> On Jul 13, 2023, at 01:34, Tomer Altman <m...@tomeraltman.net> wrote:
>
> On 7/12/23 6:26 PM, john wrote:
>>
>>
>>> On Jul 12, 2023, at 16:16, Tomer Altman <m...@tomeraltman.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>> Due to filesystem errors, I had to reinstall MacOS on my 2015 Macbook Air
>>> (current OS version: Monterey 12.6.7). After doing so, and restoring my
>>> files from a TimeMachine backup using Migration Assistant, I started
>>> getting this error when trying to open my accounting file:
>>>
>>> "No suitable backend was found for <FILE>."
>>>
>>> (where "<FILE>" is a stand-in for the actual file name)
>>>
>>> I was at the time using a version of GnuCash from December 2022. I then
>>> reinstalled using the installer available from gnucash.org (current
>>> version: "5.3+(2023-06-26)" ). Unfortunately, the error persists.
>>>
>>> Looking at this error message in the mailing list archives, it seems like
>>> this has something to do with using the SQLite back-end. I looked at the
>>> 'environment' text file, and it is implementing already the environment
>>> variable recommended as a fix:
>>>
>>> GNC_DBD_DIR={SYS_LIB}/dbd
>>>
>>> It seems like my install is still unable to find the libraries that it
>>> needs, though.
>>>
>>> It's unclear to me how to diagnose which version of the back-end my file is
>>> using, since I cannot open it. Using 'file' and 'head' shows that it is not
>>> XML, and I am unable to decompress the file using Gzip. I'm also unable to
>>> open it using the sqlite3 command line tool.
>>>
>>> So, two questions:
>>>
>>> 1. What's the correct way to verify the back-end type using something other
>>> than GnuCash itself?
>>>
>>> 2. What is wrong with my fresh install that is preventing me from opening
>>> up the file?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any and all advice and assistance!
>>
>> If it's a SQLite file you can open it with sqlite3, provided by macOS. Just
>> open Terminal and run
>> sqlite3 /path/to/my/gnucash/file
>> You can use the `.tables` command to list the tables and `.schema
>> <tablename>` to show the structure and compare it with
>> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/SQL.
>>
>> 99% of the time when users report this problem it's because they're trying
>> to open a log file or a .gcm file instead of their actual book.
>>
>> Regards,
>> John Ralls
>>
> Hi John,
>
> Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I appreciate it.
>
> I've tried doing what you are suggesting. Let's say that my "<FILE>" name is
> "foo.gnucash". When I type the following:
>
> sqlite3 foo.gnucash
>
> > .tables
>
> I get:
>
> "Error: file is not a database"
>
> I thought to myself, "Perhaps the SQLite3 file was corrupted?" So I went to a
> TimeMachine backup of the directory from April (before any issues with my
> laptop), and copied over foo.gnucash to a temporary directory. This file
> would open successfully with GnuCash. Using the command line, I see that
> 'file' correctly identifies it as a gzip compressed file.
>
> So it seems that this was an issue with the foo.gnucash file getting
> corrupted, perhaps from the filesystem errors that I was experiencing. Thanks
> for prompting me to debug this further. I'll restore my file using the
> *.gnucash backup files, and by adding in the relevant log files.
>
> If I may be so bold as to suggest a UI improvement: Telling the user "No
> suitable backend was found for <FILE>" implies that the file is fine, it's
> just that there's no back-end to support it. That impression was bolstered by
> the mailing list discussion of missing library paths. I'd suggest wording
> that makes it clear that the *FILE* is the issue, as in it's either the wrong
> type, or it is corrupted. Perhaps, "<FILE> is not a recognized GnuCash
> formatted file."
>
Tomer,
Good that you sorted it. Note though that if it's gzip-compressed it's an XML
file, not a sqlite3 database. Does `file` on the apparently corrupted gnucash
file claim that it's a sqlite3 database?
Regards,
John Ralls
_______________________________________________
gnucash-user mailing list
gnucash-user@gnucash.org
To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
-----
Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
