[GNC] Unable to Refine Existing Search

[Derek Atkins]

Hi,

On Fri, May 17, 2024 2:43 am, Patrick Skelton wrote:
> Hi Derek,
>
> In the absence of tags in GnuCash, I thought I would use the *Number
> *field
> as a pseudo tag since I am not using it for anything else.
>
> So my search would be along the lines of *AFTER-dd/mm/yy AND
> BEFORE-dd/yy/mm AND CONTAINS-STRING-[tag]*. Then what I'd want to do it
> run
> the search again with the same date constraints but a different tag. So,
> it
> appears your answer means I will simply have to re-enter the date range
> every time.

Correct, you cannot change the existing query, you can only augment it.
So yes, you will need to re-enter the whole query in order to change the
"contains string".

>
> I am an absolute amateur when it comes to accounts, but it does seem to me
> that the GnuCash could be improved in this area. Tags would be great, as
> would a bit more flexibility on custom reports.

You need to keep in mind that GnuCash is implemented by volunteers who all
have real Day Jobs, so GnuCash is only done in their free time.  Nobody is
paid to work on GnuCash.  As a result, features can sometimes take a long
time to get implemented, and in general the features that the devs need
get implemented first.

With that in mind, the current query interfaces were written 20 years ago.
 The UI gets translated into QofQuery predicates, which is (unfortunately)
a one-way transform.  It MAY be possible to take a QofQuery and rebuild
the UI, but it would not necessarily map to what you input (because the
structure of the QofQuery gets manipulated based on ANDs and ORs getting
unrolled).

Having said all that, yes, Tags would be a great addition.  Patches always
welcome!  :)

> Thank you for your answer.
>
> Kind wishes - Patrick

-derek
-- 
       Derek Atkins                 617-623-3745
       derek at ihtfp.com             www.ihtfp.com
       Computer and Internet Security Consultant