A.3. Converting XML GnuCash File
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A.3. Converting XML GnuCash File

The GnuCash XML data file can be transformed to almost any other data format (e.g., QIF, CSV...) quite easily if one is familiar with the “Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations” XSLT. The GnuCash data file is well-formed XML, and it can therefore be run through an XSLT parser with an associated stylesheet. This allows one to transform the file to just about any format that can be designed, given a properly written stylesheet.

A few steps need to be followed. The writing of a stylesheet is a task for a different time, but if you can get one written, here’s what you need to do:

  1. Copy the GnuCash XML data file to a working file.

    Important

    If the file was last modified by a version of GnuCash older than 2.0, then before you continue to the next step you will need to modify the working file’s <gnc-v2> tag to read something like this: 

    <gnc-v2 xmlns:cd="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/cd"
  xmlns:book="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/book"
  xmlns:gnc="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/gnc"
  xmlns:cmdty="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/cmdty"
  xmlns:trn="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/trn"
  xmlns:split="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/split"
  xmlns:act="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/act"
  xmlns:price="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/price"
  xmlns:ts="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/ts"
  xmlns:slot="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/kvpslot"
  xmlns:cust="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/cust"
  xmlns:entry="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/entry"
  xmlns:lot="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/lot"
  xmlns:invoice="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/invoice"
  xmlns:owner="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/owner"
  xmlns:job="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/job"
  xmlns:billterm="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/billterm"
  xmlns:bt-days="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/bt-days"
  xmlns:sx="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/sx"
  xmlns:fs="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/fs"
  xmlns:addr="http://www.gnucash.org/XML/custaddr">

    Note

    You can put pretty much anything you want behind the equal signs, but a unique URL is what is typically used.

  2. Create an XSLT stylesheet containing the transformation your desire, or obtain one that’s already written.

    User Contributed XSLT Stylesheets

  3. Install an XSLT processor such as Saxon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxon_XSLT) or Xalan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Xalan). Any conforming processor will do, really...

  4. Run the work file and the stylesheet through the processor according to the processor’s instructions.

  5. You will now have a file in the desired output format. An enterprising individual could go so far as to write a stylesheet to transform the GnuCash data file to an Apache OpenOffice/LibreOffice Calc (or vice-versa, for that matter). Such things as QIF ought to be a little less work.

Benefits are that you don’t need to write a Scheme module or a new C routine to do this transformation. Anyone who knows or can learn XML and XSLT can perform this task. Not much harder, really, than writing a Web page....

Anyhow, I just wanted this tidbit to be captured somewhere permanently. The process works on 5.6 datafiles, and ought to work on earlier versions, too.

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A.2. Importing Data Up Appendix B. Auxiliary File Formats