[GNC] XML or database?

John Layman john.layman at laymanandlayman.com
Mon Oct 31 12:05:11 EDT 2022


Database vs XML

I've experimented with using a database and actually prefer XML.  Since
GnuCash operates on its datastore in memory, it loads the entire database at
launch, which takes as long (or longer) as sucking in the XML.  And I
actually find 'revert' a handy feature when I screw something up.  You can
just drop back and start over afresh using XML, but your mistakes have been
written immediately to the database.  Also, there have been some rare
occasions when I've found it expedient to edit the uncompressed XML.  There
are certainly things that can be accomplished using a database that would be
awkward or impossible with XML, but I haven't so far found that necessary.

Data accretion

I converted from Microsoft Office 12 years ago.  I used it both for personal
and business accounting.  It had the best feature I've seen for purging old
data, because it was smart enough to preserve investment history, and you
could even keep track of expenditures such as home improvements for as long
as necessary, while removing other data that was truly stale.  Using
GnuCash, I keep separate books for business and personal, but 12 years on I
have not found file size to be problematic.  The developers have done a
great job of streamlining performance.  Awhile back, the HDD on my desktop
died and I replaced it with an SSD.  That provided a performance kick, but I
was okay with what I was experiencing with the HDD.

I mostly handle accounting on a desktop, but do transition to a laptop when
travelling.  It's a fairly straightforward matter to port all the necessary
files and configuration data.

-----Original Message-----
From: gnucash-user <gnucash-user-bounces+john.layman=ieee.org at gnucash.org>
On Behalf Of R Losey
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2022 9:14 AM
To: Gnucash Users <gnucash-user at gnucash.org>
Subject: [GNC] XML or database?

This question may have been asked before, but I'm relatively new to this
mailing list.

Is there any advantage to switching to the database format? Would it use
less space? My ".gnucash" file is about 1.5M currently, and opening it takes
mere seconds.

Long ago in my Quicken days, I would generally keep about 3 years of  data
and then "archive" transactions older than that... I don't know if GnuCash
has (or needs) any similar feature.
--
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8
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