File Format : XML v MySQL / postgres / sqllite

[Sébastien de Menten]

Hello David,

I saw you were mentioning piecash in your message. If you talk about
http://piecash.readthedocs.io/en/latest/, it is not a proof of concept for
a frontend but an alternative to the gnucash python bindings to work with
gnucash books stored in any of the 3 SQL backends (SQLite, postgres and
MySQL) and is alive and maintained (last release on the 20th December 2017).

The following article https://arachnoid.com/gnucash_utilities/ shows some
interesting use cases for it.

With gnucash 3.0, piecash will also allow you to write your own reports
using si python and jinja2 (work in progress).

For people interested to contribute, https://github.com/sdementen/piecash.


On Jan 27, 2018 18:27, "D via gnucash-user" <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
wrote:

Mike,

There is nothing new as far as I know about the file formats. You are right
that the primary benefit to using sql is being able to generate data sets
from sql that can used in reports. Processing a data file is no quicker in
sql, since it all gets loaded in at start up. Sql, moreover, adds a
database manager role to the mix; many users are not prepared to learn how
to manage a database platform to manage their financial accounts.

I stick with the XML because it also can store the data compressed; when
dealing with the main data file and all its copies, the difference between
3mb and 13mb adds up quickly.

Piecash, as I understand it, was a proof-of-concept experiment to see
whether a python front end could be designed. It has not been maintained
for some years now, and I recall recent discussion about changing its
status with the project.

As far as I know, there has been no change in recommendation to stay with
xml.

David

On January 27, 2018, at 12:13 PM, Adrien Monteleone <
adrien.monteleone at gmail.com> wrote:

I switched from XML to SQLite about a year ago. I perceive a performance
improvement on loading, but that’s about it. (and I generally never shut
the app down anyway)

I haven’t attempted any custom reporting yet, but I plan to.

I could be mistaken, but I think PyCash is designed to parse the XML file
so you can still get the reporting you want.

Regards,
Adrien

> On Jan 27, 2018, at 12:55 AM, Mike Stillingfleet <
mikestillingfleet at fastmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> XML is the default when creating a new file.
>
> I have seen various quite dated questions about the decision process of
selecting which db to use.
>
> I think that the main advantage of using MySQL would be the ability to
generate custom reports.
>
> Are there any other advantages and are there any differences in the
interface between the various db's. Does the forum still recommend XML.
>
> Regards
>
> --
>  Mike Stillingfleet
>  mikestillingfleet at fastmail.co.uk
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