[GNC] "No quotes retrieved. Finance::Quote isn't installed properly.", but it is (macOS)

[John Ralls]

> On Jul 9, 2019, at 6:22 PM, Jim DeLaHunt <list+gnucash at jdlh.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello, Gnucash users:
> 
> I am using Gnucash 3.6-1 on macOS 10.11.6. I would like to run it daily from a cron job to add price quotes. Finance::Quote is installed and updated. When running the app GUI, I can get quotes from the Price Database window. I have an alphavantage API key stored in the Preferences. However, when I run Gnucash from the command line, I get an error message.
> 
> % /Applications/Gnucash.app/Contents/MacOS/Gnucash --debug --extra --add-price-quotes ...path/to/ledger.gnucash
> Application Path /Applications/Gnucash.app/Contents/MacOS/Gnucash
> 
> (process:94006): gnc.gui-WARNING **: 11:43:45.881: [mac_set_languages()] Language list: en:C:ja:de:zh_CN:zh_TW
> The locale defined in the environment isn't supported. Falling back to the 'C' (US English) locale
> No quotes retrieved. Finance::Quote isn't installed properly.
> 
> (Path to my file anonymised. Let's ignore the locale error messages, I think that is a separate issue.)
> 
> The crucial error message appears to be:
> 
>   No quotes retrieved. Finance::Quote isn't installed properly.
> 
> However, I can't imagine that's correct. Finance::Quote works when the GUI is running, and with the gnc-fq-* tools.
> 
> The resulting gnucash.trace is 1160 characters, 10 lines long. It doesn't say anything about Finance::Quote, but I can post it if helpful.
> 
> However, this works:
> 
> % /Applications/Gnucash.app/Contents/Resources/bin/gnc-fq-check
> ("1.49" "adig" "aex" "aiahk" "alphavantage" "amfiindia" "asegr" "asx" "aufunds" "australia" "bamosz" "bet"
> "bmonesbittburns" "bourso" "bse" "bsero" "canada" "canadamutual" "citywire" "cominvest" "cse" "deka" "dutch"
> "dwsfunds" "europe" "fetch_live_currencies" "fidelity" "fidelity_direct" "fidelityfixed" "financecanada"
> "finanzpartner" "finland" "fool" "france" "ftfunds" "ftportfolios" "ftportfolios_direct" "fundlibrary"
> "goldmoney" "greece" "hex" "hu" "hufund" "hungary" "hustock" "iexcloud" "indiamutual" "known_currencies"
> "lerevenu" "maninv" "morningstar" "morningstarau" "morningstarch" "morningstarjp" "mstaruk" "nasdaq"
> "nyse" "nz" "nzx" "platinum" "romania" "seb_funds" "sixfunds" "sixshares" "stockhousecanada_fund" "tdefunds"
> "tdwaterhouse" "tiaacref" "tnetuk" "troweprice" "troweprice_direct" "trustnet" "tsp" "tsx" "uk_unit_trusts"
> "ukfunds" "unionfunds" "usa" "usfedbonds" "vanguard" "vwd" "yahoo_json" "yahoo_yql" "za" "za_unittrusts")
> 
> % ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY=#### /Applications/Gnucash.app/Contents/Resources/bin/gnc-fq-dump alphavantage CSCO
> Finance::Quote fields Gnucash uses:
>     symbol: CSCO                 <=== required
>       date: 07/09/2019           <=== recommended
>   currency: USD                  <=== required
>       last: 56.3400              <=\
>        nav:                      <=== one of these
>      price:                      <=/
>   timezone:                      <=== optional
> 
> I looked for past mailing list discussions of this error message. I found only two:
> /Finance::Quote install problem with OSX/ <http://gnucash.1415818.n4.nabble.com/Finance-Quote-install-problem-with-OSX-tt4665818.html>, Nov 28, 2013, no substantive reply.
> Problem installing Finance::Quote <http://gnucash.1415818.n4.nabble.com/Problem-installing-Finance-Quote-tt1426573.html#a1426581>, Dec 18, 2009, which culminates in the John Ralls replying,
> 
>   If they both work, then the problem is likely because gnucash
>   doesn't like being run with --add-price-quotes from the command line
>   on a mac. Try opening Gnucash from Finder like a normal mac user,
>   and update your prices with the Get Qutes button inTools>Price Editor.
> 
> Is it still accurate, 10 years later, that "gnucash doesn't like being run with --add-price-quotes from the command line on a mac"? If so, then I think there ought to be a) a bug report on the problem, and b) a wiki note about this in <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Online_Quotes>.
> 
> By the way, reading that 2009 thread, I pause to admire stalwart helpers like John Ralls and Derek Atkins, who were answering Gnucash questions 10 years ago, and are still helping today. Thank you!
> 
> Thank you in advance for any assistance in diagnosing this.

Normally "%" implies that the shell belongs to root. Don't do that. Always run as a regular user (the prompt will normally be "$") and use sudo to escalate *only* the commands that require it--usually because they're touching system directories like /Library/Perl/5.18/site-packages. E.g. You need to escalate to install or update Finance::Quote, but not to run it.

I think the problem is that GnuCash isn't able to find gnc-fq-check when run from the command line. That's a side effect of the Mac application bundle API, and I guess it means that it's still true that "gnucash doesn't like being run with --add-price-quotes from the command line on a mac", at least when it's installed as an app bundle.

Thanks for the kudos. Geert Janssens and Frank Ellenberger have also been helping users and working on the project for all of those 10 years, and several of the users active on this list have been as well.

Regards,
John Ralls