Version Migration

[D]

On August 29, 2017, at 8:50 PM, Colin Law <clanlaw at gmail.com> wrote:

>On 29 August 2017 at 16:36, james <garftd at verizon.net> wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> Background
>> So I've been running on gnucash 2.4.11 for some years.
>> it's been great, the only problems were my lack of
>> knowledge of finance. I want to migrate to version 2.6.15
>> (using gentoo linux).
>>
>>
>> My only accounting problem is my depreciation does not match
>> what the accountant has been doing. They are the authority,
>> so It's entries on depreciation that need to be fixed.
>>
>> Note, I have never 'closed the books' since the beginning because
>> I knew I need to fix the depreciation schedules on about (6) items.
>> It's a small company. I've been sick off and on for (3) years
>> running, so not much actively the last few years. I'm finally
>> better and ready to resume active business.
>>
>> ************************************************
>>
>>
>> So, should I fix the depreciation on the new version of gnucash
>> (my preferred method) or on the old slow lappy and version 2.4.11?
>>
>>
>> I'm in the process of installing a laptop to exclusively run gnucash,
>> mostly offline (no physical internet) on gentoo linux (fav distro).
>>
>>
>> Any documents I need to review before doing the migration to the new
>> laptop? I have both scp and usb sticks for the migration.
>>
>> I think I want to use a database now, pgsql.
>>
>> hit me up with ideas, and whatever make me plan out this migration
>> before starting...
>If you do not have any saved reports then all you need to is to plug
>the usb stick in the old machine, in GC use File > Save As to save
>your accounts file to the stick, plug it in the new machine, open GC
>and use File > Open to open it from the stick then File > Save As to
>save it somewhere appropriate.
>Note that the database storage schemes are not yet recommended for
>'production' use I believe.

Colin,

The database back end is stable, and has been for a while now. There is nothing to prevent a user from making use of it, even for production. 

That said, there is little to compel someone to change. Gnucash is not a true database application; it uses the database as a file store, basically. One does not gain much in day to day use. It loads the entire file into memory on startup, which can be slower than the XML load. 

One positive is that changes are saved in the file immediately. Also, you can use external SQL tools to query your data, which can help with reporting (although the table structure can be challenging to decipher). 

A minor negative of the database back end is that the file is stored without compression (contrary to the XML), which can create much larger files on disk (or in the cloud). Use of the db back end also adds the database manager role to the end user, which isn't always completely easy to handle.I

David


>Colin
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