[GNC] Installation on a Mac

[David Reiser]

On Dec 2, 2018, at 12:17 PM, Jules Levinson <juleslevinson at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> I have used GnuCash for many years, but only on Windows. My wife has
> decided to give GnuCash a try. She uses a Mac. I've never used one.
> 
> She downloaded the current *.dmg file from the website and then did
> whatever one does on a Mac to install an application. Several times. Many
> times. Installation failed, always in the same way, leaving her with, at
> best, an icon for GnuCash but unable to open the program. Unfamiliar with
> the Mac, I am unable to help her. I hope someone on this list will be able
> to assist me to assist her.
> 
> In search of information, I stumbled across a few forums and queries. One
> resembled her experience closely:
> 
> "The installation process appears to go normally, there's the usual warning
> about 'Opening' a file downloaded from the internet and the GNUCash icon is
> seen 'bouncing' up & down on the lower docking bar, but after you 'click'
> Open the GNUCash icon disappears and the installation process halts -
> nothing! No GNUCash. I've tried several fresh downloads and repeated the
> same installation process without success."
> 
> I read this to her. She replied, "That is what is happening on my computer."
> 
> Thanks for whatever help you can offer us.
> 
> Jules B. Levinson
> _______________________________________________


If the gnucash is in the Applications folder (usual place to install apps on a mac), and that is where it gets launched the first time when the system asks you if you want to run an app downloaded from the internet, when you say “Yes, run it”, the Mac fails to open the app. If you go back to the Applications folder and double click Gnucash again, it will open Gnucash as expected (without asking again if you’re sure). That’s what has been happening for me for many version releases, maybe even before the 3.x versions. After that first aborted launch for a new download, I have not had any launch failures. 

So, plan to have to open Gnucash twice on a Mac the first time you try running a newly downloaded copy. 

Keep in mind, though, that double clicking on any gnucash data file on a mac usually results in gnucash opening with the last data file it used, even if that wasn’t the file you double-clicked in Finder. Use File>Open from within Gnucash. Just launch Gnucash directly if you want to use the last file it had open.
--
Dave Reiser
dbreiser at icloud.com