[GNC] File format question

[Jim DeLaHunt]

Hello, Simon:

On 2024-01-31 10:11, Simon Roberts wrote:
> ...I'm investigating using logfiles as a means to identify changes that will
> be made by my accountants for my year end. This leads me to two questions
>
> First, is there documentation I can look at on this topic"? I didn't find
> anything in the user guide, but am not particularly surprised at that.
I am not aware of documentation for the logfile format. It may exist, 
but as a long-time user and sometime developer, who has meddled with the 
XML content of my book file, I have not come across logfile 
documentation. If I wanted to find it, I would search the GnuCash 
wiki[1] first, and then the GnuCash source code[2].
> Second, I notice that the main data file is binary. I thought it was XML
> (perhaps that was at version 4?) But what's odder is that even if I
> expressly request "save as XML", I still get a binary file. Is this
> compressed, and if so, does anyone know what the compression is? ...

The XML data file is compressed by gzip. You can run gzip on the 
compressed file to recover the uncompressed XML file. Or, you can change 
GnuCash settings to not apply the compression. Read more in the 
/Tutorial and Concepts Guide/ [3], section 2.2.1 *Files* [4]. See also 
wiki articles *File*[5] and *GnuCash XML format*[6].

If you discover gaps in the Wiki articles, I encourage you to contribute 
improvements to the Wiki.

[1] Wiki <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/GnuCash>
[2] Source code <https://github.com/Gnucash/gnucash>
[3] Tutorial and Concepts Guide 
<https://www.gnucash.org/viewdoc.phtml?rev=5&lang=C&doc=guide>
[4] Guide, 2.2.1 Files 
<https://gnucash.org/docs/v5/C/gnucash-guide/basics-entry1.html#basics-files2>
[5] Wiki article File <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/File>
[6] Wiki article GnuCash XML format 
<https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/GnuCash_XML_format>

Best regards,
      —Jim DeLaHunt