CSV Import

[Geert Janssens]

On   Steve Isenberg via gnucash-user wrote:
> Just began using GnuCash for a local non-profit group. I tried importing
> transaction data from CSV file. It kept failing. The documentation doesn't
> describe proper file format or details about CSV import. I need to
> eliminate manual input of data as the non-profit has revenue from multiple
> sources. I did an export and examined the file contents. I have multiple
> questions about format and meaning of the columns. I have multiple rows for
> each transaction, showing multiple categories. There is a column called
> 'Type'. The values are 'T' and 'S'.
> 
Hi Steve,

Let's start with the bad news: in gnucash 2.6 and earlier gnucash is unfortunately not capable of 
importing its own export data.

The good news is this will be fixed in the next major release (2.8) currently tentatively planned 
for somewhere near the end of this year.

> What is the 'Type' column and what is the meaning of the values?

The "Type" is there to make a distinction between lines with transaction ('T') related data (date, 
num, description,..) and lines split ('S') related data in multi-row export. This will be handled 
differently in the new version and hence the type column has been removed.

> What is the column 'Action' for and what values might it contain?

The 'Action' column is equivalent of the 'Action' field in every split in gnucash. In essence it's a 
free field, but it's often used to store things like 'Buy', 'Sell',... for trading transactions.
> 
> What are the meanings of the 'To With Sym', 'From With Sym', 'To Num', 'From
> Num' and 'To Rate' columns?

I *think* these columns are an attempt to define one two-split transaction on one line. "To With 
Sym" and "From With Sym" stand for the amounts being transferred in that transaction but with 
their currency/commodity symbol included.

I'm not really sure about 'To Num' or 'From Num'. 'To Rate' is an exchange rate/price in case it's 
a transaction between two accounts in different currencies/commodities.
> 
> What rules determine what values are placed in these cells for importing
> data? Your help is greatly appreciated.
> 
As I said, the current CSV importer can't process such  a file. It will only allow you to set a very 
limited number of fields, such as a date, transaction number, description, amount (in the form of 
deposit or withdrawal) and the base account in which to import the transactions. This importer 
had a very limited use case in mind: importing csv files from a bank, which usually don't contain 
much more than this info.

The new importer will allow you to set many more fields and will be able to import directly from 
files exported by gnucash.

Regards,

Geert