Mark J Cox

mark :: blog

25 Jan 2001: Apache in a state

I've got to present "the state of Apache SSL solutions" at Linux World next week so need to start working out what the state is. Basically, Apache 2.0 needs to be beta before we'll start working on the SSL layer and then Red Hat, Covalent, Ralf, Ben and others will jointly work on a built-in SSL module. I've been following the Linux World press announcements and there are some interesting releases, it should be a great show.

18 Jan 2001: </Office>

I started writing a stylesheet to convert RSS into HTML to replace my Perl, but found one in Apache Jetspeed which was close to what I wanted. Is there any software not produced by Apache? I'll be happy when we release a browser (or email client). Apache Week uses the Perl version still though I'm tempted to do a big overhaul and start writing the issues in XML rather than the "Ventura Publisher markup language hack" we use now.

Last day in the Newbury office forever. When I return the office will be gone

17 Jan 2001: XSLT fun

I couldn't resist it. Each night I grab the XML version of my diary and use Apache Xalan (using this stylesheet) to convert the latest few entries into HTML for my home page

03 Jan 2001: EGG and EGG Money Credit Cards

EGG has a UK credit card managed online. Although you can get your statements in HTML format Egg don't give any export ability. Back in 1999 I wrote a simple converter in Perl that takes the HTML from the EGG statement page and convert it into QIF (for import into things like Microsoft Money). Using something like Money 2000 or 2001 will let it automatically reconcile the statement and match transactions. In May 2000 I updated it to output OFX format, a much better format as it can transfer other information about the account such as balances. The same script deals with Egg, Egg Money, Cahoot, and American Express credit card statements and can output QIF or OFX format.

2ofx.pl (working June 2006)

To use the script:

Log onto the egg web site, and select the statement you want to convert
In your browser save the current page to a file. You sometimes need to do "view source" and save that version. You'll end up with a file, lets say egg.html
Make sure you have a perl interpreter on your system. If you're using Linux or other Unix you'll most likely have perl installed. If you're using Windows you'll need to get Perl from someone like ActiveState and figure out the command line stuff
Run
```
perl 2ofx.pl egg.html > egg.qif
```
Use "Import" in Microsoft Money to load in egg.qif

10 Dec 1999: Equitable Life Pensions

The Equitable Life used to publish the current value for their pension prices on a web page, but not available in any format other than HTML and they did not used to give past information. In March 1999 I started capturing that data and converting it so I could use it to track investment inside Microsoft Money.

Unfortunately the Equitable Life had some problems and it no longer became an interesting project. Also inside Microsoft Money 2001 you can find the Equitable life symbols and so the prices can be updated automatically.

11 Nov 1999: Lloyds TSB online statements

The online service from Lloyds-TSB has an option to download a statement in QIF format, but it got the date in the right order and it mixes comments in with the payee line. This simple Perl program converted their QIF to something sensible, but it's not really needed any more.

Hi! I'm Mark Cox. This blog gives my thoughts and opinions on my security work, open source, fedora, home automation, and other topics.

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