[Kmymoney-devel] strangeness importing csv

[Allan]

On 21/01/12 00:07, Jack wrote:
> I've been trying to import a csv file I just created myself. The purpose
> is to add a transaction for a cash tip to match every one of a
> particular set of transactions I exported with a custom report. A
> typical line in the file is:
>
> 2011-02-04,Personal: Appearance/Grooming,Hair Shop,-5.00,Tip
>
> Clearly most of the errors I'm getting are just due to careless fingers,
> as they don't repeat. However, some are persistent.
>
> When I click "import" I get a popup asking me to enter the debit flag
> column number. I cancel, hit import again, and it imports. I assume a
> debit flag would be something to tell whether the "amount" column is a
> debit or credit - but why not put this on the main dialog?

Er, darn it.  That has been on my list for ages, and I may have just 
recently sorted it, but I'll have to check.  Yes, it works OK in my 
sandbox, but not in git/HEAD.  It's not actually about specifying the 
amount column.  A user in, I think, Holland, had a format from his bank 
which used a single column for the amount, and used another column to 
specify if it was a debit or credit.  Strange, but true.  If they are 
going to use two columns, why not one for debit and another for credit? 
  Anyway, I didn't want to add further to the existing UI.  So, there 
is/should be a setting in the config file - DebitFlag - which should be 
set to -1 to ignore the feature.  If that setting is missing, or 
incorrect, the pop-up appears.  Just pressing return should continue.
>
> Even though "Hair Shop" (actually the name of the person) is already a
> payee, it always creates a new payee - with the identical name, as far
> as I can tell. Is there any way to assure it uses an existing payee?
>

That's strange!  I see that too, but that is after the plugin has 
finished.  Don't know what's going on there.

> The amount has been imported as $500.00 not $5.00. Do I explicitly need
> to specify the decimal symbol?
>

This is another area of recent change, so you may be different. 
Originally, I left the decimal symbol widget unselected, which disabled 
progress to the next screen, in order to force the user to make a 
selection, which in turn allowed me to verify his column and row 
selections were valid.  Cristian didn't really like that as it forced 
him to need to select every time.  So now, once a selection has been 
made, it gets saved and used next time.  That's not yet committed 
though, but close.  You may have made an initial selection, enabling the 
import button, but then done another import without clicking the choice 
again.  Your file imports correctly here, in that respect at least.

> Is there any way to get the category assigned, or will that work once I
> get it to use the existing payee?
>

As the plugin started off as a bank statement importer, and as my bank 
statements didn't know about KMM categories, I don't capture category 
information.  However, some files I get do have something that could be 
usable, so I'm having a think.  Another user want to be able to use the 
same column twice because sometimes the memo column contains better 
payee information.  So, if I can work something out without needing a 
larger screen for the UI, we'll see.

> Thanks for any suggestions. (I know I could just leave the import as is
> and then edit all the transactions at once, since this is just a one
> time exercise, but I figured I'd prefer to understand what, if anything,
> I'm doing wrong.
>
> Jack

No, I don't think I can blame you, not really!

Allan