Applewood Computers Accounting System Code-v3.3
Accounting system for smaller companies written in GnuCobol.
Brought to you by:
vcoen
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The file README.nightly should also be read if using the latest v3.02 code
that is updated nightly if any changes have occurred to code, manuals etc.
Latest changes is at the TOP.
Once testing is complete I would like to issue the ACAS system as version v3.3.
This will be reflected in cvs / svn source code versioning as code-v3.3 or
cvs-v3.3 with a new file reflecting this.
WARNING: The current version of ACAS built to the nightly archives is subject
to testing for all the new features listed above as well as some not so listed.
Including while testing to update the manuals to reflect current usage and
screen lay outs etc.
Offers to help in this endeavour would be gratefully received, and that can
include help on Testing, Document writing, updating, software updates and
programming new features if and as required.
I am, but only one person doing this work that originally had a team of 6
helping but as the ACAS system is now open source there is no funds to pay for
any such a team but in any event as I hit my 78 year birthday this
past June and my work load has some what dropped - brain power likewise :(
PLEASE READ: -
To help update software sources and manuals you need to be registered at
sourceforge so you can be added as a "updater" etc. Just send me a message with
an outline of the areas you wish to work on and an idea of your skill set.
Note all manuals are written using the free to obtain and use LibreOffice office
software that is available on all platforms e.g., Linux, OSX, Windows etc.
As thse documents are created using the ODF (Open Document Format) they 'should'
be readable using Microsoft Office product from 2019 and onwards BUT I have not
tested this as I am not rich enough to obtain it to test.
2025-09-21 * Vincent B. Coen
With most testing completed although full system testing still
in progress I have updated all source to v3.3 pre-final release
including the manuals. This does not mean that all bugs have
been found and all testing is complete. Any such will be updated
for this version and as time allows (and I remember) I will back
port all to the v3.2 version close to the same time. HOWEVER
the latest version will always be v3.3 at any point in time.
Purchase ledger is still undergoing system testing with more
order transaction entries and entering both auto payments and
manual one's with the various reports being run and checked.
Hopefully concuding before the end of year if not sooner.
As a point of interest all testing is complete for IRS, Stock
and Sales apart for some reports. I have not had any time to
work with General at all since it was migrated over to using the
GnuCobol compiler (v3.2 final) now some years back. On this some
logic needs changes to bring it inline with IRS processing at
least to regards of posting processing and to retain all until
end of year - as per IRS although this should not take a lot of
time - I hope. General is more complex in setting up the CoA
than for IRS as there are some special requirements for account
number used for specific purposes and I need to get my head
around these. It has been many years since I have even looked
let alone played with it and will require examining the source
code.
Volunteers any one ?.
It will require some accountancy knowledge.
2025-04-14 * Vincent B. Coen
All basic testing has completed for BO - Back Orders with the changed
or new program namely :
st020 - Stock Additions
sl970 - BO reporting, Update, Manual record creation.
sl910 - Invoice entry.
Manuals - Sales Ledger updated for BO processing although some more
info might be needed.
Building the ACAS System - Minor updates.
System Set up procedures Updated, more needed ?
Check for typo's etc.
2024-12-22 * Vincent B. Coen
To confirm all work on OE has terminated as the one missing function
it had over ACAS was BO (Back Ordering) which has been added to ACAS
although very much under testing mode at least for the invoicing
program (sl910) as testing has finished for the other program changed
(st020 - Stock Additions), to support it plus the one new program
(sl970 BO Reporting and amendments).
Very limited testing in sl970 amendments as it was an after thought
mostly for use in testing but left in for users - just in case as the
Sales Invoicing program (Sl910) after processing a BO record will
delete it after being used/processed subject to user request.
I.e., it only will offer to delete after an invoice has been created.
Currently testing is in progress although slowly for the changes in
SL910 Sales Invoicing to confirm all BO extra coding is working as
expected and the rest of the system if nothing else than to add the
needed data throughout the ACAS system for the testing. Additional
testing (System) to validate that no changes made over the last year
or two has effected the system functionality AND to help update the
various manuals such as Sales, Purchase and the various others
used to help set the system up, ACAS into etc.
I am always looking for help with these manuals so all offers of
help is greatly accepted and the only thing a volunteer needs is to be
a registered member at Sourceforge so that you can be added as a
valid updater of the ACAS sources.
2024-12-15 * Vincent B. Coen
Coding for Back Orders has been completed ready for system
testing but mostly fir sales invoicing as stock is already
tested but subject to system testing.
2024-04-16 * Vincent B. Coen
Nightly builds updated on SF as well as in the cvs code base. I am
trying to remember to keep this up to date at least on a weekly basis
but cannot find a way of doing it in a automatic manner using Linux
crontab process mostly cause bu the need to input the password.
Manuals are still being updated with new one's added.
For Sales Ledger coding for Back order processing has been completed
although needs to be tested which is about to start. These extra
processes includes changes to sl010, sl910 and new program sl970.
Also in Stock control - st010 and st020.
Recurring invoices programming has also been completed but again needs
testing as well. There is also some coding for similar in Purchase
ledger but is currently incomplete as the need for it here is
undetermined. Options ?
I have added a new nightly file : OE-nightly.rar which is/was an
experiment where the code was taken from an archived tandy website.
I migrated the code over from RM Cobol v1.4 or about to GnuCobol and
while testing have had to make a lot of changes to clear a lot of bugs
mostly from the original code.
While testing I found only one extra features present that was not in
ACAS namely Back Order Processing but only to reporting stage nothing
beyond. Hence the reason for putting the feature in ACAS Sales and
Stock. The one other feature? that OE has is dealing with Salesmen and
their commissions but as there is no actual Payroll system to link to
it is a bit pointless and as there is no Payroll in ACAS, likewise.
Why would any business want to pay people a commission taking orders
over the telephone ?
So, with that the only feature in OE that differs from ACAS I have now
stopped doing any work on it but have made it available to any one who
want to take a look at the code base and before you ask no, that is how
I found it but remember in the late 70's micro's had very small amount
of Ram to work with such as 640kB and floppy disks as there storage
medium. So very tight when programming an application.
There original ACAS code was also tightly packed but using separate
modules to handle screen output and keyboard input was never
considered as the Cobol compiler used did a reasonable job of it - MF
CIS Cobol and may be we we had more experience of programming in Cobol.
2024-03-17 * Vincent B. Coen
Started work on changes to SL910, SL920 to support BO
(Back Orders) in invoicing will need new program SL970 for
reporting such actions.
2024-03-13 * Vincent B. Coen
Added fields in System record to support Back Ordering in
System record area and Stock control and likewise in Stock rec.
Applied to ACASDB.sql definitions etc including the DB master
load. Change code in System rdbms loader, no need for stock.
2024-01-22 * Vincent B. Coen
Corrected typos in the item below :
2024-01-21 * Vincent B. Coen
For development and testing I am now using v3.2 final instead of
playing with 3.3 A/Beta etc due to issues with building it using
libtool v2.4.7 which is the version used in my system of Mageia
v9 X64.
As of today the licence for the ACAS system has been updated to
reflect 2024 and some minor changes to the COPYRIGHT notice
itself. For this, see any Cobol source files with the .cob
extension but it is shown here for reference: --
I have, for the last few months been working on migrating over a
OE (Order Entry) system that I found on a archived Tandy website
This Cobol system was written in 1979 for the RM Cobol compiler
version around 1.4. Needless to say it has not been an easy
process mostly due to the approach taken to keep the executables
within a 500k Ram for Dos and Xenix, Some of these issues are
still evident within the code.
My interest, was the fact that it at least on paper OE handled
BO (Back Orders) but the system has next to zero documentation
other than the original system specifications for a version 1
release. When testing the migration over to GnuCobol many bugs
appeared outside the migration, at least for the programs
tested.
This is most of the system but a few elements have not been.
This is due to time as I spent around 8 weeks on it with the
intention of considering adding it into Sales Ledger or
adding the BO (Back Order) element into SL. The testing so far
done indicates, that testing and development was not completed
as some functionality appears to be missing. In any event it
would take some time to migrate the BO process and maybe OE
itself, over to ACAS. So in this, I have at least for the moment
stopped work on it. The sources for it are included in the ACAS
archive but as a separate archive for anyone to have a play.
Another point is that it has differences in field usage from
ACAS in that the Stock item file has three different prices
available where ACAS just the one but provides discounts both at
the item level and the invoice so two of them would need to be
removed. The Customer file holds fields for Tax code, discount
and a few other examples of similar, that are not used in such a
manner and that would also need to be dealt with.
For the moment because of the way BO works (or NOT) it is on the
back burner. I suspect it still requires some 2 - 4 weeks
testing to find and fix the current problems lurking within.
So I will be returning to ACAS manual updates and system testing
both for the new and existing features that are not very well
reported on, as well as checking that the recurring invoice sub
system works as required.
For those that are not sure what "recurring" billing is - It is
a system that allows for periodic invoicing such as yearly,
quarterly, monthly etc, for specific services such as Rents,
Subscriptions, monthly software usage fees etc. This clearly is
more for service items and not notably a stock / product type
facility. A very long time a go it was installed but a more
basic facility and as no one was really happy with it so it was
removed.
The new version of this, is a total rewrite - sort of as many
aspects are taken from the existing invoicing system but
using a different data file that when such a charge is due a
copy of the transaction is passed to the invoicing system and on
to the invoice file for further processing within the invoicing
sub system.
Well that is the theory anyway, all subject to testing.
2022-12-08 * Vincent B. Coen
For development and testing am now using gnucobol v3.2 from
the current svn stream and this version is issuing a warning
about goto-section and these are a go to statement that goes
to the start of the same section.
So for all other than Stock an extra element is added to the
compile commands in the scripts for both with and without rdbms
(comp-no-rdbms.sh and comp.sh etc, for each ledger).
but for stock as it only had three programs effected it was
quick to just change the program sources in st030, st040 and
st050. Same applies to sy002 and the same time I changed the
dates of copyright notices AND the version numbers of changed
programs.
I have not yet found or received aa reason for this compiler
change that is creating this warning message and as the code
only does a goto within the section the logic is totally valid
although if a goto was going outside the section to another
it could present a problem but this does not happen.
There is no other changes and none that effect any logic.
2020-06-23 * Vincent B. Coen
Added a CDF constant to turn ON or OFF file access
logging in common/fhlogger.cbl
CURRENTLY it is ON, so after testing change it before
recompiling the ACAS system.
Happy 73rd to me and save paper !
2019-12-08 * Vincent B. Coen
Changed Cobol compiler sources to gnucobol-3.1-dev as
more stable than v3.2.
2019-06-13 * Vincent B. Coen
Updated all RDBMS load programs (common/*LD.cbl) to o/p
run messages other than no param file or no RDB set up to
file [SYS-DISPLAY.log] as these will produce a display messages
indicating the problem/s.
The SYS-DISPLAY.log file needs to be examined via 'less' to
check if any problems occurred. When running the load programs
via the masterLD.sh script it will output the content of this
file if it exists.
WHY this way ? because the displayed output from program have
escape sequences which disappears from screen and also does not
appear if running the load programs with redirects i.e.,
abcdLD > loader.log.
2018-07-12 * Vincent B. Coen
Update to the nightly builds archive.
Added Oracle's ISAM handling code as archive db-6.2.32.NC.tar.gz.
This is for anyone wishing to use the current test data archive
that was created using the DBD ISAM library.
If you have a later one in use, it might also work.
Otherwise install and then recompile the GnuCOBOL compiler.
The test data will be in its own archive in the nightly download
directory area.
Note that test data will only get updated as testing occurs!!
Test data also includes a dummy client and Company Dykegrove
and as this is used for system testing as other system are tested
in whole or part the file count will increase,
2018-06-10 * Vincent B. Coen
Updates to General Ledger sources, Building the ACAS System manual,
General & IRS manuals - See discussion area for more info.
2018-05-28 * Vincent B. Coen
Changed all Menu programs ACAS, IRS, GL, SL, Stock etc to check
that terminal program settings for columns and lines is => 80, 24.
This adds new system messages so the Building the ACAS system
is updated.
2018-05-22 * Vincent B. Coen
After init. testing of General Ledger found bugs in file backup
routines for all systems other than IRS - this is still ongoing.
Corrected.
2018-05-14 * Vincent B. Coen
Check source for the MySql & Mariadb connector-C archives to the
cobolsrc/ACAS directory via a link and updated presql2 to 222.
as not being picked up, again a link.
2018-04-25 * Vincent B. Coen.
Changed ALL menu programs that plays with system recs 2, 4 to save
system rec 1 and restore it in overwrite for RDB before doing files.
This way all of them work the same way, also save all opened system
recs before doing a requested system set up.
Hopefully this will stop the system record getting corrupted and
RDBMS processing attempting to run when RDB is not set up.
2018-04-24 * Vincent B. Coen
Reminder that the nightly builds on SF is not up to date so to get 'the'
latest as updated at midnight (UK local time) get from :
http://applewood.linkpc.net/files/acas/nightlybuilds/
The only file is ACAS-Nightly.rar although there is also
ACAS-Test-Data.rar which I use for testing !
This file is refreshed at midnight and then saved as the above if any
changes have occurred.
2018-04-07 * Vincent B. Coen.
Updated presql2 docs, presql2.cbl and MySql-procedures.cpy as failing to
compile as I had incorrectly copied over the one from ACAS. Updated
copyright notices and other comments in programs.
2018-04-06 * Vincent B Coen
Have now added the mysql-connector-c libraries.
You need to untar them using tar xfvz mysql-connector-c-6.1.11-src.tar.gz
then go into the created directory and run:
make
When that finishes then run sudo make install
This will install it into /usr/local/mysql
I am changing the ACAS build scripts to use that location so if you change
the install directory prior to building the connector then you will also
need to look at and change the compile scripts for ACAS but not the ones
used to build a non-RDBMS version.
For additional notes on building the connector see the documentation on the
mysql website and here I used the Oracle one. So go to:
https://dev.mysql.com/doc/connector-c/en/connector-c-installation-source.html
and select the correct one for your platform but I use the Unix one.
2018-03-13 * Vincent B Coen
The DAL deliveryMT.scb and the RDBMS table DELIVERY-RECORD has been
changed to DELIVERY-REC as all the other tables end in -REC.
Effective tonight's nightly build so remember to re-compile all.
IF you need it I have a sql script to run to update an existing ACASDB.
Just let me know and I will add it to the nightlies.
2018-03-03 * Vincent B Coen
2018-03-12 Updated instructions.
Tools needed are unzip or zip, unrar or rar or any other archive extractor
that can handle them.
If you are going to help test the nightly builds of ACAS you should
start testing by only using the Cobol file option within the ACAS parameter
file so leave RDBMS settings blank but only set
Cobol file processing set as Data File Handling to zero in the first data
screen when setting up or amending the system parameters that you get to
via option Z or on first starting ACAS for the first time.
There are RDBMS load programs for each of the Cobol files that will
read the Cobol file data and fill with data, the respective RDBMS table.
There is not any for the other way round so starting with files is practical
any way.
Current nightly release are supplied with a fairly current versions of:
1. GC (GnuCOBOL) as open-cobol-code.zip that is currently used to build
and test ACAS.
2. presql2-16B.zip for the pre-SQL compiler needed to create all MySQL DAL
modules and these do all accesses for RDBMS using MySQL RDBMS.
Presql2 is currently at version 2.16B.
This must be built using the GC compiler and before compiling ACAS
but only if you are going to use RDBMS tables.
So the order for all building from the beginning is :
1. If not previously done create (in your home directory) the needed
directories to hold
A. The Cobol compiler : cobolcompiler
B. The ACAS sources : cobolsrc
2. Unpack the ACAS nightly archive to your home directory in tmp directory.
From there - having used cd to go there:
C. Unpack the Cobol compiler into A (creates open-cobol-code dir).
D. Unpack the ACAS sources into B as cobolsrc (creates ACAS dir).
You can cd to these directories one at a time and run the unzip from
there by running :
As you will need admin privileges start with
sudo -s --- supply your password
ls -la /etc/ld.so.conf.d - - Here you should get some files listed
but if it does not exist create by running
mkdir /etc/ld.so.conf.d
Running unrar will add a file to this directory
cd cobolsrc
unrar x ~/tmp/nightlybuild.rar
chown -R your-user-name: ** [ yes there is a colon ]
exit - to leave sudo privileges
cd ~/cobolsrc - As you are returned to your home dir.
unzip presql2-16B.zip
mv open-cobol-code.zip ../cobolcompiler
cd ../cobolcompiler
unzip open-cobol-code.zip
3. Build and run all tests for the Cobol compiler --
Assuming you have also installed the required packages (ncurses*, bdb etc)
you can build with 2 commands: ./configure
make checkall
This builds the compiler then run the internal 900+ tests
some of these are skipped and one or two expected fails
then runs the NIST tests that can take 10 minutes or longer
depending on the speed of your system.
4. If not already done and you are going to use the rdbms tables for ACAS,
do the rest of 4 and 5 otherwise skip.
Install MySQL packages including the required
mysql(or mariadb)-connector-c, which contains the needed includes
for MySQL which are needed to compile ACAS.
5. Using MySQL workbench or phpmyadmin to run the ACASDB.sql to
create the ACAS database setting up rdb users that can update the ACASDB
as a admin and as normal users. These are needed for running ACAS and
building and running presql2 and its tools along with ACAS itself as a
normal user (even if under testing).
I will at looking for a way of doing this within one or more Cobol
programs if it is possible.
6. Go in to cobolsrc and in order:
A. Go into presql2-package using cd
Change presql2.param text file to match your MySQL installation.
presql2.param -- MUST BE DONE NOW as will be used to compile ACAS.
(After testing it with presql2, you can copy it to
bldcopy2.param -- Not needed for ACAS.
Optional extra tool not essential unless you
wish to print out a rdb table for Cobol copybook.
prtschema2.param -- Not needed for ACAS.
Optional extra tool not essential unless you
wish to print out rdb tables -> Cobol mappings.)
B. Build the MySQL api by running cobmysqlapi38.sh and the output file
from this ( cobmysqlapi.o ) need to be copied to each of the ACAS
source directories common, general, irs, purchase, sales & stock as
well as ~/bin, /usr/local/lib.
C. Build the three programs by running the scripts
presql2.sh -- MUST BE DONE.
bldcopy2.sh -- Not needed for ACAS.
prtschema2.sh -- Not needed for ACAS.
D. run mkdir ~/bin To create your local executable directory but this
may already exist.
So that you can run them from anywhere within your home directory:
cp -vp presql2 ~/bin
cp -vp bldcopy2 ~/bin
cp -vp prtschema2 ~/bin
7. Go in to ~/cobolsrc/ACAS and build the ACAS system by running :
comp-all.sh for RDBMS support or
comp-all-no-rdbms.sh for only using Cobol files.
If you get any error messages during this, find and fix the problem but
as it should not happen report it via email vbcoen@gmail.com.
8. Run install-ACAS.sh if doing it for the first time otherwise
run install-ACAS-preinstalled.sh
The later script will not populate your environment settings in
.bashrc and for these to be active you will need to exit the terminal
program and reload it to run the ACAS systems.
Although running the install-ACAS.sh script many times will not cause
problems running ACAS, it can make the file large and look messy.
Loading a terminal program will be slower as well.
Current status update:
2018-03-12 - vbc 3.2.00 Manuals been undergoing updates as well as new manuals:
Building the ACAS System - covers :
Installing the GC Cobol compiler with all needed extra
packages, building and running all tests.
Installing the ACAS code and building the system using
the GC (GnuCOBOL) Cobol compiler.
Installing the MySQL or MariaDB RDBMS system along
with the Mysql Workbench administration tool.
Installing the ACAS database and all tables.
Other notes useful to new administrators of the ACAS
system including all Warning and Error messages
produced by all programs and ACAS systems.
Setting up the ACAS system parameter file with detailed
instructions.
Additional information as I continue with manual
changes for the other manuals and wring the missing
ones.
Most of the new manuals and current manual updates for
v3.02 will occur during detailed system testing but
hoping to get basic one's finished beforehand for the
missing manuals for Purchase Ledger as well as major
Sales & General manual updates.
IRS and Stock need revising for the new release.
2017-03-29 * Vincent B Coen
In archive is presql-1.14f (or later) this needs to be compiled
with the executables placed in your ~/bin path but specifically
presql2o, presql2M (can be the same file), cobmysqlapi.o.
Read the documentation in the presql package for more details.
Also the Mysql or Mariadb client libraries and includes need to
be installed along with the MySQL or Mariadb package elements.
If it was easy, everyone would be a programmer !
I will clean all of this up prior to formal release but the
installs of the MySQL system will still need to be done.
Luckily Linux distro's have these in their repos.
2017-03-03 * Vincent B Coen
This code base is for v3.02 which provides support for the
MySQL rdbms (Relational Database Management System).
The usage of MariaDB can be used as a drop in replacement for
MySQL. If this file is in the nightly builds archive then this
package is the current state of development for people who
wish to use/view very early releases and therefore may well not
be complete.
The code supplied may well not be tested and bugs will be
present.
Documentation has NOT yet been updated to deal with this version
and likewise some manuals are still to be cleaned up.
This version must be considered at best an Alpha release,
2013-08-05 * Vincent B Coen
This code base includes not only the code for ACAS but
also extras to support mysql and other rdbms systems.
These directories / sub directories are not required for
compiling the system but to support new code for rdbms
modules/routines that are still in development.
These directories include rdbms, rdbms-win
and experimental-stuff.
To compile the system go into the ACAS directory,
and run comp-all.sh.
This does 'assume' that you have the GnuCOBOL compiler
v1.1 or later installed and tested. It is recommended to use
version v2 as it offers far more functionality over v1.1.
Manuals for all systems & sub systems are still in a state
of rebuild/rewriting and should only be taken as a general
guide. Hopefully you can spot where the original manuals are
still present in each document. As coding AND testing
continues these are being updated but I only have one pair
of hands :)
Additional programming support is always welcome so get in
touch at vbcoen at gmail.com or via a forum and let me know
how you can help. Like wise for documentation writing and
updates and testing.
-- Start of CR notice --
From copyright.cob.
Copyright Notice.
****************
These files and programs is part of the Applewood Computers Accounting
System and is copyright (c) Vincent B Coen. 1976-2025 and later.
This program is now free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; version 3 and later as revised for personal
usage only and that includes for use within a business but without
repackaging or for Resale in any way.
Persons interested in repackaging, redevelopment for the purpose of resale or
distribution in a rental mode must get in touch with the copyright holder
with your commercial plans and proposals.
ACAS is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
for more details. If it breaks, you own both pieces but I will endeavour
to fix it, providing you tell me about the problem.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with ACAS; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.
-- end of CR notice --
