[GNC] Moving to Gnucash 3

Sun Nov 25 12:52:14 EST 2018

In retrospect it may be interesting to add a bit more detail to my train of 
thought. I skipped it in my original mail as David is a long-time user so I 
took some parts for granted.

Installing a different version of gnucash can introduce issues on several 
levels:

Firstly, format changes in how we store your financial data itself can result 
in issues, which is stored wherever you chose the first time you created your 
book. We support incompatible changes between two major releases only. So 
gnucash 3.x will be able to load books saved with 2.6.x. And the other way 
around the last 2.6 release (2.6.21) will be able to load books saved with 
gnucash 3.x. If you skip major releases (say you last used 2.4 and now want to 
use 3.x), you are advised to first open the book and resave it in the last 
intermediary recent release (in the example that would be 2.6.21).

In this area we still have an issue to solve with the import matcher bayesian 
data. In human terms, the importers keep some history on your previous imports 
to improve their suggestions during future imports. The format in which we 
store this data has changed and running the importer for the first time 
sometimes seems to choke on the conversion from the old to the new format.

If you're heavily dependent on this, you may have good reason to hold off for 
a while, though as said, the only way to know for sure is to try (on a copy of 
your book). Working on a copy will also allow you to revert back to another 
version if there are issues.

Next gnucash also stores user's settings. We sometimes introduce new settings 
or otherwise modify settings between major releases. I am not aware of any 
issues in this area during the migration from 2.6.x to 3.x. Which is a good 
thing, because it's much harder to back up and restore these settings.

Thirdly, gnucash also stores meta data in a platform dependent, user specific 
directory. The location if this directory changed between 2.6 and 3.x and your 
meta data will be migrated automatically the first time you run gnucash 3.x. 
After that the 2.6 version of your metadata will not be touched again. So if 
this goes wrong, you can safely revert to 2.6 and see all the state again as 
it was before you tried gnucash 3.x. That means which reports you had saved, 
which reports and tabs were open. Whatever you experiment with in 3.x it will 
not be carried back to 2.6. The only extra bit of advice I'd give here is: if 
you decide to revert back to 2.6.x, do remove the 3.x metadata directories. 
Otherwise the migration will not be rerun in the future when you really are 
ready to switch to 3.x. The relevant metadata directories are GNC_CONFIG_HOME 
and GNC_DATA_HOME as described on this wiki page:
https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations

Lastly there can be issues in the interaction with gnucash, like it crashes or 
autocomplete is no longer working, issues with scrollbars, slow saves... While 
these can be annoying or problematic enough to make you switch back to 2.6, 
they generally don't affect any of your data directly.

So based on these four areas, and the issues you may encounter in each you can 
evaluate whether or not it's worth for you to make the switch. I'm not pushing 
anyone, yet on the other hand I love to hear the experiences as that helps us 
identify which areas to focus on first.

Regards,

Geert

Op zondag 25 november 2018 17:54:29 CET schreef Paul Schwartz:
> Geert:
> Is it possible to install two versions, side-by-side, in Windows?
> 
> Thanks
> Paul
> 
> On Sun, Nov 25, 2018 at 7:56 AM Geert Janssens <geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be>
> 
> wrote:
> > David,
> > 
> > You keep saying this. While I respect your choice to stay on the safe
> > side,
> > the only way to know if gnucash 3.x works for you is to test it. That's
> > pretty
> > easy in Windows.
> > 
> > So I encourage you to run a few tests on a backup of your data file and
> > evaluate how good or bad that works out. I'd love to hear your personal,
> > first-hand experience instead of how you're currently expressing concerns
> > based on what you've read.
> > 
> > There are issues, but it's not like gnucash 3.x has suddenly become
> > completely
> > unusable.
> > 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > Geert
> > 
> > Op zondag 25 november 2018 04:07:52 CET schreef David Carlson:
> > > Paul,
> > > 
> > > You are not the only one that concerned about whether the new releases
> > 
> > meet
> > 
> > > your needs any better than what you used before.  A bird in hand is
> > > better...
> > > 
> > > I am staying with my favorite 2.6.15 or 2.6.17 until I am satisfied that
> > > 3.4 or whatever is sufficiently well debugged to not present any serious
> > > regressions for my needs.
> > > 
> > > David C
> > > 
> > > On Sat, Nov 24, 2018 at 4:33 PM Paul Schwartz <pmjs1115 at gmail.com>
> > 
> > wrote:
> > > > I have files that contain many years of transactions [<2 MB]. Last
> > > > year
> > > > was
> > > > done with 2.6.12 which I think provides accurate numbers. Starting a
> > 
> > new
> > 
> > > > computer on Windows 10, I would like to transition to 3.3 and stay
> > > > current.
> > > > 
> > > > When I open an old file and run a balance sheet I get some very
> > > > strange
> > > > results in my stock accounts. Some stocks are very simple: a purchase
> > 
> > for
> > 
> > > > cash, one transaction. Sometimes the report left justifies the amount
> > 
> > of
> > 
> > > > the stock and correctly reports the value of the purchase. Sometimes
> > > > it
> > > > right justifies the amount of the stock and reports zero for the
> > 
> > value. I
> > 
> > > > have looked at how the accounts are setup, and they look identical.
> > > > 
> > > > I have other stocks that are more complex: there are simple purchases
> > 
> > and
> > 
> > > > then debits or credits for $ amounts with zero shares. Those are
> > > > always
> > > > reported with zero value.
> > > > 
> > > > I would like to solve the simple cases first. Any help is greatly
> > > > appreciated as I don't want to be frozen to using the old gnucash
> > 
> > version.
> > 
> > > > Paul
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > gnucash-user mailing list
> > > > gnucash-user at 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 at 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.