[GNC-dev] GnuCash 3 on Linux

[Chris Good]

-----Original Message-----
From: Geert Janssens <geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be> 
Sent: Sunday, 10 February 2019 11:29 PM
To: gnucash-devel at gnucash.org
Cc: Chris Good <goodchris96 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [GNC-dev] GnuCash 3 on Linux

Op vrijdag 8 februari 2019 10:04:55 CET schreef Chris Good:
> Hi Geert,
> 
> Thanks very much for the above info.
> I'm afraid it has been quite a while since these emails but hopefully 
> now I have a chance to follow up.
> 
> I was surprised to learn about the <optional _NUMBER> part of 
> [BOOK-WITH-EXTENSION]<optional _NUMBER>.gcm as I have never seen this.
> I did some testing in Windows & Linux and I think I realise now how it 
> works.
> 
> There is a guid in both the main data file and the metadata .gcm files.
> For example,
> In main data file:
> <book:id type="guid">fe06ec827c69b29977e25a7c6c090229</book:id>
> 
> In .gcm:
> BookGuid=fe06ec827c69b29977e25a7c6c090229
> 
> So when the metadata is saved, GnuCash looks for (or creates)  a .gcm 
> file with a BookGuid matching book:id.
> 
Indeed.

> It seems that when you create a new book by using File, New, the 
> subsequently saved main data file has a new book guid created.
> However, if you create a new book by either:
> 1) manually copying a main data file to a different directory and/or 
> filename Or
> 2) using File, Save As
> there is no new book:id created so both books will continue to use the 
> same .gcm file.
> 
> I suspect there may be people who may like to have different settings 
> for different books but don't because they have created their new book 
> by either of the 1) or 2) methods above.
> 
FTR this code is not written by me. I'm merely reading how it currently
works.

That aside, it will continue to work as long as the user uses a different
name when copying the file or using File, Save As

As there haven't been any complaints so far it looks that's what most people
are doing anyway.

> As the book:id guid only appears once in my main data file, I assume 
> it may be possible to correct this situation by:
> a) save the main data file uncompressed
> b) make a minor random(ish) change to the guid using a text editor (do 
> NOT change the length of the guid)
> c) copy the old .gcm to a new .gcm (i.e. copy TEST.gnucash.gcm to
> TEST.gnucash_2.gcm)
> d) use a text editor to change the old guid to the new guid in the new 
> .gcm
> 
> I'd like to document this in the wiki.
> Can you please let me know if I have made any errors in my above 
> assumptions or forgotten anything important?
> 
I think you have all the proper details in a row.

> I think it would be useful if 2) above was changed so that a new 
> book:id is generated. Shall I raise a bug?
> 
I don't know. As I said, if the file name is unique there's no need to rely
on the GUID. It looks like it's fairly uncommon to want to use the same file
name for books that are not related. On the other hand I may also want to
simply copy my existing book to a new location and happen to use File, Save
As to do so. I don't think gnucash can make an assumption that either is
right or wrong.

In itself I think it's too ambiguous/insignificant to create a bug report
for it. But on the other hand I also think this is something that we could
analyze when we start revising our options/preferences system. On big aspect
of this is evaluating for each setting whether it should be book specific
(like book currency), computer specific (like saved window sizes) or user
specific (like I have no example right now...). The metadata file is really
meant to store computer specific data (though it currently does store more
than that...).

Geert

Hi Geert,

Ah yes, I forgot for a minute that the book name is part of the metadata
filename, and therefore to ensure you have a metadata file specific to a
particular book, you just have to ensure you use unique names for your
books, which is what I would call 'best practice' anyway so you can always
just look at your title bar and be sure what book you are in.
I agree that using a common metadata file may be what some people want, and
the current situation allows that, so a bug is not needed.

Thanks for setting me straight,
Regards, Chris Good