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

David T. sunfish62 at yahoo.com
Mon Dec 5 09:30:48 EST 2022 

Scott, 

I am glad you have an understanding of how such software communities operate. 

You stated that there was a bug; I was under the impression that you were referring to the embedded settings in the registry, and so I was offering you background on the reasons for this behavior and why it might not be a bug. 

I see now that you may be referring to the fact that columns can be made to disappear without obvious means to restore them. I know that this behavior has been noted numerous times in the past on the lists, so it's been known for quite some time. That it remains implies that no one has come up with a principled way to manage the situation without causing other features to break. 

Related to this, but slightly to the side: I know that there have been different approaches to managing column widths across accounts, and suspect that storing per account column settings plays into the problem of ultra narrow columns that you've encountered. 

I imagine that if you could suggest an improved way to handle ultra narrow columns, it would help developers focus on providing coding that does that. 

Since GnuCash is FOSS, I'm not selling anything ;)

⁣David T. ​

On Dec 5, 2022, 3:53 PM, at 3:53 PM, Scott Traurig <scott.traurig at gmail.com> wrote:
>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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