GC 2.6.12 QIF Import Comments

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

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"Roger Farguson" <rallanf at gmail.com> writes:

> Thanks for your help. How do I update to the current edition?

Try using the docs on www.gnucash.org?

-derek

> From: "Derek Atkins" <warlord at MIT.EDU>
> Subject: Re: GC 2.6.12 QIF Import Comments
> To: <redrupj at o2.co.uk>
> Cc: <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
> Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2016 11:20:16 -0400
> Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2016 07:11:57 -0400 (2 hours, 10 minutes, 55 seconds ago)
>
> Hi,
>
> "redrupj at o2.co.uk" <redrupj at o2.co.uk> writes:
>
>> I think I got that advice from here:-
>>
>>
> https://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/gnucash/1.6.4/arch/i3
> 86_linux24/share/gnome/help/gnucash/C/xacc-qif-import.html
>
> Oh, wow... This is ... OLLLLDDDD!  GnuCash 1.6.4?  That's,
> like, from
> last century!  Since then there's been 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.4,
> and 2.6!
> Assuming 2-3 years between major releases, this is 10-15
> years ago!  I
> wouldn't trust ANYTHING from those docs in this decade!!
>
>> Logically approach sounds correct because as in my case
> where you are
>> migrating from Quicken or another product if you do not
> import
>> everything in one go the inter account transactions cause
> problems. In
>> my case the single bulk import kept choking for some reson
> so I had no
>> choice but to do smaller groups and correct afterwards.
>
> Sometimes this is helpful, sometimes not.  Specifically with
> QIF, you
> get the issue of the importer losing the intersection of
> transactions.
> For example if you have two bank accounts and transfer
> between them,
> there will be two (duplicate) QIF transactions.  If these
> two
> transactions are in the same multi-account QIF file then the
> importer
> will properly handle that.  If not, if they are imported
> separately,
> then you'll need to manually mark the second as a duplicate
> (and you'll
> need to make sure you properly match the QIF Account to the
> GnuCash
> Accounts both times).
>
> The duplicate matching is heuristical -- it looks for
> transactions
> between the same accounts with the same amount but within
> ~20 days.
> When it finds something that may be a match it provides you
> the option
> and lets you decide if it's really a duplicate.  Part of the
> reasoning
> for this is that QIF is dumb (OFX solves this by having a
> FITID that
> is supposed to be unique, but QIF has no such thing).
>
> Then there is the case that you need to be sure to
> consistently map QIF
> Accounts and QIF Categories to the appropriate GnuCash
> accounts, and
> then at the end map Payee/Memo to GnuCash accounts.  GnuCash
> DOES
> remember this when you import the same qif account again
> (based on the
> filename), but if you import different accounts from the
> same QIF source
> then you need to ensure you create the same mappings over
> and over
> again.  This is yet another reason it's beneficial to
> perform a single
> import if you can.
>
> Your other option is to forego your history.  Keep quicken
> around (in a
> VM) for a while and just start from scratch with GnuCash.
> If you NEED
> access to your historical data then you can bring up the VM.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
>> John
>
>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>
> -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