GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 725674
split transaction recorded with N blank item(s) causes much confusion
Last modified: 2018-06-29 23:28:02 UTC
Created attachment 270932 [details] gnucash DB with only an example transaction Using 2.6.0 which is latest available on Mageia Linux 4 In my accounts (entries all the way back to Aug/2006), I had a normal checking transaction to which I decided to add 5 split items. When I hit Enter after entering the items, the entry completely disappeared. The log files contain the splits I entered; but they are gone from the actual account. Trying to add a new split transaction to correct the situation, I ended up with two records (one with a blank amount). If I delete the blank record (which contains the same split info), BOTH records get deleted. In the attached file, I removed about 7.5 years of data and obfuscated any personal data. It contains only one <gnc:transaction... which appears as two on the Checking Account tab. On the Property tab, each split shows separately... OK... but each one can be opened and they all display every item... when opened, each split shows the total ($15); but only the amount of that item if closed -- so this seems to be deliberate... The duplicate entry in the Checking Account is not discussed in 4.2.2 at http://www.gnucash.org/docs/v2.6/C/gnucash-guide/txns-registers1.html Background on how I ended up here... The initial transaction was entered 12/20/13 as a simple check amount. A few days ago, I decided to add split items to it. After entering the splits, the entire transaction disappeared. Actually, the entereed split items were visible in the log; but no longer in the DB. I was able to recreate the transaction anew with splits; but ended up with this dual entry (from a single transaction in the DB). I will try to find a way to reproduce this initial transaction loss issue and open a separate report if I can.
Given the test DB, discovered that deleting only the blank split item corrects the issue. Found I could add many blank items pointing to different accounts and they show up as zero-sum entries in those accounts... This duplicate entry may have been triggered by operator error; but should blank split entries ever be recorded?
Getting convoluted... one of the blank splits I entered has become the "anchor" and can't be deleted. So I changed the account to point to the Checking Account and deleted the one with $15... Now, I have 5 split items, plus one empty anchor (Checking Account), and another entry with no account selected showing $15... Aha! If I save this transaction, it "deletes" everything -- not quite, it moved it back to the Checking Account as a duplicate and with a new Imbalance-USD $15 entry. OK... I now better understand how the splits show in each account and what is considered the anchor... so this was useful. However, recording a blank split item was the trigger for this excursion... Under what condition does it make sense to record a blank split item which otherwise only results in confusion?
This sounds a lot like it's at least related to 721979, fixed in 2.6.1. Opening your test file looks fine in 2.6.2. http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=gnucash Shows that 2.6.2 is available in Mageia Cauldron, though I have no idea if that rpm would be compatible with your version. If it is, I suggest that you try it.
Thanks John... will check 2.6.2. Reviewing my log files and the main file, I agree this is a duplicate.
Thanks for taking the time to report this bug. This particular bug has already been reported into our bug tracking system, but we are happy to tell you that the problem has already been fixed. It should be solved in the next software version. You may want to check for a software upgrade. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 721979 ***
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