[GNC] two instances on different books

[Brook Milligan]

> On Aug 14, 2024, at 9:29 AM, Ken Pyzik <pyz01 at outlook.com> wrote:
> 
> Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between what you are wanting to do and just doing a FILE - OPEN - BOOK2 from a single instance?  
> 
> Seems to me that the only real difference is that when GnuCash opens, it automatically opens the last book it was working from.  So, that being the case, what you are suggesting is to make sure then when you open any specific instance of GnuCash - that it is opening the specific book you want (e.g., instance 1 opens Book 1 and Instance 2 opens Book 2).  Other than that, I cannot see what purpose having two instances does. 

Fair question.

I have a situation in which I have to manage a pair of books, one from the perspective of each side of some of the transactions.  An example would be if I am managing books for both a company and a customer, but in my case the two entities are much more closely coupled than suggested by that example.  Because some (many) of the transactions must be entered in both books yet refer to the same activity, I was thinking that having both open at once would allow immediate checking that transactions match, simply by looking from one window to the other.

If I cannot see (and work with) both at once, then the data entry/validation process would be much more cumbersome.  (And yes, I fully understand the need to know which window is which.)

Other solutions are welcome, of course, but this one seemed pretty straightforward, at least barring any technical blocks.

Cheers,
Brook