[GNC] New GNC User / Should I created as XML or SQLITE3 ?

[sunfish62 at yahoo.com]

A few points of clarification (which I am also sure someone will correct me on!):

I believe that program speed is no different between formats, since the entire file is loaded into memory at startup. Startup speeds are largely the same as well; I seem to recall that some user benchmarked the startup times of the two formats and found the SQL slightly slower in fact, but that was some time ago, and may not still be true. 

Backups: while backups are made, log files are not useful for SQL formats, since transactions are written to file immediately. 

Drive space: because xml files are compressed, the GnuCash folder will take *much* less space on a drive. This can be an issue on cloud drives or encrypted dmgs, since a backup copy is made when saving the file.

⁣David T. ​

On Aug 1, 2025, 10:37 PM, at 10:37 PM, R Losey <rlosey at gmail.com> wrote:
>I use the default (which I believe is compressed XML). Some of the
>differences between using XML and the database (and I trust others on
>this
>list to make corrections where I get it wrong, and I probably will be
>wrong
>somewhere <grin>):
>
>- Saving: when you use SQLITE3, transactions are saved to disk as they
>are
>entered; when using XML, the user must explicitly save the file (or
>have
>auto-save enabled).  I assume therefore that SQLITE3 will have more
>disk
>accesses, but briefer ones, as XML writes out the entire file.  I
>assume
>both formats keep backups (I know that XML does; I don't know about
>SQLITE3).
>
>- Speed: I assume that the SQLITE3 is a bit faster; I keep my GnuCash
>file
>on a NAS in the compressed XML format. Reading in the entire file is
>pretty
>speedy on my Mac: When the GnuCash splash screen comes up, it takes two
>seconds to read my file and display the Chart of Accounts (and I have
>8.5
>years of data in my file). When the Autosave kicks off or I select
>"Save",
>it only takes a second to save the data.  On Windows 10, it's a bit
>longer;
>I think it takes me about 5-6 seconds. I know that reading and saving
>is
>noticeably slower on Windows, but not dreadful.
>
>- Space: My compressed XML file with 8.5 years of data is 2.6M; I
>assume
>the SQLITE3 version would be larger, but I don't know
>
>- Other differences?
>
>
>As others have pointed out, these options can be changed at will. I've
>been
>happy with the default and use that.
>
>As for me, I think I'd only use the database format if I intended to
>write
>some of my own queries, but I currently don't have any inclination to
>do
>that.
>
>
>
>On Fri, Aug 1, 2025 at 11:18 AM Serge via gnucash-user <
>gnucash-user at gnucash.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> Context : I'm a historical user of Quicken 2000 (French version) for
>my
>> personal finance. Unfortunately, Quicken will not manage correctly
>the date
>> after 2026. So, I'm preparing a move to GnuCash.
>>
>> Very first question : should I create my file as XML or as SQLITE3
>with GNC
>> 5.12 ? Pros and Cons ?
>>
>> Thanks for your support !
>>
>> Serge
>>
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>
>
>-- 
>_________________________________
>Richard Losey
>rlosey at gmail.com
>Micah 6:8
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