[GNC] Linked location

[R Losey]

On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 11:07 PM Jim DeLaHunt <list+gnucash at jdlh.com> wrote:

>
> On 2026-01-28 20:38, R Losey wrote:
> > I have thought about making use of linking things (pictures, emails) to
> > GnuCash transactions.
> >
> > I'm not sure I can use it with my setup: I have GnuCash installed an
> Win10,
> > an a Mac, and on Linux (Ubuntu LTS). I run GruCash from all of these, but
> > mostly the Windows and the Mac computer. The GnuCash file is stored on
> our
> > local network, and it might be helpful to also have a folder there where
> I
> > can put receipts, etc.
> >
> > However, the local network storage is accessed differently from Mac to
> > Windows to Linux.
> >
> > Is the file location stored in the GnuCash  file? If it is, then an
> > attachment I add in Windows may not be able to be seen on the Mac, right?
> >
> > Maybe if the default location is stored in my preferences file (???), AND
> > the attachment is relative to that location, then I may be able to make
> > this work.
> >
> > Thoughts?
> >
> > [Yes, I know I could try it, but (1) perhaps someone on the list has
> > already been down this path, and (2) I'm afraid that if the path is not
> > valid on a different platform, it may cause problems (crash?) GnuCash].
>
> You might want to start by reading a similar thread in December:
>
> [GNC] GnuCash SQLite: file attachments not recognized across platforms.
> <
> https://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-user/2025-December/118983.html
> >
>
> I wrote at the time:
>
> > I don't know if the GnuCash app makes promises that attachment paths
> > work across platforms. I do know:
> >
> >    * Absolute paths are unlikely to work, because the roots of absolute
> >      paths are different on Windows and Linux (e.g. "C:\Users" and
> >      "/usr/".  So, using relative paths to attachments is more likely to
> >      work.
> >    * Windows and Linux use different path separator characters ("\" and
> >      "/").
> >    * Windows and Linux use different character code conventions to store
> >      path names (16-bit UTF-16LE and 8-bit UTF-8).
> >
> > It is possible that GnuCash code makes an effort to smooth over these
> > differences. It is also possible that it makes no particular effort. If
> > you are comfortable reading software source code, you could read the
> > GnuCash source code to try and find out.
> I believe that the GnuCash setting (preference) "Path head for Linked
> Files Relative Paths" is stored within GSettings, not in the book file.
> See <https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Configuration_Locations#GSettings>
> for where GSettings stores data on your platform.
>
> I hope this helps,
>      —Jim DeLaHunt
>

Thanks!

If I understood what you said and what was implied on the thread, if I have
each version point to the same folder as the root folder for files, and
then ensure that I just select the file in that folder, I should be fine?

(I'm not sure how I missed that Dec thread; I've been on this email list
for a couple of years now... maybe I skipped it because I wasn't
considering linking files at the time)



-- 
_________________________________
Richard Losey
rlosey at gmail.com
Micah 6:8