Transfer window appears when it should not - further information

[David T.]

Ken,

For what it’s worth, the documentation has been created not only by the developer team, but also by users/volunteers (like you and me). I encourage you to file additional enhancement requests in Bugzilla for changes to the documentation. That way, your (welcome) perspective will get into the docs.

Also, it has been my experience that bugs that include suggested rewrites have a better chance of implementation, since the documentation is volunteer-maintained.

Cheers,
David

On Feb 20, 2015, at 10:49 PM, Geert Janssens <geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be> wrote:

> On Saturday 21 February 2015 12:54:49 Ken Heard wrote:
>> On 2015-02-20 00:31, Derek Atkins wrote:
>> 
>> <snip>
>> 
>>>> Furthermore, it has always been my understanding that in a
>>>> transaction involving two currencies, no splits are allowed.
>>>> Only the two accounts involved are allowed.  Does this rule not
>>>> apply to imbalances where at least one split is necessary?  In
>>>> the transaction which prompted my original query to the list
>>>> there are eleven lines (or splits?) in it.
>>> 
>>> You understand wrong; you can absolutely have split transactions
>>> in multiple currencies.
>>> 
>>>>> Your ONLY option is to delete the transaction completely and
>>>>> re-enter it after you fix your locale default currency.
>> 
>> It seems that the source of my confusion rests with the fact that
>> there are two windows labelled "Transfer Funds".  One is opened by
>> Ctrl-T -- or by selecting the "Transfer" item when in an account tab.
>> This option allows entry of a transaction involving only two
>> accounts, i.e., no splits.
>> 
>> If a transaction -- any transaction -- involves accounts with
>> different currencies, then another window also called "Transfer Funds"
>> opens.  This one is however quite different; it allows manipulation
>> of the exchange rate either by entering the rate itself or by
>> specifying the equivalent amount in the other currency.
>> 
>> Because these two windows serving quite different purposes have the
>> same name I was left with the impression they could only be used
>> together. From that impression was derived my belief that transactions
>> involving different currencies could only involve two accounts -- not
>> splits.
>> 
>> It was only when I inadvertently changed the default currency in my
>> book that I discovered that the exchange rate manipulation window will
>> appear on *any* occasion where a transaction uses accounts in
>> different currencies.  Until I made that discovery *all* my
>> transactions involving different currencies were made with the
>> "Transfer"or ctrl-T option.  When I wanted to use splits for such
>> transactions I would put in a control account for one of the two
>> entries, and then create another transaction to distribute the amount
>> in the control account to the split accounts.
>> 
>> In view of the foregoing I would recommend that the name of the
>> "Transfer Funds" window for manipulating exchange rates be changed to
>> something more appropriate such as "Exchange Rate Selection".  I would
>> also recommend changing the name of the other "Transfer Funds" window
>> to something like "Single transaction".  To many people including me
>> the expression "transfer funds" means transferring funds between fund
>> repositories such as bank accounts and equity accounts, but not to or
>> from income or expense accounts.
> 
> Yes, I agree the names can be confusing. This confusion comes partly from the fact that both 
> transfer windows are really only one transfer window in code. Depending on the use case 
> some parts of the window are hidden or shown.
> 
> And indeed different titles could help in this respect. Can you please file an enhancement 
> request for this in our bugzilla database [1] ?
> 
> The exact titles to use still need some refinement IMO. But that discussion can happen on the 
> report in bugzilla.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Geert
> 
> [1] Refer to http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Bugzilla to learn how to use bugzilla
> _______________________________________________
> gnucash-user mailing list
> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> -----
> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.