GNUCash 3.0: Report Printing problems

Wed Apr 4 20:30:40 EDT 2018

I would think page size could most definitely affect breaks and flow of the document on the page. If there is less room for the content it has to flow to the next page. Though it is possible most reports are sized to at least A4, so you might not see any change and those using Letter would see different breaks, or if they are hardcoded, just more whitespace. I would also suspect font choice and size will affect this as well. (but if you’re copying to Excel, it won’t matter anyway)

I’m not a developer, so I can’t comment on the time-frame for direct printing issue. As for better reporting, it is sort of a cart-horse thing. There’s little point going through extensive effort to change the reporting mechanism until the app is a proper database which will allow for MUCH more flexible and customizable reports. This is why the devs have said it’s not on the top of the list. Top of the list is mostly behind the scenes changes to the base code so improvements like better reporting will be much easier to implement. They have a goal and a plan to get there, but reporting by necessity has to fall later in the scheme. (and if you understand the reporting mechanism, yes pun intended)

Note, there is a tool called Piecash which parses the XML that you can then use in custom reports. You could also save the file using the SQL or SQLite backends and query your data for reports. (just don’t write to the file without using the official API) There are also Python bindings available. Do a search for them here on the list, or check out the wiki ‘outside projects’. (or labeled something similar)

Regards,
Adrien

> On Apr 4, 2018, at 3:42 PM, Steve Parry <sparry at vidar.com.au> wrote:
> 
> Hi Adrien.
>  
> Thanks for your prompt replies to this and the subsequent comments from others.
>  
> Re #3 (page size) - I'm not sure from my testing that this affects the PDF output, maybe it's only the hysical printing formatting (when it is working again!)?.
>  
> Regardless, it does seem that the copy and paste to excel may be the most expedient way of formatting. I'm writing VBA Macros to auto format my common reports. Thank you for the tip about copy and paste rather than go through the HTML step😊
>  
> Re page numbers in the footer, I haven't found any variable for that, but as I will now be going through Excel that's not required.
>  
> I suggest that financial reporting is a very high priority, and having that as an integral function of GNUCash will be a huge timesaver globally amongst your users😊
>  
> Thanks again for your guidance.
>  
> Cheers
> ...Steve
>  
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gnucash-user <gnucash-user-bounces+sparry=vidar.com.au at gnucash.org> On Behalf Of Adrien Monteleone
> Sent: Thursday, 5 April 2018 01:00
> To: GnuCash User List <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
> Subject: Re: GNUCash 3.0: Report Printing problems
>  
> Welcome to GnuCash Steve!
>  
> I just caught up on a thread about W10 printing issues. It seems the problem has indeed carried over to the 3.0 series. (and still exists in 2.6.x)
>  
> As long as you can then print that PDF, it’s an extra step, but you aren’t locked out of printing.
>  
> Unfortunately, looking at your questions in 2-4, you might need an extra few steps anyway.
>  
> There’s no need to export first, you can simply select-all and copy/paste your report into Excel, and use that to format your printout with desired page-breaks, paper size, and footer.
>  
> Directly to your #3 - Check in File > Page Setup. You can set paper size and orientation there.
>  
> You can’t directly control page breaks, but you can change page orientation and you can adjust font-size by editing the stylesheets or creating your own stylesheet. However, you’ll likely have to alter this by trial and error and then do so each time the report changes. (not very time efficient)
>  
> Likewise, you can customize the Footer stylesheet to your needs which will allow you to print a footer on the page. There are some variables to use in some places but I’m not sure if page-number and page-count are included in these or if they’d even work in the footer. You might have to create a custom report. (which would be even more trouble)
>  
> The easiest way to get all requirements is to copy/paste and format in Excel as noted.
>  
> Please note, a proper reporting system is on the wish list, but it’s going to be well down the road until after core parts of the app are rebuilt, particularly, the transition to a true database app. Till then, we can always use our favorite spreadsheet for custom and ‘pretty printing’.
>  
> Regards,
> Adrien
>  
> > On Apr 4, 2018, at 2:03 AM, Steve Parry <sparry at vidar.com.au> wrote:
> > 
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > GNUCash newbie here.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > The problems I am having are: 
> > 
> > 1.         I can only print to PDF – no option for real printer use. I understand this is a problem with GNUCash on W10, so I’ll let that go.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 2.         If I create a PDF report it splits whatever is at the page break across the pages. For example the top half of a text line will be on the bottom of page 1 and the bottom half of the text on page 2. How do I make it page break at the end of a line?
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 3.         Australia use A4 paper, but I can’t see where the PDF page size in GNUCash is set up. One Report needs to be in A3 landscape, and currently I have to export it to HTML, into Excel, reformat and then print it.  Is there a way of setting the PDF print properties for GNUCash?
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 4.         I want to add a report footer that has “Page x of y” in for my multi-page reports. How do I do that?
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Thank you everyone – be gentle😊
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Cheers
> > 
> > …Steve
> > 
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