GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 635357
New "Save As..." and "Open..." dialogs undocumented
Last modified: 2018-06-29 22:47:40 UTC
The only information I found about saving is in the guide, chapter 2.5. I think this kind of information should be in the help manual (as it's related to "how does the interface work"), but I don't mind either if it remains in the guide. It does require an update though. The new "Save as..." and "Open..." dialogs are not documented. It particularly lacks information about the different file/db formats that are now supported. It would also be useful if there was an example session for saving to a database and loading from a database. In this mode the open and save as dialogs have a different layout, and potentially the user is asked for a password. Depending on the platform, the database password is stored in the Keychain/Keyring (OS X and Linux) or not stored at all (Windows). If the password is in keychain, the user may also see a password request to unlock the keychain.
>The only information I found about saving is in the guide, chapter 2.5. I think >this kind of information should be in the help manual (as it's related to "how >does the interface work") After looking at this chapter I agree with you. I also think that 2.7 should be moved to help as well. What about if I create a new chapter in help named "working with files" that will collect all the mentioned sections? Chapter 2.6 should also be deleted as it does not fits the tutorial or concept definitions. It can be merged with the Import QIF assistant detailed description given in the help in chapter 3.3. Finally a save window screenshot could be added with a little description in chapter 2.8 of the guide where now the given example reads "Save your file." What you think about this proposed changes?
Those are good suggestions. Perhaps "Working with files" may be a little confusing for someone who likes to learn how to save to a database. But I don't have a better description right now. We can change the title later still when you have moved the appropriate chapters around. If we find a better one.
Created attachment 176457 [details] [review] remove quif and update example This patch removes the qif import description from the guide and from the example. It also update the example by moving the "new account hierarchy setup" assistant. Not very related to the heading of this bug but to the following discussion.
Created attachment 176458 [details] [review] Document the new (in 2.4) Save and Open dialog This second patch add descriptions for saving data in file and database. I think that the section storing data is more appropriate for the manual then the concept guide. For now I could apply this changes just to close this bug and plan to move this section at a later time.
Generally, I agree that Concepts 2.5 should go as a new Help 3.2, before the current one. As I noted on gnucash-devel, I think it very important to explain to users some of the implications of the new database back end. I think the following might work as a replacement to begin the section: 3.2. Creating and Saving Files Gnucash stores your financial data in a file that can either be an XML file, or an SQL database. Older versions of Gnucash only offered the XML backend, but Gnucash can now use a SQLite3, MySQL or PostgreSQL database to store the data. Gnucash uses libdbi (a database-independent abstraction layer) to connect to the database. If you are using GnuCash for the first time, it will automatically open a new file when you begin. When you are ready to save your work, follow these steps: 1. Choose File → Save As... from the menu bar, select the Save toolbar button, or use the appropriate keyboard shortcut. GnuCash will bring up this window: [screenshot] 2. The first option in the Save dialog box is the format in which to save your file. This defaults to "xml," but if you have set up a database back end [refer to a section on setting up your database, which must cover the different supported db apps], you can change to that format. 3. Below the Data Format box is the File group, with places to allow you to define your preferred file name (e.g. gcashdata), and the file's location. 4. When you have made your selections, click the OK button to save the file. [continue with the rest of the text, beginning with "Before ending each GnuCash session" all the way to the end]
My apologies, Cristian. I didn't see that you had an edit in place. It looks from the patch like it is better than my own, although I'm not entirely sure about that... David
Review of attachment 176457 [details] [review]: Looks good to me.
Comment on attachment 176458 [details] [review] Document the new (in 2.4) Save and Open dialog Can be committed like this as far as I'm concerned. I would add a note somewhere in the save as section warning users that saving to mysql/postgresql requires the proper permissions in that database, meaning that the login user either has permissions to create a new database with the given database name, or has write access to an existing database with the given database name. This info can still be added after you committed your patch.
I've committed both patches. Thanks David, I've borrowed some sentences from your comment. I've also added a note about permissions as suggested by Geert. If there are not other comments, tomorrow I will close the bug.
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