[GNC] Saving Gnucash data and back ups

[Adrien Monteleone]

On 8/16/22 1:33 PM, dsamoluk at shaw.ca wrote:
> I am new to Gnucash and have a few questions regarding saving data.  I use
> Windows 10 and Gnucash Version: 4.11 Build ID: 4.11+(2022-06-25)
> 
> 1.	I would like to save everything in one folder named Gnucash.  I
> think I will use the xml format.  Currently it seems there are files in
> three different folders.
> 		How do I make sure to save everything to one folder?

What other folders are you referring to? Where your preferences & custom 
report configurations are saved? If so, those can't be changed short of 
re-writing that part of the code and compiling a custom version as they 
are hard coded. But your data file can be saved wherever you please.
> 
> 2.	Can I move everything I have (which is in 3 different folders) to a
> folder named Gnucash without harm to the data I have entered.  (I previously
> had entered data for 2021, then deleted a bunch of files and most of the
> data disappeared.  The file types were text and gnucash financial data)

See above. I'm not sure what 'other' files or folders you are referring 
to. GnuCash doesn't use txt files as far as I'm aware. Your data file 
(and backups) have a .gnucash extension. Backups also have a date/time 
stamp in the file name.

If you have a backup handled by Windows, I'd try to restore those files 
and then be more careful in the future.

> 
> 3.	How long do you need to keep the different files?
> 		Are there certain files needed to keep the data in the
> Gnucash system?  I have looked at the FAQ but still not clear.

I'm going to hazard a guess you're asking about backup and log files 
which are stored in the same folder as your main data file. How long you 
keep them is up to you. There is a preference to set a number of days 
and GnuCash will automatically clean up after itself. Or you can do so 
manually.

Of course, you likely don't want to delete your main .gnucash data 
file(s) and you'd likely not want to delete any files in the 
configuration locations without some good reason.

See the Wiki FAQ about file locations for more info:

https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Basics:_Filenames.2C_Directories.2C_...
> 
> 4.	When you click the save button when entering transactions, how do
> you know where it is being saved to?  I'd like it to be saved in Gnucash
> folder, as indicated above.

It gets saved wherever you last saved it and most recently opened it from.

So if you saved your file in a folder called 'gnucash' then that's where 
it is saving to every time you manually save with the button.

If you want to move the file, the best thing to do is File > Save As and 
store it in your new location, then in Windows Explorer, delete the 
original location.

GnuCash will remember where the file is and the last one used, so then 
you don't need to navigate to your data folder first, just start GnuCash 
and your last data file (possibly your only one) will be loaded by default.

> 5.	Back ups - I have read a lot about the back ups but still unsure
> what to do.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The wiki has plenty of info about file and configuration locations and 
making backups.

https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Questions_about_Backups

Backup strategies are usually something handled at the Operating System 
level for the whole system, not just GnuCash. Windows has a backup app, 
and there are plenty of (much better) apps you can use, even free apps. 
A web search will easily turn them up.

One feature you might want to strongly consider is the ability to 
restore individual files from a backup similar to 'Back In Time' from 
Linux, or 'Time Machine' from Mac. (unless Microsoft has finally tiptoed 
into the 21st century, I'm not certain their backup app included by 
default allows you to restore individual files. I think you have to 
'roll back' the entire system to the backup state, but I could be mistaken.)

Regards,
Adrien