Mac upgrade, "There was an error parsing the file ..."

[David Reiser]

On Jun 12, 2010, at 1:00 PM, David Dannemiller wrote:

> I've been using gnuCash for several years.  I upgraded to a new Mac, so upgraded gnuCash.  The new version will not open my old file.
> 
> Old config:
> 	iBook G4 (PPC)
> 	Mac OS 10.5.8
> 	gnuCASH 1.8.11 (obtained from Fink)
> 
> New config:
> 	MacBookPro (Intel)
> 	Mac OS 10.6.3
> 	gnuCASH 2.2.9 (obtained from http://www.gnucash.org/download.phtml)
> 
> When starting version 2.2.9, I get the following error message:
> 
> 	"There was an error parsing the file /Users/..."
> 
> Here is what I have tried so far:
> 
> 1) I went back to the old machine and ran "Actions / Check & Repair / Check & Repair All", and brought the files to the new machine.  Same error message.
> 
> 2) I deleted the .gnucash folder.  Same error message.
> 
> 3) A previous post mentioned problems caused by spaces in file names.  I had a space in one folder name in the path, but got rid of it.  The full path name now contains no spaces.  Same error message.
> 
> 3) A previous post asked that the trace file be posted.  I can't find a trace file on my Mac.
> 
> Any help is appreciated.
> 
> David Dannemiller

If you're using finder to look for the gnucash.trace file, you won't find it because it gets put in a hidden folder.

In a terminal window, use the command:

find /private/var/folders -name gnucash.trace

to find the file. You'll get a bunch of "Permission denied" messages unless you use "sudo find..." instead, but one of the output lines will have something like:

/private/var/folders/mv/mvhhn92vG+m5tSMQ4ugNWk+++TI/-Tmp-/gnucash.trace

Everything between folders/ and /-Tmp- might change depending on your system version and other things I don't understand.

Since the file is hidden, you'll have to copy it somewhere else to easily look at it, unless you use an editor like TextWrangler (which can display hidden file trees in its Open File dialog).

While still in the terminal, 
select and copy the long path ending in gnucash.trace
type the command:
cp [paste your long file path] ~/Desktop

and gnucash.trace will appear on your desktop. There is a space before the ~. And Desktop must be capitalized in the cp command. In the example here, your cp command would look like:
cp /private/var/folders/mv/mvhhn92vG+m5tSMQ4ugNWk+++TI/-Tmp-/gnucash.trace ~/Desktop

Dave
--
David Reiser
dbreiser at earthlink.net