[GNC] Struggling with column width

[Stan Brown (using GC 4.14)]

On 2023-10-30 06:31, Donna F via gnucash-user wrote:
> Every time I read about a solution, I try it and it
> doesn't work. Like double-clicking on the Balance Header, which made
> the column smaller. Double-clicking again made it so small it
> disappeared. Dragging the column header from the right hand side made
> it smaller. In fact, anything I did made it smaller. Once I've got an
> unreadable ledger on my hands, I have to close it and then use an
> earlier version of the accounts in which the columns are readable,
> even though I have now read that it's not possible to make the
> Description column smaller no matter how wide it chooses to get. It's
> like it has a life of its own! The other solutions I've read about
> mean messing with the code, which I don't feel able to do at all! Yes,
> I know that open source means you mess with the code, but all I want
> to do is keep my freelance accounts. I love this program and nothing
> I've seen is as good as this. But I can't live in fear of losing
> columns I can't get back. Can anyone help?

Donna, I understand you're frustrated, but I think your frustration is
making this look like a big problem when it's really not.

The first thing is to set your mind at rest. There was no need to go
back to a previous version of the database: even if a column is not
visible, its contents are preserved.

The way it works in GnuCash is that you set the widths of the _other_
columns,(*) and then the Description/Memo column takes up the remaining
space. If you want to set the size of that column without changing any
others, then change the width of the entire GC window.

(*) Double-clicking a column head, such as Balance, doesn't make the
column smaller. Rather, it adjusts the column width to contain the
column contents, which might require making the column wider or
narrower, or leaving its width unchanged. The other columns (except
Description/Memo) work the same way. When you do your double-clicking,
be sure to do it on the text of the column head -- I suspect your second
double-click included an accidental mouse movement on the line that
divides columns.

"Open source" does _not_ necessarily mean messing with the code. I've
never done that and D.V. will never have to. I can assure you that you
don't need to "mess with the code" just to set column widths.

You may want to bookmark the FAQ list:
<https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ>

The specific FAQ about column widths is
<https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Q:_How_do_I_resize_my_register_columns.3F_Why_can_I_not_shrink_the_description_column.3F>
That addresses how to recover a disappeared column, and the example
given is the balance column.

-- 
Stan Brown
Tehachapi, CA, USA
https://BrownMath.com