[GNC-dev] Register Documentation Improvements (was Re: [GNC] Column widths again)

Mon Aug 20 14:18:24 EDT 2018

I just filed: https://bugs.gnucash.org/show_bug.cgi?id=796823

On the title issue as that’s a basic website usability bug.

I’ll wait for someone else to chime in on the case of the gnucash-guide folder.

Regards,
Adrien

> On Aug 20, 2018, at 1:06 PM, Adrien Monteleone <adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
> 
> David,
> 
> The confusion as to which document you were in I think is that the link text says ‘gnucash-guide’. There are also several references scattered on the website/wiki that refer to the ‘Help Guide’ though it appears the Documentation page calls it the ‘Help Manual’. That folder name I should think is a bug.
> 
> How did you get to that /docs/v3 link? I can’t find any path to it from the website. The links I find are all /viewdoc links which don’t tell me where I am. (at least not in the URL, just as you discovered - which brings up another navigation bug, the pages have no indication of what document you are viewing)
> 
> Also, I’ve changed the subject for you, and moved it to gnucash-devel. (I thought about doing the same on the last reply, I suppose the thread is officially hijacked now)
> 
> In Gmail, in the reply box, there is a down arrow next to the reply left-pointing arrow. (just to the left of the recipient(s)) Click it for a context menu and use “Edit Subject”
> 
> Regards,
> Adrien
> 
> 
> 
>> On Aug 20, 2018, at 12:04 PM, David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Adrien,
>> 
>> Thank you for your research and detailed response. 🙂
>> I fully agree with your conclusions.
>> 
>> 
>> I got the reference to section 4.2 directly from https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/txns-register-oview.html#txns-regstyle1 which I arrived at when I followed the link called " Tutorial and Concepts Guide, Choosing a Register Style). " in https://www.gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?doc=help.  Naturally, I thought I was in the Tutorial...
>> 
>> David C
>> 
>> On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 11:45 AM, Adrien Monteleone <adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>> I’ve never seen any documentation on it. I only confirmed it’s there after I read Derek’s comment and expanded the column myself to see it.
>> 
>> I just did a search of the GnuCash site, wiki and html docs and I don’t see anything on the column, other than a pair of IRC logs from 2009 where someone asked what it was for, and a couple of hits (appears duplicated) documenting commits from 2017-09-4. I didn’t read the commit itself, but it was summarized by Robert Fewell as “Add a heading for the Rate column.”
>> 
>> Concerning where to put the info, I’m not sure the Tutorial is the right place. (there is no 4.2, for example)
>> 
>> However, the help guide has 4.3.5 List of Transactions which documents the column headings. I think if that section were more detailed with screenshots, lots of questions could be answered or even avoided.
>> 
>> Some things to add here:
>> 
>> The ability to resize columns and an explanation of how the Description column is special and how resizing works.
>> 
>> An explanation with screenshots of the different types of registers showing the respective columns. (unless they are all the same, save terminology choices, then you’d only need one screenshot)
>> 
>> An explanation of the formal vs. non-formal labels for each account type. (a full listing of what the non-formal labels are for each type)
>> 
>> Screenshots depicting each of the modes: single-line, double-line, transaction journal.
>> 
>> An explanation of what each cell in the transaction is for. (many don’t know the utilit(ies) of NUM or Action for example.) Not everything is self-evident. Perhaps here include a link to a special wiki page or to Using GnuCash where the different ’tricks’ for using those and other fields to accomplish user specific goals are (or should be) documented.
>> 
>> I would be happy to get set up for editing and start on this unless you already planned on running with it.
>> 
>> Finally, “Tutorial & Concepts Guide” is a bit winded. Could it simply be “Tutorial” or “Using GnuCash”? (and then incorporate any ‘official’ methods from that wiki page into the document, with a link to that page for the non-standard methods)
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Adrien
>> 
>>> On Aug 20, 2018, at 10:57 AM, David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I just tried to find reference to the rate field in the Tutorial and I found nothing.
>>> 
>>> I think it should probably be mentioned in chapter 4 section 4.2.  That section even fails to explain single line vs two line view or dragging around field widths, so it has a long way to go before it could describe the presence of the rate field and how to access it.
>>> 
>>> Is this information posted elsewhere? 
>>> 
>>> David C 
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 9:44 AM Adrien Monteleone <adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>>> It’s still there as of 3.2.
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> Adrien
>>> 
>>>> On Aug 20, 2018, at 9:17 AM, Derek Atkins <warlord at MIT.EDU> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us> writes:
>>>> 
>>>>> Graham,
>>>>> 
>>>>> "Transfer" is short for "Transfer Account" and is the field where the
>>>>> "other" account--other than the one in the current register--is
>>>>> set. It's often called the "account" field in casual use.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I think GTI made a translation error, the "rate" field is probably
>>>>> "price" on a stock/mutual fund register, which has two more columns
>>>>> than the other registers.
>>>> 
>>>> No, there is (unless it was removed) a "RATE" field to the right of the
>>>> balance column.  It's a "hidden" column, with a default width of one
>>>> pixel, which is (was?) used for the exchange-rate handling of
>>>> multi-currency transactions/splits.
>>>> 
>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>> 
>>>> -derek
>>>> 
>>>> -- 
>>>>      Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
>>>>      Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
>>>>      URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
>>>>      warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> 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.
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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.
>> 
> 