Old file requires newer version?

[John Ralls]

On Dec 24, 2012, at 2:02 PM, Carpetnailz <carpetnailz at researchintegration.org> wrote:

> I've got an old GnuCash file from a few years ago that I'm trying to
> open. It seems to be in XML format. When I try to open it I get the
> strange error message that
> 
> "The file/URL appears to be from a newer version of GnuCash. You must
> upgrade your version of GnuCash to work with this date."
> 
> I get the same error when I try to open an .xac file that has a date of
> 2009 on it.
> 
> I don't understand why an older file would require a newer version of
> GnuCash. I'm now running 2.4.11, which seems to be the current version.
> 

The file contains a top-level element that the current version of Gnucash doesn't know about, and we blindly assume that it's from a newer, rather than an older, version. 

Unfortunately, in order to use this file with a current Gnucash you'll need to find and install intermediate old versions to upgrade the data to a form that the current Gnucash can understand. This will likely be quite difficult.

Regards,
John Ralls