep update
# or, if you want to use the Boost libraries with suffix -mt, install in
# $HOME/local and build with 2 processes in parallel
./acprep update --boost=-mt -- --prefix=$HOME/local -j2
</pre>

Please read the contents of @config.log@ if the configure step fails.  Also,
see the @help@ command to @acprep@, which explains some of its many options.
It's pretty much the only command I run for configuring, building and testing
Ledger.

You can run @make check@ to confirm the result, and @make install@ to install.

If you have extra CPU cycles to burn, try @./acprep proof@, 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.
