Using Gnucash from multiple computers?

Sean Clarke seanchk at gmail.com
Tue Oct 14 16:43:19 EDT 2014


Hi John,



On 15 October 2014 03:24, John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:

>
> On Oct 14, 2014, at 11:57 AM, Sean Clarke <seanchk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi John,
> >
> > Ok I'm not sure if I've done this right (which means I pretty sure I
> haven't!)
> >
> > I created a .bashrc file and put it in /home
> >
> No, not /home. That’s the enclosing dir for all users. Based on below you
> want /home/sean/.bashrc
>

When I said Home I was referring to the Home folder in nemo which I hadn't
really notice is actually /home/sean

So my .bashrc file is in fact where you said it should be /home/sean/.bashrc

The file is being read as since putting it in there my shell prompt has
changed :-)



>
> > I created a new folder in Google Drive called gnucash
> >
> > The full path to that folder is /home/sean/Google Drive/gnucash
>
> >
> > The content of my .bashrc file (I found an example of one online and
> copied it)
> >
> > PS1='\u$'     # The prompt contains the user's login name.
> >
> > HISTSIZE=50   # Save 50 commands for when the user presses the up arrow.
> >
> > # All the directories to search for commands.
> > PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/bin/X11
> >
> > # To prevent the user from accidentally ending a login session,
> > # disable Ctrl-D as a way to exit.
> > IGNOREEOF=1
> >
> > stty erase "^H"       # Make sure the backspace key erases.
> >
> > GNC_DOT_DIR="$home/sean/Google Drive/gnucash”
>
> No, $home is “” unless you’ve set it to something. The automatically set
> variable is $HOME, and it points to /home/sean. Say
>   echo $HOME
> to see.
>
> In order for the environment variables declared in .bashrc to affect
> anything they must be exported; that can be done on the last line that
> defines them in the .bashrc or separately. For example
>   export GNC_DOT_DIR=“$HOME/Google Drive/gnucash"
>
>
I have edited my .bashrc file so it now contains


PS1='\u$' # The prompt contains the user's login name.

HISTSIZE=50 # Save 50 commands for when the user presses the up arrow.

# All the directories to search for commands.
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/bin/X11

# To prevent the user from accidentally ending a login session,
# disable Ctrl-D as a way to exit.
IGNOREEOF=1

stty erase "^H" # Make sure the backspace key erases.

export GNC_DOT_DIR="$HOME/sean/Google Drive/gnucash"






> > I've restarted the PC but don't see anything different happening.
>
> Restarting is for Windows. You need only log out and back in.
>

Good to know!


>
> However, if you’re starting from a desktop icon or “Activities” menu or
> similar, you’ll need to consult your distro’s documentation to see how to
> set the environment for those. They may not read the bash-specific files,
> so you might need to use .profile or .login instead.
>

Nope.  Standard Linux Mint 17, Cinnamon (same on all my computers,
including my Macbook Air)



>
> >
> > When I originally created the accounts files I was asked where I wanted
> to save them and at that point I selected a folder on Google Drive (not the
> same folder)
>
> Good, you don’t want them to be in the same folder.
>

OK that's one thing I've done right!


>
> >
> > Can you please explain a little more what this is telling gnucash?
>  GNC_DOT_DIR="$home/sean/Google Drive/gnucash"    I thought it was telling
> it where to look for the data files but gnucash loads them from the
> directory I first saved them to, then I thought maybe it would save them
> there for next time.... but it doesn't do that...    So I'm confused as to
> what it is for.
>
> No, GNC_DOT_DIR is telling GnuCash where to look for its state files,
> things like what accounts you had open the last time you used the account
> file, what size and where on the screen the window is, etc.
>
> Other state, like what preference settings you made and what 4 files you
> most recently opened are kept in the OS’s preferences system, which on
> recent Linux distros is usually dconf.
>


Ah eureka moment!   Thank you John.  Now I understand what it does.    I
can also confirm that it seems to be working perfectly.


>
> >
> > Should I also save all the account files into /home/sean/Google
> Drive/gnucash    ?
>
> No. Seriously bad things happen when you do that.
>

Won't be doing that then!!

>
> Regards,
> John Ralls
>


John, thank you for you help with this, apologies for being a bit slow on
getting it right.

Much appreciated.

Sean




>
> > On 14 October 2014 21:06, John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
> >
> > On Oct 14, 2014, at 1:20 AM, Sean Clarke <seanchk at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi John,
> >>
> >> by GNC_DOT_DIR do you mean the .gnucash directory in /home ?
> >>
> >> If not then what am I looking for?
> >>
> >> Also I don't have a .bashrc in /home  which is where I was expecting it.
> >>
> >> Can you give me a little more help please.
> >>
> >> At the moment I have all (?) the .gnucash account data files in a
> folder on Google Drive and apart from having to remember to exit the
> program on one machine before opening it on another (because of the LCK
> file), everything seems fine.
> >
> > Please remember to copy the list on all replies: Use "reply all" or, if
> your email client supports it, "reply list".
> >
> > GNC_DOT_DIR is an environment variable. If it's not set the default is
> $HOME/.gnucash, where HOME is another environment variable pointing the
> user's home folder, which on Linux is /home/<username>. You want to set it
> like this:
> > GNC_DOT_DIR="$HOME/Google Drive/gnucash"
> > or something similar.
> >
> > .bashrc is one of several possible names for startup files, see the bash
> manpage for a complete list. Note that none of them will exist unless the
> user explicitly creates them, and nthat bash looks for them in a particular
> order; once it finds one it stops looking for more.
> >
> > Regards,
> > John Ralls
> >
> >> On 14 October 2014 09:29, John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
> >>
> >> On Oct 13, 2014, at 4:58 PM, Sean Clarke <seanchk at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Hi,
> >> >
> >> > Is it possible to stick the Gnucash settings file on Google Drive and
> then
> >> > be able to use the same settings from multiple computers?
> >> >
> >> > I want to have Gnucash on all my computers so depending which one I'm
> using
> >> > I have access to my financial analysis.
> >> >
> >> > Or will I run into problems?
> >>
> >> Nope, piece of cake: Just set GNC_DOT_DIR to a folder on your Google
> Drive. You didn't say what OS you're using,
> >> so in Linux you can just set it in .bashrc. On OSX you'll want to edit
> Gnucash.app/Contents/MacOS/Gnucash. On Windows
> >> the easiest way is to edit the shortcut in the menu (right-click on it
> and select Properties from the context menu).
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> John Ralls
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>


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