SF.net SVN: ledger-smb:[2825] trunk/doc/release_notes

[..hidden..]

Revision: 2825
          http://ledger-smb.svn.sourceforge.net/ledger-smb/?rev=2825&view=rev
Author:   einhverfr
Date:     2009-12-14 23:11:25 +0000 (Mon, 14 Dec 2009)

Log Message:
-----------
updating release notes

Modified Paths:
--------------
    trunk/doc/release_notes

Modified: trunk/doc/release_notes
===================================================================
--- trunk/doc/release_notes	2009-12-14 18:19:49 UTC (rev 2824)
+++ trunk/doc/release_notes	2009-12-14 23:11:25 UTC (rev 2825)
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 RELEASE NOTES
-LedgerSMB 1.2
+LedgerSMB 1.3
 
 
 
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@
 
 * Perl 5.8.
 * Apache, IIS, or other web server that supports CGI.
-* PostgreSQL 8.0 or higher.  7.3 and 7.4 could be supported with some effort but
-will not work out of the box.
+* PostgreSQL 8.1 or higher.
 * Any operating system that supports the above environment.
 * The following CPAN modules:
 	* Data::Dumper
@@ -36,59 +35,49 @@
 	* Cwd
 	* Config::Std
 	* MIME::Lite
-
+        * TemplateToolkit
 	
 
-2:  What's New in 1.2?
+2:  What's New in 1.3?
 
-2.1: Database changes:
+2.1:  Framework Changes
+All new code has been moved to a new MVC-like framework.  This means that Perl,
+SQL, HTML, CSS, and Javascript are also now largely in separate files.
 
-All core tables now have defined primary keys.  This allows Slony-I to be 
-supported out of the box.
+The new code is also far more modular (and hence manageable) than the old code, 
+though it is expected that further improvements will occur in the move from 1.3
+to 1.4.
 
-Chris Browne has contributed a setup script for Slony.  It is in the 
-utils/replication directory.
-
-Also all user information has been moved into the database and the password 
-algorythm has been changed from crypt to md5.  This means that users will need 
-to convert their accounts prior to first login on the new system (if this is an
-upgrade).
-
-Also now the defaults table has moved from a one column per value structure to a simple key->value structure.
-
-
 2.2:  Security
 
-LedgerSMB 1.2 has been through a detailed SQL injection audit of the codebase
-inherited from SQL-Ledger.  As a result several vulnerabilities which were known
-to be exploitable were corrected along with hundreds of places where
-vulnerabilities may have been exploitable but we didn't have time to verify the
-what was involved in exploiting it.  We believe though that many or most of the
-issues were exploitable given a little time and effort.
+Prior to 1.3, security was not pervasively enforced in any real way through the
+database.  In 1.3, all user permissions are orchestrated via ROLES in the
+underlying database, and permissions are rigorously enforced in this way.
 
-Also, we discovered the template editor's security system was moved from
-blacklisting to whitelisting, eliminating a whole class of possible security
-issues.
-
 2.3:  New Features
 
-Metatron Technology Consulting's SL-POS codebase was merged with this project,
-providing a framework for POS hardware support and more.
+LedgerSMB 1.3 now supports separation of duties for transaction entry and bank
+reconciliation.  This means that permissions for data entry and posting of
+transactions are now separate.  By default, this means that a transaction now is
+entered first and then approved, and it only posts to the books when it is
+approved.  Bank reconciliation works on a similar principle.
 
-Online credit card processing support has been added.
+Bank reconciliation also has been entirely redesigned to provide multi-user-safe
+workflows, and an ability to reasonably handle a much larger transaction load
+than was previously possible.  This includes a new user interface design, and a
+framework for building parsers for bank upload files.
 
-LSMB now supports an arbitrary number of defined currencies for a business and 
-is no longer limited to 3.
+The single payment interface has been fully redesigned to provide a number of 
+additional features including the use of prepayments which are properly tracked.
 
-2.4:  Localization Changes
+The multiple payment interface has been redesigned to handle a much larger 
+transaction load.
 
-Localization functions now use Gettext .po files on all platforms.  This means that standard translation management tools will work with LSMB translations.
+2.4:  Database Changes
 
-2.5:  Other changes
+The contact management and reconciliation portions of the database have been
+fully redesigned to provide more flexibility for customization.
 
-The ledger-smb.conf is now an inifile which will reduce the level of expertise 
-necessary to configure it for non-Perl users.
-
 3:  Known Issues
 Reposting invoices is known to cause inaccuracies cost of goods sold and
 inventory accounts.  This problem has been confirmed to affect SQL-Ledger 2.6.x 
@@ -109,25 +98,21 @@
 tokens are not tracked on the server, so one can easily forge credentials for
 either the main application or the administrative interface.
 
-LedgerSMB stores the sessions in the database.  These are generated as md5 sums
-of random numbers and are believed to be reasonably secure.  The sessions time
-out after a period of inactivity.  As of the initial release both
-SQL-Ledger-style session ID's and the newer version are required to access the
-application.  In future versions, the SQL-Ledger style session ID's will 
-probably be removed.
+LedgerSMB 1.3 dispenses with sessions altogether except for handling
+discretionary locks (where they are stored in the db).  LedgerSMB uses http auth
+instead (preferably wrapped with Javascript to hide the credentials dialog from
+the end user).
 
-4.3: Database Changes
-Under certain circumstances where the Chart of Accounts is improperly modified,
-it is possible to post transactions such that a portion of the transaction is
-put into a NULL account.  LedgerSMB does not allow NULL values in the chart id
-field of the transaction.
+As of SQL-Ledger 2.8, the discretionary locking system can become stale,
+requiring manual cleaning.  In LedgerSMB 1.3, discretionary locks are tied to 
+active login sessions and cleared automatically after a period of inactivity.
 
-Also, the transaction amount has been changed from FLOAT to NUMERIC so that
-arbitrary precision mathematics can be used in third party reports.  This ought
-to also allow SQL-Ledger to properly scale up better as SUM operations on
-floating points are unsafe for large numbers of records where accounting data is
-involved.
+4.3: Template Changes
 
+SQL-Ledger uses custom routines for processing templates.  We use
+TemplateToolkit. As we move forward, the format of data sent to the templates
+will change accordingly.
+
 5:  Roadmap
 This project has no defined roadmap but rather a set of statements and 
 objectives contained in the documentation manager and trackers of sourceforge.


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