bugs + wishlist

[Bob Hunter]

> GnuCash 1.8.11

> Note that some of your bugs may already be fixed in
the 2.0.x versions. In particular, I think the issues
with the toolbar and multiple currencies have been
improved in 2.x, so some of your complaints might
already be fixed.

In my former post I have mentioned the difficulty to
run the latest version under osx, which difficulty
overlaps with my reluctance to make gnucash from
source under osx. Me, and the most of the world, we
shall wait until either the main site or Fink will
overcome their problems and start distribute the
binary for osx too.

> BUGS (mostly related to International Support):

>  1. If you create a "Cash on Hand" account in the
> Assets column, and then   create three sub-accounts
> with different currencies, the Total of "Cash   on
> Hand" is equal to the sub-account with the same
> Commodity, if any.   The correct value should be
equal
> to the sum of the sub-accounts,   converted to the
> "Cash on Hand" selected Commodity at current
exchange
> rate; 

>You are referring to the balance numbers in the
"account hierarchy" window, right? 

Yep!

>In that case we agree - yes, there is no on-the-fly
currency conversion implemented in that view of your
accounts. Instead, only one currency is shown and the
others ignored. The on-the-fly currency conversion
*is* implemented in the "Balance sheet" and  "Account
Summary" reports, though, including various different
options about how to calculate the actual exchange
rates. (Yes, there are indeed multiple ways to do
this; it is definitly a non-trivial operation.) So the
currently proposed workaround for your request is that
you open one of these reports, set the options so that
they show what you want, and leave this report window
open forever.

I guess you are referring to gnucash 2.0.2, because
the Reports in version 1.8.11 are broken on this
respect.

>If you are asking to have this currency conversion
implemented in the account hierarchy window as well,
feel free to file an enhancement request in bugzilla, 
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=GnuCash
but I'm afraid none of the developers will be working
on this in the short term, because the reports are
considered a sufficiently good workaround for the time
being. I'd love to be proven wrong, though. :-)

I'm willing to file the request, provided they are
willing to take it into account. I am sure the
developers reading this forum will just take a note,
as the error is macroscopic.

> 2. It is not possible to list "Real Estate" assets
in
> the Assets column. GnuCash should be extended to
> include a "Real Estate" Account Type, which entries
> include relevant information, such as "type"
(example,
> 3Bedrooms/2Bathrooms), "down payment" and "cost".

>The real estate is an Asset, so why don't you simply
add this as an account of type Asset? I guess you
agree it won't make much sense to add an extra account
type for every kind of asset that someone might come
up with.

I tried, but the item is managed like a bank account,
which is not. Specific r.e. information requires
specific management. The value of the r.e. is the down
payment + the cost, but you do not want to merge the
two values in a bank-like transaction with a single
entry. On the other hand, when computing the value of
the asset, the two values should be added.

> 3. Suppose you have the following fictitious
financial
> statement:
> (...)
>     The toolbar above the accounts says:
> 
>     Net Assets grand total (EUR): EUR 6200.00   
> Profits (EUR): EUR 0.00
> 
>     There is no need to remark they are "EUR".

>Why is that?

Because it takes space?


>     Both the Net Assets total and grand total are
> wrong.

>As noted above: The "account hierarchy" window and
also the toolbar numbers don't calculate any currency
conversion. So they give you the numbers only in the
specified currency.

I spotted that. However, the bug is still in place.

>   I recommend removing this toolbar information in
the first place; a well-written Report is more useful.

>It is up to any user whether the toolbar should be 
shown or not. In fact, I haven't ever used it,
probably for similar reasons as you, but for some
other users it might be useful, so it's still there.

The toolbar has two lines. If I hide the second line,
where those numbers are displayed, the first one is
hidden too. But I need the first one, so I get the
second as an unwanted bonus? :-P

> 4. The above error 3 occurs in any Report.

>We are not aware of errors concerning the currency
exchange in the reports (with the exception of
"advanced portfolio" and "cash flow").  If you found
an error in any of the other reports, please report
them into bugzilla, preferrably with a screenshot of
the error and/or a small example gnucash file to
demonstrate the error.
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=GnuCash

I thought this forum was sufficient...


> WISHLIST
> 
> 1. Auto-save, as option.

>http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=107365
>Feel free to add more comments to that bugzilla
entry.

I got the idea.

>Thank you for all the constructive feedback.

You are welcome.

-bob


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