Using Gnucash from multiple computers?

[Sean Clarke]

Thanks Geert, you actually pointed me to some other things that I could
fix.

My system in Mint (Ubuntu based of course), I didn't have a .bashrc file to
start with so I Googled and found some examples, one of which I copied to
use.

I had mistaken John's instructions slightly but you pointed out the correct
syntax and also pointed me to the correct bash file.

It is either ~/.profile

or ~/.bash_profile

I'm using ~/.profile   because the file existed and I just had to add the 2
lines

GNC_DOT_DIR="/home/sean/Google Drive/gnucash"
export GNC_DOT_DIR



Now everything is working nicely.

So thank you too; and everyone else who helped out.

I'm very grateful for the help and the things I've learned.

Sean

On 15 October 2014 03:43, Geert Janssens <geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be> wrote:

> On Tuesday 14 October 2014 13:24:15 John Ralls 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
> > > 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”
> >
> While none of the extra information is harmful, you probably don't want
> it in there either. It subtly alters the behaviour of your interactive
> shell.
>
> If you didn't have a .bashrc in your home directory (being /home/sean)
> you can start with an empty file and just put these two lines:
> GNC_DOT_DIR="/home/sean/Google Drive/gnucash"
> export GNC_DOT_DIR
>
> (This assumes that is the real path to your Google Drive directory. If
> not adapt to your taste).
>
> If you did already have a .bashrc file, you could just append those two
> line to the end.
>
> > 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've restarted the PC but don't see anything different happening.
> >
> > Restarting is for Windows. You need only log out and back in.
> >
> > 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.
> True. .bashrc is only read for an interactive shell (ie one in which you
> enter text commands directly). For environment variables to be picked up
> by gnucash when starting from the system menu, you should add the above
> two lines to another file. On Fedora you'd use .bash_profile.
>
> Maybe it's different on your system (was it Ubuntu ?)
>
> One way to find out could be to open a terminal and enter "man bash".
> Scroll all the way down to the end (a long document) where you will find
> a section called "FILES". That section explains which files are being
> used at which time. You would want the file used for
> "The personal initialization file, executed for login shells"
>
> I hope you're not getting swamped in all this low-level information :)
>
> Geert
>