Sat, 25 Apr 2015 02:23:06
<cae0qbawquk_uyxrthjjqfs_dbaj-mfw737botpl9ss7dyhs...@mail.gmail.com>
Ngewi Fet <nge...@gmail.com>
Hello everyone,
We are kinda feature complete for the 1.6.0 release and would like to enter
the testing phase. I am releasing first to the developer mailing list, then
to the beta group and then a rolling release to the general public. Of
course while fixing any issues that arise in-between the different phases.
Attached to this email is a properly signed apk file which you can install
on your device. You can just download the attachment and install or build
your own from the sources in the develop branch (very easy to do with
Android studio).
My env is:
Android-x86-4.4-r2 guest
VirtualBox 4.3.26
Win 8.1 host
Caveats:
the android-x86 vm is a bit rough around the edges (e.g. I can't get it
to use guest additions) but surprisingly stable
I do not own a physical android device and my PC doesn't have a touch
screen so some of the interface stuff is classic common language but no
effective communication for me
I can't make sense of the android directory structure in spite of the
fact that I put it on an ext2 file system that I can mount and have a
look at under standard Linux
As a result I used google drive for file xfer between my android and the
rest of the world, that was in itself confusing until I got the sync
right.
Given the above anything below could be me being wrong rather than the
app.
Onwards:
I installed the google play version and then the .apk over that but it
reverted to the google play version. So I got rid of the google play
one and installed the apk bare, we (the vm and I) were both happier with
that.
Suggestion: before I figured things out it wasn't clear to me whether I
was using the pre-beta or the google play version. I missed the
equivalent of Help / About or similar which I looked for on the menu off
to the left that has
Accounts
Open
...
Transactions
Scheduled
...
Settings
Maybe it is somewhere else on an Android and I just don't know where to
look
Similarly I don't know which file I am working with on android, in
desktop I can see whether I'm using ABC.gnca or ABC.xml or XYZ.gnucash.
Once again it is possible this is very obvious to people more familiar
with androids and I'm just not seeing it.
This is a pre-beta release so please **BACK UP YOUR DATA** before
installing it.
No risk here, I'm in the position of being able to throw my android
against the wall as often as I like :)
Notable highlights in this release include:
- Improved recurrence options for scheduled transactions
didn't get that far
- Basic reports generation (with bar, pie and line charts)
they are looking very sweet, a case where I think this sort of device
may be better
- Scheduled export to SD Card, DropBox or Google Drive
Didn't try the scheduled. I went for Drive for storage and it worked
out OK once I got the android to sync, see above about not understanding
android directory structure, what dirs am I syncing? Where is gnca
actually storing files?
- Improved creation of backups and restoring of backups
again, I couldn't work out where the files were
- Improved reliability of account imports and db migrations
I fed it a non-trivial test db in xml (complicated structure, not many
transactions) and it managed OK from my quick overview.
This release also adds automatic logging of crashes and errors to
Crashlytics which helps detect errors and improve the stability of the app.
This logging is enabled by default in pre-release builds but will be turned
off in production releases (with an option to enable it later).
I don't think it has crashed on me, maybe the clunky android-x86 vm is
actually better for something? Confused the heck out of me, sure, but
crashed? Not as far as I can tell.
Also, GnuCash Android now produces GnuCash XML which can be read by GnuCash
on the desktop (YAAAY!!) - There is a new XML export UI option and also as
backup format .gnca
*NOTE: *please remember that this is NOT a two-way synchronization*.*
However, the compatibility now enables you to start working on a file on
GnuCash desktop, open it in the mobile app, edit and save (to DropBox etc)
and then resume editing on the desktop.
Coming to this fresh (I've just glanced at gnca stuff before) I was
aware that there were previously some workflow issues. What you say
above seems a lot more likely to get people using it. However in
practice I found it a bit confusing.
I would appreciate a workflow example along the lines of
Use existing desktop file
xfer to android
do stuff on android
xfer back
pick up with new transactions
saying where the files were at each stage.
Each time you save, a new file is
created but the workflow is possible.
I don't have a Save or Save As, if everyone else has one would they mind
telling me where to find it?
GnuCash Android also registers itself
to open .gnucash files.
Are you sure about that? Once again it is possible I don't speak android
well enough but do you perhaps mean .gnca rather than .gnucash ? I'm
also not sure what happens with compressed files, it is possible my vm
doesn't have auto unzip and real android devices do.
Accounts, transactions and scheduled transactions are the only features
supported at the moment. If your desktop file contains more features
(budgets, customers etc), these will be ignored completely.
That fits well with the file I'm testing.
All the same, I am excited that we have arrived this point and continue to
look forward to new features and further integration with GnuCash desktop!
So please try out this pre-release and tell me what you think.
I think I wasn't designed for Android :)
--
Wm...
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