[GNC] Proposed enhancement to OFX/QFX import

[David Reiser]

> On Jun 5, 2023, at 8:49 PM, Stephen Cohoon <smcohoon at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I have been using Gnucash for many years so I think it is time to
> contribute.  I have several credit card accounts from different banks that
> each take a different approach to how they populate the tags in the
> transaction download file.  When I import these files I often have to spend
> time cleaning up the description and notes fields, adding and deleting
> text.  In particular, one of my banks actually lets me set the memo field
> for a transaction through their web page and app.  I want this to appear in
> the transaction description.  I would like more control so I can specify
> more precisely how this data is imported for each account separately.
> 
> I propose adding 2 options to the account edit screen:
> 1. Append Memo - when set, if the memo tag is populated then append that
> text to the name tag and use that combined text to populate the transaction
> description field.  Default is off in which case the present logic is
> invoked.
> 
> 2. Suppress Notes - when set, skip the logic that populates the notes field
> of the transaction. Default is off in which case the present logic is
> invoked.
> 
> These options function independently.
> 
> What does the community think about this?
> 
> -Stephen
> -- 
> Stephen Cohoon
> smcohoon at gmail.com
> 
> If there's a problem that can't be solved with a clever program, is that
> problem really worth solving?
> _______________________________________________

I wholeheartedly support at least item 2. 

A couple weeks ago, I spent a whole day manually deleting 5400+ useless Notes of the form "OFX ext. info: |Trans type:Other|Investment …”. With better regex skills I could have done it in a couple minutes, but it seemed a bit dangerous for my capabilities. 

I keep my checking and credit card notes up to date, and I never let ofx imports modify existing transactions (other than the clear flag). But TIAA makes dozens of tiny account adjustments per quarter among the retirement annuities held by  my wife and me. My approach to retirement accounts was to import all the transactions and make sure the units (shares) held according to gnucash matched my statements. Over 18 years, that left me with more than 5400 notes that held absolutely no useful information. And now that I’m withdrawing money from those accounts, the bogus notes were distracting when I looked at account listings.

Dave
--
Dave Reiser
dbreiser at icloud.com