As you note, backups are not a germane topic here. I will note that Section 2.6 of the Guide is titled “Backing Up and Recovering Data.” Perhaps that section could include further discourse on data backups.
David > On Aug 15, 2018, at 3:04 PM, David Carlson <david.carlson....@gmail.com> > wrote: > > While file backups are not germane to the topic, it might be nice to > mention them in passing as the users might tailor their procedure to the > particular data type they choose. > > David C > > On Wed, Aug 15, 2018, 3:46 PM Derek Atkins <de...@ihtfp.com> wrote: > >> I believe SQLite is included on Windows as well. >> -derek >> >> On Wed, August 15, 2018 4:35 pm, Adrien Monteleone wrote: >>> Looks pretty clear. >>> >>> Though I’m noticing sqlite does generate log files too. Note, these are >>> transaction replay logs from what I understand in case of a crash. As I >>> believe John Ralls noted, any of these past the last successful save are >>> useless. I’m not sure if this is what you are referring to by ‘Uses log >>> files.’ I don’t know if sqlite can even utilize them at all. I’ve never >>> had to try. You might want to get clarification on that point. >>> >>> Also, I’d get clarification about the state of GnuCash sqlite on Windows. >>> It may or may not be packaged with GnuCash by default and may or may not >>> need some additional software. (if so, you might need a footnote) On Mac >> & >>> Linux, it’s just a file format choice without any other effort. >>> >>> Regards, >>> Adrien >>> >>>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 12:49 PM, David T. <sunfis...@yahoo.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Here is a newer version of the table: >>>> >>>> Storage Comparison Table >>>> XML SQLite MySQL PostgreSQL >>>> Installation Default Default libdbi libdbi >>>> File extension gnucash gnucash N/A N/A >>>> Additional software None None MySQL PostgreSQL >>>> Additional expertise None None DBMS DBMS >>>> Compression Y N N N >>>> Save on command Y N N N >>>> Save on commit N Y Y Y >>>> Uses log files Y N N N >>>> Multi-user N N N N >>>> >>>> How does that seem? >>>> >>>>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 10:34 AM, Adrien Monteleone >>>>> <adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 12:11 PM, David T. <sunfis...@yahoo.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 10:02 AM, Adrien Monteleone >>>>>>> <adrien.montele...@lusfiber.net> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> But it’s not a ‘plain file’ as it is XML formatted. Someone expecting >>>>>>> plain text and trying to view it is going to be met with tag soup >>>>>>> they’ve never seen before and might very well not know how to read >>>>>>> it. >>>>>> >>>>>> Not to mention that it’s compressed. >>>>> >>>>> True, forgot about that. Certainly, they’ll see gibberish mostly. >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> It also carries an .xml extension. So specifying the format is very >>>>>>> specific and informative, even for users who aren’t familiar with >>>>>>> XML. They’ll see in their file manager the extension, and/or the OS’s >>>>>>> interpretation of the file type itself. (in this case both XML) >>>>>> >>>>>> However, the file extension used is “gnucash” and not “xml” >>>>> >>>>> Facepalm. I forgot about that. (I honestly rarely even look at the >>>>> location where it’s stored anyway) I’d suspect unless Win10 uses the >>>>> file descriptor for file type instead of the extension as was the >>>>> practice through at least Win7, then no, those users won’t see XML >>>>> anywhere. (if the descriptor is set as XML that is) >>>>> >>>>> So I just checked on both MacOS and Ubuntu, MacOS reports the ‘Kind’ as >>>>> ‘Gnucash Document’ regardless if sqlite or xml, and at least with xml, >>>>> Ubuntu reports the file type as ’spreadsheet’. (yes, it’s registered to >>>>> open with GnuCash, but this was built from source, so perhaps the file >>>>> type was not registered properly, repo versions may vary) >>>>> >>>>> So I guess on that point I was way off. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> Perhaps the save process needs to be refactored to identify clearly >>>>>> and separately the name of the data file AND its format? >>>>> >>>>> Since .gnucash is not really proprietary or somehow a special format >>>>> from XML then I agree, the extension should be .xml. >>>>> >>>>> Combine this with the fact that the sqlite version of the file ALSO >>>>> uses the .gnucash extension can make for some confusion. At a glance, >>>>> you can’t tell what the format is. You can’t even tell until you try to >>>>> open it with something other than GnuCash. (or you notice that GnuCash >>>>> doesn’t offer a Save option) The only reason I know which is which is I >>>>> had to use filename.xml.gnucash to tell them apart. That’s a usability >>>>> bug in my opinion. I don’t know how hard that is to change, but I’d >>>>> support the move. >>>>> >>>>> On that note, the documentation somewhere (I suppose in the ‘file > >>>>> save/save as’ section) should document that the extension is currently >>>>> ‘.gnucash’. A new user shouldn’t have to go to a wiki or website FAQ >>>>> after reading the documentation for something this basic. >>>>> >>>>> Would it be out of order to include in your table that both use this >>>>> extension? If you expand the table to show MySQL and Postgres, I >>>>> suppose that row would have some other note since their data stores are >>>>> very different than single files. (though in this case they might store >>>>> it that way, I haven’t used either to know) >>>>> >>>>> Regards, >>>>> Adrien >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Knowing this might very well help them find their file if they know >>>>>>> the format they are looking for. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> But I do agree, the documentation should cover where files are >>>>>>> stored. Ideally, this should be made part of the Help or Guide in the >>>>>>> Getting Started section. It is certainly a common enough issue on the >>>>>>> list. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Regards, >>>>>>> Adrien >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Aug 15, 2018, at 10:24 AM, Christoph R >>>>>>>> <subscriptions+lis...@rohland.net> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Hi David, >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> The default file storage format is XML >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I would not call this “XML" but "plain file”. From a user >>>>>>>> perspective it is not important in which internal format it is >>>>>>>> stored. But it makes a big difference if it is a simple file created >>>>>>>> by Gnucash or if Gnucash needs to connect to a DBMS. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> And one of the biggest confusion for users on the mailing list is >>>>>>>> the question: “Where is my data?”. Pointing out that all your >>>>>>>> accounts and transactions are in a simple file might reduce that >>>>>>>> problem. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Cheers, >>>>>>>> Christoph >>>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> gnucash-user mailing list >>>>> gnucash-user@gnucash.org >>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >>>>> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see >>>>> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. >>>>> ----- >>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >>>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> gnucash-user mailing list >>> gnucash-user@gnucash.org >>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >>> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see >>> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. >>> ----- >>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. >> >> >> -- >> Derek Atkins 617-623-3745 >> de...@ihtfp.com www.ihtfp.com >> Computer and Internet Security Consultant >> >> _______________________________________________ >> gnucash-user mailing list >> gnucash-user@gnucash.org >> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: >> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user >> If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see >> https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. >> ----- >> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. >> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. > _______________________________________________ > gnucash-user mailing list > gnucash-user@gnucash.org > To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: > https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user > If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see > https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. > ----- > Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. > You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All. _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. 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