GnuCash Portable

Derek Atkins warlord at MIT.EDU
Mon Nov 17 10:14:38 EST 2014


Steve,

Steve <butterandsalt at gmail.com> writes:

> On my main GnuCash install, eg on my laptop, I've always had the
> "compressed" option turned OFF; apparently the default setting on the
> GnuCash portable install is "ON", I really hadn't noticed. But I do notice
> the significant difference in the size of the files.  The original data file
> with compressed OFF, was 12,777 kb; the revised data file with compression
> ON is 901 kb.
>
> Like I say, the revised data file works fine on BOTH installs, as is.  My
> questions are: (1) is that large of a difference in file size to be expected
> between the compression being on and off, eg should I be at all concerned;
> and (2) I guess I'll change my standard install to have compression turned
> ON to match the portable setting, but out of curiosity, is there any issue
> in using the same data file on two different installs (albeit one standard
> and one portable) where the compression settings are different?  And perhaps
> more to the real point of my question, are there any other settings which if
> set different in 2 different installs, could cause a problem with the data
> file which may occasionally be used on both installs (but of course, not at
> the same time)?

Yes, this is normal.  The XML data file has a LOT of duplication
(because XML is extremely verbose).  So it compresses well.

Moreover, GnuCash will autodetect compression and properly decompress,
even if you have compression turned off.  That flag only affects saves,
not loads.  So that's why it works with multiple settings.

The only setting I can think of (off the top of my head) which may cause
issues is "Use Trading Accounts".  If set differently then you may miss
entries when you swap back and forth, or reports may not interpret the
data correctly.

> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available


More information about the gnucash-user mailing list