[GNC] Column widths again

Mon Aug 20 14:01:09 EDT 2018

IMHO, the column does not need to be documented becuase it is a
non-servicible part.  It exists the way it does because that was the
easiest way to get the register to store the meta-information about a
rate.  It exists as a 1-pixel column because that's the narrowest you can
make it.  There's no way to hide it absolutely completely, and duplicating
the functionality in a different way didn't make sense when this way was
available.

I see no reason to document it, because it should not be editable by a user.
I see no reason to document it, because in 99.9% of use cases, a user will
not even be aware that it's there.
I see no reason to document it, becuase if someone DOES see it in the
documentation and does try to look for it and does find it and does try to
meddle with it, they can do some pretty strange damage to their data.

Anyways, that's my $0.02.

Don't bother to even mention it; it's not worth your time to document
something that users wont (and shouldn't) see or touch.

-derek

On Mon, August 20, 2018 1:04 pm, David Carlson wrote:
> Adrien,
>
> Thank you for your research and detailed response. 🙂
> I fully agree with your conclusions.
>
>
> I got the reference to section 4.2 directly from
> https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/txns-register-oview.html#txns-regstyle1
> which I arrived at when I followed the link called " Tutorial and Concepts
> Guide, Choosing a Register Style
> <https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v3/C/gnucash-guide/txns-register-oview.html#txns-regstyle1>).
> " in https://www.gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?doc=help.  Naturally, I thought
> I was in the Tutorial...
>
> David C
>
> On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 11:45 AM, Adrien Monteleone <
> adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>
>> I’ve never seen any documentation on it. I only confirmed it’s there
>> after
>> I read Derek’s comment and expanded the column myself to see it.
>>
>> I just did a search of the GnuCash site, wiki and html docs and I don’t
>> see anything on the column, other than a pair of IRC logs from 2009
>> where
>> someone asked what it was for, and a couple of hits (appears duplicated)
>> documenting commits from 2017-09-4. I didn’t read the commit itself, but
>> it
>> was summarized by Robert Fewell as “Add a heading for the Rate column.”
>>
>> Concerning where to put the info, I’m not sure the Tutorial is the right
>> place. (there is no 4.2, for example)
>>
>> However, the help guide has 4.3.5 List of Transactions which documents
>> the
>> column headings. I think if that section were more detailed with
>> screenshots, lots of questions could be answered or even avoided.
>>
>> Some things to add here:
>>
>> The ability to resize columns and an explanation of how the Description
>> column is special and how resizing works.
>>
>> An explanation with screenshots of the different types of registers
>> showing the respective columns. (unless they are all the same, save
>> terminology choices, then you’d only need one screenshot)
>>
>> An explanation of the formal vs. non-formal labels for each account
>> type.
>> (a full listing of what the non-formal labels are for each type)
>>
>> Screenshots depicting each of the modes: single-line, double-line,
>> transaction journal.
>>
>> An explanation of what each cell in the transaction is for. (many don’t
>> know the utilit(ies) of NUM or Action for example.) Not everything is
>> self-evident. Perhaps here include a link to a special wiki page or to
>> Using GnuCash where the different ’tricks’ for using those and other
>> fields
>> to accomplish user specific goals are (or should be) documented.
>>
>> I would be happy to get set up for editing and start on this unless you
>> already planned on running with it.
>>
>> Finally, “Tutorial & Concepts Guide” is a bit winded. Could it simply be
>> “Tutorial” or “Using GnuCash”? (and then incorporate any ‘official’
>> methods
>> from that wiki page into the document, with a link to that page for the
>> non-standard methods)
>>
>> Regards,
>> Adrien
>>
>> > On Aug 20, 2018, at 10:57 AM, David Carlson
>> <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > I just tried to find reference to the rate field in the Tutorial and I
>> found nothing.
>> >
>> > I think it should probably be mentioned in chapter 4 section 4.2.
>> That
>> section even fails to explain single line vs two line view or dragging
>> around field widths, so it has a long way to go before it could describe
>> the presence of the rate field and how to access it.
>> >
>> > Is this information posted elsewhere?
>> >
>> > David C
>> >
>> > On Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 9:44 AM Adrien Monteleone <
>> adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>> > It’s still there as of 3.2.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > Adrien
>> >
>> > > On Aug 20, 2018, at 9:17 AM, Derek Atkins <warlord at MIT.EDU> wrote:
>> > >
>> > > John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us> writes:
>> > >
>> > >> Graham,
>> > >>
>> > >> "Transfer" is short for "Transfer Account" and is the field where
>> the
>> > >> "other" account--other than the one in the current register--is
>> > >> set. It's often called the "account" field in casual use.
>> > >>
>> > >> I think GTI made a translation error, the "rate" field is probably
>> > >> "price" on a stock/mutual fund register, which has two more columns
>> > >> than the other registers.
>> > >
>> > > No, there is (unless it was removed) a "RATE" field to the right of
>> the
>> > > balance column.  It's a "hidden" column, with a default width of one
>> > > pixel, which is (was?) used for the exchange-rate handling of
>> > > multi-currency transactions/splits.
>> > >
>> > >> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>> > >> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>> > >
>> > > -derek
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > >       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
>> > >       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
>> > >       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
>> > >       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available
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-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant