GNUcash and Owncloud

Fri May 27 15:16:38 EDT 2016

Sorry about the confusion on posters! I probably need some more
coffee.....;)

David, now that you mention the locking file, I remember it well. It
sometimes rears its ugly head when one has Gnucash open and the machine
reboots. However, a user can still open the file (which deletes/rewrites
the lock), at least on my Ubuntu machine....see the attached screen shot.
As it happens, I had Gnucash open yesterday and a subsequent reboot, so I
got that message.

Mark

On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 11:55 AM, David T. <sunfish62 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Mark,
>
> GnuCash *does* use a lockfile to check to see whether the file has been
> opened on another user’s machine, and I believe that this locking system
> will alert a second user that the file is in use by another, even in a
> cloud situation.
>
> It’s not clear to me that Cody (not David) misunderstood your comment
> regarding multiple simultaneous users. @Cody: are you hoping that
> transactional file locking will allow both users to access the data
> simultaneously? If so, just don’t go there; it won’t work.
>
> David
>
> On May 27, 2016, at 2:38 PM, Mark Phillips <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz>
> wrote:
>
> David,
>
> I don't think it will work as you hope. From the link you sent -
>
> "Multiple users can open and edit a file at the same time and
> Transactional File locking does not prevent this. Rather, it prevents
> simultaneous file saving."
>
> You still have the issue with Gnucash reading the entire data file at
> startup and then writing it back when you close Gnucash. One issue is
> simultaneous file writing, but that event has a small probability of
> happening given two people acting independently. Note - when one person
> writes data back to owncloud, your copy of Gnucash does not re-read the
> data file and merge the changes in your session with the changes from the
> other user. That is the core of a multi-user system, which is not in
> Gnucash.
>
> The bigger issue is the last one to close Gnucash will over write
> everything that the other person saved. It is not a multi-user application,
> and I don't believe it is possible to make it one with external programs.
> Gnucash itself would have to become a multi-user application to solve this
> problem.
>
> You will need something outside of owncloud to synchronize between two
> users....like a phone call or sms message to say "I am done, you go ahead".
>
> Mark
>
> On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 7:54 AM, Cody Hofstetter <
> codyhofstettermailinglistemail at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Mark and David!
>>
>> I'll definitely look into the discussions about serial remote access.
>> Owncloud does perform transactional file locking by default but I need to
>> look into it further to make sure everything correctly works with GNUCash.
>> I'm hoping I can get it setup correctly to avoid any collisions for the
>> exact reasons mentioned. If any one else is interested in looking at the
>> features -
>> https://doc.owncloud.org/server/9.0/admin_manual/configuration_files/files_locking_transactional.html
>>
>> Thanks again!
>>
>> On Thu, May 26, 2016 at 8:33 PM, David T. <sunfish62 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Cody,
>>>
>>> Mark’s warnings about multi-user access should be taken seriously;
>>> GnuCash is NOT multi-user.
>>>
>>> In addition, there have been discussions about serial access to remote
>>> files that may not yet have been synced to the cloud; rapid recall of such
>>> files could theoretically result in the same kinds of corruption, although
>>> the discussions in the past were hypothetical in nature (i.e., no one had
>>> actually experienced such corruption).
>>>
>>> For some of the history, try "gnucash dropbox site:lists.gnucash.org”
>>> at google. You’ll see some of the discussions there.
>>>
>>> HTH,
>>> David
>>>
>>> > On May 26, 2016, at 7:19 PM, Mark Phillips <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz>
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Cody,
>>> >
>>> > I have not used Owncloud for this application. However, many people on
>>> the
>>> > list have used Dropbox or Drive to put Gnucash in the cloud.
>>> >
>>> > A critical caveat - Gnucash is not a multiuser application. When
>>> Gnucash
>>> > starts it loads the entire database into memory, you make changes, and
>>> it
>>> > only writes changes back to a file when the program is closed. If both
>>> of
>>> > you open Gnucash and make some edits, then save back to the cloud,
>>> there is
>>> > no guarantee what will happen. Best case scenario, the last one to save
>>> > will win, which means if you are the last one to save to Owncloud,
>>> then all
>>> > you partner's edits will be lost. Worst case scenario, the file will
>>> become
>>> > corrupted and you will both loose all your edits.
>>> >
>>> > Caveat Emptor.....
>>> >
>>> > Mark
>>> >
>>> > On Thu, May 26, 2016 at 8:04 AM, Cody Hofstetter <
>>> > codyhofstettermailinglistemail at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Hello everyone,
>>> >>
>>> >> I've just set up an Owncloud instance with collaborative document
>>> editing
>>> >> and am looking to share a set of books between my business partner
>>> and I.
>>> >> It's a small business and only the two of us have access to the
>>> server.
>>> >>
>>> >> I'm wondering if anyone has any experience using Owncloud/GNUCash
>>> together
>>> >> and has recommendations for ease of use, best practices they've
>>> found, and
>>> >> any other relevant info?
>>> >>
>>> >> Thanks!
>>> >> --
>>> >>
>>> >> *Thanks,*
>>> >> *Cody Hofstetter*
>>> >> *CodyHofstetterMailingListEmail at gmail.com
>>> >> <CodyHofstetterMailingListEmail at gmail.com>*
>>> >> CodyHofstetter.com <http://codyhofstetter.com>
>>> >> _______________________________________________
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>>> >> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
>>> >> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
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>>> >>
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Feel free to contact me at this email anytime
>>
>> *Thanks,*
>> *Cody Hofstetter*
>> *CodyHofstetterMailingListEmail at gmail.com
>> <CodyHofstetterMailingListEmail at gmail.com>*
>> CodyHofstetter.com <http://codyhofstetter.com/>
>>
>
>
>
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