Personal Finance Assistant Changelog

What's new in Personal Finance Assistant 7.00

Sep 5, 2011

Ability to install and run the application on Windows 64 bit machine
Added ability to import the transaction data from a CSV file for following screens:
Monthly Expense
Yearly Income
User Transaction
Bank Account
Stock Account
Loan/Policy Account
Personal Address Book
Ability to auto check for new released version of the application (Internet access must be available for this functionality). Frequency can be controlled from Preferences screen
Ability to download (Save To File) the transaction data in PDF file. CSV File and Formatted text are already supported
Redesigned the Cost Basis Analysis Screen (under Stock Account) to generate a single report containing for than one stocks
Save To File action will save columns currently shown on the screen and it will also maintain the order of data current shown in the table
This application now requires minimum JDK/JRE 1.5 or above to run
With this release this application can run on other platforms as well, other than Windows. The self installation file for platforms other that windows will be added soon
Added ability to select the First/Last Day of year and First/Last Day of month from Calendar Dialog for Search, and Report screens
Reminder tables on main screen re-adjust themselves when main screen is resized
Added new preference for Font Size
Added new Look and Feel - FAssistant (Custom)
Stock transactions now allow quantity precision upto 6 digits
User Expense account is renamed to User Transaction account
Group Expense account is renamed to Group Transaction account
Bug Fixed : Password Manager screen - password field does not allow special characters

New in Personal Finance Assistant 6.00 (Jan 7, 2010)

Added the proper installation file (setup.exe) which will install the application to "Program Files" folder (if user selected it) and will add launcher
to Start menu and Desktop. Uninstall option is also added to the Start Menu folder.
Only one instance of the FAssistant application can be running at a time.
Application can run in Personal Mode or Global Mode. Personal Mode will allow each user account on the system to have their own personal version of FAssistant
application while Global Mode will allow only one user to have their own data stored in the FAssistant application.
Application login (on startup if configured) screen will allow to login as Admin or AppUser.
FAssistant.exe file is used instead of FAssistant.jar file to launch the application.
Now onwards (v6.00) FAssistant application can only run on Windows platforms.
Now onwards (v6.00) FAssistant application will use only Microsoft Access database. If an application is using Oracle database before
version v6.00 can still be used to migrate the older version of FAssistant to the new version which will use MS Access database.
Since this version (v6.00) FAssistant application will have capability of auto upgrade to new version. No additional steps are required
to invoke the auto upgrade functionality.
FAUserlog.txt file is created for all application errors. It also captures all important actions like database upgrade, import/export of data, delete of
important account/category etc. Every application start and exit is also captured. This file can be used to see the activity log of application usage.
FADebugLog.txt file is created and populated with all debug output statements if configured. This is configured in a .ini file (FAssistant.l4j.ini).
This is not enabled by default but can be enabled if debugging purpose.
Main screen is renamed to Dashboard.
Total number of countries supported by the application is increased to 173.
Added ability to combine accounts with different currencies in Account Summary and Miscellaneous Account Summary screens.
A Base Currency needs to be defined now to convert all account currencies to this base currency.
A new screen Currency Exchange added to define the conversion rate between different currencies. This screen can be accessed from Manage -> Currency screen.
A plugin is also added to get the latest currency exchange rates.
Plugins are now part of application installation. There are 2 plugins, Stock Quote plugin and Currency Exchange Rate plugin. Changes are made in Stock Account Categories screen
to pre-populate the available plugins in dropdown. User can also select the exchange names for the selected stock plugin. Like for India Stock plugin BSE and NSE exchanges are
supported. Currently plugins supports USA and India stocks. User can search for the stock symbols by using search functionality on Stock Account Details screen. Plugin for Stock
Price Watch is deprecated and instead it will be now served by the Latest Quote Plugin.
Added ability to create the favorite/shortcut for almost all screens. A new screen "Manage Favorites" also added to manage (update or delete) all favorites.
This new screen can be access by a newly added menu Window -> Favorites -> Manage. There are some system defined favorites/shortcuts that can also be used.
Following are the system defined favorites:
Ctrl+R - Clear Screen
Ctrl+S - Save To File
Ctrl+L - Admin login/logout
Ctrl+W - Close Current Window
Ctrl+Shift+W - Close Application
. All text buttons and menus in the application have a Mnemonic (shortcut using alt key) set to invoke using keybaord. On Windows system this can be accessed using the
Alt key and the letter underlined in the menu or button.
A new menu option Window -> Window List is also added to track all FAssistant screens currently opened. This can also be used to go to a already opened screen.
All pop-up windows (dialog boxes) can be closed using Esc (Escape) key.
All help pop-up windows will remain open if mouse is pointed anywhere within the pop-up window. Otherwise (if mouse is pointed outside the pop-up window) it will be auto closed
after the predefined time is passed. Use can still close it any time by clicking close button ('X') shown at top right corner of the pop-up window or Escape button or Ctrl+W or
Ctrl+Shift+W (will close the application) shortcuts. The time remaining to auto close the help window will also be displayed on top right corner of the screen (just before the
'X' button). Help window will be auto closed if it 0 and mouse pointer is outside the help window.
Added ability to open multiple instances of almost all account screens like user can now open multiple instances of Monthly Expense Account Details screen (one for each expense account).
Layout is changed of most of the screens to include screen title at top of each screen.
Added filter icon in all reporting screens to easily identify if a table header filter is selected on the screen.
Inactive records can be opened for update from all search screens. If an inactive account is opened using shortcut, it will be opened in read-only mode.
Inactive records are shown with colors in all dropdowns.
Save To File functionality extended to save as CVS format as well. Now following formats are supported. User can set the default format in preference screen,
this default value can be temporarily reset to different value.
a. Formatted Text File
b. CVS File
All 3 reminder tables shown on Dashboard are refreshed on any change (update/delete) of the record.
Added ability to define templates for 'Selection List' used in following screens:
a. Monthly Expense Accounts
b. Yearly Income Accounts
c. User Expense Accounts
d. Stock Portfolio (when accessed from Stock Account Categories screen)
e. Stock Price Watch (when accessed from Stock Account Categories screen)
These templates can be managed from Manage -> Template screen.
All fields labels with field help will be shown as link and underline. Clicking on the label will pop-up a help text window. Color of the label will depend on if the
field is mandatory or optional.
In most of the select boxes, once they are populated with values and first value is blank, this blank is replaced with text "-- Select --" and will be default selected.
Minimum screen resolution required is changed to 1024 X 768. If the current screen resolution is less than this, low resolution warning message will be displayed to the user when
application is started.
Changes done in number text fields (which accepts only numbers or decimals), to copy/paste formatted data (with commas), and also as soon as focus goes out of such field data
in text field is now shown in formatted form.
All edits in a multiline text field can be undo or redo using default keys Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y. Any edits made by the application can not be undo or redo.
Functionality added to auto logout from Admin login after user defined interval of minutes. User can define this interval in Options screen, the default value for this is 5 minutes.
A progress bar is shown for all long running processes to show the current state and % completion of operation being executed (like Export, Database Copy, Installation, Auto Upgrade).
In Bulk Load screen if there is any validation error the corresponding cell will be shown highlighted. Also the admin authentication will now be done after all validation errors
are resolved (just before it will execute the bulk load process).
Following new options added to right click pop-up menu for all tables:
a. Auto-fit All Columns : This can be used to auto-fit the all columns in current table for headers, data or best fit (combination of headers and data)
b. Auto-fit This Column : This can be used to auto-fit the this column (column where mouse is currently pointing to) for header, data or best fit (combination of header and data)
c. Show/Hide Row Tooltip : This can be used to show or hide the row tooltip for current table.
Table can be sorted for multiple columns by clicking on columns while control key is down. Now each sorted column will also display the sorting column index (1, 2, 3 etc).
During export of application data, the data for Information Details screen is encrypted so that it is not in readable form in the exported file.
Default file name for Data export is changed to have the date and version along with the file name.
Added two new buttons ("") on all 3 reminder tables shown on dashboard to go to the next or previous month which is having one or more reminders.
A new option "Refresh Selected Month" added to the right click menu on all 3 reminder table titles on dashboard. This will refresh the data for the currently selected month.
Following reminder tables shown on dashboard will have the Day (Weekday) also in the reminder date:
a. Maturity Date Reminder
b. Message Reminder
Added two new buttons ("") to Monthly Expense and Yearly Income Account Details screens to go to the next or previous month/year.
Cutoff Date can be set in User Account Details screen as well, earlier it used to set in Manage User Account screen only.
User can now define the Expense Modes to be used in Group Account Details screen while creating Group Accounts.
Group Expense Account Details screen is changed to show Sum Row in Expense Details table and functionality of 'Share Equally' is also modified for better user experience.
Manage User Screen is renamed to Manage Transaction User screen.
Moved Stock Portfolio and Stock Price Watch screens from Stock Account Categories screen to Stock Account menu.
A new screen is added to Stock Details screen to calculate the earnings using cost basis. This can also be used for tax purpose. Wash sale rule can also be used
to calculate the earnings.
Added ability to create stock category accounts with user defined decimal precision (Quantity Precision). User can select any value starting from 0 till 4 decimal points.
Selected quantity precision will be used in stock quantity fields. Once account category is created this can not be changed. Account transfer screen can be used to transfer
existing accounts with lower quantity precision to higher quantity precision.
Added ability in Stock Account Transaction Details screen to provide total transaction amount to auto calculate transaction quantity or transaction price or transaction fees.
Added functionality in Stock Account Transaction Details screen to auto calculate transaction fees for purchase and sell transactions.
Added ability in Bank Account Transaction Details screen to provide current amount to auto calculate transaction amount.
Changes done in Information Account Details screen to allow user to save the changes for a secured account if the admin login was auto logged-out before the changes were saved.
Added ability to create a new Transaction User when adding a new person in Personal Address Book/Dependent screen.
Added ability to change the look and feel of the application using preference screen. User needs to restart the application to see newly selected look and feel.
Password Details screen : A new field "URL" added to store the URL of resource and a button is provided to launch the stored URL in machine's default web browser.
New screen "Transfer Account" added to allow users to transfer an account between 2 different categories of a same account type.
Following account types are allowed to have this functionality:
a. Bank Account
b. Information Account
c. Loan/Policy Account
d. Password Manager
e. Personal Address Book
f. Reminder Account
g. Stock Account
All of the configuration details (Options screen) moved from FAConfig.properties to database for security purpose. FAConfig.properties file is now deprecated.
Options screen is renamed to Preferences screen. This screen is redesigned and database tab is removed as user cannot change the database.
Also a help icon is added against each field in Options screen to describe the details of corresponding personalization field.
Following new personalization options added to Tools -> Preferences screen:
a. Date format for backup filename
b. Show field text selected on focus in
c. Show row tooltip in tables : Almost all tables shows row tooltip for all each row. This will give the quick snapshot of the record.
d. Warn before discarding unsaved changes : On click on Close or Clear a warning messages will be shown if there are unsaved changes exists and requested action will be taken
only if user want to continue without saving the changes. This functionality can be turned on/off using this option.
Added ability in following reporting screens to see the breakup of the row amount split among all report accounts. Double click on a row in report data table to open
this new screen.
a. Account Summary Report
b. Miscellaneous Account Summary Report
Added ability to use in-active accounts for creating reports in following screens:
a. Manage Account Summary Report
b. Manage Miscellaneous Account Summary Report
For following screens, master screen is cleared after a save is done on child details screen and if there was no change done on master screen.
a. Bank Account Details Screen
b. Stock Account Details Screen
c. Loan/Policy Details Screen
Redesigned About screen and added info about application home page, feedback Url and Application Execution Mode.
Enhancements screen is renamed to Release Notes.
Easy keyboard navigation for almost all screens, buttons.
Supported the Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems with UAC on and when FAssistant was installed under 'Program Files' folder.
Bug Fixed : In following screens the issue of showing incorrect values in drop down against each row in a table is fixed.
a. Bulk Upload
b. Manage Account Summary Report
c. Manage Miscellaneous Account Summary Report
Bug Fixed : In Reminder Details screen, in update mode End Date field is shown as enabled for Frequency Once, also fixed the issue of not showing the details panel for selected
frequency type (like for frequency weekly all week day check boxes are shown next to frequency field).
Bug Fixed : Error while trying to delete a category for Bank/Stock/Policy account.

New in Personal Finance Assistant 5.00 (Jan 7, 2010)

Label Name "ISIN No" has been changed "Reference No" in all Stock Related screens. Also made field label as link label.
In Pop-up window shown when user clicks on a link label, type of the field (Mandatory, Option, Read Only) is also shown
along with Field Title.
Backward compatibility improved for consideration of minor versions also. Smart import option will be given
to the user based on the version compatibility.
When Application launches, check for DBVersion and AppVersion and if there is a mismatch, show warning to
the user.
In Export window show "Data Export" as default selected tab instead of "Schema Export" and current database type as
default selected in database type. Also added a Link for Tips for Export for Upgrade to describe the tips/steps to follow
while performing export for upgrade purpose.
"Individual Account" renamed to "User Account".
All screens where Text Area (Multi-line Text field) is shown, a button is also provided to enlarge the text area for easy editing.
Changes done in the LatestQuote and PriceWatch plug-in Interface to make it more usable.
Flags added in Security Details screen to show/hide each security in Portfolio and PriceWatch screens. Also added functionality in
both Portfolio and PriceWatch screen to overwrite these flag settings and see all securities.
Changes done in Portfolio and PriceWatch screens to allow filter records shown in the table.
Changes done in Portfolio and PriceWatch screens to show the current price background color in Red (negative trend) or
green (positive trend) to show the change type compare to the last price shown in the same cell.
Added template creation/selection for Multi-Value Select pop-up screen. It is added at following places.
a. Select categories for Portfolio Screen (Opened from Stock Account Categories screen)
b. Select categories for Price Watch Screen (Opened from Stock Account Categories screen)
c. Select expense modes for Manage Monthly Expense Accounts and Manage User Accounts
d. Select expense types for Manage Monthly Expense Accounts
e. Select expense sub types for Manage Monthly Expense Accounts
f. Select income modes for Manage Yearly Income Accounts
g. Select income types for Manage Yearly Income Accounts
Renamed screen "Transaction Template" to "Template" under "Manage" menu.
Stock Transaction Search screen - Table column position rearranged
Currency Field has been added for following screens. Search and Group By functions can be done on this new field as well
a. Bank Account Transaction Search
b. Stock Account Transaction Search
c. Loan/Policy Account Transaction Search
Functionality has been added to determine the screen resolution changes and accordingly location of reminder tables is
also changed to suit the new screen resolution. Also warning is shown to the user if the current resolution is not good
enough for the application to display all screens within viewable screen area.
Almost each table shown in any of the screen can now be customized for the width, ordering of the fields. User can also
show/hide columns of a table.
GUI of Stock Account Details and Password Management Details screens have been changed for better usability.
Screen Name for each screen has been standardized and is now centrally controlled.
All of the screens and pop-ups shown in the application can not be resized.
Error handling done for manual invalid changes made to FAConfig.properties file. If such case arise user will be shown with the
option of providing new password in Options screen.
Bug Fixed : In Person Search screen while providing any filter criteria for search an error was shown.
Bug Fixed : In Bank Account/Stock Account/Policy Account transaction search screen, if Group By option is selected and search
is performed; the color of the searched rows changes to "InActive" row color.
Bug Fixed : Duration Text (DateDiff) to round of months and years. Earlier duration between 01-Jan-2006 and 31-Dec-2006
was shown as 0 Years 11 Months 31 Days, changes made to show it as 1 Years 0 Months 0 Days. Also fixed issue of incorrect
value of daysOnly field.
Bug Fixed : Number only input fields without allowing negative values. -0 was possible to enter and the deleting 0 from the
last and tab out from the field was throwing exception. Issue now fixed. -0 is not allowed if negative values are not
allowed in the field.
Bug Fixed : Portfolio Exception was thrown if purchase quantity for a stock is made to 0 and there is no other transaction
for that stock. Also 0 was not allowed as sell quantity if current quantity is 0, changes also made to allow 0 in this case.
Bug Fixed : Manage Miscellaneous Account Summary Report, 'To Account' When column sorting is on and some account is opened in update
mode the Sum By column are mismatched.
Bug Fixed : Synchronization of horizontal tool bar in screens with filters for the table.
Bug Fixed : In update and delete mode clicking the same radio button twice will remove the selection from both the radio buttons.
Bug Fixed : Date Format shown on main screen for "Maturity Reminders" is not as per standard "MMM DD, YYYY"

New in Personal Finance Assistant 4.00 (Mar 27, 2007)

Change List
1. Added one for filter in Portfolio screen to select records for defined % Expected Earnings.
2. Added 5 more columns for each security (each row in table) to calculate and show smart earning details.
3. Changed layout of Password manager screen to increase width of Category Name combo box.
4. Changed layout of Price Watch screen for better visibility of all fields.
5. Added Today button in Calendar pop-up. To select today's Date.
6. Bug Fixed: Allow blank space in Information field of Info and Reminder Account Search Screen.
7. Bug Fixed: Exception while doing Date Sorting with *Group Average option in Monthly Expense Report Screen.
8. Application Version, Release Date and Timestamp added in exported file.
9. Format of Enhancements.txt file changed
10. Bug fixed in Reminder Account - For Weekly, Monthly and Yearly Frequency types
11. Maximum text length for all of the input text fields has been increased and standardized.
12. Added new link on Main Screen for Admin Log In/Out. This is also linked with Password Manager and Info
Details screens.
13. Keyboard shortcuts added for all menu, sub menu and menu items.
14. Export and Import options moved to File menu from Tools menu.
15. Savings Summary Report renamed to Miscellaneous Account Summary Report
16. Right click menu added to all 3 reminders on main screen
17. Ability to resize all 3 reminders on main screen
18. Ability to save the last layout of the Main Screen - Property added in Options screen
19. Added new screen to add new currencies to the application form pre-populated list of about 95 countries and currencies.
20. Bug fixed in all decimal input fields to display decimal values greater than 8 digits.
21. Added a new transaction details screen in bank account screen to capture bank account transaction details.
Principle Amount text field renamed to Current Amount. Current Amount and Interest field made non-editable as they are now populated from entries made in transaction details screen.
22. Format of "Save To File" reports is standardized. The width of each column shown in the report will be dynamic now and will change based on the max length of the text present in each column.
23. Added one more optional dropdown field "Payment Type" in Policy/Loan Account Details screen. Possible values are
a. Installment
b. Other
24. Added Transaction Search screen for both Bank Accounts and Policy/Loan Accounts to search transactions for given time period same as Security Transaction Search screen.
25. Changes made to include both start date and end date in calculation of duration. So duration for start date 01-Feb-2007 and end date 01-Feb-2007 will be 1 Day.
26. Plug-in interface for Price Watch and Portfolio is changed
27. Layout of Manage Account Summary Report and Manage Miscellaneous Account Summary Report has been changed for better visibility.
28. Transactions are shown in color for Individual Account and Group Account.
29. Added functionality to do import of old version of exported data file (backward compatibility of data file).
30. Bug Fixed : Focus issue in editable table fields in Group Account Details, Manage Account Summary Report and Manage Miscellaneous Account Summary Report screens.
31. Name "Equity Account" has been changed to "Stock Account" similarly "Security" and "Securities" changed to "Stock" and "Stocks".
32. Equity Account renamed to Stock Account
33. Showing tool tip for all image buttons.
34. User can use arrow keys to navigate within a table. Down arrow and Up arrow will be treated as single mouse click on a row in table.
While Enter key will be treated as double click on a row in table. Tab will bring focus to the next eligible component on the screen just after table and shift Tab will take focus to previous eligible component just before the table.
35. Creating of Template is added in following 5 screens. User can create template of transactions to be used later to create/update a single record or create multiple records (bulk load). User can edit some of the fields while using bulk load functionality.
a. Monthly Expense Account Transactions
b. Yearly Income Account Transaction
c. Individual User Account Transactions
d. Bank Account Transactions
e. Stock Account Transactions
f. Loan/Policy Account Transactions
36. Added a new menu screen "Transaction Template" under "Manage" menu, to manage the templates of all above accounts. User can update/delete a template using this screen.
37. Color scheme for table, buttons, input fields has been standardized.
38. ReadMe.txt file is completely rewritten to describe the basic functionality provided by the application. This can also be used as reference help for any functionality in the application.