[GNC] What do you think of this enhancement: Complete "part of a date" with date already in field, not date of entry?

[William Prescott]

Hello Jim,

Are you aware that you can change the date in the date field with the plus and minus keys? When the date entry field is selected, typing a minus key will go back one day. Holding it down will go back days continually until it is released. I never actually type a date. Even when I have to go back months, I usually just hold down the minus key and wait for it to get there.

Best wishes,
Will

On 1 Jul 2025, at 17:46, Jim DeLaHunt <list+gnucash at jdlh.com> wrote:

Hello, fellow GnuCash users!

I have an enhancement request for GnuCash, which GnuCash reminds me about every time a new month begins. I have finally written it down. I would like your comments on how useful you think it is, and whether you see problems with it.

When one enters a part of a date into a date field, GnuCash uses a date from its context to fill out the rest of the date. For instance, if the context date is "2025-03-31", and one enters "6", GnuCash completes the date to "2025-03-06". If one enters "2-6", then GnuCash completes the date to "2025-02-06".

Currently the date context which GnuCash uses is the current date at the moment of data entry. Thus, if you launch GnuCash late on 2025-06-30, the context date is 2025-06-30. After your computer's clock passes midnight, GnuCash changes the context date to 2025-07-01.

I request that the context date be changed to the value currently in the date field. Often, that is the date most recently entered in that field. This is the case when entering a batch of transactions in an account register. Sometimes the date has another value. For example, when reconciling an account, GnuCash fills the date field for the reconciliation with the expected next statement date. If a date field gets created without a valid date value, then it is fine to populate it with the current date.

The date picker UI should likewise start with the date value currently in the date field.

This benefits me primarily when I enter a batch of transactions from a previous month by hand in an account register. If I manage to enter the transactions before the end of the month, then the current month matches the transaction month, and I only need to enter a day number. But as soon as the month ends, I have to enter two numbers: month and day.  And every new year, I have to enter a full date for every transaction.   But GnuCash typically populates a register's date entry field with the most recently-entered value. This enhancement means I would only need to enter the extra fields once, then I could enter just the day number for the rest of the batch.

A consideration is whether there are people who depend on the current behaviour and would be impacted by the enhancement difficult. For instance, someone who opens GnuCash for the first time in a month and enters a batch of transactions might be impacted. I suspect that the impact would be limited. When they enter the first date in a batch, they might have to supply a more complete date. But then that date becomes the existing value in the field, and so they can enter just the day number for the rest of the batch.

The documentation appears not to promise any particular context date. Manual sections 6.2.1 "Entering Directly in the Register Window"[1] and 6.4. "Multiple Split Transactions"[2] both say, "It is also possible to type in the date or part of the date and let GnuCash fill the rest." It doesn't say how GnuCash fills in the rest.

What do you think? What am I missing?  I have entered an enhancement request for this change[3]. Comments welcome in this thread, or in that bug report.

Best regards,
     —Jim DeLaHunt

[1] <https://lists.gnucash.org/docs/C/gnucash-manual/trans-enter.html>
[2] <https://lists.gnucash.org/docs/C/gnucash-manual/trans-multi-enter.html>
[3] <https://bugs.gnucash.org/show_bug.cgi?id=799630>

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