[GNC] Locked out of gnucash

[Stan Brown]

I think David Carlson's suggestion is better than mine.

I had hoped to spark a discussion on this point, so I didn't expect my
version would be the final one. I'm delighted that it is being looked
at, and benefit to users will result.

-- 
Regards,
Stan Brown
Tompkins County, New York, USA
https://BrownMath.com
http://OakRoadSystems.com


On 2019-11-17 19:24, David Carlson wrote:
> A comment about Stan Brown's suggestion. 
> 
> I think a better and more accurate wording would be "The data file has
> not been cleanly closed since it was last opened.  If you are sure that
> it was not opened by another user, click 'Open Anyway'.  Otherwise click
> one of the other options."
> 
> To me the important part is that the data file has not been cleanly
> closed, which is the real reason that the lock file exists.  There may
> be better words to use as long as this idea is incorporated.
> 
> David Carlson
> 
> On Sun, Nov 17, 2019 at 4:35 PM Frank H. Ellenberger
> <frank.h.ellenberger at gmail.com <mailto:frank.h.ellenberger at gmail.com>>
> wrote:
> 
>     Hello Stan et al.
> 
>     I like the idea. A short grep delivers 5 occurrences of likewise
>     texts: 4 at
>     https://github.com/Gnucash/gnucash/blob/de09259f13e8e3d7f2e50f97a353bd22eb45a4b6/gnucash/gnome-utils/gnc-file.c#L276
>     and one further below:
>     https://github.com/Gnucash/gnucash/blob/de09259f13e8e3d7f2e50f97a353bd22eb45a4b6/gnucash/gnome-utils/gnc-file.c#L768
>     I am not totally sure if the change can be applied on aloof them.
> 
>     BTW. Splitting the first 4 strings like the last would reduce the
>     burden for our translators.
> 
>     Regards
>     Frank
> 
>     Am So., 17. Nov. 2019 um 08:22 Uhr schrieb Stan Brown
>     <the_stan_brown at fastmail.fm <mailto:the_stan_brown at fastmail.fm>>:
>     >
>     > In the two years I've been reading this list, I think the single most
>     > common question has been about this "could not obtain the lock"
>     message.
>     > Seems like someone asks about it at least once a week.
>     >
>     > The text "that database may be in use by another user," while
>     literally
>     > true, isn't helpful because it points to a less common case and
>     gives no
>     > guidance for the more common case. It's like hearing hoofbeats and
>     > hypothesizing "zebra" instead of "horse".
>     >
>     > I suggest that improving the message would be a huge boon to less
>     > experienced GC users, and very little effort for the developers.
>     >
>     > Why not replace the present text
>     >
>     >         That database may be in use by another user, in which case you
>     >         should not open the database. What would you like to do?
>     >
>     > with this:
>     >
>     >         If your previous session crashed, select Open Anyway. If
>     this is
>     >         a shared database, wait for other users to finish using it or
>     >         select Open Read-Only. For more information, see (link to sec
>     >         2.5.3 of Tutorial).
>     >
>     > "What would you like to do?" can be omitted, in my opinion. Seeing
>     > buttons, users will know that they need to pick one. What they
>     _do_ need
>     > is text that is relevant to their situation.
>     >
>     > (I question the tutorial's advice to delete the lock files manually.
>     > David Cousens reports:
>     > >  My experience on Linux is that when you select Open
>     > > Anyway, the previous .LNK and .LCK files will be deleted and new
>     ones
>     > > created which should then be deleted when GNucash is closed
>     properly.
>     > The same happens for me in Windows. Is there any OS where this
>     desirable
>     > behavior doesn't happen? If there is, the tutorial's advice should
>     > mention those specific systems, or at least it should say that in
>     > Windows and Linux GC will do this automatically when you reopen a data
>     > file after the "could not obtain the lock" message.)