[GNC] Moving log location
Hello, I have been using GnuCash on my early 2015 MacBook Pro. GnuCash has been placing logs on my desktop. Lots of them! When I have tried to move them, I have “lost” data in GnuCash. As a result, I am gun-shy about trying to move them without some advice. Can I create a folder and direct GnuCash to store and find the logs there? Or some other workaround that doesn’t require a lot of technical knowledge? Thank you! Michael ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving log location
OOPS -- I hit Reply instead of Reply List, and didn't notice till after I clicked Send. Michael, if you have a reply please send it to the list, not just to me. On 2021-02-27 11:34, Michael Margolis wrote: > I have been using GnuCash on my early 2015 MacBook Pro. GnuCash has been placing logs on my desktop. Lots of them! When I have tried to move them, I have “lost” data in GnuCash. As a result, I am gun-shy about trying to move them without some advice. > > Can I create a folder and direct GnuCash to store and find the logs there? Or some other workaround that doesn’t require a lot of technical knowledge? No, unfortunately GnuCash insists on writing all log files to the same folder where the data file is located. (Your question is probably the most commonly asked one, for what comfort that may be.) It seems natural to put a frequently-used file like your accounting database on the desktop, but as you've discovered GnuCash is the exception. All you can do is set a preference for those files to be auto-deleted after a specified number of days, so at least they don't go on accumulating indefinitely. For this reason, most people dedicate a folder solely for GnuCash database(s). To move your GC database to a different folder, first create the folder. Then open the file as you usually do, and click File » Save As to save it to your new folder. Form then on, log files will be created in that folder. After checking that everything is okay, you can delete all the GC files from your desktop. -- Stan Brown Tehachapi, CA, USA https://BrownMath.com https://OakRoadSystems.com ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving log location
I shouldn't be answering this question because I don't have a clue about how files are stored on Macs but that is exactly why I am answering... The Help manual section 2.4 is the ideal place for a simple explanation, but it is not there. There is a comparable place in the website FAQ, but it is not there either. I think that the answer should be to put your GnuCash Data file in a dedicated folder in userland somewhere near the folders that you keep other financial PDFs and tax records that you access with your Office type programs. The name and location should be planned before the File > Save or File > Save As command is executed for the first time. If the user changes his or her mind (s)he can either use the OS file manager to create a new location and move the existing file(s) or just open the File then use File >Save As as already described there. There could be an entire section devoted to variations by OS as well as indicating the relative merits of local vs network or cloud storage in both of the above mentioned places. It should precede the sections on the optional file types. That is my 2 cents. On Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 8:39 PM Michael Margolis wrote: > Hello, > > I have been using GnuCash on my early 2015 MacBook Pro. GnuCash has been > placing logs on my desktop. Lots of them! When I have tried to move them, I > have “lost” data in GnuCash. As a result, I am gun-shy about trying to move > them without some advice. > > Can I create a folder and direct GnuCash to store and find the logs there? > Or some other workaround that doesn’t require a lot of technical knowledge? > > Thank you! > Michael > > ___ > gnucash-user mailing list > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. > - > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. > -- David Carlson ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving log location
Michael, You should be able to create a folder for your GnuCash files and copy the main file and all of its backup and log files from the desktop into the folder. When you next run GnuCash it will not be able to find the file in the desktop location. You should then be able to use the File-.Open dialog from the menu to locate the folder you have put the files in and open the main data file ( the one without any date-time stamp before the .gnucash in the file extension(s)). After that you should be able to operate normally. I'm not a MAC user so there may be some subtleties I might have missed but AFAIK its that straightforward. The log and backup files are AFAIK created in the same folder as the parent file.I don't think there is a way to easily locate them elsewhere. I have a number of separate GnuCash data files and I put each in their own folder David Cousens - David Cousens -- Sent from: http://gnucash.1415818.n4.nabble.com/GnuCash-User-f1415819.html ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving log location
On 28/2/21 16:06, David Cousens wrote: You should be able to create a folder for your GnuCash files and copy the main file and all of its backup and log files from the desktop into the folder. When you next run GnuCash it will not be able to find the file in the desktop location. You should then be able to use the File-.Open dialog from the menu to locate the folder you have put the files in and open the main data file ( the one without any date-time stamp before the .gnucash in the file extension(s)). After that you should be able to operate normally. I'm not a MAC user so there may be some subtleties I might have missed but AFAIK its that straightforward. I don't think there are any further subtleties. All the relevant filenames should start with Name_of_Account.gnucash. The log and backup files are AFAIK created in the same folder as the parent file. That's correct. I don't think there is a way to easily locate them elsewhere. I don't know of an way to do it either. I have a number of separate GnuCash data files and I put each in their own folder That would make sense on a Mac, too. There's a lot of clutter of log and backup files and one directory for each set of accounts files would make sense. Peter ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving log location
Back in 2012, I wrote, and it's true today (with additional iterations of the topic in 2016 & 2018): This comes up with some regularity. There is an enhancement request at: http://gnucash.uservoice.com/forums/101223-feature-request/suggestions/1470507-configuration-option-for-backup-location And, there was a bug filed in 2008 with some discussion of philosophical reasons for the management of logfiles at: https://bugs.gnucash.org/show_bug.cgi?id=537605 There are a couple of other enhancement request bugs at: https://bugs.gnucash.org/show_bug.cgi?id=638858 and https://bugs.gnucash.org/show_bug.cgi?id=619119 David Original Message From: prl Sent: Sun Feb 28 02:20:06 EST 2021 To: gnucash-user@gnucash.org Subject: Re: [GNC] Moving log location On 28/2/21 16:06, David Cousens wrote: > You should be able to create a folder for your GnuCash files and copy the > main file and all of its backup and log files from the desktop into the > folder. When you next run GnuCash it will not be able to find the file in > the desktop location. You should then be able to use the File-.Open dialog > from the menu to locate the folder you have put the files in and open the > main data file ( the one without any date-time stamp before the .gnucash in > the file extension(s)). After that you should be able to operate normally. > I'm not a MAC user so there may be some subtleties I might have missed but > AFAIK its that straightforward. I don't think there are any further subtleties. All the relevant filenames should start with Name_of_Account.gnucash. > The log and backup files are AFAIK created > in the same folder as the parent file. That's correct. > I don't think there is a way to easily > locate them elsewhere. I don't know of an way to do it either. > I have a number of separate GnuCash data files and I > put each in their own folder That would make sense on a Mac, too. There's a lot of clutter of log and backup files and one directory for each set of accounts files would make sense. Peter ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving log location
You have been given a solution. Create a folder, aka directory, where you would ordinarily put data and move your gnucash file there. Gnucash will create those log files in the same directory that the data file is in. But that you have this problem indicates an underlying issue understanding what the "desktop" directory (file folder) should be used for. Except possibly as a temporary place while moving things around, what you normally should have there are just "shortcuts", pointers to things as opposed to the things themselves. The desktop is to have an easy/quick way to get to things as opposed to where you want to store them. Michael D Novack ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving log location
On 2021-02-28 11:46, Michael Margolis wrote: > Hi Stan and David, > > Thank you for your helpful emails. As you suggested, I created a new folder > and “saved as” the GnuCash file to that new folder. As a result, new logs and > files are automatically saving to this new folder. No glitches. I moved all > the old logs from my desktop into a different new folder and, finally, into > the trash. Everything works perfectly—no missing data entries. No more logs > on my desktop. Happy camper! > > Many thanks for your help, > Michael Margolis Happy to help, Michael! Thanks for letting us know the outcome. -- Stan Brown Tehachapi, CA, USA https://BrownMath.com https://OakRoadSystems.com ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving Log Location
I understand the points about moving the main file into its own folder and letting all the logs and versions build up there. It would be helpful, though, for Gnucash to offer the option to dedicate a separate backup or logs directory for logs and versions. Guess I could submit that as a feature request, though I'm sure it's come up before and has not been done for reasons. In the meantime, it looks like the only way to keep a clean directory for my main "project" is to move the Gnucash data file to its own directory, and put a shortcut to it in my main directory. I'm not complaining about Gnucash generating all that file traffic. It's helped a couple of times when recovering from (personally-induced, while getting the initial setup and the first couple of months right for me) errors. Only mildly grumbling about how it seems impossible to separate it from the main data file. Mike Brady ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving Log Location
Mike, This is already a long standing request, both in bugzilla and uservoice. See my other message on this thread for details. David T. Original Message From: Mike Brady Sent: Sun Feb 28 15:22:23 EST 2021 To: gnucash-user@gnucash.org Subject: Re: [GNC] Moving Log Location I understand the points about moving the main file into its own folder and letting all the logs and versions build up there. It would be helpful, though, for Gnucash to offer the option to dedicate a separate backup or logs directory for logs and versions. Guess I could submit that as a feature request, though I'm sure it's come up before and has not been done for reasons. In the meantime, it looks like the only way to keep a clean directory for my main "project" is to move the Gnucash data file to its own directory, and put a shortcut to it in my main directory. I'm not complaining about Gnucash generating all that file traffic. It's helped a couple of times when recovering from (personally-induced, while getting the initial setup and the first couple of months right for me) errors. Only mildly grumbling about how it seems impossible to separate it from the main data file. Mike Brady ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving Log Location
It's a long-standing request, enhancement requests have been entered, but the developers have not taken them up. Can someone draw their attention to this one? Judging from traffic on this list, it really is a problem for many, many new users of GnuCash. -- Stan Brown Tehachapi, CA, USA https://BrownMath.com https://OakRoadSystems.com On 2021-02-28 12:57, D. via gnucash-user wrote: > Mike, > > This is already a long standing request, both in bugzilla and uservoice. See > my other message on this thread for details. > > David T. > > > Original Message > From: Mike Brady > Sent: Sun Feb 28 15:22:23 EST 2021 > To: gnucash-user@gnucash.org > Subject: Re: [GNC] Moving Log Location > > I understand the points about moving the main file into its own folder > and letting all the logs and versions build up there. It would be > helpful, though, for Gnucash to offer the option to dedicate a separate > backup or logs directory for logs and versions. Guess I could submit > that as a feature request, though I'm sure it's come up before and has > not been done for reasons. In the meantime, it looks like the only way > to keep a clean directory for my main "project" is to move the Gnucash > data file to its own directory, and put a shortcut to it in my main > directory. > > I'm not complaining about Gnucash generating all that file traffic. It's > helped a couple of times when recovering from (personally-induced, while > getting the initial setup and the first couple of months right for me) > errors. Only mildly grumbling about how it seems impossible to separate > it from the main data file. > > Mike Brady ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
Re: [GNC] Moving log location
Hi Stan and David, Thank you for your helpful emails. As you suggested, I created a new folder and “saved as” the GnuCash file to that new folder. As a result, new logs and files are automatically saving to this new folder. No glitches. I moved all the old logs from my desktop into a different new folder and, finally, into the trash. Everything works perfectly—no missing data entries. No more logs on my desktop. Happy camper! Many thanks for your help, Michael Margolis > On Feb 27, 2021, at 10:11 PM, Stan Brown wrote: > > > On 2021-02-27 11:34, Michael Margolis wrote: >> I have been using GnuCash on my early 2015 MacBook Pro. GnuCash has been >> placing logs on my desktop. Lots of them! When I have tried to move them, I >> have “lost” data in GnuCash. As a result, I am gun-shy about trying to move >> them without some advice. >> >> Can I create a folder and direct GnuCash to store and find the logs there? >> Or some other workaround that doesn’t require a lot of technical knowledge? > > No, unfortunately GnuCash insists on writing all log files to the same > folder where the data file is located. (Your question is probably the > most commonly asked one, for what comfort that may be.) > > It seems natural to put a frequently-used file like your accounting > database on the desktop, but as you've discovered GnuCash is the exception. > > All you can do is set a preference for those files to be auto-deleted > after a specified number of days, so at least they don't go on > accumulating indefinitely. For this reason, most people dedicate a > folder solely for GnuCash database(s). > > To move your GC database to a different folder, first create the folder. > Then open the file as you usually do, and click File » Save As to save > it to your new folder. Form then on, log files will be created in that > folder. After checking that everything is okay, you can delete all the > GC files from your desktop. > > -- > Stan Brown > Tehachapi, CA, USA > https://BrownMath.com > https://OakRoadSystems.com ___ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. - Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
