[GNC-dev] Missing column header labels after resizing columns (Windows 10, GC version 4.12)

Mon Dec 5 00:21:22 EST 2022

Respectfully, the problem is that GnuCash stores and handles its metadata in a variety of ways as a consequence of its cross platform nature and its development history. 

GnuCash was originally (and remains primarily to this day) developed on Linux, and has been ported to Windows to meet the needs of a broader user base. The Linux-based settings environment is radically different from Windows, and the (small number of) developers for GnuCash have had to find solutions to manage these differences. These solutions have had to change over time. This has resulted in the confusing system in place today. 

That portions of the software settings linger on Windows after uninstalling is annoying, but not generally catastrophic. Indeed, since a GnuCash upgrade on Windows is basically an uninstall/install process, most users would be greatly inconvenienced if their custom settings (stored in the registry) were removed upon upgrading. 

As a volunteer managed software package, GnuCash relies on the heroic efforts of a very small developer base to keep it up to date. Unfortunately, there aren't developer teams dedicated to building full cross platform functionality, so users must accept these limitations and take up the slack.

If, in your opinion, the information regarding the registry entries on Windows is poorly documented, I'd recommend that you update the wiki to meet your specifications. The likelihood that the (small, Linux-focused) dev team will prioritize a corner case such as yours is small. There are simply many higher priorities.

David T.

On Dec 5, 2022, 06:52, at 06:52, David Carlson <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com> wrote:
>Scott,
>
>If you still have a copy of the offending registry files in your trash
>folder, recover it and  put it in your bug report.  It could help a
>developer find out what went wrong.
>
>On Sun, Dec 4, 2022 at 8:37 PM Scott Traurig <scott.traurig at gmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>> David,
>>
>> Please look again. The metadata file that John referred me to is
>*exactly*
>> the same one as in the FAQ.
>>
>> I was just able to solve the problem a few minutes ago by deleting
>the
>> registry information under HKEY_CURRENT_USER/software/Gsettings. That
>was
>> where the problem was. I did not try to identify precisely which
>registry
>> key was at fault, I do not have sufficient knowledge of the software
>to do
>> so efficiently. Instead I uninstalled, deleted the registry info,
>manually
>> deleted the %appdata%/gnucash folder for good measure, then
>reinstalled.
>>
>> And, because this bug (and it is a bug) affects literally every book
>on
>> the machine, I will have to grab another machine here that I am not
>using
>> for production, install GnuCash, and try to replicate it there so I
>can
>> submit a proper bug report.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Scott
>>
>> On Sun, Dec 4, 2022 at 9:15 PM David Carlson
><david.carlson.417 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Scott,
>>>
>>> The metadata file that John referred you to is not FAQ that you
>checked
>>> but a file on your hard drive.  The exact location depends on your
>os.
>>> Look under Configuration section of
><https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Backup>
>>> to find it.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Dec 4, 2022 at 6:11 PM Scott Traurig
><scott.traurig at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi John,
>>>>
>>>> Respectfully, this is beyond the user-list. That list has come up
>dry,
>>>> and
>>>> the conventional FAQ answer is not working.
>>>>
>>>> The relevant FAQ entry:
>>>>
>>>> <
>>>>
>>>>
>https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Q:_How_do_I_resize_my_register_columns.3F_Why_can_I_not_shrink_the_description_column.3F
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>> That FAQ entry looked promising, but it did not solve the problem.
>There
>>>> are no entries in the .gcm file showing zero width to edit.
>>>>
>>>> Worse, uninstalling GnuCash and deleting the entire C:\Users\my
>user
>>>> name\AppData\Roaming\GnuCash directory, including all .gcm files
>such
>>>> that
>>>> they would be reconstituted from scratch, does not work either.
>>>>
>>>> Interestingly, somewhere in the system it remembers what book I had
>open
>>>> even through an uninstall/reinstall cycle. I suspect it has
>something to
>>>> do
>>>> with that.
>>>>
>>>> And whatever/wherever that data is, it also transcends books. If I
>create
>>>> an entirely new book, it also immediately has the exact same
>missing
>>>> column
>>>> label problem
>>>>
>>>> It's also worth noting that the columns themselves are visible with
>>>> normal
>>>> appearing widths. Only the labels are missing. I've attached a
>screen
>>>> shot.
>>>>
>>>> Is there another directory somewhere, or a set of registry entries,
>that
>>>> also need to be deleted?
>>>>
>>>> Thank you,
>>>>
>>>> Scott
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Dec 4, 2022 at 6:11 PM john <jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > That's a user-list question. I've changed the CC for your
>convenience.
>>>> >
>>>> > The file you're looking for is the book's metadata file, see
>>>> > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Metadata_File. It stores among
>other
>>>> things
>>>> > window sizes and column widths for registers.
>>>> >
>>>> > Regards,
>>>> > John Ralls
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > On Dec 4, 2022, at 1:56 PM, Scott Traurig
><scott.traurig at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> > Dev's,
>>>> >
>>>> > After resizing some column headers in an account, the labels for
>the
>>>> > Transfer and Reconciled ("R") columns have disappeared. The
>header
>>>> blocks
>>>> > for both are now combined into a single blank field.
>>>> >
>>>> > I tried un-installing, including manually removing the folders in
>>>> %appdata%
>>>> > and Program Files (x86), but the problem persists after
>re-installing
>>>> > GnuCash.
>>>> >
>>>> > I grabbed another Windows 10 machine, installed on it, and opened
>the
>>>> > .gnucash file that I normally use from it's normal directory on
>my NAS
>>>> > without the same problem appearing--all column headers are fine.
>So the
>>>> > .gnucash file is OK.
>>>> >
>>>> > Thus it would appear that there is a file that is not removed
>during a
>>>> > Windows uninstall (or the manual files I deleted), or a registry
>>>> setting
>>>> > that persists and continues to cause this behavior on my main PC.
>>>> >
>>>> > If someone could identify the offending file or registry setting
>for
>>>> me so
>>>> > that I can kill it it would be most appreciated.
>>>> >
>>>> > Thanks,
>>>> >
>>>> > Scott
>>>> > _______________________________________________
>>>> > gnucash-devel mailing list
>>>> > gnucash-devel at gnucash.org
>>>> > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-devel
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> gnucash-devel mailing list
>>>> gnucash-devel at gnucash.org
>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-devel
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> David Carlson
>>>
>>
>
>-- 
>David Carlson
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