Installation

D sunfish62 at yahoo.com
Mon Feb 5 20:47:31 EST 2018


Jonathan,

More to the point of files on your desktop: from what you have provided, I suspect the following.

1. You tell Gnucash to save your data on the desktop.
2. You do your work, save and exit Gnucash.
3. You take the saved file and move it to your cloud folder, and then delete all the other stuff that's appeared in the desktop.
4. You restart Gnucash and get the file not found error.

As Adrien noted, Gnucash opens the last saved file, so if you move it, Gnucash will complain.

If you don't want your desktop littered with Gnucash log files and back ups (most of us don't!), put them into a folder. Then they will all live in that folder. You also mention wanting to use the cloud, so save the file there, keeping in mind Adrien's advice about multiple machines and access. It is also important to note that most cloud folders have some lag in updating, so you want to be sure you aren't disconnecting before that update occurs.

Cheers, and welcome,
David




On February 6, 2018, at 5:28 AM, Adrien Monteleone <adrien.monteleone at gmail.com> wrote:

First, by ‘unable to install’ do you mean you can’t install the program at all and can’t start it?

You indicate next that you create accounts and save your file, so I’d say you HAVE managed to successfully install it. (‘Install’ means to make the application able to run on your computer, if you can run it, you’ve installed it)

Now, let’s tackle the file issue.

If the first time you saved your ‘book’ file after creating it, the location you chose was your desktop, then yes, additional files will get created as you use the software in that same location. These are mostly log files. The GnuCash program icon should just be labeled ‘GnuCash’. Your book file should be labeled with whatever name you gave it with a .gnucash extension. The log files will end in .gnucash.log and start with the same name as your book file. There may be other files from time to time, most likely a .lck file which is a lock file used to prevent you from opening the same book file twice at once. It is probably advisable instead to choose either a folder on your desktop if that’s how you work, or a folder inside your Documents folder to store your GnuCash ‘book’ file.

When you next open GnuCash, it will attempt to re-open your last used file. As long as it’s in the same place you saved it, this should be no issue. If you move that file however, GnuCash won’t find it.

You have two options to resolve this:

1 - use the File > Open command in GnuCash then navigate to where you saved the file, select it and open it.
2 - Before you start GnuCash, navigate to where you stored the file, double click, or right-click and choose Open With and then GnuCash.

Either way, GnuCash will remember this new location for next time.

To answer your question about using the same file on Mac and Windows - yes you can. But there is not yet sufficient functionality to successfully open it on both machines at the same time and not cause data loss. Be sure to only use it on one computer at a time. (If you tried to do so, you will get a warning dialog, but you can choose to open it twice anyway, I’d advise against doing so.)

The Tutorial & Concepts Guide and the Help Guide will serve you well. I would suggest either browsing them online, or downloading a copy to have handy for reference as you get your books set up.

Regards,
Adrien

> On Feb 5, 2018, at 12:19 PM, Jonathan Ames <jnthn.ames at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I am a 71 yo solo psychologist, not particularly patient, unable to install Gnucash: every time I save, another icon appears on desktop; accounts, files I create disappear (“not found”) despite being saved. Wondering if this program requires programming skills to set up: other non-programmers seem it use it. Idea was to link office Windows 10 and home Mac (Sierra) systems through iCloud, replacing Windows-only Quickbooks and Mac Quicken. Is Gnucash basically for the IT-savvy, i.e. getting stable version established on systems so they work like standard software? Also, can Windows and Mac versions maintain same data sets? Will guidebook help, of is it that if you’re having my sort of issues you’re too stupid?
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> Jonathan Ames, Ph.D.
> 415 N. Tioga Street #205
> Ithaca NY 14850
> Office: 607-319-5118
> Cell: 607-227-4792
> jnthn.ames at gmail.com
> www.whatnowconnect.com
> 
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