[GNC] File Format Documentation (Bug 777893)

[Derek Atkins]

SQLite uses libdbi, too.

-derek

On Wed, August 15, 2018 1:49 pm, David T. via gnucash-user wrote:
> Here is a newer version of the table:
>
> Storage Comparison Table
>  	XML	SQLite	MySQL	PostgreSQL
> Installation	Default	Default	libdbi	libdbi
> File extension	gnucash	gnucash	N/A	N/A
> Additional software	None	None	MySQL	PostgreSQL
> Additional expertise	None	None	DBMS	DBMS
> Compression	Y	N	N	N
> Save on command	Y	N	N	N
> Save on commit	N	Y	Y	Y
> Uses log files	Y	N	N	N
> Multi-user	N	N	N	N
>
> How does that seem?
>
>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 10:34 AM, Adrien Monteleone
>> <adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 12:11 PM, David T. <sunfish62 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 10:02 AM, Adrien Monteleone
>>>> <adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> But it’s not a ‘plain file’ as it is XML formatted. Someone expecting
>>>> plain text and trying to view it is going to be met with tag soup
>>>> they’ve never seen before and might very well not know how to read it.
>>>
>>> Not to mention that it’s compressed.
>>
>> True, forgot about that. Certainly, they’ll see gibberish mostly.
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> It also carries an .xml extension. So specifying the format is very
>>>> specific and informative, even for users who aren’t familiar with XML.
>>>> They’ll see in their file manager the extension, and/or the OS’s
>>>> interpretation of the file type itself. (in this case both XML)
>>>
>>> However, the file extension used is “gnucash” and not “xml”
>>
>> Facepalm. I forgot about that. (I honestly rarely even look at the
>> location where it’s stored anyway) I’d suspect unless Win10 uses the
>> file descriptor for file type instead of the extension as was the
>> practice through at least Win7, then no, those users won’t see XML
>> anywhere. (if the descriptor is set as XML that is)
>>
>> So I just checked on both MacOS and Ubuntu, MacOS reports the ‘Kind’ as
>> ‘Gnucash Document’ regardless if sqlite or xml, and at least with xml,
>> Ubuntu reports the file type as ’spreadsheet’. (yes, it’s registered to
>> open with GnuCash, but this was built from source, so perhaps the file
>> type was not registered properly, repo versions may vary)
>>
>> So I guess on that point I was way off.
>>
>>
>>> Perhaps the save process needs to be refactored to identify clearly and
>>> separately the name of the data file AND its format?
>>
>> Since .gnucash is not really proprietary or somehow a special format
>> from XML then I agree, the extension should be .xml.
>>
>> Combine this with the fact that the sqlite version of the file ALSO uses
>> the .gnucash extension can make for some confusion. At a glance, you
>> can’t tell what the format is. You can’t even tell until you try to open
>> it with something other than GnuCash. (or you notice that GnuCash
>> doesn’t offer a Save option) The only reason I know which is which is I
>> had to use filename.xml.gnucash to tell them apart. That’s a usability
>> bug in my opinion. I don’t know how hard that is to change, but I’d
>> support the move.
>>
>> On that note, the documentation somewhere (I suppose in the ‘file >
>> save/save as’ section) should document that the extension is currently
>> ‘.gnucash’. A new user shouldn’t have to go to a wiki or website FAQ
>> after reading the documentation for something this basic.
>>
>> Would it be out of order to include in your table that both use this
>> extension? If you expand the table to show MySQL and Postgres, I suppose
>> that row would have some other note since their data stores are very
>> different than single files. (though in this case they might store it
>> that way, I haven’t used either to know)
>>
>> Regards,
>> Adrien
>>
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Knowing this might very well help them find their file if they know
>>>> the format they are looking for.
>>>>
>>>> But I do agree, the documentation should cover where files are stored.
>>>> Ideally, this should be made part of the Help or Guide in the Getting
>>>> Started section. It is certainly a common enough issue on the list.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Adrien
>>>>
>>>>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 10:24 AM, Christoph R
>>>>> <subscriptions+listen at rohland.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi David,
>>>>>
>>>>>> The default file storage format is XML
>>>>>
>>>>> I would not call this “XML" but "plain file”. From a user perspective
>>>>> it is not important in which internal format it is stored. But it
>>>>> makes a big difference if it is a simple file created by Gnucash or
>>>>> if Gnucash needs to connect to a DBMS.
>>>>>
>>>>> And one of the biggest confusion for users on the mailing list is the
>>>>> question: “Where is my data?”. Pointing out that all your accounts
>>>>> and transactions are in a simple file might reduce that problem.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Christoph
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant