[GNC] Downgrading to 2.6.21

Thu Apr 11 09:01:56 EDT 2019

Understood. I don't have trouble getting Windows explorer to display the
full path to me. That works well in text in the address bar. I have
experimented with Jack's suggested setting in the past, and found it
annoying.

Kind regards, Greg Feneis
(Galaxy S7)

On Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 05:51 Colin Law <clanlaw at gmail.com> wrote:

> I agree it won't fix the problem, but looking to see what the full
> path actually is (which I understood is not what it looks as if it is)
> may help to diagnose the problem.
>
> Colin
>
> On Thu, 11 Apr 2019 at 13:23, Greg Feneis <mfeneis at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > The issue is that in 3.5.1, when I attempt to save to a location that I
> usually save to in 2.6.21, GnuCash won't allow it.
> >
> > In GnuCash's error dialog GnuCash claims the location is reserved by
> GnuCash. Further, in the displaying of the error message, GnuCash attempts
> to display the path I selected, and that varies some, but always starts
> with some gibberish (an indication that the binary data doesn't map to any
> known characters). Sometimes after the gibberish, more path text follows,
> and that's always ...users\Greg\app data\.... , which isn't the location
> I'm trying to save to.  So, even when GnuCash manages some display of path,
> it's wrong.  This is GnuCash trying to display the path in its own error
> message dialog box.
> >
> > Jack's suggestion was for changing the way Windows explorer displays the
> graphical representation of the current location selected by the user in
> Windows Explorer.  This won't help GnuCash display paths correctly in its
> error messages.  Further, getting GnuCash to display the path correctly in
> its error message is just a symptom or clue. The actual problem is that
> GnuCash 3.5.1 fails to save where 2.6.21 does.
> >
> > Kind regards, Greg Feneis
> > (Galaxy S7)
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 04:41 Greg Feneis <mfeneis at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> Thanks Colin, I'm not having trouble viewing a path in Windows
> explorer, GnuCash is failing to display the correct path in its error
> dialog.
> >>
> >> Kind regards, Greg Feneis
> >> (Galaxy S7)
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 00:57 Colin Law <clanlaw at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Did you try the suggestion from Jack Lockard earlier in order that you
> >>> can see the real full path to that location?  That might provide a
> >>> clue to what is going on.
> >>>
> >>> Colin
> >>>
> >>> On Thu, 11 Apr 2019 at 02:07, Greg Feneis <mfeneis at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> > Installed 2.6.21 over the 3.5.1, and it was able to save as in the
> usual
> >>> > location, that 3.5 and 3.5.1 have trouble
> >>> >
> >>> > Kind regards, Greg Feneis
> >>> > (Galaxy S7)
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > On Wed, Apr 10, 2019, 09:04 Greg Feneis <mfeneis at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> > > Well, I upgraded to "Rebuild of the GnuCash 3.5 Windows Bundle",
> but
> >>> > > GnuCash still gives me the strange error when I try to save to the
> usual
> >>> > > location where I've saved in the past successfully with 2.6.x.
> >>> > >
> >>> > > Kind regards,
> >>> > >
> >>> > > Greg Feneis
> >>> > >
> >>> > >
> >>> > >
> >>> > >
> >>> > > On Tue, Apr 9, 2019 at 12:42 PM Greg Feneis <mfeneis at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>> > >
> >>> > >> So far, nobody seems to be able to repeat this issue, so we
> haven't ruled
> >>> > >> out that it's a failure of my computer that's causing this.  So
> it's
> >>> > >> probably not worth adding to the bug tracker.
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> Kind regards,
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> Greg Feneis <http://www.linkedin.com/in/electromechanical>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >> On Mon, Apr 8, 2019 at 8:10 PM John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us>
> wrote:
> >>> > >>
> >>> > >>> Greg,
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>> 2.6.21 and 3.x are supposed to be fully file-compatible. Earlier
> >>> > >>> releases in the 2.6 series may not be depending on what 3.x
> features you
> >>> > >>> use.
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>> If you'd prefer to continue the troubleshooting in the bug
> tracker, file
> >>> > >>> a bug.
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>> Regards,
> >>> > >>> John Ralls
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>>
> >>> > >>> > On Apr 8, 2019, at 5:40 PM, Greg Feneis <mfeneis at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > Just a coupe of questions,
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > 1.  Once the working file (xml) is saved by 3.5, does it remain
> >>> > >>> backward compatible with 2.6.21 in case I want to downgrade?
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > 2.  Should I log this bug in bugzilla?
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > Kind regards,
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > Greg Feneis
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > On Mon, Apr 8, 2019 at 7:27 AM Greg Feneis <mfeneis at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > Hi John,
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > Sorry I missed this yesterday.  The language is English (United
> >>> > >>> States), The Location is United States. The current language for
> >>> > >>> non-Unicode programs is English (United States)
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > Kind regards,
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > Greg Feneis
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > On Sun, Apr 7, 2019 at 4:33 PM John Ralls <jralls at ceridwen.us>
> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > Indeed. I just tried C:\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C &
> D\GnuCash\GnuCash
> >>> > >>> Docs\DeTradingWithExtraNoiseAdded.gnucash. No problem.
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > What are your Language and Region settings? Have you set LANG
> and
> >>> > >>> LANGUAGES in C:\Program Files
> (x86)\gnucash\etc\gnucash\environment? Is
> >>> > >>> your userid an Administrator?
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > Regards,
> >>> > >>> > John Ralls
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> >
> >>> > >>> > > On Apr 7, 2019, at 4:04 PM, Greg Feneis <mfeneis at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > John,
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > I misread your instructions and only attempted to save
> outside of
> >>> > >>> the Dropbox folder, but not in my ...\Users\Greg\... folder, so
> I tried
> >>> > >>> this path and file name:
> >>> > >>> > > C:\Xobpord\My Docs\Thorough C & D\GnuCash\GnuCash
> Files\Official
> >>> > >>> Working File After Testing Path Lengh Issues.gnucash (117 chars,
> outside of
> >>> > >>> Dropbox, Failure!)
> >>> > >>> > > The error message reads:
> >>> > >>> > > "You attempted to save in
> >>> > >>> H[gibberish]\Users\Greg\AppData\Roaming\GnuCash or a
> subdirectory thereof.
> >>> > >>> This is not allowed as GnuCash reserves that directory for
> internal
> >>> > >>> use....Please try again in a different directory. (close).
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > Then I read your email again before starting a reply and
> realized
> >>> > >>> you spec'd the home directory, so I tried the following path and
> file name:
> >>> > >>> > > C:\Users\Greg\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C & D\GnuCash\GnuCash
> >>> > >>> Files\Official Working File After Testing Path Lengh
> Issues.gnucash (128
> >>> > >>> chars, outside of Dropbox, inside user folder, success!)
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > So, appears with 3.5 I can only have a generous path while
> saving
> >>> > >>> within the windows user folder?
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > Things are getting curiouser
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > Kind regards,¯¯
> >>> > >>> > > Greg
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > On Sun, Apr 7, 2019 at 1:46 PM John Ralls <
> jralls at ceridwen.us>
> >>> > >>> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > > Just to completely rule out Dropbox being somehow involved,
> could
> >>> > >>> you create the same hierarchy in your home directory, i.e.
> >>> > >>> c:\Users\Greg\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C & D\GnuCash\Gnucash
> Files\
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > I was able to successfully save
> >>> > >>> > > C:\Users\John Ralls\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C &
> D\GnuCash\GnuCash
> >>> > >>> Docs\DeTradingWithExtraNoiseAdded.gnucash
> >>> > >>> > > and its log file
> >>> > >>> > > C:\Users\John Ralls\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C &
> D\GnuCash\GnuCash
> >>> > >>> Docs\DeTradingWithExtraNoiseAdded.gnucash.20190407134124.log
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > Regards,
> >>> > >>> > > John Ralls
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > >
> >>> > >>> > > > On Apr 7, 2019, at 10:50 AM, Greg Feneis <
> mfeneis at gmail.com>
> >>> > >>> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Some more testing on the issue where 3.5 seems to want a
> shorter
> >>> > >>> path than 2.6.x did:
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Just now, I exited Dropbox to see if that had something to
> do with
> >>> > >>> it, but pretty much the same error for all three path
> variations, what
> >>> > >>> worked historically with 2.6.x, no ampersand but some folder
> names used
> >>> > >>> spaces, and no ampersand + no spaces.  It seemed purely to do
> with length,
> >>> > >>> but it doesn't seem to be about total characters.
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > With Dropbox back on, here are some more tests:
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\GnuCash\test.gnucash   (52
> chars)
> >>> > >>> Success!
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\GnuCash\GnuCashFiles\test.gnucash
> >>> > >>> (65 chars) Failure!
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > So I shortened the name of the last folder from
> GnuCashFiles down
> >>> > >>> to G and still got the same problem
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\GnuCash\G\test.gnucash
> (54 chars)
> >>> > >>> Failure!
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > So I shortened the name of the previous folder from
> GnuCash down
> >>> > >>> to GnuCa, and it also failed even though it was 52 chars, the
> character
> >>> > >>> count that seemed to work previously.  Also the error message
> for this is
> >>> > >>> slightly different.
> >>> > >>> > > > "You attempted to save in
> >>> > >>> [gibberish]\Users\Greg\AppData\Roaming\GnuCash or a subdirectory
> thereof.
> >>> > >>> This is not allowed as GnuCash reserves that directory for
> internal
> >>> > >>> use....Please try again in a different directory. (close)."  See
> screen
> >>> > >>> shot here
> >>> > >>>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/pa3gdy6c2w21x6u/2019-04-07_9-30-31.jpg?dl=0
> >>> > >>> > > > This was the actual attempted path:
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\GnuCa\G\test.gnucash   (52
> chars)
> >>> > >>> Failure! although same char count
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > More testing:
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\G\G\test.gnucash   (48
> chars)
> >>> > >>> Failure!
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCand\G\G\test.gnucash (47 chars)
> Failure!
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCan\G\G\test.gnucash (46 chars)
> Success!
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > If I reduce the number of folders in the path, does the max
> >>> > >>> character count go up?
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\G\test.gnucash   (46 chars)
> >>> > >>> Success!
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\Gnu\test.gnucash (48 chars)
> >>> > >>> Success!
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\GnuCash\test.gnucash (52
> chars)
> >>> > >>> Success!  (confirming results from beginning of this email)
> >>> > >>> > > >
> C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\GnuCashTestLongerPath\test.gnucash
> >>> > >>> (66 chars) Success!
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>>
> C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\GnuCashTestLongerPathAndEvenLongerPath\test.gnucash
> >>> > >>> (83 chars) Success!
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>>
> C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandD\GnuCashTestLongerPathAndEvenLongerPathAndEvenLongerPath\test.gnucash
> >>> > >>> (100 chars) Success!
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>>
> C:\Dropbox\MyDocs\ThoroughCandDTestEvenLongerPathEvenLongerPathSuperLongPath\GnuCashTestLongerPathAndEvenLongerPathAndEvenLongerPath\test.gnucash
> >>> > >>> (145 chars) Success!
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > I'm not going to test to failure on this folder count, but
> it sure
> >>> > >>> looks like something about GnuCash 3.5 limits the path based on
> folder
> >>> > >>> count and path character count.  If I use a 5 folder path, max
> path
> >>> > >>> character count is 46.  If I used a 4 folder path, I've tested
> up to 145
> >>> > >>> characters.
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Hope this helps.
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Kind regards,
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Greg
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > On Sun, Apr 7, 2019 at 8:32 AM Greg Feneis <
> mfeneis at gmail.com>
> >>> > >>> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > > > Hi John,
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > The path length issue was with 3.5 on Win 7-64.
> Previously used
> >>> > >>> 2.6.x to save to the same location without trouble.
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > The path that 3.5 failed to write to is:
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C & D\GnuCash\GnuCash
> >>> > >>> Files\(VerboseFileNameProbably30chars.gnucash)
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > The last successful saves to this directory was by GnuCash
> 2.6.21,
> >>> > >>> and was:
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C & D\GnuCash\GnuCash
> >>> > >>> Files\AfterImporting2018ThroughQ4.gnucash.20190401075914.log
> (4/1/2019
> >>> > >>> 8:01AM)
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C & D\GnuCash\GnuCash
> >>> > >>> Files\AfterImporting2018ThroughQ4.gnucash (4/1/2019 7:59AM)
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Since I suspected it was a path length issue, I tried
> saving the
> >>> > >>> file name test.gnucash in the same location, but got the same
> error.  So I
> >>> > >>> went one folder back and tried to save again and it failed the
> same way.  I
> >>> > >>> kept shortening the path folder by folder like this until it did
> save,
> >>> > >>> which was as follows:
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C & D\test.gnucash
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Next, I copied the original folders so I could make a test
> path
> >>> > >>> exactly like the path that causes the error, but with no
> ampersand, and I
> >>> > >>> still get the the same problem.
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > C:\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C and D\GnuCash\GnuCash Files\
> >>> > >>>  fails just like   C:\Dropbox\My Docs\Thorough C &
> D\GnuCash\GnuCash Files\
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > A screen shot of the error
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/gd8rlgj1kvv0ysn/2019-04-05_18-37-52.png?dl=0
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Next, I copied the original folder so I could make a test
> path
> >>> > >>> exactly like the path that causes the error, but with no spaces
> in the
> >>> > >>> folder names and no ampersand, and I still get the same
> problem.  However,
> >>> > >>> this time, when gnucash tried to display the path in the error
> message, it
> >>> > >>> got some of it right.
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > A screen shot of that is here:
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/e3p0agpdlkmzia4/2019-04-05_18-52-26.png?dl=0
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Kind regards,
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Greg
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > On Sat, Apr 6, 2019 at 10:14 PM John Ralls <
> jralls at ceridwen.us>
> >>> > >>> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > > > That's interesting. What is the path that's causing
> trouble with
> >>> > >>> 3.5, and please remind me what OS you're using.
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > Regards,
> >>> > >>> > > > John Ralls
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > > On Apr 6, 2019, at 10:04 PM, Greg Feneis <
> mfeneis at gmail.com>
> >>> > >>> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > > There's a problem with 3.5 where it won't save to the
> usual
> >>> > >>> location that I
> >>> > >>> > > > > have saved the file to when I was using 2.6.x  For some
> reason
> >>> > >>> 3.5 has a
> >>> > >>> > > > > problem with path length.  I never had a problem with
> 2.6.21, I
> >>> > >>> just
> >>> > >>> > > > > thought I should keep up to the latest in case I wanted
> to ask
> >>> > >>> for help
> >>> > >>> > > > > with it.  But since it's going to give me trouble, I'll
> just go
> >>> > >>> back to
> >>> > >>> > > > > 2.6.21, so long as it will work with the file that was
> >>> > >>> previously saved by
> >>> > >>> > > > > 3.5.
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > > Kind regards,
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > > Greg Feneis <
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/electromechanical>
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > > On Sat, Apr 6, 2019 at 7:09 PM Fross, Michael <
> michael at fross.org>
> >>> > >>> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > > > >
> >>> > >>> > > > >> If you don't mind my asking, why are you downgrading?
> What
> >>> > >>> have you found
> >>> > >>> > > > >> that you prefer in 2.6.21?
> >>> > >>> > > > >>
> >>> > >>> > > > >> Michael
> >>> > >>> > > > >>
> >>> > >>> > > > >> On Sat, Apr 6, 2019 at 1:26 PM Greg Feneis <
> mfeneis at gmail.com>
> >>> > >>> wrote:
> >>> > >>> > > > >>
> >>> > >>> > > > >>> Hi,
> >>> > >>> > > > >>>
> >>> > >>> > > > >>> I've done some work in 3.5 and I'm considering
> downgrading to
> >>> > >>> 2.6.21.
> >>> > >>> > > > >>>
> >>> > >>> > > > >>> Can 2.6.21 work with the xml .gnucash file once it was
> changed
> >>> > >>> and saved
> >>> > >>> > > > >>> by
> >>> > >>> > > > >>> 3.5?
> >>> > >>> > > > >>>
> >>> > >>> > > > >>> Kind regards,
> >>> > >>> > > > >>>
> >>> > >>> > > > >>> Greg
> >>> > >>> > > > >>> _______________________________________________
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> >>> > >>> > > > >>
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