[GNC-dev] Transactions vs Splits

[cicko]

OK, now I see that I'll need to use the Multi-split option always, to cover
for the eventual real multi-split in the source. So, I'll be focusing on
that option.
The good news is, when multi-split is selected, the Transaction ID field
becomes available for mapping. That helps a lot as the matcher will know
which splits to group together into a transaction.


David Cousens wrote
>>I see that, with Multi-split checked, I can no longer select the Transfer 
>>Account destination field. This is a dead end for my current approach,
> using 
>>Transfer Account. 
> 
> With a multisplit multiline record there should be no need. GnuCash should
> interpret the following lines as transfer accounts

Oh, I think I'm getting the idea. In this case, the splits rows represent
exactly what will end up in GnuCash and need only one Account per split.
Yes, that makes sense. 


David Cousens wrote
> I suspect the mismatches you get are a problem with GnuCash not
> interpreting
> the multiline splits correctly. 

Nah, I believe this is because I was still using the
one-split-one-transaction approach in writing CSV.


David Cousens wrote
> The account selection in the first window is AFAIK intended to select an
> account for all transactions to be imported into. ...

This part I believe I now understand and agree with you, except



The notation transfer account is not one as an accountant that I really
like. It only makes sense when transferring funds between two  asset (or
liability accounts) but many software developers and users have adopted it
so it is now part of the language. My view of a transaction is that it
consist of two or more splits each of which has a target account which is
debited or credited by that split.


David Cousens wrote
> Where the multiline capability comes into its own is in dealing with
> transactions with 3 or more splits and it really only needs to be used in
> this case.

Now that I understand how Multi-split are supposed to work (I still need to
confirm it in practice), I find the multi-split a better option always, as
one can specify the Transaction Id and explicitly tell GnuCash which splits
go together.
So, as I mentioned at the top, I will probably use that as the default,
unless I run into some other issues.

If this works as expected, then multi-currency transfers should not be an
issue at all. Each split would specify the amount so no need for GnuCash to
fiddle with prices. 
I will test this as soon as I adapt my code to always produce multiple
splits instead of using Transfer Account.



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