Copying fields in a filtered account sheet

[John Ralls]

> On Nov 5, 2017, at 5:32 AM, Cliff Williams <clifton26w at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi John
> 
> Me again..............thanks for the prompt reply.
> 
> I am aware of the transaction report facility and the fact that I can download part of an account (that word again, sorry)  but this is very cumbersome way of obtaining small snippets of information.  I was hoping to be able to download exactly what I wanted by filtering unwanted data out using the very good filter system provided.  I was suggesting that the easiest way to do this, in my opinion, would be to enable the copy and pasting of data after it has been filtered.  As mentioned earlier this is a tried and tested method I used with my old AceMoney accounts application.  
> Back to this 'Accounts' word, Gnucash has a tab showing 'Accounts'. I was referring to those items.  Gnush also goes on to talk of accounts with transactions rather than categories with transactions,     i.e 
> Using Accounts vs. Categories
> If you are familiar with other personal finance programs, you are already accustomed to tracking your income and expenses as categories. Since GnuCash is a double-entry system (refer to section 2.1), incomes and expenses are tracked in accounts. The basic concept is the same, but the account structure allows more consistency with accepted business practices. So, if you are a business user as well as a home user, GnuCash makes it easy to keep track of your business as well as your personal accounts.
> 
> I am assuming that I am misusing the word or we have a cross understanding of what I was trying to explain. Either way I am still seeking a good way of obtaining snippets of specific data contained in a list of transactions.  (avoided the word accounts this time, :-). 
> 
> Regards
> Cliff


I will not reply to you again if you don’t use the list.

We use copying and pasting internally (of single transactions only) and in order to enable copying to format the information in a way that would be digestible to an external program we’d have to remove that long-standing feature.

Report>Account Report run from a Find register will do what you’re asking.

Re: Accounts vs. Categories. Right. GnuCash is a double-entry accounting program. That intro paragraph is an attempt to explain that to users without being scary. Double entry (a.k.a. formal) accounting uses accounts to model financial transactions. Simple “financial management” programs like Quicken and KMyMoney don’t, and as a result are adequate for personal use but not for business use. Effective use of GnuCash requires that users understand formal accounting. If you don’t need or want a formal accounting tool then GnuCash may not be the right program for you.

Regards,
John Ralls