Help with GNUCASH for some transaction options

[Derek Atkins]

David,

"David T." <sunfish62 at yahoo.com> writes:

>> Yes, a user manually playing around in an A/R or A/P register can lock a
>> transaction if they "accidentally" click in the wrong place.  Once they
>> do this, the only recourse is to revert to a backup, there is no
>> recovery from the UI.
>> 
>> It's not a UX issue.  "Thou shalt not use the A/R or A/P accounts manually"
>> 
>>> David
>> 
>> -derek
>
> It *is* a UX issue, since any user can create an account and set it to
> be type A/R or A/P. And even if you are referring to some other aspect
> of this (rather than the types available in the account type box), it
> is absurd to think a user could be forced to a backup simply by
> "clicking in the wrong place.” That is quintessential dumb design.

There are many many MANY places in GnuCash where it provides you ample
rope and/or gun+bullets to hang/shoot yourself.  Unix does too.  Have
you ever tried:

  sudo rm -rf /

(Note:  Don't try this at home unless you really know what you are doing).

This is why we have documentation.  A tool is a tool.  Sometimes tools
can be used to shoot yourself in the foot.  Documentation exists to
teach you how to aim properly.

> Thank God I don’t use these features, because I am certain that I
> would have been screwed royally by this.

Repeat after me:  THOU SHALT NOT USE A/R OR A/P ACCOUNTS MANUALLY.
I've been repeating this for 15 years.  I don't intend to stop now.

-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