[GNC] Problem with save-as

[John Ralls]

> On Aug 13, 2019, at 2:52 PM, James Fuller <James at plateautel.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> I tried to use the save as to change the name of a file last evening. Here is what I did:
> 
> from the File drop down menu I chose Save-As,  When the next screen popped up it asked for the name I wanted to use. I chose and entered databack.  I then went to the Places select box and clicked on 640GB (F:).  Next I went to the Name screen and entered in the save in folder (pre-existing) cruzback.  Then moving to the bottom right of the screen clicked the radio button Save as. I looked in F:\cruzback.   There is a save with the familiar Backuologo followed with databack               8/13/2019  GnuCash Financial Data  8 KB. There is also a databack.Gnucash.20190813152947    8/13/2019 3:29 which is the usual data file accompanying the backup files.  My question is tis,  why is there no dates etc. appended to the name databackup? I'm afraid that without that info, the next save will just overwrite this file.
> 
> any idea how I'm messing this one up?

Relax, you're not messing anything up.

Assuming you're using the XML backend, when you first save a file it's the only one you have so there's no appended timestamp. After you do some work on it and save it, either by hand or via auto-save, GnuCash renames the file you opened by appending the current timestamp before writing out the new file with the undecorated name. This ensures that even if the computer should crash during the save at least your old data will be safe. The file with the undecorated name is always the "most current" and the one that GnuCash will load and list in the most-recent list in the File menu.

Now if you're using the SQLite3 backend things work a little differently: SQLite3 is in control of the file and writes new data to it without needing to rewrite the whole thing, and it does so immediately after each edit. There are no "old" files to serve as backups, and SQLite3 has its own mechanisms for ensuring that nothing is lost if the system should fail in the middle of a write.

Regards,
John Ralls