Microsoft Money file format | The Coffeehouse

CSI3n

Microsoft is releasing documentation for the Outlook pst file (http://blogs.msdn.com/interoperability/archive/2009/10/26/roadmap-for-outlook-personal-folders-pst-documentation.aspx).

Now I was wondering if Microsoft would also publish the file format for the now obsolete Microsoft Money (http://www.microsoft.com/money/default.mspx)

This would enable Money users/Software Developers (i.e. me) to use and extend Money functionality beyond its life time. There are products out there (UltraSoft MoneyLink) which obviously can (partially) do that.

Any hint is highly appreciated.

Thanks.

ZippyV
Fired Up

That's indeed something Microsoft should do. I've send an email to the interoperability blog.

figuerres
???

I think the best case is that the formats are published to help users get the data out of the money format to some new application.

that would be a good thing for all.

but i do not think they will want to have developers using the application in any way... so extending it would i suspect be a thing they would now want to have.

Ray7

In reply to figuerres

#Oct 31st @ 3:18 PM

The easiest way to do this is just export the file in financial interchange(?) format (OFX). Most personal finance apps can read it then.

SlackmasterK
I write my OWN blogging engines

Leaning toward open-source money, this could be a bad thing Smiley

CSI3n

In reply to Ray7

#Nov 1st @ 1:41 AM

What I'd like to stress is that Money was/is more than just a list of lists (e.g. accounts and transactions).

It's magic are its "smart" payment matching, bill scheduling, budgeting and cash-flow forecasting capabilities. AFAIK there is no easy way to import/export a budget or a list of upcoming bill payments, including credit card and investment accounts via OFX (or, fwiw, QIF).

@SlackmasterK

Open-sourcing Money is not going to happen. With all the sensitive data, asking for the file format is already quite a stretch.

blowdart
Peek-a-boo

In reply to CSI3n

#Nov 1st @ 6:12 AM

With all the sensitive data, asking for the file format is already quite a stretch.

That makes no sense. You think that word documents don't contain sensitive data? Or Excel spreadsheets? Or PDFs?

That's not a good justification.

SlackmasterK
I write my OWN blogging engines

In reply to CSI3n

#Nov 1st @ 6:12 AM

That was a joke on money, not Money.

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

I would like to see them open source it. But I highly doubt it, since releasing the source code to something is hugely ex*ve and there is very little if any return for Microsoft.

I never really understood Microsoft Money. People talked about bank account integration, and while cool, my banks never offered it. As far as doing budgets, I can do those in Excel (and do*).

*When I'm not being lazy

edit: Why has C9 converted "e.x.p.e.n.i.s.v.e." into "ex*ve" ... Even little kids know to setup language filters with a space before and after e.g. "poo " & " poo" instead of "poo"

Dodo
I'm your creativity creator™ :)

In reply to ManipUni

#Nov 1st @ 10:11 AM

Because, ex‌pen‌isve is not a word and therefore it doesn't matter. Still, the word filter is stupid if it can't detect you're adding spaces or dots inbetween to prevent circumventing it. The word you were looking for is probably expensive (notice the s before the i).

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

In reply to Dodo

#Nov 1st @ 11:54 AM

Besides the point. A poorly designed word filter is poorly designed...

CreamFilling512

In reply to ManipUni

#Nov 1st @ 10:11 AM

It would do projections and work out the cash flows, show your account balances a few years out, plus run "what-if" scenarios. I found it pretty useful for planning. Although you could probably do that stuff with Excel too, with a lot more effort.

CSI3n

In reply to SlackmasterK

#Nov 1st @ 8:58 AM

Oh, shoot. I'm stupid.

(Now, it looks like a couple of guys know how to game the system, just as if money was open-source.)

@blowdart

Scanning Word files or PDF for account numbers and payee relationships is an order of magnitute harder than for QIF, OCX or other dedicated "financial" formats, so phishing and similar social attacks become much easier.

@ManipUni

I've done budgets and cash flow forecasts in Excel too and then I spend way too much time in VBA. For me, such a solution inherently lacks separation of code and data and is missing a lot of the services and conveniences tools like Money provide. Anyway, even if I wanted to go full-circle back to Excel or another tool now (off-the-shelf or self-written), I'd have to get to the all the data I meticulously entered into Money.

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

In reply to CSI3n

#Nov 2nd @ 4:17 AM

What do you need VBA for?

The only thing I've found that Excel cannot do with built in commands in text search/replace. Everything else I've asked Excel to do it seems to be able to do.

I'm not saying that Excel is the same as Microsoft Money, I'm just saying I don't understand why Microsoft Money exists, I dont understand what features it even provides. If my banks cannot hook into it (or visa versa) then typing in the information to that is no different than doing the same in Excel using a template you downloaded from the Internet.

figuerres
???

In reply to ManipUni

#Nov 2nd @ 5:26 AM

I think MS Money was created to compete with Quicken. and it failed to gain the share that MS wanted so they threw in the towel so to speak.

I also saw that the office accounting has been given the ax. I think it was supposed to be the MS QuickBooks and same deal.... did not fly.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

I think this is stupid. Microsoft should open source it's dead products.

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

In reply to Bass

#Nov 2nd @ 9:48 AM

It isn't that simple: Microsoft regularly licenses third-party code (often in source form) whose rightsholders probably won't agree to their source being made available.

Furthermore there isn't much of a business case to be made to Microsoft's execs about opening up the source: it requires time to clean up source for human consumption and for what gain? It'll also come back to bite them if they ever choose to re-start a product in future.

You say they "should", as though it were a moral imperitive, but Microsoft is an amoral company: shareholders come first, then profits, then consumers, then finally lowly employees's interests (who would probably be the strongest advocates for releasing their own work).

A case can certainly be made for opening up the source of games (Microsoft has done this in the past, see MechCommander II, other companies have as well, see: Parallax's Descent, and FreeSpace, or id's Doom and Quake) since it brings talent to the attention of the company, but I don't see any bright 20something student chipping away at MSMoney in their spare time, how's that for a chat-up line?

I suppose a potential business case to be made by opening up the source is to encourage third-party development on their own software, which they can then re-release themselves in future, but no-one would willingly contribute to a product that directly generates profits for another party and nothing for themselves. If they used the GPL (or some other copyleft license) then it might work, but it's a double-edged sword as another company could retail it. Microsoft could take the source and re-close it because they would no-longer have all of the copyright over it.

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

In reply to W3bbo

#Nov 2nd @ 9:54 AM

I think the better question would be, what does Microsoft have to lose by opening Money? Since they are not making any revenue from it anyway, the worse that can happen to Microsoft is nothing. But they potential for PR, they can encourge ISV development around it, etc. by open sourcing it.

It's like you have some computer you don't need, and someone said they'll take it off your hands. And you are like, no, I rather piss on it instead. Cuz that's just how I roll.

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

In reply to Bass

#Nov 2nd @ 10:08 AM

That might be logical if you could actually apply it to Microsoft Money....

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

In reply to Bass

#Nov 2nd @ 10:08 AM

No, a better analogy would be if you had a PC you didn't need anymore (but at the same time didn't particularly want to get rid of either) and the guy who says he'll take it off your hands will only do so if you disassemble it for him and keep the bits that you cannot give away (like the HDD, which contains super top secret stuff you don't trust disk-wiping software with).

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

People assume that giving away source code is free (hint: it isn't). You have to audit the code at the very least just so you know what it is you're giving away and if you even have the right to do so. Then on top of that you have to make a package which people are able to use and host it.

Even if third parties do develop Microsoft Money into a better product, so what...? What will Microsoft gain from that? People using their platform? I think they have enough of that already....

staceyw
Before C# there was darkness...

In reply to W3bbo

#Nov 2nd @ 9:54 AM

I could never get into the money UI for some reason (but I digress). A win-win would be a .Net accounting/finance library (with matching db DML) from MS for free or low license cost. As a library company, this would seem to make more sense. Let others write to your platform instead of competing on the vertical side. If they did it right, I suppose the bottom tier could be a provider model. Providers for Money (Codeplex project), provider for QB, default provider, etc. To help offset expense, it could also serve as the Next Gen "Northwind" reference library/db for perf tests and demos for distributed n-tier solutions. I would rather see things like QB running on sql express and using a .net api middle tier that you can hook into easily and works across the ms ecosystem of tools. This would also serve as a glide path from low to high-end offerings with a common base library (from phone to big iron).