switching between 4.8.0 and 5.0.6

[Scott Lair]

On Tue, 21 Jan 2020 20:02:55 +0100
Thomas Baumgart <thb at net-bembel.de> wrote:

> Scott,
> 
> On Dienstag, 21. Januar 2020 17:41:13 CET Scott Lair wrote:
> 
> > On Tue, 21 Jan 2020 11:25:25 -0500
> > Jack <ostroffjh at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:
> >   
> > > On 2020.01.21 10:11, Scott Lair wrote:  
> > > > I would like to use version 4.8.0 under linux and 5.0.6 under  
> > > > windows. Do you see any problem with that? I would be accessing
> > > > the files on a samba share in windows and linux. Opening files,
> > > > adding transactions, saving etc under each.  I have been using
> > > > 4.8.3 under windows for some time and would like to make the
> > > > jump to the new version under windows but keep the older linux
> > > > version. I've done some limited testing that was successful,
> > > > but thought I'd ask the experts before I go all in.    
> > > 
> > > Hello Scott,
> > > 
> > > In general, switching between versions is OK, but not always.
> > > For example, using 5.0.6 and 5.0.8 should be fine, since no
> > > changes were made to the format of the data file.  Between 4.8
> > > and 5.0, it is less certain.  If you make a backup of your file,
> > > you can certainly try it, and then go back to the backup if it
> > > doesn't work.  The one thing I can think of that is most likely
> > > to be different is something about the mapping of an account to
> > > an online account.  One of the internal parameters which says
> > > which type of online connection is used was changed.  If you
> > > switch between versions with different settings for that, then
> > > you simply wont be able to do an online update without unmapping
> > > and remapping the account - but you would then need to do that
> > > every time you switched versions.  I don't remember exactly when
> > > that change was introduce to the 4.8 series.
> > > 
> > > However, I'm curious why you want to stick with 4.8?  If 5.0.6
> > > is working for you under Windows, then why not use that version on
> > > both. I'm not even sure where you would get 4.8 for linux without
> > > compiling it yourself.  I would make an extra backup copy of your
> > > file before that switch, but I don't know of any likely
> > > problems.  In fact, you might just go to 5.0.8, which has a few
> > > more bug fixes.
> > > 
> > > Jack
> > >   
> > 
> > Hi Jack,
> > 
> > Thanks for the detailed response.  Maybe I should have started with
> > the reason I want to keep 4.8.0.  I made some changes to the code to
> > accommodate my needs regarding importing transactions.
> > Specifically, I would like to match imported transactions to
> > existing transactions where the transaction number and amount agree
> > and use the existing number of days for the range that is already
> > built into the system. I also made a few changes to the reports,
> > like adding the name at the top and some changes to the html.  I
> > was just hoping I wouldn't have to re-implement them.  
> 
> If they are of general interest we may add them to the baseline, so
> you don't have to worry about losing changes in the future. And
> maybe, other users may benefit as well.
> 
> OK, it should be for the 5.0 or master branch this time, but you
> could start with a diff against your 4.8 version and work from there.

I enter checks in the system manually, then download data from the
bank. The checks are written to various vendors (ABC Co, John Smith,
etc) and the bank payee names are always "Electronic Image". These
transactions never match on import which is what led me to change the
program. Hopefully I'm not completely missing something here.

I am by no means a developer, but thanks to the excellent code in KMM
was able to figure out what needed to be done.

A few things I changed:
Match on reference number.
Ignore the fact that the payee names are different.
Don't auto clear accepted transactions.
Retain the date entered in favor of the imported date.

Maybe some of these could be implemented on the import tab of the
ledger settings as options.

Other things not related to import:
Get rid of "$" when printing checks - mine have it pre-printed.
change the date output to short format "mm/dd/yyyy"
A few changes to verbage on the spelled out number.
example "Two hundred and 00/100"
Added the Company name at the top of some reports.

> 
> > The main reason for wanting to go to the new version is that I
> > noticed a fairly dramatic increase in speed when working in the
> > ledger (filtering, editing, etc) on the newer version. So kudos to
> > you developers for that improvement. One file I have contains about
> > 16,000 transactions presently.  
> 
> And there's more performance improvement to come, I hope :)
> 

That sounds great.  I tested 5.0.6 on my lowly five year old laptop
last night and was very pleased with the results.  Once I get this
all sorted out the latest version should really fly on the desktops.  

thanks much,

Scott