Foreign currency transactions

[barryl]

I have recently for the first time been adding foreign currency transactions to a GBP account. While Bank Genie Pro has all the facilities to deal with the I find the process quite unergonomic.

1) exchange rate

While BGP holds an exchange rate (taken from the net) for the "Net Worth" function it does not use this for the BS421 function. It would be much slicker to use this rather than require the user to type in an exchange rate or to go to the internet to find a new rate for each transaction which is quite slow. At the very least the result of a currency request should be stored for the next one as it is quite likely that several transactions are entered at one time

One could even setup a dummy account in the required currency just to use the feature.

Note that the actual rate used for the transaction will probably differ anyway from that found by BG

2) currency selection

In BS421 there is a selection box for currency. Obviously there are a lot of currencies so it is ergonomic to type the first character of the required currency. Unfortunately BGP insists on selecting the first one of that initial and asking for "a value for <currency>" before allowing you to try again.

There should be no selection of a currency until the user types an Enter.

3) There are too many prompts.

a) "enter a value for"
since one always has to do this for a transaction I dont see why this is present

b) If the user types in an exchange rate to avoid the internet  lookup and clicks on APPLY then there is a prompt asking if the typed rate should be used, which seems too much as what else would the user want?

Similar comment for convert.

[ideasguy]

Many discussion points could arise from your posting Barry.
Perhaps we could refer to discussions in this thread as Items 1, 2 and 3.

Item 1.
RE:

Note that the actual rate used for the transaction will probably differ anyway from that found by BG

Yes, the exchange rate returned by the service will differ slightly even over the duration of a day, and that is why I haven't used the exchange rates calculated in the Net Worth program.
In the case of users who have multi currencies, I imagine the user will use the Currency Refresh tool each day a net worth is to be calculated.
However, in the case of ADDING a foreign currency transaction (in BS421):-

• if Net Worth calculatins were to be used for a transaction made today, the Net Worth calculations would need to be calculated first, before using BS421.
  Bank Genie obviates that requirement by allowing you to Calculate an exchange rate on the fly in BS421.
  In our subsequent email exchanges, we discovered that there was a reason for the delay you were experiencing when clicking Convert to obtain an exchange rate.
  I find its a very short time and quite acceptable. How is this feature working for you now?
  I'd like comments from others on the time required to calculate an exchange Rate.
• the Net Worth calculations would only be valid if the Transaction was made on the same date the user last used the refresh tool in the Net Worth program
  As I see it, that would only work for today
• the Net Worth calculations would be invalid for yesterday and earlier and could not be used

RE:

At the very least the result of a currency request should be stored for the next one as it is quite likely that several transactions are entered at one time

Good idea. I will look at providing that.
It would entail yet another message though! Something like Use last Exchange Rate calculated for this currency
Meanwhile, If several transactions are to be added, I would recommend using the Repeat feature (checkbox).
Using Repeat the Exchange Rate determined will be available for a batch of similar transactions.

Item 2.
The Currency selection is in a pop-up.
Normal use is to use the down arrow in the pop-up and select the correct Currency.
Bank Genie then tells the user what to do next i.e. in the correct sequence to make the data entry correct.
I had to program that message for guidance for new users.

That message can be disabled quite easily by the user - simply uncheck the Show Help Balloons checkbox.

I know you prefer to type into a pop-up (sometimes called a dropdown), hence the niggle you have from that message.
Try disabling the message. Does that help?
 
Item 3
I will modify the program to disable those messages when the user unchecks Show Help Balloons

[barryl]

Re item 2

The problem is that the popup for currencies contains a very large number of currencies, so scanning down using the arrow for something midway down the alphabet (let alone near the end) is quite time consuming. So my preferred tactic is to type the first letter to get in the right zone and then scan. It is annoying that if you do that Bank Genie assumes you actually meant the fist currency starting with that letter.

[barryl]

Re item 1. My point actually is that the value given by the currency program online is not going to tbe the one used by the bank or credit card company so it is of necessity an approximation. In which case one does not need to be too fussy in getting an exact value, as it will need to be changed later in any event.

As we discussed my access to the calculation program was completely blocked by some damage that misguided "updaters"  had done to IE; since I do not regularly use IE I had not noticed.

[ideasguy]

Thanks for segregating your replies Barry.

Re Item 2
I've made a change to the code in the popup.
When you key the first character, the focus stays with the popup. Before it moved immediately to next field to allow you to enter the amount for the currency selected.
The first currency beginning with the letter typed is selected. Lets refer to that as the initial point.
Since the focus now stays with the popup, you can now use the down arrow key on the keyboard to scroll up or down the list of currencies from the initial point if necessary to select a currency near to the initial point.
If you click Enter, or use the Tab key, the cursor moves to the next field to allow the amount for the currency selected to be entered.

[barryl]

Exactly what I wanted! Thanks very much George.

[ideasguy]

This change is included in the group download dated 6th August 2013 (or later):
http://www.bankgenie.net/support/Program-Updates-Group1/program-updates-group1.html

[barryl]

and it works a treat! Thanks George.

BTW I was surprised not to see an announcement for this update group.

[ideasguy]

That's good news Barry!

I don't always broadcast program updates. I expect members to visit from time to time and follow the topics in the Bank Genie board - particularly "Whats New" and "Requests and suggestions for additional features".