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File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Top,  Next: FILE FORMAT,  Up: (dir)

hledger_journal(5) hledger 1.5.99
*********************************

hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal
entries in hledger journal format.  This file represents a standard
accounting general journal.  I use file names ending in '.journal', but
that's not required.  The journal file contains a number of transaction
entries, each describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between
two or more named accounts, in a simple format readable by both hledger
and humans.

   hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of ledger's
journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger journal files
as well.  It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and ledger on
the same journal file, eg to validate the results you're getting.

   You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just
use the add or web commands to create and update it.  Many users,
though, also edit the journal file directly with a text editor, perhaps
assisted by the helper modes for emacs or vim.

   Here's an example:

; A sample journal file. This is a comment.

2008/01/01 income               ; <- transaction's first line starts in column 0, contains date and description
    assets:bank:checking  $1    ; <- posting lines start with whitespace, each contains an account name
    income:salary        $-1    ;    followed by at least two spaces and an amount

2008/06/01 gift
    assets:bank:checking  $1    ; <- at least two postings in a transaction
    income:gifts         $-1    ; <- their amounts must balance to 0

2008/06/02 save
    assets:bank:saving    $1
    assets:bank:checking        ; <- one amount may be omitted; here $-1 is inferred

2008/06/03 eat & shop           ; <- description can be anything
    expenses:food         $1
    expenses:supplies     $1    ; <- this transaction debits two expense accounts
    assets:cash                 ; <- $-2 inferred

2008/10/01 take a loan
    assets:bank:checking  $1
    liabilities:debts    $-1

2008/12/31 * pay off            ; <- an optional * or ! after the date means "cleared" (or anything you want)
    liabilities:debts     $1
    assets:bank:checking

* Menu:

* FILE FORMAT::
* Periodic transactions::
* Automated postings::
* EDITOR SUPPORT::


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: FILE FORMAT,  Next: Periodic transactions,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

1 FILE FORMAT
*************

* Menu:

* Transactions::
* Postings::
* Dates::
* Status::
* Description::
* Account names::
* Amounts::
* Virtual Postings::
* Balance Assertions::
* Balance Assignments::
* Prices::
* Comments::
* Tags::
* Directives::


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Transactions,  Next: Postings,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.1 Transactions
================

Transactions are movements of some quantity of commodities between named
accounts.  Each transaction is represented by a journal entry beginning
with a simple date in column 0.  This can be followed by any of the
following, separated by spaces:

   * (optional) a status character (empty, '!', or '*')
   * (optional) a transaction code (any short number or text, enclosed
     in parentheses)
   * (optional) a transaction description (any remaining text until end
     of line or a semicolon)
   * (optional) a transaction comment (any remaining text following a
     semicolon until end of line)

   Then comes zero or more (but usually at least 2) indented lines
representing...


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Postings,  Next: Dates,  Prev: Transactions,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.2 Postings
============

A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount
from, an account.  Each posting line begins with at least one space or
tab (2 or 4 spaces is common), followed by:

   * (optional) a status character (empty, '!', or '*'), followed by a
     space
   * (required) an account name (any text, optionally containing *single
     spaces*, until end of line or a double space)
   * (optional) *two or more spaces* or tabs followed by an amount.

   Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are
being removed.

   The amounts within a transaction must always sum up to zero.  As a
convenience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so as to
balance the transaction.

   Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name
and amount.  This makes it easy to write account names containing
spaces.  But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before
the amount, the amount will be considered part of the account name.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Dates,  Next: Status,  Prev: Postings,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.3 Dates
=========

* Menu:

* Simple dates::
* Secondary dates::
* Posting dates::


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Simple dates,  Next: Secondary dates,  Up: Dates

1.3.1 Simple dates
------------------

Within a journal file, transaction dates use Y/M/D (or Y-M-D or Y.M.D)
Leading zeros are optional.  The year may be omitted, in which case it
will be inferred from the context - the current transaction, the default
year set with a default year directive, or the current date when the
command is run.  Some examples: '2010/01/31', '1/31', '2010-01-31',
'2010.1.31'.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Secondary dates,  Next: Posting dates,  Prev: Simple dates,  Up: Dates

1.3.2 Secondary dates
---------------------

Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the
date you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank.  When you
want to model this, eg for more accurate balances, you can specify
individual posting dates, which I recommend.  Or, you can use the
secondary dates (aka auxiliary/effective dates) feature, supported for
compatibility with Ledger.

   A secondary date can be written after the primary date, separated by
an equals sign.  The primary date, on the left, is used by default; the
secondary date, on the right, is used when the '--date2' flag is
specified ('--aux-date' or '--effective' also work).

   The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it's best to follow
a consistent rule.  Eg write the bank's clearing date as primary, and
when needed, the date the transaction was initiated as secondary.

   Here's an example.  Note that a secondary date will use the year of
the primary date if unspecified.

2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket
  expenses:cinema                   $10
  assets:checking

$ hledger register checking
2010/02/23 movie ticket         assets:checking                $-10         $-10

$ hledger register checking --date2
2010/02/19 movie ticket         assets:checking                $-10         $-10

   Secondary dates require some effort; you must use them consistently
in your journal entries and remember whether to use or not use the
'--date2' flag for your reports.  They are included in hledger for
Ledger compatibility, but posting dates are a more powerful and less
confusing alternative.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Posting dates,  Prev: Secondary dates,  Up: Dates

1.3.3 Posting dates
-------------------

You can give individual postings a different date from their parent
transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below)
like 'date:DATE'.  This is probably the best way to control posting
dates precisely.  Eg in this example the expense should appear in May
reports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for
easy bank reconciliation:

2015/5/30
    expenses:food     $10   ; food purchased on saturday 5/30
    assets:checking         ; bank cleared it on monday, date:6/1

$ hledger -f t.j register food
2015/05/30                      expenses:food                  $10           $10

$ hledger -f t.j register checking
2015/06/01                      assets:checking               $-10          $-10

   DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will
use the year of the transaction's date.  You can set the secondary date
similarly, with 'date2:DATE2'.  The 'date:' or 'date2:' tags must have a
valid simple date value if they are present, eg a 'date:' tag with no
value is not allowed.

   Ledger's earlier, more compact bracketed date syntax is also
supported: '[DATE]', '[DATE=DATE2]' or '[=DATE2]'.  hledger will attempt
to parse any square-bracketed sequence of the '0123456789/-.='
characters in this way.  With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the
transaction and DATE2 infers its year from DATE.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Status,  Next: Description,  Prev: Dates,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.4 Status
==========

Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a
status mark, which is a single character before the transaction
description or posting account name, separated from it by a space,
indicating one of three statuses:

mark  status
 
-----------------
      unmarked
'!'   pending
'*'   cleared

   When reporting, you can filter by status with the '-U/--unmarked',
'-P/--pending', and '-C/--cleared' flags; or the 'status:', 'status:!',
and 'status:*' queries; or the U, P, C keys in hledger-ui.

   Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the "unmarked"
state is called "uncleared".  As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to
unmarked for clarity.

   To replicate Ledger and old hledger's behaviour of also matching
pending, combine -U and -P.

   Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with
real-world accounts.  Some editor modes provide highlighting and
shortcuts for working with status.  Eg in Emacs ledger-mode, you can
toggle transaction status with C-c C-e, or posting status with C-c C-c.

   What "uncleared", "pending", and "cleared" actually mean is up to
you.  Here's one suggestion:

status     meaning
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
uncleared  recorded but not yet reconciled; needs review
pending    tentatively reconciled (if needed, eg during a big
           reconciliation)
cleared    complete, reconciled as far as possible, and considered
           correct

   With this scheme, you would use '-PC' to see the current balance at
your bank, '-U' to see things which will probably hit your bank soon
(like uncashed checks), and no flags to see the most up-to-date state of
your finances.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Description,  Next: Account names,  Prev: Status,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.5 Description
===============

A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date
and status mark (or until a comment begins).  Sometimes called the
"narration" in traditional bookkeeping, it can be used for whatever you
wish, or left blank.  Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike
comments.
* Menu:

* Payee and note::


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Payee and note,  Up: Description

1.5.1 Payee and note
--------------------

You can optionally include a '|' (pipe) character in a description to
subdivide it into a payee/payer name on the left and additional notes on
the right.  This may be worthwhile if you need to do more precise
querying and pivoting by payee.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Account names,  Next: Amounts,  Prev: Description,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.6 Account names
=================

Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon,
from which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts.  They can
be anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally five
top-level accounts: 'assets', 'liabilities', 'income', 'expenses', and
'equity'.

   Account names may contain single spaces, eg: 'assets:accounts
receivable'.  Because of this, they must always be followed by *two or
more spaces* (or newline).

   Account names can be aliased.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Amounts,  Next: Virtual Postings,  Prev: Account names,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.7 Amounts
===========

After the account name, there is usually an amount.  Important: between
account name and amount, there must be *two or more spaces*.

   Amounts consist of a number and (usually) a currency symbol or
commodity name.  Some examples:

   '2.00001'
'$1'
'4000 AAPL'
'3 "green apples"'
'-$1,000,000.00'
'INR 9,99,99,999.00'
'EUR -2.000.000,00'
'1 999 999.9455'
'EUR 1E3 # 1000 euros'
'1000E-6s # 1000 microseconds'

   As you can see, the amount format is somewhat flexible:

   * amounts are a number (the "quantity") and optionally a currency
     symbol/commodity name (the "commodity").
   * the commodity is a symbol, word, or phrase, on the left or right,
     with or without a separating space.  If the commodity contains
     numbers, spaces or non-word punctuation it must be enclosed in
     double quotes.
   * negative amounts with a commodity on the left can have the minus
     sign before or after it
   * digit groups (thousands, or any other grouping) can be separated by
     space or comma or period and should be used as separator between
     all groups
   * decimal part can be separated by comma or period and should be
     different from digit groups separator
   * scientific E-notation (without digit groups) is allowed

   You can use any of these variations when recording data.  However,
there is some ambiguous way of representing numbers like '$1.000' and
'$1,000' both may mean either one thousand or one dollar.  By default
hledger will assume that this is sole delimiter is used only for
decimals.  On the other hand commodity format declared prior to that
line will help to resolve that ambiguity differently:

commodity $1,000.00

2017/12/25 New life of Scrooge
    expenses:gifts  $1,000
    assets

   Though journal may contain mixed styles to represent amount, when
hledger displays amounts, it will choose a consistent format for each
commodity.  (Except for price amounts, which are always formatted as
written).  The display format is chosen as follows:

   * if there is a commodity directive specifying the format, that is
     used
   * otherwise the format is inferred from the first posting amount in
     that commodity in the journal, and the precision (number of decimal
     places) will be the maximum from all posting amounts in that
     commmodity
   * or if there are no such amounts in the journal, a default format is
     used (like '$1000.00').

   Price amounts and amounts in D directives usually don't affect amount
format inference, but in some situations they can do so indirectly.  (Eg
when D's default commodity is applied to a commodity-less amount, or
when an amountless posting is balanced using a price's commodity, or
when -V is used.)  If you find this causing problems, set the desired
format with a commodity directive.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Virtual Postings,  Next: Balance Assertions,  Prev: Amounts,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.8 Virtual Postings
====================

When you parenthesise the account name in a posting, we call that a
_virtual posting_, which means:

   * it is ignored when checking that the transaction is balanced
   * it is excluded from reports when the '--real/-R' flag is used, or
     the 'real:1' query.

   You could use this, eg, to set an account's opening balance without
needing to use the 'equity:opening balances' account:

1/1 special unbalanced posting to set initial balance
  (assets:checking)   $1000

   When the account name is bracketed, we call it a _balanced virtual
posting_.  This is like an ordinary virtual posting except the balanced
virtual postings in a transaction must balance to 0, like the real
postings (but separately from them).  Balanced virtual postings are also
excluded by '--real/-R' or 'real:1'.

1/1 buy food with cash, and update some budget-tracking subaccounts elsewhere
  expenses:food                   $10
  assets:cash                    $-10
  [assets:checking:available]     $10
  [assets:checking:budget:food]  $-10

   Virtual postings have some legitimate uses, but those are few.  You
can usually find an equivalent journal entry using real postings, which
is more correct and provides better error checking.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Balance Assertions,  Next: Balance Assignments,  Prev: Virtual Postings,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.9 Balance Assertions
======================

hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files.
These look like '=EXPECTEDBALANCE' following a posting's amount.  Eg in
this example we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a and b
after each posting:

2013/1/1
  a   $1  =$1
  b       =$-1

2013/1/2
  a   $1  =$2
  b  $-1  =$-2

   After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance
assertions and report an error if any of them fail.  Balance assertions
can protect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances
while cleaning up old entries.  You can disable them temporarily with
the '--ignore-assertions' flag, which can be useful for troubleshooting
or for reading Ledger files.
* Menu:

* Assertions and ordering::
* Assertions and included files::
* Assertions and multiple -f options::
* Assertions and commodities::
* Assertions and subaccounts::
* Assertions and virtual postings::


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Assertions and ordering,  Next: Assertions and included files,  Up: Balance Assertions

1.9.1 Assertions and ordering
-----------------------------

hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and
then (for postings on the same day) by parse order.  Note this is
different from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse order.
(Also, Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated
postings to the same account within a transaction.)

   So, hledger balance assertions keep working if you reorder
differently-dated transactions within the journal.  But if you reorder
same-dated transactions or postings, assertions might break and require
updating.  This order dependence does bring an advantage: precise
control over the order of postings and assertions within a day, so you
can assert intra-day balances.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Assertions and included files,  Next: Assertions and multiple -f options,  Prev: Assertions and ordering,  Up: Balance Assertions

1.9.2 Assertions and included files
-----------------------------------

With included files, things are a little more complicated.  Including
preserves the ordering of postings and assertions.  If you have multiple
postings to an account on the same day, split across different files,
and you also want to assert the account's balance on the same day,
you'll have to put the assertion in the right file.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Assertions and multiple -f options,  Next: Assertions and commodities,  Prev: Assertions and included files,  Up: Balance Assertions

1.9.3 Assertions and multiple -f options
----------------------------------------

Balance assertions don't work well across files specified with multiple
-f options.  Use include or concatenate the files instead.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Assertions and commodities,  Next: Assertions and subaccounts,  Prev: Assertions and multiple -f options,  Up: Balance Assertions

1.9.4 Assertions and commodities
--------------------------------

The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in
fact the assertion checks only this commodity's balance within the
(possibly multi-commodity) account balance.  We could call this a
partial balance assertion.  This is compatible with Ledger, and makes it
possible to make assertions about accounts containing multiple
commodities.

   To assert each commodity's balance in such a multi-commodity account,
you can add multiple postings (with amount 0 if necessary).  But note
that no matter how many assertions you add, you can't be sure the
account does not contain some unexpected commodity.  (We'll add support
for this kind of total balance assertion if there's demand.)


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Assertions and subaccounts,  Next: Assertions and virtual postings,  Prev: Assertions and commodities,  Up: Balance Assertions

1.9.5 Assertions and subaccounts
--------------------------------

Balance assertions do not count the balance from subaccounts; they check
the posted account's exclusive balance.  For example:

1/1
  checking:fund   1 = 1  ; post to this subaccount, its balance is now 1
  checking        1 = 1  ; post to the parent account, its exclusive balance is now 1
  equity

   The balance report's flat mode shows these exclusive balances more
clearly:

$ hledger bal checking --flat
                   1  checking
                   1  checking:fund
--------------------
                   2


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Assertions and virtual postings,  Prev: Assertions and subaccounts,  Up: Balance Assertions

1.9.6 Assertions and virtual postings
-------------------------------------

Balance assertions are checked against all postings, both real and
virtual.  They are not affected by the '--real/-R' flag or 'real:'
query.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Balance Assignments,  Next: Prices,  Prev: Balance Assertions,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.10 Balance Assignments
========================

Ledger-style balance assignments are also supported.  These are like
balance assertions, but with no posting amount on the left side of the
equals sign; instead it is calculated automatically so as to satisfy the
assertion.  This can be a convenience during data entry, eg when setting
opening balances:

; starting a new journal, set asset account balances 
2016/1/1 opening balances
  assets:checking            = $409.32
  assets:savings             = $735.24
  assets:cash                 = $42
  equity:opening balances

   or when adjusting a balance to reality:

; no cash left; update balance, record any untracked spending as a generic expense
2016/1/15
  assets:cash    = $0
  expenses:misc

   The calculated amount depends on the account's balance in the
commodity at that point (which depends on the previously-dated postings
of the commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or
assignment).  Note that using balance assignments makes your journal a
little less explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run
hledger or do the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Prices,  Next: Comments,  Prev: Balance Assignments,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.11 Prices
===========

* Menu:

* Transaction prices::
* Market prices::


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Transaction prices,  Next: Market prices,  Up: Prices

1.11.1 Transaction prices
-------------------------

Within a transaction, you can note an amount's price in another
commodity.  This can be used to document the cost (in a purchase) or
selling price (in a sale).  For example, transaction prices are useful
to record purchases of a foreign currency.

   Transaction prices are fixed, and do not change over time.  (Ledger
users: Ledger uses a different syntax for fixed prices, '{=UNITPRICE}',
which hledger currently ignores).

   There are several ways to record a transaction price:

  1. Write the price per unit, as '@ UNITPRICE' after the amount:

     2009/1/1
       assets:euros     €100 @ $1.35  ; one hundred euros purchased at $1.35 each
       assets:dollars                 ; balancing amount is -$135.00

  2. Write the total price, as '@@ TOTALPRICE' after the amount:

     2009/1/1
       assets:euros     €100 @@ $135  ; one hundred euros purchased at $135 for the lot
       assets:dollars

  3. Specify amounts for all postings, using exactly two commodities,
     and let hledger infer the price that balances the transaction:

     2009/1/1
       assets:euros     €100          ; one hundred euros purchased
       assets:dollars  $-135          ; for $135

   Amounts with transaction prices can be displayed in the transaction
price's commodity by using the '-B/--cost' flag (except for #551) ("B"
is from "cost Basis").  Eg for the above, here is how -B affects the
balance report:

$ hledger bal -N --flat
               $-135  assets:dollars
                €100  assets:euros
$ hledger bal -N --flat -B
               $-135  assets:dollars
                $135  assets:euros    # <- the euros' cost

   Note -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction
price is inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the
last amount.  So if example 3's postings are reversed, while the
transaction is equivalent, -B shows something different:

2009/1/1
  assets:dollars  $-135               ; 135 dollars sold
  assets:euros     €100               ; for 100 euros

$ hledger bal -N --flat -B
               €-100  assets:dollars  # <- the dollars' selling price
                €100  assets:euros


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Market prices,  Prev: Transaction prices,  Up: Prices

1.11.2 Market prices
--------------------

Market prices are not tied to a particular transaction; they represent
historical exchange rates between two commodities.  (Ledger calls them
historical prices.)  For example, the prices published by a stock
exchange or the foreign exchange market.  hledger can use these prices
to show the market value of things at a given date, see market value.

   To record market prices, use P directives in the main journal or in
an included file.  Their format is:

P DATE COMMODITYBEINGPRICED UNITPRICE

   DATE is a simple date as usual.  COMMODITYBEINGPRICED is the symbol
of the commodity being priced.  UNITPRICE is an ordinary amount (symbol
and quantity) in a second commodity, specifying the unit price or
conversion rate for the first commodity in terms of the second, on the
given date.

   For example, the following directives say that one euro was worth
1.35 US dollars during 2009, and $1.40 from 2010 onward:

P 2009/1/1 € $1.35
P 2010/1/1 € $1.40


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Comments,  Next: Tags,  Prev: Prices,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.12 Comments
=============

Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (';') or hash ('#') or
star ('*') are comments, and will be ignored.  (Star comments cause
org-mode nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users to fold and navigate
their journals with org-mode or orgstruct-mode.)

   Also, anything between 'comment' and 'end comment' directives is a
(multi-line) comment.  If there is no 'end comment', the comment extends
to the end of the file.

   You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the
description and/or indented on the following lines (before the
postings).  Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting
by writing them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines.
Transaction and posting comments must begin with a semicolon (';').

   Some examples:

# a file comment

; also a file comment

comment
This is a multiline file comment,
which continues until a line
where the "end comment" string
appears on its own (or end of file).
end comment

2012/5/14 something  ; a transaction comment
    ; the transaction comment, continued
    posting1  1  ; a comment for posting 1
    posting2
    ; a comment for posting 2
    ; another comment line for posting 2
; a file comment (because not indented)


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Tags,  Next: Directives,  Prev: Comments,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.13 Tags
=========

Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to postings and
transactions, which you can then search or pivot on.

   A simple tag is a word (which may contain hyphens) followed by a full
colon, written inside a transaction or posting comment line:

2017/1/16 bought groceries    ; sometag:

   Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, up to the
next comma or end of line, with leading/trailing whitespace removed:

    expenses:food    $10   ; a-posting-tag: the tag value

   Note this means hledger's tag values can not contain commas or
newlines.  Ending at commas means you can write multiple short tags on
one line, comma separated:

    assets:checking       ; a comment containing tag1:, tag2: some value ...

   Here,

   * "'a comment containing'" is just comment text, not a tag
   * "'tag1'" is a tag with no value
   * "'tag2'" is another tag, whose value is "'some value ...'"

   Tags in a transaction comment affect the transaction and all of its
postings, while tags in a posting comment affect only that posting.  For
example, the following transaction has three tags ('A', 'TAG2',
'third-tag') and the posting has four (those plus 'posting-tag'):

1/1 a transaction  ; A:, TAG2:
    ; third-tag: a third transaction tag, <- with a value
    (a)  $1  ; posting-tag:

   Tags are like Ledger's metadata feature, except hledger's tag values
are simple strings.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Directives,  Prev: Tags,  Up: FILE FORMAT

1.14 Directives
===============

* Menu:

* Account aliases::
* account directive::
* apply account directive::
* Multi-line comments::
* commodity directive::
* Default commodity::
* Default year::
* Including other files::


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Account aliases,  Next: account directive,  Up: Directives

1.14.1 Account aliases
----------------------

You can define aliases which rewrite your account names (after reading
the journal, before generating reports).  hledger's account aliases can
be useful for:

   * expanding shorthand account names to their full form, allowing
     easier data entry and a less verbose journal
   * adapting old journals to your current chart of accounts
   * experimenting with new account organisations, like a new hierarchy
     or combining two accounts into one
   * customising reports

   See also Cookbook: rewrite account names.
* Menu:

* Basic aliases::
* Regex aliases::
* Multiple aliases::
* end aliases::


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Basic aliases,  Next: Regex aliases,  Up: Account aliases

1.14.1.1 Basic aliases
......................

To set an account alias, use the 'alias' directive in your journal file.
This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its
included files.  The spaces around the = are optional:

alias OLD = NEW

   Or, you can use the '--alias 'OLD=NEW'' option on the command line.
This affects all entries.  It's useful for trying out aliases
interactively.

   OLD and NEW are full account names.  hledger will replace any
occurrence of the old account name with the new one.  Subaccounts are
also affected.  Eg:

alias checking = assets:bank:wells fargo:checking
# rewrites "checking" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking", or "checking:a" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking:a"


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Regex aliases,  Next: Multiple aliases,  Prev: Basic aliases,  Up: Account aliases

1.14.1.2 Regex aliases
......................

There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression,
indicated by the forward slashes:

alias /REGEX/ = REPLACEMENT

   or '--alias '/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT''.

   REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression.  Anywhere it matches
inside an account name, the matched part will be replaced by
REPLACEMENT. If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be
referenced by the usual numeric backreferences in REPLACEMENT. Eg:

alias /^(.+):bank:([^:]+)(.*)/ = \1:\2 \3
# rewrites "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking" to  "assets:wells fargo checking"

   Also note that REPLACEMENT continues to the end of line (or on
command line, to end of option argument), so it can contain trailing
whitespace.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Multiple aliases,  Next: end aliases,  Prev: Regex aliases,  Up: Account aliases

1.14.1.3 Multiple aliases
.........................

You can define as many aliases as you like using directives or
command-line options.  Aliases are recursive - each alias sees the
result of applying previous ones.  (This is different from Ledger, where
aliases are non-recursive by default).  Aliases are applied in the
following order:

  1. alias directives, most recently seen first (recent directives take
     precedence over earlier ones; directives not yet seen are ignored)
  2. alias options, in the order they appear on the command line


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: end aliases,  Prev: Multiple aliases,  Up: Account aliases

1.14.1.4 end aliases
....................

You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases with the 'end
aliases' directive:

end aliases


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: account directive,  Next: apply account directive,  Prev: Account aliases,  Up: Directives

1.14.2 account directive
------------------------

The 'account' directive predeclares account names.  The simplest form is
'account ACCTNAME', eg:

account assets:bank:checking

   Currently this mainly helps with account name autocompletion in eg
hledger add, hledger-iadd, hledger-web, and ledger-mode.
In future it will also help detect misspelled accounts.

   Account names can be followed by a numeric account code:

account assets                  1000
account assets:bank:checking    1110
account liabilities             2000
account revenues                4000
account expenses                6000

   This affects account display order in reports: accounts with codes
are listed before accounts without codes, in increasing code order.
(Otherwise, accounts are listed alphabetically.)  Account codes should
be all numeric digits, unique, and separated from the account name by at
least two spaces (since account names may contain single spaces).  By
convention, often the first digit indicates the type of account, as in
this numbering scheme and the example above.  In future, we might use
this to recognize account types.

   An account directive can also have indented subdirectives following
it, which are currently ignored.  Here is the full syntax:

; account ACCTNAME  [OPTIONALCODE]
;   [OPTIONALSUBDIRECTIVES]

account assets:bank:checking   1110
  a comment
  some-tag:12345


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: apply account directive,  Next: Multi-line comments,  Prev: account directive,  Up: Directives

1.14.3 apply account directive
------------------------------

You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all accounts
within a section of the journal.  Use the 'apply account' and 'end apply
account' directives like so:

apply account home

2010/1/1
    food    $10
    cash

end apply account

   which is equivalent to:

2010/01/01
    home:food           $10
    home:cash          $-10

   If 'end apply account' is omitted, the effect lasts to the end of the
file.  Included files are also affected, eg:

apply account business
include biz.journal
end apply account
apply account personal
include personal.journal

   Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy 'account' and 'end' spellings were also
supported.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Multi-line comments,  Next: commodity directive,  Prev: apply account directive,  Up: Directives

1.14.4 Multi-line comments
--------------------------

A line containing just 'comment' starts a multi-line comment, and a line
containing just 'end comment' ends it.  See comments.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: commodity directive,  Next: Default commodity,  Prev: Multi-line comments,  Up: Directives

1.14.5 commodity directive
--------------------------

The 'commodity' directive predefines commodities (currently this is just
informational), and also it may define the display format for amounts in
this commodity (overriding the automatically inferred format).

   It may be written on a single line, like this:

; commodity EXAMPLEAMOUNT

; display AAAA amounts with the symbol on the right, space-separated,
; using period as decimal point, with four decimal places, and
; separating thousands with comma.
commodity 1,000.0000 AAAA

   or on multiple lines, using the "format" subdirective.  In this case
the commodity symbol appears twice and should be the same in both
places:

; commodity SYMBOL
;   format EXAMPLEAMOUNT

; display indian rupees with currency name on the left,
; thousands, lakhs and crores comma-separated,
; period as decimal point, and two decimal places.
commodity INR
  format INR 9,99,99,999.00


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Default commodity,  Next: Default year,  Prev: commodity directive,  Up: Directives

1.14.6 Default commodity
------------------------

The D directive sets a default commodity (and display format), to be
used for amounts without a commodity symbol (ie, plain numbers).  (Note
this differs from Ledger's default commodity directive.)  The commodity
and display format will be applied to all subsequent commodity-less
amounts, or until the next D directive.

# commodity-less amounts should be treated as dollars
# (and displayed with symbol on the left, thousands separators and two decimal places)
D $1,000.00

1/1
  a     5    ; <- commodity-less amount, becomes $1
  b


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Default year,  Next: Including other files,  Prev: Default commodity,  Up: Directives

1.14.7 Default year
-------------------

You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't
specify a year.  This is a line beginning with 'Y' followed by the year.
Eg:

Y2009      ; set default year to 2009

12/15      ; equivalent to 2009/12/15
  expenses  1
  assets

Y2010      ; change default year to 2010

2009/1/30  ; specifies the year, not affected
  expenses  1
  assets

1/31       ; equivalent to 2010/1/31
  expenses  1
  assets


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Including other files,  Prev: Default year,  Up: Directives

1.14.8 Including other files
----------------------------

You can pull in the content of additional journal files by writing an
include directive, like this:

include path/to/file.journal

   If the path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the
current file.  Glob patterns ('*') are not currently supported.

   The 'include' directive can only be used in journal files.  It can
include journal, timeclock or timedot files, but not CSV files.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Periodic transactions,  Next: Automated postings,  Prev: FILE FORMAT,  Up: Top

2 Periodic transactions
***********************

Periodic transactions are a kind of rule with a dual purpose: they can
specify recurring future transactions (with '--forecast'), or budget
goals (with '--budget').  They look a bit like a transaction, except the
first line is a tilde ('~') followed by a period expression:

~ weekly
  assets:bank:checking   $400 ; paycheck
  income:acme inc

   With '--forecast', each periodic transaction rule generates recurring
"forecast" transactions at the specified interval, beginning the day
after the latest recorded journal transaction (or today, if there are no
transactions) and ending 6 months from today (or at the report end date,
if specified).

   With 'balance --budget', each periodic transaction declares recurring
budget goals for the specified accounts.  Eg the example above declares
the goal of receiving $400 from 'income:acme inc' (and also, depositing
$400 into 'assets:bank:checking') every week.

   For more details, see: balance: Budgeting and Budgeting and
Forecasting.


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: Automated postings,  Next: EDITOR SUPPORT,  Prev: Periodic transactions,  Up: Top

3 Automated postings
********************

Automated postings are postings added automatically by rule to certain
transactions (with '--auto').  An automated posting rule looks like a
transaction where the first line is an equal sign ('=') followed by a
query:

= expenses:gifts
    budget:gifts  *-1
    assets:budget  *1

   The posting amounts can be of the form '*N', which means "the amount
of the matched transaction's first posting, multiplied by N". They can
also be ordinary fixed amounts.  Fixed amounts with no commodity symbol
will be given the same commodity as the matched transaction's first
posting.

   This example adds a corresponding (unbalanced) budget posting to
every transaction involving the 'expenses:gifts' account:

= expenses:gifts
    (budget:gifts)  *-1

2017-12-14
  expenses:gifts  $20
  assets

$ hledger print --auto
2017/12/14
    expenses:gifts             $20
    assets
    (budget:gifts)            $-20


File: hledger_journal.info,  Node: EDITOR SUPPORT,  Prev: Automated postings,  Up: Top

4 EDITOR SUPPORT
****************

Add-on modes exist for various text editors, to make working with
journal files easier.  They add colour, navigation aids and helpful
commands.  For hledger users who edit the journal file directly (the
majority), using one of these modes is quite recommended.

   These were written with Ledger in mind, but also work with hledger
files:

Editor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emacs        http://www.ledger-cli.org/3.0/doc/ledger-mode.html
Vim          https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Getting-started
Sublime      https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Editing-Ledger-files-with-Sublime-Text-or-RubyMine
Text
Textmate     https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Using-TextMate-2
Text         https://github.com/ledger/ledger/wiki/Editing-Ledger-files-with-TextWrangler
Wrangler  
Visual       https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mark-hansen.hledger-vscode
Studio
Code


Tag Table:
Node: Top76
Node: FILE FORMAT2425
Ref: #file-format2556
Node: Transactions2779
Ref: #transactions2900
Node: Postings3584
Ref: #postings3711
Node: Dates4706
Ref: #dates4821
Node: Simple dates4886
Ref: #simple-dates5012
Node: Secondary dates5378
Ref: #secondary-dates5532
Node: Posting dates7095
Ref: #posting-dates7224
Node: Status8598
Ref: #status8718
Node: Description10426
Ref: #description10564
Node: Payee and note10883
Ref: #payee-and-note10997
Node: Account names11239
Ref: #account-names11382
Node: Amounts11869
Ref: #amounts12005
Node: Virtual Postings14800
Ref: #virtual-postings14959
Node: Balance Assertions16179
Ref: #balance-assertions16354
Node: Assertions and ordering17250
Ref: #assertions-and-ordering17436
Node: Assertions and included files18136
Ref: #assertions-and-included-files18377
Node: Assertions and multiple -f options18710
Ref: #assertions-and-multiple--f-options18964
Node: Assertions and commodities19096
Ref: #assertions-and-commodities19331
Node: Assertions and subaccounts20027
Ref: #assertions-and-subaccounts20259
Node: Assertions and virtual postings20780
Ref: #assertions-and-virtual-postings20987
Node: Balance Assignments21129
Ref: #balance-assignments21298
Node: Prices22418
Ref: #prices22551
Node: Transaction prices22602
Ref: #transaction-prices22747
Node: Market prices24903
Ref: #market-prices25038
Node: Comments25998
Ref: #comments26120
Node: Tags27362
Ref: #tags27480
Node: Directives28882
Ref: #directives28995
Node: Account aliases29188
Ref: #account-aliases29332
Node: Basic aliases29936
Ref: #basic-aliases30079
Node: Regex aliases30769
Ref: #regex-aliases30937
Node: Multiple aliases31655
Ref: #multiple-aliases31827
Node: end aliases32325
Ref: #end-aliases32465
Node: account directive32566
Ref: #account-directive32746
Node: apply account directive34093
Ref: #apply-account-directive34289
Node: Multi-line comments34948
Ref: #multi-line-comments35138
Node: commodity directive35266
Ref: #commodity-directive35450
Node: Default commodity36322
Ref: #default-commodity36495
Node: Default year37032
Ref: #default-year37197
Node: Including other files37620
Ref: #including-other-files37777
Node: Periodic transactions38174
Ref: #periodic-transactions38340
Node: Automated postings39329
Ref: #automated-postings39492
Node: EDITOR SUPPORT40394
Ref: #editor-support40519

End Tag Table
