[GNC] best way to upgrade on Ubuntu 20.04 [was Re: QFX import: transaction matching NOT learning to match]

Fri Nov 5 18:26:15 EDT 2021

David,

Whether you choose to build from source or use a flatpack will depend on your experience and confidence with building software on Linux. The process is described fairly completely in the wiki https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Building,  https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Building_On_Linux and their breakout pages. 
If you just want to use the software, then the flatpak is an easy entry. The
flatpack is currently being maintained by the major developers so is currently
being updated with new releases. Permissions issues associated with the flatpack
use of system resources and different locations for config and stored reports
etc seem to have been the main issues. See https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Flatpak
 for more info. The major limitation is not having the Python bindings shipped
in the flatpak, which is only a limitation if you wish to use external python
programs to work on your data in GnuCash. The snadboxing provided by flatpack
might give some protection from affecting or being affected by other installed
software. I use a wide range of self built software and have never had any
serious issues as Linux seems to do that fairly effectively anyway.

My personal preference is to build from source. On Linux once you have all the
dependency header files installed it is usually straight forward. The wiki
instructions can be turned into a script  to install them fairly readily and a
number of people have posted scripts for this in the mailing list in the past.
Sometimes the library header names can differ slightly on various distros for a
few libraries. It allows me to stay with the most recent stable version for
production work and as I have in the past done a few minor code developments and
a little work on the documentation, building from source is a necessary part of
that.

David Cousens

On Fri, 2021-11-05 at 14:16 -0400, David Mintz wrote:
> Thanks  everyone. It looks like I should try upgrading to 4.8. I didn't
> realize that the official Ubuntu 20.04  repository provides 3.8, and that the
> ppa:sicklylife/gnucash repository is at 4.2. So one more question:  do you
> recommend the flatpack approach, or attempting to compile from source?
> 
> 
> ---
> David Mintz
> https://davidmintz.org
> Capitalism has failed. https://wsws.org
> 
> On Thu, Nov 4, 2021, at 11:26 PM, davidcousens49 at gmail.com wrote:
> > David
> > 
> > That should not be a problem at all. I used 3.7 and 3.8 before up grading to
> > 4.8
> > and imported OFX files regularly without any problem and have recently been
> > importing them in 4.8 without any problems. Usually as long as the second
> > transfer account has been specified for all the transactions before the
> > Import
> > button is pressed then the data for the import matching algorithm is stored
> > during the import process.  If that does not complete then the imbalance
> > account
> > will normally only be applied if no transfer account was specified when it
> > was
> > imported. If you don't complete the import process however the data isn't
> > recorded.
> > 
> > You can use the Tools->Import Map Editor to edit the stored data (Bayesian)
> > and
> > look to see if an Imbalance account has actually been mapped at some stage
> > but
> > AFAIK the matcher shouldn't store a mapping to an imbalance account in the
> > database. If you do find any data mapping to an Imbalance account in the
> > "Mapped
> > to Account Name" column you can delete it in the editor by selecting the
> > line
> > and pressing the "Delete" button at the bottom right of the window. Using
> > the
> > Filter set to "Imbalance" should locate any such records. You can then
> > multiply
> > select them and delete all of them.
> > 
> > David Cousens
> > 
> > 
> > On Thu, 2021-11-04 at 21:02 -0400, David Mintz wrote:
> > > Yes yes, I am talking about having to assign the accounts during the
> > > import
> > > process in the matching window. I understand that that is the point in the
> > > workflow where you have to do this. That's how I've been doing it -- over
> > > and
> > > over.
> > > 
> > > ---
> > > David Mintz
> > > https://davidmintz.org
> > > Capitalism has failed. https://wsws.org
> > > 
> > > On Thu, Nov 4, 2021, at 8:24 PM, Jean Laroche wrote:
> > > > Make sure you do the assignment during the matching, in the matching 
> > > > window. Not after matching is all done in the registry (in which case
> > > > GC 
> > > > does not learn anything).
> > > > 
> > > > Jean
> > > > 
> > > > On 11/4/21 5:13 PM, David Mintz wrote:
> > > > > Hello,
> > > > > 
> > > > > I am running Version: 3.8 Build ID: 3.8b+(2019-12-29) and when I
> > > > > import a
> > > > > QFX, nearly all the transactions are assigned to "Imbalanced" even
> > > > > though
> > > > > I have gone through multiple iterations of trying to teach GC to
> > > > > recognize
> > > > > transactions by assigning the accounts manually. I have seen earlier
> > > > > postings about this, but the most detailed discussions were serveral
> > > > > years
> > > > > ago, and the most recent says, in substance, "just keep trying". I
> > > > > hesitate to do that because I fear it's a fool's errand. How many
> > > > > times do
> > > > > I need to tell it "Stop & Shop" belongs to Expenses:groceries?
> > > > > 
> > > > > One strange detail:  I tend to neglect my financial record-keeping for
> > > > > months at a time, but as I recall, I was not having this problem a few
> > > > > months ago. It seems to be a case of *it used to work but now it
> > > > > doesn't.*
> > > > > 
> > > > > I've read that it may be that it thinks "Imbalanced" is the answer,
> > > > > and
> > > > > cannot unlearn. Is there a any way to wipe the slate clean, so to
> > > > > speak,
> > > > > and force GC to start over so?
> > > > > 
> > > > > I've also seen that people have written Perl scripts to run against
> > > > > their
> > > > > data files and yeah, I could try that -- but I'd much prefer to get
> > > > > GnuCash to work properly without having to intervene this way.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Any suggestions?
> > > > > 
> > > > > Gratefully,
> > > > > 
> > > > > David
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > ---
> > > > > David Mintz
> > > > > https://davidmintz.org
> > > > > Capitalism has failed. https://wsws.org
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > gnucash-user mailing list
> > > > > gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> > > > > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> > > > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> > > > > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see 
> > > > > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
> > > > > -----
> > > > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> > > > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > gnucash-user mailing list
> > > > gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> > > > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> > > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> > > > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see 
> > > > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
> > > > -----
> > > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> > > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > gnucash-user mailing list
> > > gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> > > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> > > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> > > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see 
> > > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
> > > -----
> > > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> > > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > gnucash-user mailing list
> > gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see 
> > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
> > -----
> > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
> _______________________________________________
> gnucash-user mailing list
> gnucash-user at gnucash.org
> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see 
> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information.
> -----
> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.