Re: [GNC] How to run GNUcash in portable fashion?

[aeneas]

Very nice reply!

It looks like knowing about GNC_DATA_HOME goes a long way toward solving my
problem.  From what I can see I'm not using AQBANKING.  Also, I'd speculate
that my scheme may not be be completely fool-proof.  I did search the
registry for "gnucash" and found some KEYS.  This causes me to think that
there could be some interference if different instances (i.e., different
thumb drives with different peoples versions) of GNUcash were run on the
same computer.  While I might expect some behavioral irregularity I'd also
be inclined to think that this should NOT risk contamination of the files
used to store the actual accounting records.

Just for the record I notice that the portableapps version of GNUcash (3.2)
has a directory named GTKDataHome in addition to GNCDataHome.  In my case
the GTKDataHome directory is still empty.  However, I am wondering if I
could/should make some accommodation for whatever purpose that serves? 
Also, there is another directory named settings which contains files that
appear to be exported from the registry.  To the extent that portableapps
handles registry keys properly it is a better solution than my home grown
hack.  However, another feature my technique provides is the installation of
a new version without making any change to an existing version that is
working just fine.  There are many circumstances under which preserving the
ability to revert to, or for that matter switch back and forth between, a
prior version is quite helpful and this can extend across several versions.

Anyway many thanks for the help.  It looks like my flash drive installation
is now somewhat portable and I also appreciate learning about some other
aspects of GNUcash which may be helpful in the future.



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[GNC] How to run GNUcash in portable fashion?

[aeneas]

One of the nice things about software designed to run on multiple platforms
is that it tends to avoid the use of platform specific features.  I've had
very good success setting up various open source packages to run on Windows
in a portable fashion.  While the  Portable Apps
   offering has some very nice capabilities
there are a couple of issues that cause me to like my own method better. 
One of these is the slowness with which new releases get transitioned to
their platform, which is the current case with GNUcash Version 3.3.

I've attempted to setup GNUcash to run flash memory in a manner that it can
be easily taken from one computer to another.  Coincidentally it looks like
GNUcash made a change in Version 3.3 that should make this work well.  I
noticed that the files used for storing persistent state information have
been moved from a folder named ".gnucash" which was located in the folder
referenced by the Windows environment variable named "%HOMEPATH%" to the
folder referenced by the Windows environment variable named "%APPDATA%". 
The problem is that it appears as though GNUcash does not bother to use
these environment variables but rather hard codes the folder names using
absolute paths assigned to the "C:\" drive with the default values for the
paths that Windows normally assigns to the indicated variables.

Of course the reason for having these variables is so that the paths can be
changed external to the software that needs to use such storage.  I cannot
think of a good reason for using these paths but ignoring the variables. 
Rather if GNUcash did use these variables I suspect that it might work vary
well from a portable drive that could be used on different computers.  Is
there any chance that GNUcash might consider doing something as normal as
this?



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[GNC] Can NOT edit scheduled transaction

[aeneas]

When I try to edit (revise) a scheduled transaction a dialogue box gets
displayed which says that the transaction is being edited in another
register.  This happens when I say "OK" after making changes.  This is
happening on GNUcash V3.2 for Windows running on Win 7.  I just opened
GNUcash and went immediately to the Transaction Editor.  In that, I haven't
done anything else after opening GNUcash.



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Re: [GNC] When changing to different version of GNUcash what should be done with data base or files?

[aeneas]

Thanks!  Especially good to get the alert about issues with GnuCashPortable.

Based on information provided by the PortableApps website  regarding GnuCash
   there are some known
issues.  This includes some unintended consequences when running
GnuCashPortable on a system that has GnuCash installed (locally) on it.  It
seems that there are a few things that GnuCash can do which involve a need
for registry entries which can be confused when multiple instances of
GnuCash are operated on the same system.  This is good to know about but it
looks like they pertain to features that I don't use.  However, I will make
a point of removing the locally installed version once I'm confident about
having made a successful transition.

It does seem like there is a good chance that a lot, if not most, of the
people using GnuCashPortable have installed a local copy on some computer. 
Therefore, this could present a fairly widespread problem for users of
GnuCashPortable. 



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Re: [GNC] When changing to different version of GNUcash what should be done with data base or files?

[aeneas]

Well now, I'm glad I asked.  The referenced links do provide useful details
that I didn't know and that does look useful.

I probably should have included a few more facts which follow:
- OS:  Windows 7
- GNUcash Version:  2.6.15 (I believe for more than a year)
- Data format:  File (SQLite)
It looks like the current version is 3.2 and apparently the last of version
2 was 2.6.21.

I've decided that using the PortableApps version of GNUcash has some appeal. 
One factor is that it is pretty easy to setup a new jump drive when it comes
time to migrate.  This allows easy path to a new release that has no affect
on current operational version.  Also, based on information learned from the
referenced links (above) it looks like the PortableApps version has done a
very nice job of locating all of the applicable data within the folder
structure used for GNUcash Portable.  I was able to copy my SQLite DB file
to what looks to be the GNUcash preferred location and open it without any
problem.

That's all been real nice.  However, my question comes from the fact that I
have enough experience in data processing to know that the kind of issues
I'm concerned about don't necessarily reveal themselves instantly. 
Furthermore, with this type of application it doesn't take very long to
become very invested in the new version and the idea of going back to the
prior release becomes a major problem to do correctly.  Thankfully the prior
version, in this case, is sitting there completely undisturbed because of
using portable GNUcash.

Therefore, I'm thinking there may be some merit to following a particular
path when undertaking a migration such as this.  For example, what about the
following ideas:
- Is there any merit to the idea of making a conversion to Version 2.6.21
prior to converting to 3.2?
- Is there any merit to choosing a different data format, such as XML, to be
used for migration purposes?
Sorry to be a bother but this does seem to me to be a subject that everybody
using GNUcash ought to be concerned about.




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[GNC] When changing to different version of GNUcash what should be done with data base or files?

[aeneas]

It seems that there always exists a possibility that data base/file
structures can change from one version to another of GNUcash.  Generally
speaking developers try to consider this and may make accommodation for some
older versions in newer versions of their software which means there is a
chance that newer versions of the software will function properly when using
data bases/files produced by older versions.  However, when needing to
migrate backward from a newer version to an older version this is likely to
be more problematic.  The nature of the data bases/files that GNUcash is
producing is such that failure to do this properly risks the creation of
serious problems when making such migrations.  This owes to the notion both
that the data consists of financial records as well as the idea that a large
amount of data accumulated over a long period of time may be involved.

Therefore it would seem that changing the version of GNUcash is something
that needs to be done carefully.  This should include some means to verify
success in a short amount of time insofar as it doesn't take long before the
idea of returning to a prior state known to be good can become extremely
difficult if not impossible.

Is there a procedure that ought to be followed when making such a change? 
What is the possibility that these considerations differ based on the chosen
output format?



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