register position after entering a split

[Wm]

Sun, 7 Jun 2015 18:26:59 <5574C533.4020503 at sf.porterfield.net>  Sean 
Porterfield <gnc20150530 at sf.porterfield.net>

>Of course, I should have included that in the original email.  I'm using
>Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS with gnucash 2.6.1 in the Ubuntu package.

OK, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is good but you need gnc 2.6.6

go to http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Ubuntu
read down until you get to the bit about GetDeb
it worked for me recently

>>> In every case, I am adding a new transaction to the register.
>>> In every case, I am finished with the adding of the transaction and
>>> intend to have it saved.
>>
>> Got that
>>
>>>  In some cases, my register scrolls up to the
>>> transaction that was just added - after it is saved.
>>
>> Not here
>
>I press enter to save the transaction.  Sometimes the blank transaction
>at the bottom is selected, ready for me to enter another transaction.
>Sometimes the transaction I just entered is selected.  That transaction
>(in the examples I'm entering) is old, so the register window has
>scrolled up to display that transaction.

No-one is disbelieving your experience in the sense that you need to 
provide a YouTube video, it is just that it doesn't happen to me or 
anyone else that comments often or has read this.

>>> To enter a new transaction, I need to scroll back down or press the
>>> button to go to the blank transaction.
>>
>> Yes
>>
>>> In other cases, I am looking at the blank transaction at the
>>> bottom, ready to enter another transaction without having to
>>> reposition the register.
>>
>> So?
>>
>> These are all normal.
>>
>> Your expectation appears to be wrong.
>
>> OK, how about you say what you think should happen *and* what does
>> happen so we can figure out what you're describing?
>
>My expectation is that after saving a transaction I just added, the
>selected transaction will be the blank one at the bottom.  What causes
>the newly added transaction to be selected sometimes?

Ah, I think Edit / Preferences / Register might be what you are after.

>Is that a better question, or have I still failed in wording it properly?

Nah, you are doing well.  If I can't answer all someone else will.

>I have a new theory that has not yet been proved wrong, though I've only
>carefully watched and tested it for about 10 transactions so far.  I
>entered 5 each way and got the same result for all 5.

tension builds ... :)

>I think the case of it scrolling back to the transaction I added is if
>the transaction did not display in balance.  It is in balance - I just
>didn't move my cursor off the last line for it to recalculate and
>display the balanced version.  I thought I would have noticed that
>before, but it's possible I pressed enter before I meant to.  In each of
>the 5 cases where I carefully made sure there was no remaining balance,
>I was positioned in the blank transaction as expected.

Hmmmn

>If this theory is correct, it makes perfectly good sense and is a Good
>Thing.  Of course, I also know I've entered some transactions that
>posted to the imbalance or orphan account that I had to fix, but that
>could be an entirely different set of steps that caused the errors.
>(For a fact on several of those I know I pressed enter way too early -
>having been a Quicken user with the "enter = tab" setting in use.)

The gnc way is to use up down left right tab and shift but not enter 
whilst *inside* a split transaction, gnc interprets enter as "I'm done, 
that is it"  If you are wrong you'll get an Orphan or Imbalance top 
level account which will help you to get things fixed.

Now we're talking the same sort of trns, can you reproduce a bum one? 
I'll certainly try and other people that read this will too even if they 
don't reply.

-- 
Wm...