[GNC] Difficulty with online price retrieval
Samantha Payn
samantha at boorertranslations.com
Sat Aug 8 09:00:39 EDT 2020
John, thank you for these corrections. In Powershell they brought
results as below:
PS C:\Users\User> cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin\"
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin> $Env:ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY = "
APIKEY"
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin> perl 'c:\Program Files
(x86)\gnucash\bin\gnc-fq-dump' currency USD GBP
1 USD = 0.76587 GBP
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin> perl 'c:\Program Files
(x86)\gnucash\bin\gnc-fq-dump' currency EUR GBP
1 EUR = 0.9031 GBP
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin>
(In the CMD window I still had a syntax error, but let's just carry on
with Powershell).
But Gnucash still doesn't fetch the rate for me.
And by the way I love the predictive text infill - such a time saver!
Best regards
Samantha
On 7 August 2020 20:08 John Ralls < [1]jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
Samantha,
Pardon the inlining:
On Aug 7, 2020, at 6:00 AM, Samantha Payn <
[2]samantha at boorertranslations.com> wrote:
John, I appreciate why you wish to keep this on list and so thank you
and everyone for your patience while I stumble through.
Sorry but I am such a beginner with CMD and Powershell environment that
initially I took your references to CMD and Powershell as part of the
code I should be typing.
Background: running Windows 10 home, regularly updated. Updated to the
most recent version of Gnucash: Gnucash Version: 4.1, Build ID:
4.1+(2020-07-25), Finance::Quote: 1.49. Problem started when I changed
my PC and reinstalled gnucash. Prior to this I had been using Gnucash
for transactions in three currencies without problem.
Now, when posting invoices in “foreign” currency the Get Quotes button
lights up, but when I click it I get an error window that says: "There
was a system error while retrieving the price quotes". The invoice then
appears to be posted but I have no confidence the currency exchange has
been handled correctly.
These are the results I get from following John’s guidance for testing:
In powershell window:
PS C:\Users\User> cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin\"
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin> $Env:ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY = "
APIKEY"
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin> perl 'c:\Program Files
(x86)\gnucash\bin\gnc-fq-dump currency' USD GBP
____^____
The marked quote is in the wrong place. It needs to go at the end of
dump, as in ...gnc-fq-dump' currency USD GBP
Can't open perl script "c:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin\gnc-fq-dump
currency": No such file or directory
So that Windows doesn't think that it's part of the perl script's name.
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin>
Type is variously yellow (cd, perl), lime green
($Env:ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY ) and sea green (after the lime green text)
or white at the start of each line.
In CMD window:
C:\Users\User>cd C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin
C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin>set ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY <APIKEY>
The syntax of the command is incorrect.
Sorry, that should be
set ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY=<APIKEY>
Note no spaces between the variable name, equal sign, and value.
Regards,
John Ralls
In an effort not to mistype anything I mostly copy and paste from
John's guidance.
I will attempt to follow up on any advice given from now on more
promptly and thanks in advance for all assistance offered.
Samantha
On 7 August 2020 00:56 John Ralls < [3]jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
Samantha,
I'd prefer to keep everything on the list. I'm not regularly a Windows
user and someone who is might be able to chime in with more help.
I think you have a CMD shell there rather than a Powershell. Powershell
would color $Env:ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY bright green no matter what else
you typed and it puts a space between the prompt and your input. CMD
doesn't color anything and doesn't separate the prompt from the input
with a space. To set an environment variable in CMD you do
SET ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY <your key>
making the obvious substitution. No quotes are needed, and the angle
braces are part of the substitution.
Regards,
John Ralls
On Aug 5, 2020, at 2:17 AM, Samantha Payn <
[4]samantha at boorertranslations.com> wrote:
Hi John
Sorry for my lengthy silence. I have attempted to follow your
instructions but so far without success.
This is as far as I have got:
C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin>$Env:ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY = "[my
alphavantage key"
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
All text in white.
If you are willing to help me further, John, perhaps we should take
this off the mailing list as at the moment the problems are with my
inexperience in the Powershell environment, rather than with gnucash
itself?
Many thanks for your assistance so far and hoping for your continued
patience.
Samantha
On 27 July 2020 20:16 John Ralls < [5]jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
Samantha,
Regardless of the shell you must enclose paths with spaces in quotes,
e.g.
cd "c:\Program Files (86)\gnucash\bin"
You can use ' instead of " if you like. You can also start typing and
use tab completion, for example type
cd c:\prog<TAB>
and the shell will change it to
cd 'C:\Program Files\'
You can then backspace out the \', type a space and <TAB> again and it
will fill in the (x86)\' for you.
Regards,
John Ralls
On Jul 27, 2020, at 12:01 PM, Samantha Payn <
[6]samantha at boorertranslations.com> wrote:
Sorry John (and everyone). I can't get it to accept (x86) now:
C:\Users\User> cd C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin
x86 : The term 'x86' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet,
function, script file, or operable program.
Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that
the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:22
+ cd C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin
+ ~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (x86:String) [],
CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
So sorry. Instead of bothering you guys should I try to get local help?
Best wishes and thanks again
Samantha
On 27 July 2020 19:30 John Ralls < [7]jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
Samantha,
Sorry I wasn't more explicit: Yes, each command is a line on its own,
followed by <Return>. You need to use quotes around your API key, so
$Env:ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY = "[my API key]"
I see that I left off the second quote in the perl command line, it
should be
perl 'c:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin\gnc-fq-dump currency' USD GBP
The Powershell terminal color-codes errors in red on black, variables
and special values (e.g. $true, $false) in green, and command names in
yellow.
Regards,
John Ralls
On Jul 27, 2020, at 2:30 AM, Samantha Payn <
[8]samantha at boorertranslations.com> wrote:
Hi John
I am sorry to have to come back to you for more support on this and
thanks again for your patience.
After some fumbling (am I right that I should type each line you have
typed followed by the "Enter" key? I really am that much of a newb at
this), I got an error message in red type as follows:
[my API key] : The term '[my API key]' is not recognized as the name of
a cmdlet, function,
script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if
a path was included, verify
that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:29
+ $Env:ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY = [my API key]
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: ([my API key]:String) [],
CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
(In the text above I have switched out my 16 digit API key for the
words "[my API key]").
Please also explain what the significance of green and yellow text is
in this environment.
Many thanks
Samantha
On 25 July 2020 20:04 John Ralls < [9]jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
Samantha,
Powershell (Admin) just means Powershell with admin privilege. Starting
it will raise a User Authorization Escalation dialog box asking if
you're sure that you want Powershell to "make changes to your device".
You don't need it for this test, plain Powershell is fine. Yes,
Powershell. I don't think that there is a Poweshell, please excuse my
hasty typing.
Since you use only those 3 currencies try all three combinations, i.e.
USD->GBP, EUR->GBP, and EUR->USD with gnc-fq-dump.
Regards,
John Ralls
On Jul 25, 2020, at 10:27 AM, Samantha Payn <
[10]samantha at boorertranslations.com> wrote:
John, thank you for your continued support.
Before I try this can I just clarify two points:
I have a choice of Windows Powershell and Windows Powershell (Admin):
which should I choose?
And in the middle of your email I presume you mean "Powershell" (not
Poweshell as typed)?
Finally, in response to your question I have no securities in my
Gnucash accounts. I am a freelance translator with a home currency of
GBP and clients who pay me (and a very occasional purchase) in EUR and
USD and use Gnucash for my business accounts. These are the currency
rates I am trying to access.
Best wishes
Samantha
On 25 July 2020 17:12 John Ralls < [11]jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
Samantha,
Next, some command-line testing. You can use CMD if you like, but I
find Powershell to be a bit friendlier and easier to get to: Just
right-click in the Start menu and it's in the middle. Once you have a
shell, cd to C:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin.
First you'll need to set your ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY in the environment:
CMD
set ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY xxx...
Poweshell
$Env:ALPHAVANTAGE_API_KEY = xxx...
Now test that you can retrieve an arbitrary currency pair:
perl 'c:\Program Files (x86)\gnucash\bin\gnc-fq-dump currency USD GBP
If that works then Finance::Quote is working correctly and something
else is going on. So far you've mentioned only currency rates, but the
usual reason for a system error message from online price retrieval is
trying to get a stock price from one of the dicontinued Yahoo! price
sources. Do you have any securities in your book? If you're unsure use
Tools>Security Editor to show a list of them.
Regards,
John Ralls
On Jul 25, 2020, at 5:22 AM, Samantha Payn <
[12]samantha at boorertranslations.com> wrote:
Thank you for your help John.
I have done as you instruct (including restarting Gnucash after the
install) but there is now a different problem.
The Gnucash about info now does show version 1.49 for Finance::Quote
The Get Quotes button does light up, but when I click it I get an error
window that says: "There was a system error while retrieving the price
quotes".
I have tried restarting my computer to see if that helps but it made no
difference.
The last two lines of the installing text in the CPAN window, before
the cpan prompt reappeared were *slightly* different to what you showed
in your email. As far as I can recall they said:
Appending installation info to C:\strawberry\perl\lib/perllocal.pod
ECOCODE/Finance-Quote-1.49.tar.gz
C:\STRAWB\c\bin\gmake.exe install UNINST=1 -- OK
Can you please give me guidance on what to do now?
Very many thanks!
Samantha
On 24 July 2020 21:12 John Ralls < [13]jralls at ceridwen.us> wrote:
On Jul 24, 2020, at 4:33 AM, Samantha Payn <
[14]samantha at boorertranslations.com> wrote:
Sorry to repeat myself but can anyone help me or shall I have to rely
on manual input of foreign exchange rates for the foreseeable future? I
think that Windows has put the online price retrieval somewhere where
Gnucash cannot "see" it and I am not sufficiently computer literate to
correct this.
My problem is that when I go to post an invoice in a "foreign" currency
the "fetch rate" button is greyed out so I cannot use the online
currency rate retrieval that I used to be able to before I upgraded my
hardware.
After installing the current version of gnucash on my new PC, I clicked
on "Install Online Price Retrieval" from the Gnucash list in my start
menu and I have entered the Alfa Vantage API key in my gnucash
preferences.
I have checked for the presence of the perl software using the
Troubleshooting method John Ralls directed me to and received the
response that I should install the Finance::Quote. The only way I have
done this in the past is by clicking on "Install Online Price
Retrieval" from the Gnucash list in my start menu and this is what I
have done. So I have done this again and after a run of code in the cmd
window the final lines are:
"C:\Strawberry\perl\bin\perl.exe" -MExtUtils::Command -e cp - -
examples/dm_zdump blib\script\dm_zdump pl2bat.bat blib\script\dm_dump
SBECK/Date-Manip-6.82.tar.gz
C:\STRAWB~1\c\bin\gmake.exe - -OK
Does this mean that online price retrieval has been installed?
When I look in the Windows list of apps installed it says I have
installed Strawberry Perl on 3rd July (when I first tried installing it
on my new PC).
I am running the latest version of Gnucash and I find that in the help
window it says
"Version: 4.0
Build ID: 4.0+(2020-06-27)
Finance::Quote: -"
Please let me know what other information you need in order to be able
to help me. I am stepping way out of my comfort zone when I enter the
cmd window but willing to give it a go.
It looks like Finance::Quote is not getting installed. Try this:
Find the Strawberry Perl group in the Start menu (windows logo at the
bottom left of the screen). Open it and start CPAN Client. You'll get
something that looks sort of like a CMD window. At the prompt there
type
install Finance::Quote
It will probably take a while and should eventually finish with
Appending installation info to C:\strawberry\perl\lib/perllocal.pod
ECOCODE/Finance-Quote-1.49.tar.gz
C:\strawberry\c\bin\dmake.exe install UNINST=1 -- OK
If GnuCash is running restart it, after which it should report version
1.49 for Finance::Quote and light up the Get Quotes button.
Regards,
John Ralls
References
1. mailto:jralls at ceridwen.us
2. mailto:samantha at boorertranslations.com
3. mailto:jralls at ceridwen.us
4. mailto:samantha at boorertranslations.com
5. mailto:jralls at ceridwen.us
6. mailto:samantha at boorertranslations.com
7. mailto:jralls at ceridwen.us
8. mailto:samantha at boorertranslations.com
9. mailto:jralls at ceridwen.us
10. mailto:samantha at boorertranslations.com
11. mailto:jralls at ceridwen.us
12. mailto:samantha at boorertranslations.com
13. mailto:jralls at ceridwen.us
14. mailto:samantha at boorertranslations.com
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