Re: [GNC] gnucash backups

Does this help?

FAQ - GnuCash 
<https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/FAQ#Q:_GnuCash_says_that_it_can.27t_obtain_the_lock_for_my_file._What_should_I_do.3F>

Or did something else happen?

Wm

On 2026-06-20 16:02, Maggi Andrews wrote:
> As a new user I was dismayed when i was "locked" out of my main file. I
> tried all the solution suggestions that google brought up with no luck. The
> website seemed to be unavailable.  The manual was no help. I subscribed to
> this group, as it was said to be the best place to get help. Eventually I
> just wandered around looking at all the gnucash files (this particular
> thread did not yet exist.) After reinstalling the program for the umpteenth
> time, instead of trying to open a file through the program, I just accessed
> the file directly.  Voila, success. No further problems.  Still don't
> understand what caused the issue, just glad I can carry on. And yes, I do
> regular backups to a separate hard drive.
>
> from Maggi's cell phone
>
> On Fri, Jun 19, 2026, 12:12 PM<[email protected]> wrote:
>
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>> Today's Topics:
>>
>>     1. Re:  Logs and Backups (Kalpesh Patel)
>>     2.  Fw:  Logs and Backups (Ken Pyzik)
>>     3. Re:  GnuCash and USD tenths and mils (Clint Chaplin)
>>     4. Re:  Fw: Logs and Backups (Wm Tarr)
>>     5. Re:  GnuCash and USD tenths and mils (Clint Chaplin)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:17:07 -0400
>> From: "Kalpesh Patel"<[email protected]>
>> To:<[email protected]>
>> Subject: Re: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>> Message-ID:<[email protected]>
>> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="UTF-8"
>>
>> Putting "backup" in calling them out is what most likely is confusing
>> folks.
>>
>> They are transactions rollback archives.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Michael or Penny Novack<[email protected]>
>> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2026 10:06 AM
>> To:[email protected]
>> Subject: Re: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>>
>> I realize people are treating THESE backups as satisfying the need to back
>> up your data. But better to think of these as "session backups" and not
>> replacement For your general backup procedure.
>>
>> Michael D Novack
>>
>>
>> On 6/18/2026 9:48 PM, Ken Pyzik wrote:
>>> OK - I think I may have found the answer to my own question.  In the
>> EDIT>>Preferences>>General, there is a setting to Retain Logs/Backup files
>> with three options - Never, For X number of days or Forever.  The default
>> appears to be 30 days.  Now this is interesting.
>>> If this is true - which I believe it is - this means that if you go into
>> Gnucash every day, you can end up with up to 30 or 31 logs and backup
>> files.  So, someone could assume that they could just change it to 3 days
>> and that would be fine.  However, if you do NOT open Gnucash everyday - but
>> instead open it up once a week, you would need keep the logs for 21 days in
>> order to have 3 backups.  By the same token, if you are someone who only
>> opens Gnucash once a month - or only once every couple of months, you would
>> need to keep the files for up to 60 or 90 days in order to get 3 full
>> backups.
>>> I am guessing that this is the behavior and that it has probably been
>> this way forever.  I am also guessing that if you only want 3 backups
>> definitively - you have to adjust the days accordingly to the way you use
>> the system - i.e., how often you open and work with the files.  And if you
>> go into the system multiple times a day - you could end up with A LOT of
>> backups and logs files.
>>> Is this behavior correct?  If yes, would changing it to be a definitive
>> number be difficult?  I assuming it is, otherwise I would have thought it
>> would have been changed by now.
>>> Ken
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: gnucash-user
>>> <[email protected]> on behalf of Ken
>>> Pyzik<[email protected]>
>>> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2026 6:05 PM
>>> To: Gnucash Users<[email protected]>
>>> Subject: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>>>
>>> This may have been mentioned in the past - and if so - sorry for the
>> repeat.  However, I noticed today 10 ".log" and 10 ".<<date>>.gnucash"
>> files.  So, I am assuming that gnucash is keeping 10 transaction and log
>> file backups.  Is this correct?  If so, is this the default and if it is
>> the default, can this be changed to only 2 or 3? Thanks for the reply.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>> [email protected]
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>>> -----
>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
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>>
>> --
>> There is no possibility of social justice on a dead planet except the
>> equality of the grave.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 17:29:51 +0000
>> From: Ken Pyzik<[email protected]>
>> To: Gnucash Users<[email protected]>
>> Subject: [GNC] Fw:  Logs and Backups
>> Message-ID:
>>          <
>> CO1PR05MB8588F12CB1999BAA789988B5AEE22@CO1PR05MB8588.namprd05.prod.outlook.com
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>> Not sure this made it the first time. Sorry if it's a duplicate.
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Ken Pyzik<[email protected]>
>> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2026 8:20 AM
>> To: Paul Kroitor<[email protected]>;[email protected] < [email protected]>
>> Subject: Re: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>>
>> Excellent analysis - everyone.  So, out of curiosity, I took a look at one
>> of the logs.  While a little difficult to fully decipher, they are indeed,
>> just a log of transactions entered during that particular session.  I did
>> not look at the backup gnucash files - my assumption is that they are just
>> a snapshot of the gnucash file at the point in time immediately before or
>> after those session transactions were posted.
>>
>> So - what this tells me - is that these log files are "backup snapshots"
>> to provide an effective audit trail for someone to go back and re-create
>> the situation as it was at a point in time.  In other words, today I
>> discover that one of my accounts is out of whack.  Effectively (and
>> theoretically), I could use the logs to trace back every transaction that
>> happened and possibly (and probably if I am a good forensic IT/Audit
>> person) could figure out what caused the account to get out of whack.
>>
>> So technically, as Paul pointed out - these really are NOT backups in the
>> sense of a catastrophic situation.  They are merely snapshots to use for
>> forensic investigations (i.e., can use them to trace back where you may
>> have screwed something up).
>>
>> Therefore, if someone wants to - they could effectively change the value
>> to 0 if they are doing backups and did not care to trace back old
>> transactions.  On the reverse side, you could keep them forever,
>> particularly if you are using them for company books and need to keep them
>> for regulatory purposes (some business jurisdiction requirements).
>>
>> Thanks for the discussion.  Learned something today!
>>
>> Ken
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: gnucash-user<[email protected]>
>> on behalf of Paul Kroitor<[email protected]>
>> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2026 7:43 AM
>> To:[email protected] <[email protected]>
>> Subject: Re: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>>
>> As an IT person for more than 50 years, a copy of the data on the same
>> device as the original (or even online in the same attached network) is
>> NOT A BACKUP. It's a restore point, rollback snapshot, or something
>> along those lines.
>>
>> If you take inventory of the possible risks to a live database, only
>> three are mitigated by such copies:
>> - erroneous / mistaken updates (eg. bad imports, trainee entry mistakes)
>> - data corruption due to software / logic issues
>> - data corruption due to (very) local hardware flaws (eg unrecoverable
>> disk sectors)
>>
>> Half a dozen other risks aren't mitigated at all, including disk
>> failure, loss of access due to credential issues (eg. full disk
>> encryption lockout), equipment loss (eg. theft, fire, earthquakes),
>> ransomware attacks, malfeasance, etc.
>>
>> A backup is what you use when you don't have your usual daily tools to
>> do your tasks, be it your current data file, OS, login, computer, or
>> even your building.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>> On 2026-06-19 10:05 a.m., Michael or Penny Novack via gnucash-user wrote:
>>> I realize people are treating THESE backups as satisfying the need to
>>> back up your data. But better to think of these as "session backups"
>>> and not replacement For your general backup procedure.
>>>
>>> Michael D Novack
>>>
>>>
>>> On 6/18/2026 9:48 PM, Ken Pyzik wrote:
>>>> OK - I think I may have found the answer to my own question.  In the
>>>> EDIT>>Preferences>>General, there is a setting to Retain Logs/Backup
>>>> files with three options - Never, For X number of days or Forever.
>>>> The default appears to be 30 days. Now this is interesting.
>>>>
>>>> If this is true - which I believe it is - this means that if you go
>>>> into Gnucash every day, you can end up with up to 30 or 31 logs and
>>>> backup files.  So, someone could assume that they could just change
>>>> it to 3 days and that would be fine.  However, if you do NOT open
>>>> Gnucash everyday - but instead open it up once a week, you would need
>>>> keep the logs for 21 days in order to have 3 backups.  By the same
>>>> token, if you are someone who only opens Gnucash once a month - or
>>>> only once every couple of months, you would need to keep the files
>>>> for up to 60 or 90 days in order to get 3 full backups.
>>>>
>>>> I am guessing that this is the behavior and that it has probably been
>>>> this way forever.  I am also guessing that if you only want 3 backups
>>>> definitively - you have to adjust the days accordingly to the way you
>>>> use the system - i.e., how often you open and work with the files.
>>>> And if you go into the system multiple times a day - you could end up
>>>> with A LOT of backups and logs files.
>>>>
>>>> Is this behavior correct?  If yes, would changing it to be a
>>>> definitive number be difficult?  I assuming it is, otherwise I would
>>>> have thought it would have been changed by now.
>>>>
>>>> Ken
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: gnucash-user
>>>> <[email protected]> on behalf of Ken
>>>> Pyzik<[email protected]>
>>>> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2026 6:05 PM
>>>> To: Gnucash Users<[email protected]>
>>>> Subject: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>>>>
>>>> This may have been mentioned in the past - and if so - sorry for the
>>>> repeat.  However, I noticed today 10 ".log" and 10
>>>> ".<<date>>.gnucash" files.  So, I am assuming that gnucash is keeping
>>>> 10 transaction and log file backups.  Is this correct?  If so, is
>>>> this the default and if it is the default, can this be changed to
>>>> only 2 or 3? Thanks for the reply.
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>>> [email protected]
>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>> -----
>>>> 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
>>>> [email protected]
>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>> -----
>>>> 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
>> [email protected]
>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>> -----
>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:58:55 -0700
>> From: Clint Chaplin<[email protected]>
>> To: "David T."<[email protected]>
>> Cc:[email protected], John Ralls<[email protected]>,  Derek
>>          Atkins<[email protected]>
>> Subject: Re: [GNC] GnuCash and USD tenths and mils
>> Message-ID:
>>          <CAEf=QbBPmnufT_3hE8y8nE+-hApKPGnO49pQh3=K8mfFqYq2= [email protected]>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>>
>> Well, the stock has been through three (that I can remember) different
>> share registries, and has never been with a broker.  The latest share
>> registry's records only go back to 2007, so the onus on keeping the records
>> is on me.
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 19, 2026 at 2:10?AM David T.<[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Well, yes-- but you'd have to track basis anyhow. My point was that you
>>> could do all the transactions in one account, split at the end, and only
>>> have to split the shares and basis at the end.
>>>
>>> If, on the other hand, your concern is that calculating basis and gains
>> on
>>> a large series of smaller events is difficult, well, yes that's true.
>>>
>>> And the options there are:
>>> 1) let the GnuCash lots feature calculate gains on a lot-by-lot basis
>>> (works, but results in complex splits);
>>> 2) enter all these same details yourself manually (augh!); or
>>> 3) use aggregated figures provided by the brokerage.
>>>
>>> I can tell you from experience that the first two are tricky to handle,
>>> and even determining whether your numbers are accurate can be deeply
>>> challenging.
>>>
>>> I decided for myself that I wasn't going to be challenging the numbers
>> the
>>> brokers provided anyway, so I might as well use their numbers throughout.
>>>
>>> IANAA and YMMV.
>>>
>>> David T.
>>>
>>>
>>> On June 19, 2026 12:02:06 PM GMT+05:30, Clint Chaplin <[email protected]
>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> For use case 1, the distribution did not happen immediately; in fact it
>>>> was delayed for five years (families, amirite?).  In that time, the
>>>> original and 20 DRIPs accumulated, and for tax purposes we have to keep
>>>> track of the basis of the DRIPs.
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 9:55?PM David T.<[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Clint,
>>>>>
>>>>> With use case 1: was the inheritance split as a percentage or as a set
>>>>> number of shares? If, as I suspect, it was a percentage, then why not
>>>>> simply take the final share count at the time of distribution and split
>>>>> that in half? I don't see any point in doing it the other way round.
>>>>> Presumably, the aggregated shares all appreciate at the same rate, and
>> two
>>>>> equal holdings would have appreciated at the rate rate as well. So,
>> half at
>>>>> the beginning will be half at the end.
>>>>>
>>>>> As for the stock spinoff, you "sell" the shares and "receive" a total
>>>>> dollar amount, then you "buy" a different number of shares for that
>> same
>>>>> dollar amount. Technically, the rates don't really matter that much.
>> Just
>>>>> the number of shares involved at each stage. Note that in many spinoff
>>>>> situations, your original number of shares results in a fractional
>> number
>>>>> of new shares (you are spun back 55.3 shares, say). This is usually
>> handled
>>>>> by the brokerage as "Cash in lieu." I have usually handled this in
>> GnuCash
>>>>> by creating a single transaction that has the accurate spinoff amount
>> in
>>>>> shares and dollars, with a separate split to sell the fractional share
>> at
>>>>> the cash in lieu amount. It is then quite clear what happened, the
>> basis is
>>>>> accurate, and you can derive the gain on the fractional sale easily. I
>> add
>>>>> notes to the splits to explain what's going on.
>>>>>
>>>>> David T.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On June 19, 2026 8:58:42 AM GMT+05:30, John Ralls<[email protected]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> You can. But as you might have discovered empirically it?s not
>> consistently used: A rough grep finds 35 uses of
>> xaccAccountGetCommoditySCU, which returns the fraction set in the Account
>> Edit Dialog, and 104 uses of gnc_commodity_get_fraction, which returns the
>> fraction set in the currency editor.
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>> John Ralls
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jun 18, 2026, at 15:49, Clint Chaplin<[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>> What I find interesting is that GnuCash has the ability for me to
>> set any arbitrary USD cash accounts to 3, 4, 5 or more decimal digits, and
>> yet that ability cannot be carried over to the USD cash side of
>> conversions/transfers to and from non-USD accounts.
>>>>>>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 10:46?AM John Ralls <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> Clint,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Don?t sweat the pennies in stock basis, they don?t make a practical
>> difference anywhere.
>>>>>>>> For splitting the DRIPs bases alternate the rounding so that for
>> the first one your basis is (e.g.) .45 and your sister?s is .46, the second
>> your basis is .46 and your sister?s is .45, and so on. Notice that if there
>> are an even number of such dividends you come out even and if there are an
>> odd number your sister comes out .01 ahead. That?s to promote familial
>> peace. It doesn?t actually matter,
>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>> John Ralls
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Jun 18, 2026, at 09:30, Clint Chaplin <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Hmm, I actually have two use cases, neither of which involve stock
>> splits, sorry for the deke.
>>>>>>>>> I and my sister inherited some stock from our father, split
>> 50/50.  It took several years to settle the estate, and meanwhile the stock
>> split 2 for 1 twice and kept DRIPping.  When it came time to actually
>> distribute the stock, we had to split the original stock with the basis at
>> the time of death, and also the subsequent DRIPs.  If the total value of a
>> DRIP happened to be odd, then the amount bequeathed to each person when
>> split 50/50 would have a half cent.
>>>>>>>>> Second use case: spinoffs.  To record the split, the original
>> stock is "sold" for the original value and basis, and then "bought" for the
>> modified value and basis, which could be any fraction of the original value
>> and basis (in my case, .9581688 of the original amount and basis), while
>> the remainder value is used to "purchase" the spun off stock (in my case,
>> .0418312 of the original value).  This ain't gonna be an even number of
>> cents...
>>>>>>>>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 8:54?AM Derek Atkins <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> Keep in mind that gnucash does not store the price in the
>> register, it stores the #shares and total $value.  Are you saying you would
>> have a mil in the total value of the split?
>>>>>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>>>>> Sent using my mobile device. Please excuse any typos.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On June 18, 2026 11:38:28 Clint Chaplin <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> Unfortunate.  My use case is stock that has split.  The suggested
>> way to
>>>>>>>>>>> record this change in basis in GnuCash is to sell all the stock,
>> and then
>>>>>>>>>>> rebuy at the split quantities at the new pricing.  This will
>> lead to
>>>>>>>>>>> amounts that are fractions of a penny, but simply cannot be
>> recorded in
>>>>>>>>>>> GnuCash with the current restriction.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Even worse is when a spinoff happens and needs to be recorded.
>> The basis
>>>>>>>>>>> of the stock needs to be modified, but the only way I can see is
>> to "sell"
>>>>>>>>>>> and "buy" at the new basis, but the total amount per purchase
>> cannot be in
>>>>>>>>>>> fractions of a penny.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> When I have over 100 lots to do this to, the rounding to the
>> nearest penny
>>>>>>>>>>> will catch up...
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 2:53?PM John Ralls <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:
>> [email protected] <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> No, no more than you can get a 10th of a penny at the bank or
>> the grocery
>>>>>>>>>>>> store. Prices can be in fractions of a penny, amounts cannot.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>>>>>> John Ralls
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> On Jun 16, 2026, at 10:39?PM, Clint Chaplin <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is there a way to set GnuCash to take USD tenths and mils on
>> some
>>>>>>>>>>>>> accounts?  My default is USD, if that matters...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] <
>> [email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 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
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>> [email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>>>>>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] <
>> [email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>>>>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>>>>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] <
>> [email protected]>>
>>>>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>> [email protected]
>>>>>> To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe:
>>>>>> https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user
>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>> Please remember to CC this list on all your replies.
>>>>>> You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>> David T.
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 4
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 19:04:41 +0100
>> From: Wm Tarr<[email protected]>
>> To:[email protected]
>> Subject: Re: [GNC] Fw: Logs and Backups
>> Message-ID:<[email protected]>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
>>
>> You can even replay log files, see
>>
>> 2.5.?Backing Up and Recovering Data
>> <https://www.gnucash.org/docs/v5/C/gnucash-guide/basics-backup1.html>
>>
>> for more.
>>
>> Wm
>>
>>
>> On 2026-06-19 18:29, Ken Pyzik wrote:
>>> Not sure this made it the first time. Sorry if it's a duplicate.
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: Ken Pyzik<[email protected]>
>>> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2026 8:20 AM
>>> To: Paul Kroitor<[email protected]>;[email protected] <
>> [email protected]>
>>> Subject: Re: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>>>
>>> Excellent analysis - everyone.  So, out of curiosity, I took a look at
>> one of the logs.  While a little difficult to fully decipher, they are
>> indeed, just a log of transactions entered during that particular session.
>> I did not look at the backup gnucash files - my assumption is that they are
>> just a snapshot of the gnucash file at the point in time immediately before
>> or after those session transactions were posted.
>>> So - what this tells me - is that these log files are "backup snapshots"
>> to provide an effective audit trail for someone to go back and re-create
>> the situation as it was at a point in time.  In other words, today I
>> discover that one of my accounts is out of whack.  Effectively (and
>> theoretically), I could use the logs to trace back every transaction that
>> happened and possibly (and probably if I am a good forensic IT/Audit
>> person) could figure out what caused the account to get out of whack.
>>> So technically, as Paul pointed out - these really are NOT backups in
>> the sense of a catastrophic situation.  They are merely snapshots to use
>> for forensic investigations (i.e., can use them to trace back where you may
>> have screwed something up).
>>> Therefore, if someone wants to - they could effectively change the value
>> to 0 if they are doing backups and did not care to trace back old
>> transactions.  On the reverse side, you could keep them forever,
>> particularly if you are using them for company books and need to keep them
>> for regulatory purposes (some business jurisdiction requirements).
>>> Thanks for the discussion.  Learned something today!
>>>
>>> Ken
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: gnucash-user<[email protected]>
>> on behalf of Paul Kroitor<[email protected]>
>>> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2026 7:43 AM
>>> To:[email protected] <[email protected]>
>>> Subject: Re: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>>>
>>> As an IT person for more than 50 years, a copy of the data on the same
>>> device as the original (or even online in the same attached network) is
>>> NOT A BACKUP. It's a restore point, rollback snapshot, or something
>>> along those lines.
>>>
>>> If you take inventory of the possible risks to a live database, only
>>> three are mitigated by such copies:
>>> - erroneous / mistaken updates (eg. bad imports, trainee entry mistakes)
>>> - data corruption due to software / logic issues
>>> - data corruption due to (very) local hardware flaws (eg unrecoverable
>>> disk sectors)
>>>
>>> Half a dozen other risks aren't mitigated at all, including disk
>>> failure, loss of access due to credential issues (eg. full disk
>>> encryption lockout), equipment loss (eg. theft, fire, earthquakes),
>>> ransomware attacks, malfeasance, etc.
>>>
>>> A backup is what you use when you don't have your usual daily tools to
>>> do your tasks, be it your current data file, OS, login, computer, or
>>> even your building.
>>>
>>> Paul
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2026-06-19 10:05 a.m., Michael or Penny Novack via gnucash-user wrote:
>>>> I realize people are treating THESE backups as satisfying the need to
>>>> back up your data. But better to think of these as "session backups"
>>>> and not replacement For your general backup procedure.
>>>>
>>>> Michael D Novack
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 6/18/2026 9:48 PM, Ken Pyzik wrote:
>>>>> OK - I think I may have found the answer to my own question.  In the
>>>>> EDIT>>Preferences>>General, there is a setting to Retain Logs/Backup
>>>>> files with three options - Never, For X number of days or Forever.
>>>>> The default appears to be 30 days. Now this is interesting.
>>>>>
>>>>> If this is true - which I believe it is - this means that if you go
>>>>> into Gnucash every day, you can end up with up to 30 or 31 logs and
>>>>> backup files.  So, someone could assume that they could just change
>>>>> it to 3 days and that would be fine.  However, if you do NOT open
>>>>> Gnucash everyday - but instead open it up once a week, you would need
>>>>> keep the logs for 21 days in order to have 3 backups.  By the same
>>>>> token, if you are someone who only opens Gnucash once a month - or
>>>>> only once every couple of months, you would need to keep the files
>>>>> for up to 60 or 90 days in order to get 3 full backups.
>>>>>
>>>>> I am guessing that this is the behavior and that it has probably been
>>>>> this way forever.  I am also guessing that if you only want 3 backups
>>>>> definitively - you have to adjust the days accordingly to the way you
>>>>> use the system - i.e., how often you open and work with the files.
>>>>> And if you go into the system multiple times a day - you could end up
>>>>> with A LOT of backups and logs files.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is this behavior correct?  If yes, would changing it to be a
>>>>> definitive number be difficult?  I assuming it is, otherwise I would
>>>>> have thought it would have been changed by now.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ken
>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>> From: gnucash-user
>>>>> <[email protected]> on behalf of Ken
>>>>> Pyzik<[email protected]>
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2026 6:05 PM
>>>>> To: Gnucash Users<[email protected]>
>>>>> Subject: [GNC] Logs and Backups
>>>>>
>>>>> This may have been mentioned in the past - and if so - sorry for the
>>>>> repeat.  However, I noticed today 10 ".log" and 10
>>>>> ".<<date>>.gnucash" files.  So, I am assuming that gnucash is keeping
>>>>> 10 transaction and log file backups.  Is this correct?  If so, is
>>>>> this the default and if it is the default, can this be changed to
>>>>> only 2 or 3? Thanks for the reply.
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 5
>> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:08:42 -0700
>> From: Clint Chaplin<[email protected]>
>> To: "David T."<[email protected]>
>> Cc:[email protected], John Ralls<[email protected]>,  Derek
>>          Atkins<[email protected]>
>> Subject: Re: [GNC] GnuCash and USD tenths and mils
>> Message-ID:
>>          <CAEf=QbBg_DR=dennojZx9UtwXKV=e=dG27bh-Y_uoV8= [email protected]>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>>
>> Interestingly enough, when IBM spun off KD, my shares were registered with
>> the registry agent ComputerShare, and I got to keep the fractional share,
>> since the registry agent already handles fractional shares easily.  No
>> broker involved.
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 9:55?PM David T.<[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Clint,
>>>
>>> With use case 1: was the inheritance split as a percentage or as a set
>>> number of shares? If, as I suspect, it was a percentage, then why not
>>> simply take the final share count at the time of distribution and split
>>> that in half? I don't see any point in doing it the other way round.
>>> Presumably, the aggregated shares all appreciate at the same rate, and
>> two
>>> equal holdings would have appreciated at the rate rate as well. So, half
>> at
>>> the beginning will be half at the end.
>>>
>>> As for the stock spinoff, you "sell" the shares and "receive" a total
>>> dollar amount, then you "buy" a different number of shares for that same
>>> dollar amount. Technically, the rates don't really matter that much. Just
>>> the number of shares involved at each stage. Note that in many spinoff
>>> situations, your original number of shares results in a fractional number
>>> of new shares (you are spun back 55.3 shares, say). This is usually
>> handled
>>> by the brokerage as "Cash in lieu." I have usually handled this in
>> GnuCash
>>> by creating a single transaction that has the accurate spinoff amount in
>>> shares and dollars, with a separate split to sell the fractional share at
>>> the cash in lieu amount. It is then quite clear what happened, the basis
>> is
>>> accurate, and you can derive the gain on the fractional sale easily. I
>> add
>>> notes to the splits to explain what's going on.
>>>
>>> David T.
>>>
>>>
>>> On June 19, 2026 8:58:42 AM GMT+05:30, John Ralls<[email protected]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> You can. But as you might have discovered empirically it?s not
>> consistently used: A rough grep finds 35 uses of
>> xaccAccountGetCommoditySCU, which returns the fraction set in the Account
>> Edit Dialog, and 104 uses of gnc_commodity_get_fraction, which returns the
>> fraction set in the currency editor.
>>>> Regards,
>>>> John Ralls
>>>>
>>>> On Jun 18, 2026, at 15:49, Clint Chaplin<[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>> What I find interesting is that GnuCash has the ability for me to set
>> any arbitrary USD cash accounts to 3, 4, 5 or more decimal digits, and yet
>> that ability cannot be carried over to the USD cash side of
>> conversions/transfers to and from non-USD accounts.
>>>>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 10:46?AM John Ralls <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>> Clint,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Don?t sweat the pennies in stock basis, they don?t make a practical
>> difference anywhere.
>>>>>> For splitting the DRIPs bases alternate the rounding so that for the
>> first one your basis is (e.g.) .45 and your sister?s is .46, the second
>> your basis is .46 and your sister?s is .45, and so on. Notice that if there
>> are an even number of such dividends you come out even and if there are an
>> odd number your sister comes out .01 ahead. That?s to promote familial
>> peace. It doesn?t actually matter,
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>> John Ralls
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jun 18, 2026, at 09:30, Clint Chaplin <[email protected] <mailto:
>> [email protected] <[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>> Hmm, I actually have two use cases, neither of which involve stock
>> splits, sorry for the deke.
>>>>>>> I and my sister inherited some stock from our father, split 50/50.
>> It took several years to settle the estate, and meanwhile the stock split 2
>> for 1 twice and kept DRIPping.  When it came time to actually distribute
>> the stock, we had to split the original stock with the basis at the time of
>> death, and also the subsequent DRIPs.  If the total value of a DRIP
>> happened to be odd, then the amount bequeathed to each person when split
>> 50/50 would have a half cent.
>>>>>>> Second use case: spinoffs.  To record the split, the original stock
>> is "sold" for the original value and basis, and then "bought" for the
>> modified value and basis, which could be any fraction of the original value
>> and basis (in my case, .9581688 of the original amount and basis), while
>> the remainder value is used to "purchase" the spun off stock (in my case,
>> .0418312 of the original value).  This ain't gonna be an even number of
>> cents...
>>>>>>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 8:54?AM Derek Atkins <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> Keep in mind that gnucash does not store the price in the register,
>> it stores the #shares and total $value.  Are you saying you would have a
>> mil in the total value of the split?
>>>>>>>> -derek
>>>>>>>> Sent using my mobile device. Please excuse any typos.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On June 18, 2026 11:38:28 Clint Chaplin <[email protected] <mailto:
>> [email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> Unfortunate.  My use case is stock that has split.  The suggested
>> way to
>>>>>>>>> record this change in basis in GnuCash is to sell all the stock,
>> and then
>>>>>>>>> rebuy at the split quantities at the new pricing.  This will lead
>> to
>>>>>>>>> amounts that are fractions of a penny, but simply cannot be
>> recorded in
>>>>>>>>> GnuCash with the current restriction.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Even worse is when a spinoff happens and needs to be recorded.
>> The basis
>>>>>>>>> of the stock needs to be modified, but the only way I can see is
>> to "sell"
>>>>>>>>> and "buy" at the new basis, but the total amount per purchase
>> cannot be in
>>>>>>>>> fractions of a penny.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> When I have over 100 lots to do this to, the rounding to the
>> nearest penny
>>>>>>>>> will catch up...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 2:53?PM John Ralls <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:
>> [email protected] <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> No, no more than you can get a 10th of a penny at the bank or the
>> grocery
>>>>>>>>>> store. Prices can be in fractions of a penny, amounts cannot.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>>>> John Ralls
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Jun 16, 2026, at 10:39?PM, Clint Chaplin <[email protected]
>> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> Is there a way to set GnuCash to take USD tenths and mils on some
>>>>>>>>>>> accounts?  My default is USD, if that matters...
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
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>> [email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>>> gnucash-user mailing list
>>>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] <
>> [email protected]>> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] < [email protected]>>>
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>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> ------------------------------
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------
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>>>>
>>>>
>> --
>> Clint (JOATMON) Chaplin
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Subject: Digest Footer
>>
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>> ------------------------------
>>
>> End of gnucash-user Digest, Vol 279, Issue 37
>> *********************************************
>>
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