Re: Getting started

[Adrien Monteleone]

I’ll also chime in with the following tips:

The TL;DR is that unlike most other software, you are likely to only use ONE 
file with GnuCash. And so, you don’t need to open the file directly as you 
would with other software. Instead, open GnuCash and it will load your data 
file wherever it may reside, and short of including that file location in a 
backup software preference for reliability’s sake, you probably don’t even need 
to care where it actually is.(as long as it is somewhere other than the desktop)

-

You can tweak how many log files are retained by checking in the preferences > 
general tab, option for Retain Log Files. You can choose ’never’, ‘forever’, or 
‘x # of days’, with the default being 30.

Certainly, you should NOT set your DESKTOP to be the default storage location 
of your GnuCash file (or likely any other file, but that’s another topic, 
wholly unrelated to GnuCash)

You CAN do so of course, but as you noticed, one should be prepared for a 
plethora of log files in the same place.

Probably, it would be nice if the software suggested some other alternative, or 
clearly discouraged the user from using the desktop as a default storage 
location with clear and understandable warnings. This has been a mailing list 
topic enough times that such an approach might be a time saver.

Most people in my experience choose the desktop to store things because they 
simply can’t, or are scare, to navigate a single layer of folders. (but somehow 
magically manage to do so FROM THE DESKTOP) But anyway, GnuCash is polite and 
thoughtful enough to not make you need to open the file directly. You don’t 
NEED to store it’s data file on the desktop. It lets you open the software 
first, and it will dutifully open the last used file by default, which for 
probably the super-majority of users, is a pretty sane choice. (the rest of us 
know how to open other files instead, or at the same time)

Regards,
Adrien

> On Mar 31, 2018, at 6:27 PM, Kevin Reid  wrote:
> 
> On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 1:40 PM, Jonathan Ames  wrote:
> 
>> I have asked these questions previously, but haven’t understood the
>> answers. I have basically no experience with non-commercial software,
>> and/or may be otherwise unworthy to use Gnucash.
>> 
>> - I want to use Gnucash for both personal and business purposes. I am
>> typing now on Mac/Sierra; I am wondering if I can access the same Gnucash
>> accounts from my Windows 10 computer at my office, assuming program is
>> placed in cloud (e.g., iCloud, Google Drive). Not simultaneously, though
>> perhaps several times/day from each. To date, the windows computer comes
>> back with 'file not found’, though I’ve installed on both.
>> 
> 
> It doesn't matter where the program is installed. GnuCash's data is treated
> as a document — you get to choose where to save it. Save it to a folder
> that's synced with your cloud storage, then on the other computer open it
> from that location.
> 
> 
> - I started setting up on the Mac — and generated a huge number of log
>> files; … They are covering my (Mac) desktop, and/or spreading like wildfire
>> in ‘All My Files’. Is this the price one pays for free software — i.e.,
>> having to constantly clean up?
> 
> 
> The log files are there as part of GnuCash's backups in case the main file
> is damaged or the program crashes. GnuCash will automatically delete old
> ones so they won't accumulate forever. But you should, when you save your
> file, *save it in a folder you create just for GnuCash*, so that you don't
> have to look at them on your desktop or anywhere.
> 
> (To get them out of All My Files, you'll have to go to your *System
> Preferences → Spotlight → Privacy* and add that folder to the list of
> exclusions. I think that should work, anyway — I haven't tried that.)
> 
> What you should do to clean up now is: quit GnuCash, find the main file
> (the one with the shortest name) on your desktop (or just select all of
> them), move it into a *new empty folder for the purpose* in your
> cloud-synced folder, then launch GnuCash (it will not find the file because
> you moved it), and select *File → Open* and open the file from the new
> location you moved it to.
> 
> 
> 
>> Also, are these files important to save, or can they be deleted?
> 
> 
> They can be deleted, but if something else goes wrong at the same time you
> have fewer options for recovery. GnuCash will delete older files
> automatically.
> 
> 
> Samples below.
>> 
> 
> Be warned that by sending these files you have shared some of your
> financial information — the log files contain transactions you have entered.
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Re: Getting started

[DaveC49]

Johnathon,

Just to amplify a little bit on Kevin's answers. If you are opening a file
generated at home using Gnucash on your home computer, the copy of Gnucash
running on your work computer cannot know where your files are located until
it is has opened a file for the first time. You have to use file open to
connect to the copy of the file in yourGoogleDrive/Dropbox/iCloud etc. Once
you have opened the file and saved to that location or even just closed it
again, Gnucash should remember that location in future. 

A lot of commercial software takes decisions away from you by default to
simplify use for new users. Those decisions can usually be overridden by
changing the options or Preferences and Gnucash is no exception. Gnucash by
default creates a new file in either the folder/directory which was last
opened in Gnucash or in the case of an initial startup usually in the user's
home directory or whatever it is called by the various operating systems
(Linux/OSX-MacOS/Windows etc).  

The FAQs on the wiki ( https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/GnuCash
  ) and the documentation (Help
manual  https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v2.6/C/gnucash-help/help.html
   and the
Tutorial and Concpts guide (
https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v2.6/C/gnucash-guide/
   are the best places
to start but for very specific questions searching the archives can also
help but older information in the archives can sometimes be out of date.

David Cousens



-
David Cousens
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Re: Getting started

[Ronal B Morse]

On 02/04/2018 05:45 PM, N B Day wrote:

On Mon, 2018-02-05 at 00:05 +, Buddha Buck wrote:

I don't know if it is what new users usually do, but I think it's
probably
one of the better ways to do it. A lot of the difficulties I see on
the
gnucash-users list come from trying to import data from other
programs,
especially multi-year Quicken imports.

On Sun, Feb 4, 2018 at 6:52 PM Graham Jacks 
wrote:


I have been using Quicken for my finances for some years, but I
want to
change, and I like what I have read about Gnu Cash.  I’ve had
enough
experience with double-entry book-keeping systems to know what it
means.

Would it be feasible to use my closing balances from Quicken, at,
say,
Dec 31 2017 as the opening balances to start my Gnu Cash financials
at Jan
1, 2018?

I plan to keep and be able to access my Quicken files for
historical
purposes (tax returns come to mind), but I was not planning to
import them
into my new Gnu Cash record.


What Budda Buck said.  When I converted to gnucash from that other
demands-an-annual-update software in 2008, I did what you propose and
also ran them in parallel for several months until I was comfortable
that I was getting things right in gnucash.  There is a bit of a
learning curve when transitioning but gnucash is so much better (and
free!) that it is more than worth the trouble imho.

We don't thank the developers nearly often enough for this wonderful
cross-platform software.

Good luck!


Quicken (gak) has a good reports facility.  I spent some time going 
through my Quicken data and printing to .pdf files stuff I thought I was 
likely to need in the future (mostly tax related).   I can get to the 
reports without having to boot Windows and start Quicken, although I 
keep both intact just in case.


As others have mentioned, there's a learning curve to GnuCash, but I 
found it very much worth the effort.


RBM
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Re: Getting started

[N B Day]

On Mon, 2018-02-05 at 00:05 +, Buddha Buck wrote:
> I don't know if it is what new users usually do, but I think it's
> probably
> one of the better ways to do it. A lot of the difficulties I see on
> the
> gnucash-users list come from trying to import data from other
> programs,
> especially multi-year Quicken imports.
> 
> On Sun, Feb 4, 2018 at 6:52 PM Graham Jacks  t>
> wrote:
> 
> > I have been using Quicken for my finances for some years, but I
> > want to
> > change, and I like what I have read about Gnu Cash.  I’ve had
> > enough
> > experience with double-entry book-keeping systems to know what it
> > means.
> > 
> > Would it be feasible to use my closing balances from Quicken, at,
> > say,
> > Dec 31 2017 as the opening balances to start my Gnu Cash financials
> > at Jan
> > 1, 2018?
> > 
> > I plan to keep and be able to access my Quicken files for
> > historical
> > purposes (tax returns come to mind), but I was not planning to
> > import them
> > into my new Gnu Cash record.
> > 
What Budda Buck said.  When I converted to gnucash from that other
demands-an-annual-update software in 2008, I did what you propose and
also ran them in parallel for several months until I was comfortable
that I was getting things right in gnucash.  There is a bit of a
learning curve when transitioning but gnucash is so much better (and
free!) that it is more than worth the trouble imho.

We don't thank the developers nearly often enough for this wonderful
cross-platform software.

Good luck!


-- 
N. B. Day
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Sun, 2018-02-04 at 16:41 PST (UTC -0800)
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Linux 4.15.0-1-default
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This computer in service for 2565 days.
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Re: Getting started

[Buddha Buck]

I don't know if it is what new users usually do, but I think it's probably
one of the better ways to do it. A lot of the difficulties I see on the
gnucash-users list come from trying to import data from other programs,
especially multi-year Quicken imports.

On Sun, Feb 4, 2018 at 6:52 PM Graham Jacks 
wrote:

> I have been using Quicken for my finances for some years, but I want to
> change, and I like what I have read about Gnu Cash.  I’ve had enough
> experience with double-entry book-keeping systems to know what it means.
>
> Would it be feasible to use my closing balances from Quicken, at, say,
> Dec 31 2017 as the opening balances to start my Gnu Cash financials at Jan
> 1, 2018?
>
> I plan to keep and be able to access my Quicken files for historical
> purposes (tax returns come to mind), but I was not planning to import them
> into my new Gnu Cash record.
>
> Is this what new users usually do?
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