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

Scott Traurig scott.traurig at gmail.com
Mon Dec 5 07:53:13 EST 2022 

David, and others,

I am very familiar with various FOSS communities and offerings. I am a
recently retired engineer, chief engineer of a very high-tech company for
the last 20 years with over 100 engineers on staff. I have the greatest
respect, admiration, and appreciation for software developers and the
challenges of software development in a highly heterogeneous,
multi-platform environment.

So far I have observed no appreciable, functional differences or
limitations between the Linux and Windows versions of GnuCash, don't sell
yourselves short!

Thanks,

Scott



On Mon, Dec 5, 2022 at 12:21 AM David T. <sunfish62 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 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, 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>

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