doc/README



                LedgerSMB Small Medium Business Accounting
                     Version 1.2.0


DESCRIPTION:
------------
LedgerSMB is a double-entry accounting system written
in perl. It has been tested with PostgreSQL, Apache,
Netscape, Mozilla, Galeon, Explorer, Links, Lynx,
Konqueror, Voyager, W3M and Opera clients on Linux,
FreeBSD, Solaris, Windows, Mac computers and PDA's.

Data is stored in a PostgreSQLSQL database server, either 
locally or remote, the display is through a text or GUI web 
browser. The system is linked by a chart of accounts.  All 
transactions for AR, AP and GL are stored in a transaction 
table. Hyper-links from the chart of accounts let you view 
transactions posted through AR, AP and GL.

Configuration files let you specify to which SQL database server
to connect to, personal preferences such as company name,
language, number and date format, etc.

With the admin script you can create, edit or delete users,
create and delete datasets and set up the Chart of Accounts
and templates needed for the system.

You can have a group of users using the same dataset and
templates for generating Invoices, Income Statements and
Balance Sheets or a different set altogether.

Templates are supplied in html, text and tex format to
generate most of the forms. Forms can be printed to screen,
sent to a printer or e-mailed.


COPYRIGHT:
----------
Licensed under the terms of the GPL.


LATEST VERSION:
---------------
available from http://www.ledgersmb.org/


PLATFORMS:
----------
Non specific, see requirements.


REQUIREMENTS:
-------------
1 - Perl, 5.8+
2 - http server (Apache, NCSA, httpi, thttpd, ...)
3 - SQL Server (PostgreSQL 8.0+)
4 - DBD (DBD-Pg)
5 - DBI
6 - Locale::Maketext::Lexicon 0.56+
7 - LaTeX (optional)


FOREIGN LANGUAGE SUPPORT:
-------------------------
28 languages are supported. Language files are
ordinary text files, no special software is
needed to change or add new translations.

Some of the translation files are not 100% complete.
If strings are missing, English is used instead.


FTP INSTALLATION:
-----------------
If you control the server and have shell access, the
instructions in the INSTALL document are preferred 
instead of those given here.  This is simply a set of 
notes for those who must install on a shared server.

If you do not have access to the server's configuration
files install LedgerSMB in userspace by ftp'ing all the
files to your server.

a) untar ledger-smb in your private_html directory
b) turn on script execution for the folder ledger-smb
You can control this with an .htaccess file

  Options +ExecCGI
  DirectoryIndex login.pl

c) protect the users directory with an .htpasswd file

order allow,deny
deny from all

d) protect the templates directory with an .htpasswd file

order allow,deny
deny from all

e) set up your PostgreSQL database and the tables.  The basic
procedure is specified in the INSTALL file.

You will most likely only have access to PostgreSQL with
some other tools like pgadmin.

SET UP A USER:
-------------
Load your web browser and connect to
http://localhost/ledger-smb/admin.pl

Click on "Add User". In the Database
section select the driver and enter
the user you used to create the dataset.


LOAD THE ACCOUNTING PROGRAM:
----------------------------
Load your web browser and connect to
http://localhost/ledger-smb/login.pl


INSTALLATION CHECKLIST:
-----------------------
1. untar LedgerSMB somewhere (i.e /usr/local, /opt)
2. change permission for the users, templates, css and spool directory
3. edit httpd.conf
4. edit ledger-smb.conf
5. add the database user ledger-smb
6. load admin.pl
7. create datasets for companies
8. add users

   In the Database section enter
   
   a) PostgreSQL
   
      Host:     for local connections leave blank
      Dataset:  the dataset created in step 7
      Port:     for local connections leave blank
      User:     ledger-smb
      Password: password for ledger-smb


IF SOMETHING DOESN'T WORK:
--------------------------
There is a FAQ in the doc directory.

There are also several mailing lists at
http://www.ledgersmb.org/
where you can seek free help.

For commercial support see http://www.ledgersmb.org/

=====================================================================
September 24, 2006