diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 b/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 index eb32605f6..18257968f 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 @@ -51,15 +51,14 @@ with a date field. .PP hledger\-web can be run in three modes: .IP \[bu] 2 -Transient mode (the default): your default web browser will be opened to -show the app if possible, and the app exits automatically after two -minutes of inactivity (no requests received and no open browser windows -viewing it). +\f[CR]\-\-serve\-browse\f[R] mode (the default): the app serves the web +UI and JSON API, and opens your default web browser to show the app if +possible, and exits automatically after two minutes of inactivity (with +no requests received and no open browser windows viewing it). .IP \[bu] 2 -With \f[CR]\-\-serve\f[R]: the app runs without stopping, and without -opening a browser. +\f[CR]\-\-serve\f[R]: the app just serves the web UI and JSON API. .IP \[bu] 2 -With \f[CR]\-\-serve\-api\f[R]: only the JSON API is served. +\f[CR]\-\-serve\-api\f[R]: the app just serves the JSON API. .PP In all cases hledger\-web runs as a foreground process, logging requests to stdout. diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.info b/hledger-web/hledger-web.info index 579f18ba5..546e2e90f 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.info +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.info @@ -47,15 +47,14 @@ with a date field. (See hledger(1) -> Input for details.) hledger-web can be run in three modes: - * Transient mode (the default): your default web browser will be - opened to show the app if possible, and the app exits automatically - after two minutes of inactivity (no requests received and no open - browser windows viewing it). + * '--serve-browse' mode (the default): the app serves the web UI and + JSON API, and opens your default web browser to show the app if + possible, and exits automatically after two minutes of inactivity + (with no requests received and no open browser windows viewing it). - * With '--serve': the app runs without stopping, and without opening - a browser. + * '--serve': the app just serves the web UI and JSON API. - * With '--serve-api': only the JSON API is served. + * '--serve-api': the app just serves the JSON API. In all cases hledger-web runs as a foreground process, logging requests to stdout. @@ -529,15 +528,15 @@ https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list  Tag Table: Node: Top223 -Node: OPTIONS2569 -Node: PERMISSIONS11258 -Node: EDITING UPLOADING DOWNLOADING12609 -Node: RELOADING13624 -Node: JSON API14191 -Node: DEBUG OUTPUT19840 -Node: Debug output19992 -Node: ENVIRONMENT20510 -Node: BUGS20746 +Node: OPTIONS2581 +Node: PERMISSIONS11270 +Node: EDITING UPLOADING DOWNLOADING12621 +Node: RELOADING13636 +Node: JSON API14203 +Node: DEBUG OUTPUT19852 +Node: Debug output20004 +Node: ENVIRONMENT20522 +Node: BUGS20758  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt b/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt index 0d470e7b0..a839e98b5 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt @@ -40,15 +40,14 @@ DESCRIPTION hledger-web can be run in three modes: - o Transient mode (the default): your default web browser will be opened - to show the app if possible, and the app exits automatically after - two minutes of inactivity (no requests received and no open browser - windows viewing it). + o --serve-browse mode (the default): the app serves the web UI and JSON + API, and opens your default web browser to show the app if possible, + and exits automatically after two minutes of inactivity (with no re- + quests received and no open browser windows viewing it). - o With --serve: the app runs without stopping, and without opening a - browser. + o --serve: the app just serves the web UI and JSON API. - o With --serve-api: only the JSON API is served. + o --serve-api: the app just serves the JSON API. In all cases hledger-web runs as a foreground process, logging requests to stdout. @@ -76,28 +75,28 @@ OPTIONS runner args may follow a --, eg: hledger-web --test -- --help - By default hledger-web listens only on IP address 127.0.0.1, which be + By default hledger-web listens only on IP address 127.0.0.1, which be accessed only from the local machine. To allow access from elsewhere, use --host to specify an externally ac- - cessible address configured on this machine, The special address + cessible address configured on this machine, The special address 0.0.0.0 causes it to listen on all of this machine's addresses. - Similarly, you can use --port to listen on a TCP port other than 5000. - This is useful if you want to run multiple hledger-web instances on a + Similarly, you can use --port to listen on a TCP port other than 5000. + This is useful if you want to run multiple hledger-web instances on a machine. - When --socket is used, hledger-web creates and communicates via a - socket file instead of a TCP port. This can be more secure, respects + When --socket is used, hledger-web creates and communicates via a + socket file instead of a TCP port. This can be more secure, respects unix file permissions, and makes certain use cases easier, such as run- ning per-user instances behind an nginx reverse proxy. (Eg: proxy_pass http://unix:/tmp/hledger/${remote_user}.socket;.) - You can use --base-url to change the protocol, hostname, port and path - that appear in hledger-web's hyperlinks. This is useful eg when inte- - grating hledger-web within a larger website. The default is - http://HOST:PORT/ using the server's configured host address and TCP - port (or http://HOST if PORT is 80). Note this affects url generation + You can use --base-url to change the protocol, hostname, port and path + that appear in hledger-web's hyperlinks. This is useful eg when inte- + grating hledger-web within a larger website. The default is + http://HOST:PORT/ using the server's configured host address and TCP + port (or http://HOST if PORT is 80). Note this affects url generation but not route parsing. hledger-web also supports many of hledger's general options: @@ -183,29 +182,29 @@ OPTIONS --pager=YN use a pager when needed ? y/yes (default) or n/no --color=YNA --colour use ANSI color ? y/yes, n/no, or auto (default) - hledger-web shows accounts with zero balances by default (like - hledger-ui, and unlike hledger). Using the -E/--empty flag will re- - verse this behaviour. If you see accounts which appear to have a zero - balance, but cannot be hidden with -E, it's because they have a - mixed-cost balance, which looks like zero when costs are hidden. + hledger-web shows accounts with zero balances by default (like + hledger-ui, and unlike hledger). Using the -E/--empty flag will re- + verse this behaviour. If you see accounts which appear to have a zero + balance, but cannot be hidden with -E, it's because they have a + mixed-cost balance, which looks like zero when costs are hidden. (hledger-web does not show costs.) - Reporting options and/or query arguments can be used to set an initial + Reporting options and/or query arguments can be used to set an initial query, which although not shown in the UI, will restrict the data shown (in addition to any search query entered in the UI). - If you use the bash shell, you can auto-complete flags by pressing TAB - in the command line. If this is not working see Install > Shell com- + If you use the bash shell, you can auto-complete flags by pressing TAB + in the command line. If this is not working see Install > Shell com- pletions. PERMISSIONS - By default, hledger-web allows anyone who can reach it to view the + By default, hledger-web allows anyone who can reach it to view the journal and to add new transactions, but not to change existing data. You can restrict who can reach it by - o setting the IP address it listens on (see --host above). By default - it listens on 127.0.0.1, accessible to all users on the local ma- + o setting the IP address it listens on (see --host above). By default + it listens on 127.0.0.1, accessible to all users on the local ma- chine. o putting it behind an authenticating proxy, using eg apache or nginx @@ -215,44 +214,44 @@ PERMISSIONS You can restrict what the users who reach it can do, by o using the --capabilities=CAP[,CAP..] flag when you start it, enabling - one or more of the following capabilities. The default value is + one or more of the following capabilities. The default value is view,add: o view - allows viewing the journal file and all included files o add - allows adding new transactions to the main journal file - o manage - allows editing, uploading or downloading the main or in- + o manage - allows editing, uploading or downloading the main or in- cluded files - o using the --capabilities-header=HTTPHEADER flag to specify a HTTP - header from which it will read capabilities to enable. hledger-web - on Sandstorm uses the X-Sandstorm-Permissions header to integrate + o using the --capabilities-header=HTTPHEADER flag to specify a HTTP + header from which it will read capabilities to enable. hledger-web + on Sandstorm uses the X-Sandstorm-Permissions header to integrate with Sandstorm's permissions. This is disabled by default. EDITING, UPLOADING, DOWNLOADING - If you enable the manage capability mentioned above, you'll see a new - "spanner" button to the right of the search form. Clicking this will - let you edit, upload, or download the journal file or any files it in- + If you enable the manage capability mentioned above, you'll see a new + "spanner" button to the right of the search form. Clicking this will + let you edit, upload, or download the journal file or any files it in- cludes. - Note, unlike any other hledger command, in this mode you (or any visi- + Note, unlike any other hledger command, in this mode you (or any visi- tor) can alter or wipe the data files. - Normally whenever a file is changed in this way, hledger-web saves a - numbered backup (assuming file permissions allow it, the disk is not - full, etc.) hledger-web is not aware of version control systems, cur- - rently; if you use one, you'll have to arrange to commit the changes + Normally whenever a file is changed in this way, hledger-web saves a + numbered backup (assuming file permissions allow it, the disk is not + full, etc.) hledger-web is not aware of version control systems, cur- + rently; if you use one, you'll have to arrange to commit the changes yourself (eg with a cron job or a file watcher like entr). - Changes which would leave the journal file(s) unparseable or non-valid - (eg with failing balance assertions) are prevented. (Probably. This + Changes which would leave the journal file(s) unparseable or non-valid + (eg with failing balance assertions) are prevented. (Probably. This needs re-testing.) RELOADING hledger-web detects changes made to the files by other means (eg if you - edit it directly, outside of hledger-web), and it will show the new - data when you reload the page or navigate to a new page. If a change + edit it directly, outside of hledger-web), and it will show the new + data when you reload the page or navigate to a new page. If a change makes a file unparseable, hledger-web will display an error message un- til the file has been fixed. @@ -260,8 +259,8 @@ RELOADING that both machine clocks are roughly in step.) JSON API - In addition to the web UI, hledger-web also serves a JSON API that can - be used to get data or add new transactions. If you want the JSON API + In addition to the web UI, hledger-web also serves a JSON API that can + be used to get data or add new transactions. If you want the JSON API only, you can use the --serve-api flag. Eg: $ hledger-web -f examples/sample.journal --serve-api @@ -278,7 +277,7 @@ JSON API /accounttransactions/ACCOUNTNAME Eg, all account names in the journal (similar to the accounts command). - (hledger-web's JSON does not include newlines, here we use python to + (hledger-web's JSON does not include newlines, here we use python to prettify it): $ curl -s http://127.0.0.1:5000/accountnames | python -m json.tool @@ -319,26 +318,26 @@ JSON API "aprice": null, ... - Most of the JSON corresponds to hledger's data types; for details of - what the fields mean, see the Hledger.Data.Json haddock docs and click - on the various data types, eg Transaction. And for a higher level un- + Most of the JSON corresponds to hledger's data types; for details of + what the fields mean, see the Hledger.Data.Json haddock docs and click + on the various data types, eg Transaction. And for a higher level un- derstanding, see the journal docs. There is also a basic OpenAPI spec- ification. In some cases there is outer JSON corresponding to a "Report" type. To - understand that, go to the Hledger.Web.Handler.MiscR haddock and look - at the source for the appropriate handler to see what it returns. Eg + understand that, go to the Hledger.Web.Handler.MiscR haddock and look + at the source for the appropriate handler to see what it returns. Eg for /accounttransactions it's getAccounttransactionsR, returning a "ac- - countTransactionsReport ...". Looking up the haddock for that we can - see that /accounttransactions returns an AccountTransactionsReport, - which consists of a report title and a list of AccountTransactionsRe- + countTransactionsReport ...". Looking up the haddock for that we can + see that /accounttransactions returns an AccountTransactionsReport, + which consists of a report title and a list of AccountTransactionsRe- portItem (etc). - You can add a new transaction to the journal with a PUT request to - /add, if hledger-web was started with the add capability (enabled by + You can add a new transaction to the journal with a PUT request to + /add, if hledger-web was started with the add capability (enabled by default). The payload must be the full, exact JSON representation of a - hledger transaction (partial data won't do). You can get sample JSON - from hledger-web's /transactions or /accounttransactions, or you can + hledger transaction (partial data won't do). You can get sample JSON + from hledger-web's /transactions or /accounttransactions, or you can export it with hledger-lib, eg like so: .../hledger$ stack ghci hledger-lib @@ -434,28 +433,28 @@ JSON API "tstatus": "Unmarked" } - And here's how to test adding it with curl. This should add a new en- + And here's how to test adding it with curl. This should add a new en- try to your journal: $ curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/add -X PUT -H 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-binary @txn.json DEBUG OUTPUT Debug output - You can add --debug[=N] to the command line to log debug output. N + You can add --debug[=N] to the command line to log debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the default) to 9 (maximum output). Typi- - cally you would start with 1 and increase until you are seeing enough. - Debug output goes to stderr, interleaved with the requests logged on + cally you would start with 1 and increase until you are seeing enough. + Debug output goes to stderr, interleaved with the requests logged on stdout. To capture debug output in a log file instead, you can usually redirect stderr, eg: hledger-web --debug=3 2>hledger-web.log. ENVIRONMENT - LEDGER_FILE The main journal file to use when not specified with + LEDGER_FILE The main journal file to use when not specified with -f/--file. Default: $HOME/.hledger.journal. BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: - https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list + https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). Some known issues: diff --git a/hledger/hledger.1 b/hledger/hledger.1 index eab44110c..744c1fba9 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.1 +++ b/hledger/hledger.1 @@ -447,8 +447,12 @@ Usually hledger accepts any unambiguous flag prefix, eg you can write \f[CR]\-\-tl\f[R] instead of \f[CR]\-\-tldr\f[R] or \f[CR]\-\-dry\f[R] instead of \f[CR]\-\-dry\-run\f[R]. .PP -If the same option appears more than once in a command, usually the last -(right\-most) wins. +If the same option appears more than once in a command line, usually the +last (right\-most) wins. +Similarly, if mutually exclusive flags are used together, the +right\-most wins. +(When flags are mutually exclusive, they\[aq]ll usually have a group +prefix in \-\-help.) .PP With most commands, arguments are interpreted as a hledger query which filter the data. @@ -8975,8 +8979,9 @@ Flags: \-\-find find the first account matched by the first argument (a case\-insensitive infix regexp or account name) - \-l \-\-flat show accounts as a flat list (default) - \-t \-\-tree show accounts as a tree + \-l \-\-flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default) + \-t \-\-tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree \-\-drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts .EE .PP @@ -9525,9 +9530,11 @@ Flags: date. Warning: this can show a wrong running balance. \-\-no\-elide don\[aq]t show only 2 commodities per amount - \-\-cumulative show running total from report start date - \-H \-\-historical show historical running total/balance (includes - postings before report start date) (default) + \-\-cumulative accumulation mode: show running total from report + start date + \-H \-\-historical accumulation mode: show historical running + total/balance (includes postings before report + start date) (default) \-\-invert display all amounts with reversed sign \-\-heading=YN show heading row above table: yes (default) or no \-w \-\-width=N set output width (default: terminal width). \-wN,M @@ -9638,10 +9645,11 @@ Show postings and their running total. .IP .EX Flags: - \-\-cumulative show running total from report start date - (default) - \-H \-\-historical show historical running total/balance (includes - postings before report start date) + \-\-cumulative accumulation mode: show running total from report + start date (default) + \-H \-\-historical accumulation mode: show historical running + total/balance (includes postings before report + start date) \-A \-\-average show running average of posting amounts instead of total (implies \-\-empty) \-m \-\-match=DESC fuzzy search for one recent posting with @@ -9826,26 +9834,28 @@ financial statements. .IP .EX Flags: - \-\-sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - \-\-valuechange show total change of period\-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - \-\-gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - \-\-count show the count of postings - \-\-change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) - \-\-cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end - \-H \-\-historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) + \-\-sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts (default) - \-l \-\-flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth\-clipped. - \-t \-\-tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - \-\-drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + \-\-valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period\-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + \-\-gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + \-\-count calculation mode: show the count of postings + \-\-change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + \-\-cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end + \-H \-\-historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) (default) + \-l \-\-flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth\-clipped. + \-t \-\-tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + \-\-drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts \-\-declared include non\-parent declared accounts (best used with \-E) \-A \-\-average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -9854,8 +9864,7 @@ Flags: \-\-summary\-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) \-N \-\-no\-total omit the final total row - \-\-no\-elide don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + \-\-no\-elide in tree mode, don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts \-\-format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) \-S \-\-sort\-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name \-% \-\-percent express values in percentage of each column\[aq]s @@ -9928,26 +9937,28 @@ financial statements. .IP .EX Flags: - \-\-sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - \-\-valuechange show total change of period\-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - \-\-gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - \-\-count show the count of postings - \-\-change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) - \-\-cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end - \-H \-\-historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) + \-\-sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts (default) - \-l \-\-flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth\-clipped. - \-t \-\-tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - \-\-drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + \-\-valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period\-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + \-\-gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + \-\-count calculation mode: show the count of postings + \-\-change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + \-\-cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end + \-H \-\-historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) (default) + \-l \-\-flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth\-clipped. + \-t \-\-tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + \-\-drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts \-\-declared include non\-parent declared accounts (best used with \-E) \-A \-\-average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -9956,8 +9967,7 @@ Flags: \-\-summary\-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) \-N \-\-no\-total omit the final total row - \-\-no\-elide don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + \-\-no\-elide in tree mode, don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts \-\-format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) \-S \-\-sort\-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name \-% \-\-percent express values in percentage of each column\[aq]s @@ -10038,25 +10048,29 @@ financial statements. .IP .EX Flags: - \-\-sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - \-\-valuechange show total change of period\-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - \-\-gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - \-\-count show the count of postings - \-\-change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) (default) - \-\-cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end - \-H \-\-historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - \-l \-\-flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth\-clipped. - \-t \-\-tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - \-\-drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + \-\-sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + \-\-valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period\-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + \-\-gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + \-\-count calculation mode: show the count of postings + \-\-change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + (default) + \-\-cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end + \-H \-\-historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + \-l \-\-flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth\-clipped. + \-t \-\-tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + \-\-drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts \-\-declared include non\-parent declared accounts (best used with \-E) \-A \-\-average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -10065,8 +10079,7 @@ Flags: \-\-summary\-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) \-N \-\-no\-total omit the final total row - \-\-no\-elide don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + \-\-no\-elide in tree mode, don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts \-\-format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) \-S \-\-sort\-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name \-% \-\-percent express values in percentage of each column\[aq]s @@ -10137,25 +10150,29 @@ financial statements. .IP .EX Flags: - \-\-sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - \-\-valuechange show total change of period\-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - \-\-gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - \-\-count show the count of postings - \-\-change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) (default) - \-\-cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end - \-H \-\-historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - \-l \-\-flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth\-clipped. - \-t \-\-tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - \-\-drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + \-\-sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + \-\-valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period\-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + \-\-gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + \-\-count calculation mode: show the count of postings + \-\-change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + (default) + \-\-cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end + \-H \-\-historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + \-l \-\-flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth\-clipped. + \-t \-\-tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + \-\-drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts \-\-declared include non\-parent declared accounts (best used with \-E) \-A \-\-average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -10164,8 +10181,7 @@ Flags: \-\-summary\-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) \-N \-\-no\-total omit the final total row - \-\-no\-elide don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + \-\-no\-elide in tree mode, don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts \-\-format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) \-S \-\-sort\-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name \-% \-\-percent express values in percentage of each column\[aq]s @@ -10240,32 +10256,36 @@ performance, unrealised capital gains, etc. .IP .EX Flags: - \-\-sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - \-\-valuechange show total change of value of period\-end - historical balances (caused by deposits, + \-\-sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + \-\-valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period\-end historical balances (caused by deposits, withdrawals, market price fluctuations) - \-\-gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - \-\-budget[=DESCPAT] show sum of posting amounts together with budget - goals defined by periodic + \-\-gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + \-\-budget[=DESCPAT] calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + together with budget goals defined by periodic transactions. With a DESCPAT argument (must be separated by = not space), use only periodic transactions with matching description (case insensitive substring match). - \-\-count show the count of postings - \-\-change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports, default) - \-\-cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end - \-H \-\-historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - \-l \-\-flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth\-clipped. - \-t \-\-tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - \-\-drop=N omit N leading account name parts (in flat mode) + \-\-count calculation mode: show the count of postings + \-\-change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports, + default) + \-\-cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. \-b/\-\-begin) to column end + \-H \-\-historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + \-l \-\-flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth\-clipped. + \-t \-\-tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + \-\-drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts \-\-declared include non\-parent declared accounts (best used with \-E) \-A \-\-average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -10274,8 +10294,7 @@ Flags: \-\-summary\-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) \-N \-\-no\-total omit the final total row - \-\-no\-elide don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + \-\-no\-elide in tree mode, don\[aq]t squash boring parent accounts \-\-format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) \-S \-\-sort\-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name (in flat mode). With multiple columns, sorts by the row diff --git a/hledger/hledger.info b/hledger/hledger.info index 945556499..f4d3bd011 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.info +++ b/hledger/hledger.info @@ -460,8 +460,10 @@ General help flags: Usually hledger accepts any unambiguous flag prefix, eg you can write '--tl' instead of '--tldr' or '--dry' instead of '--dry-run'. - If the same option appears more than once in a command, usually the -last (right-most) wins. + If the same option appears more than once in a command line, usually +the last (right-most) wins. Similarly, if mutually exclusive flags are +used together, the right-most wins. (When flags are mutually exclusive, +they'll usually have a group prefix in -help.) With most commands, arguments are interpreted as a hledger query which filter the data. Some queries can be expressed either with @@ -8731,8 +8733,9 @@ Flags: --find find the first account matched by the first argument (a case-insensitive infix regexp or account name) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default) - -t --tree show accounts as a tree + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default) + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts This command lists account names. By default it shows all known @@ -9303,9 +9306,11 @@ Flags: date. Warning: this can show a wrong running balance. --no-elide don't show only 2 commodities per amount - --cumulative show running total from report start date - -H --historical show historical running total/balance (includes - postings before report start date) (default) + --cumulative accumulation mode: show running total from report + start date + -H --historical accumulation mode: show historical running + total/balance (includes postings before report + start date) (default) --invert display all amounts with reversed sign --heading=YN show heading row above table: yes (default) or no -w --width=N set output width (default: terminal width). -wN,M @@ -9418,10 +9423,11 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: register, Next: balancesheet, Prev: aregister, Up: Show postings and their running total. Flags: - --cumulative show running total from report start date - (default) - -H --historical show historical running total/balance (includes - postings before report start date) + --cumulative accumulation mode: show running total from report + start date (default) + -H --historical accumulation mode: show historical running + total/balance (includes postings before report + start date) -A --average show running average of posting amounts instead of total (implies --empty) -m --match=DESC fuzzy search for one recent posting with @@ -9592,26 +9598,28 @@ shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of period-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts (default) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) (default) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -9620,8 +9628,7 @@ Flags: --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name -% --percent express values in percentage of each column's @@ -9692,26 +9699,28 @@ balances of asset, liability and equity accounts. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of period-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts (default) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) (default) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -9720,8 +9729,7 @@ Flags: --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name -% --percent express values in percentage of each column's @@ -9800,25 +9808,29 @@ assets. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of period-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) (default) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + (default) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -9827,8 +9839,7 @@ Flags: --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name -% --percent express values in percentage of each column's @@ -9896,25 +9907,29 @@ Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of period-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) (default) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + (default) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -9923,8 +9938,7 @@ Flags: --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name -% --percent express values in percentage of each column's @@ -10006,32 +10020,36 @@ some kind of numeric data. This can be balance changes per period, end balances, budget performance, unrealised capital gains, etc. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of value of period-end - historical balances (caused by deposits, + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, withdrawals, market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --budget[=DESCPAT] show sum of posting amounts together with budget - goals defined by periodic + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --budget[=DESCPAT] calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + together with budget goals defined by periodic transactions. With a DESCPAT argument (must be separated by = not space), use only periodic transactions with matching description (case insensitive substring match). - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports, default) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N omit N leading account name parts (in flat mode) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports, + default) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -10040,8 +10058,7 @@ Flags: --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name (in flat mode). With multiple columns, sorts by the row @@ -12600,377 +12617,377 @@ Node: Strict mode9301 Node: Commands10135 Node: Add-on commands11321 Node: Options12539 -Node: Special characters19113 -Node: Escaping shell special characters20063 -Node: Escaping on Windows21307 -Node: Escaping regular expression special characters22040 -Node: Escaping add-on arguments23027 -Node: Escaping in other situations24056 -Node: Using a wild card25015 -Node: Unicode characters25394 -Node: Regular expressions27058 -Node: hledger's regular expressions30317 -Node: Argument files31958 -Node: Config files32661 -Node: Shell completions35814 -Node: Output36303 -Node: Output destination36494 -Node: Output format37052 -Node: Text output38838 -Node: Box-drawing characters39817 -Node: Colour40317 -Node: Paging40903 -Node: HTML output42429 -Node: CSV / TSV output42883 -Node: FODS output43137 -Node: Beancount output43941 -Node: Beancount account names45396 -Node: Beancount commodity names45937 -Node: Beancount virtual postings46584 -Node: Beancount metadata46900 -Node: Beancount costs47680 -Node: Beancount operating currency48096 -Node: SQL output48546 -Node: JSON output49337 -Node: Commodity styles50154 -Node: Debug output51041 -Node: Environment51873 -Node: PART 2 DATA FORMATS52530 -Node: Journal52673 -Node: Journal cheatsheet55151 -Node: Comments61365 -Node: Transactions62309 -Node: Dates63446 -Node: Simple dates63598 -Node: Posting dates64214 -Node: Status65301 -Node: Code67067 -Node: Description67402 -Node: Payee and note68089 -Node: Transaction comments69180 -Node: Postings69696 -Node: Debits and credits70859 -Node: The two space delimiter71469 -Node: Account names72034 -Node: Amounts73838 -Node: Decimal marks74867 -Node: Digit group marks75971 -Node: Commodity76606 -Node: Costs77723 -Node: Balance assertions79975 -Node: Assertions and ordering81238 -Node: Assertions and multiple included files81966 -Node: Assertions and multiple -f files82726 -Node: Assertions and costs83368 -Node: Assertions and commodities84018 -Node: Assertions and subaccounts85677 -Node: Assertions and status86337 -Node: Assertions and virtual postings86757 -Node: Assertions and auto postings87122 -Node: Assertions and precision87997 -Node: Posting comments88448 -Node: Transaction balancing88988 -Node: Tags90990 -Node: Querying with tags92284 -Node: Displaying tags93083 -Node: When to use tags ?93479 -Node: Tag names94143 -Node: Special tags94696 -Node: Directives96261 -Node: Directives and multiple files97718 -Node: Directive effects98663 -Node: account directive101819 -Node: Account comments103269 -Node: Account error checking103928 -Node: Account display order105465 -Node: Account types106663 -Node: alias directive110437 -Node: Basic aliases111648 -Node: Regex aliases112523 -Node: Combining aliases113570 -Node: Aliases and multiple files115024 -Node: end aliases directive115807 -Node: Aliases can generate bad account names116175 -Node: Aliases and account types117008 -Node: commodity directive117900 -Node: Commodity directive syntax119487 -Node: Commodity error checking121136 -Node: decimal-mark directive121611 -Node: include directive122190 -Node: P directive123266 -Node: payee directive124300 -Node: tag directive124922 -Node: Periodic transactions125534 -Node: Periodic rule syntax127688 -Node: Periodic rules and relative dates128511 -Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!129288 -Node: Auto postings130249 -Node: Auto postings and multiple files133409 -Node: Auto postings and dates133814 -Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions134255 -Node: Auto posting tags135101 -Node: Auto postings on forecast transactions only135996 -Node: Other syntax136466 -Node: Balance assignments137238 -Node: Balance assignments and costs138766 -Node: Balance assignments and multiple files139188 -Node: Bracketed posting dates139611 -Node: D directive140309 -Node: apply account directive142082 -Node: Y directive142949 -Node: Secondary dates143937 -Node: Star comments145422 -Node: Valuation expressions146114 -Node: Virtual postings146413 -Node: Other Ledger directives148037 -Node: Other cost/lot notations148799 -Node: CSV151640 -Node: CSV rules cheatsheet153736 -Node: source155763 -Node: encoding156763 -Node: separator157702 -Node: skip158355 -Node: date-format159005 -Node: timezone159848 -Node: newest-first160974 -Node: intra-day-reversed161687 -Node: decimal-mark162287 -Node: fields list162767 -Node: Field assignment164575 -Node: Field names165794 -Node: date field167126 -Node: date2 field167290 -Node: status field167485 -Node: code field167675 -Node: description field167863 -Node: comment field168080 -Node: account field168637 -Node: amount field169355 -Node: currency field172194 -Node: balance field172602 -Node: if block173125 -Node: Matchers174652 -Node: Multiple matchers176642 -Node: Match groups177450 -Node: if table178343 -Node: balance-type180406 -Node: include181233 -Node: Working with CSV181802 -Node: Rapid feedback182354 -Node: Valid CSV182937 -Node: File Extension183813 -Node: Reading CSV from standard input184548 -Node: Reading multiple CSV files184934 -Node: Reading files specified by rule185410 -Node: Valid transactions186807 -Node: Deduplicating importing187632 -Node: Setting amounts188861 -Node: Amount signs191388 -Node: Setting currency/commodity192453 -Node: Amount decimal places193829 -Node: Referencing other fields195086 -Node: How CSV rules are evaluated196194 -Node: Well factored rules197862 -Node: CSV rules examples198352 -Node: Bank of Ireland198550 -Node: Coinbase200147 -Node: Amazon201330 -Node: Paypal203172 -Node: Timeclock210922 -Node: Timedot213191 -Node: Timedot examples216668 -Node: PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS218945 -Node: Time periods219109 -Node: Report start & end date219382 -Node: Smart dates220858 -Node: Report intervals222801 -Node: Date adjustments223375 -Node: Start date adjustment223595 -Node: End date adjustment224498 -Node: Period headings225243 -Node: Period expressions226176 -Node: Period expressions with a report interval228081 -Node: More complex report intervals228529 -Node: Multiple weekday intervals230645 -Node: Depth231656 -Node: Queries233491 -Node: Query types235189 -Node: acct query235606 -Node: amt query235917 -Node: code query236534 -Node: cur query236729 -Node: desc query237335 -Node: date query237518 -Node: date2 query237914 -Node: depth query238205 -Node: expr query238541 -Node: not query238922 -Node: note query239262 -Node: payee query239528 -Node: real query239809 -Node: status query240014 -Node: type query240254 -Node: tag query240787 -Node: Combining query terms241416 -Node: Queries and command options243156 -Node: Queries and account aliases243610 -Node: Queries and valuation243935 -Node: Pivoting244297 -Node: Generating data246573 -Node: Forecasting248373 -Node: --forecast249029 -Node: Inspecting forecast transactions250130 -Node: Forecast reports251463 -Node: Forecast tags252572 -Node: Forecast period in detail253192 -Node: Forecast troubleshooting254280 -Node: Budgeting255351 -Node: Amount formatting255911 -Node: Commodity display style256155 -Node: Rounding257996 -Node: Trailing decimal marks258601 -Node: Amount parseability259534 -Node: Cost reporting261115 -Node: Recording costs261946 -Node: Reporting at cost263673 -Node: Equity conversion postings264438 -Node: Inferring equity conversion postings267083 -Node: Combining costs and equity conversion postings268225 -Node: Requirements for detecting equity conversion postings269450 -Node: Infer cost and equity by default ?270972 -Node: Value reporting271409 -Node: -V Value272345 -Node: -X Value in specified commodity272672 -Node: Valuation date273022 -Node: Finding market price273982 -Node: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions275362 -Node: Valuation commodity278406 -Node: --value Flexible valuation279839 -Node: Valuation examples281682 -Node: Interaction of valuation and queries283814 -Node: Effect of valuation on reports284531 -Node: PART 4 COMMANDS292429 -Node: Help commands294645 -Node: commands294831 -Node: demo295039 -Node: help296273 -Node: User interface commands297978 -Node: repl298189 -Node: Examples300453 -Node: run301011 -Node: Examples 2303426 -Node: ui304450 -Node: web304587 -Node: Data entry commands304715 -Node: add304913 -Node: import307368 -Node: Import preview308402 -Node: Overlap detection309350 -Node: First import312236 -Node: Importing balance assignments313431 -Node: Import and commodity styles314486 -Node: Import special cases314924 -Node: Basic report commands316259 -Node: accounts316560 -Node: codes319433 -Node: commodities320455 -Node: descriptions320699 -Node: files321166 -Node: notes321463 -Node: payees321975 -Node: prices322759 -Node: stats323651 -Node: tags325392 -Node: Standard report commands326699 -Node: print327004 -Node: print explicitness329745 -Node: print amount style330665 -Node: print parseability331903 -Node: print other features332822 -Node: print output format333685 -Node: aregister336970 -Node: aregister and posting dates341429 -Node: register342330 -Node: Custom register output349505 -Node: balancesheet350690 -Node: balancesheetequity355460 -Node: cashflow360600 -Node: incomestatement365162 -Node: Advanced report commands369760 -Node: balance369968 -Node: balance features375144 -Node: Simple balance report377220 -Node: Balance report line format379030 -Node: Filtered balance report381390 -Node: List or tree mode381909 -Node: Depth limiting383422 -Node: Dropping top-level accounts384189 -Node: Showing declared accounts384699 -Node: Sorting by amount385429 -Node: Percentages386266 -Node: Multi-period balance report386973 -Node: Balance change end balance389725 -Node: Balance report types391362 -Node: Calculation type392041 -Node: Accumulation type392745 -Node: Valuation type393846 -Node: Combining balance report types395035 -Node: Budget report397067 -Node: Using the budget report399372 -Node: Budget date surprises401648 -Node: Selecting budget goals403012 -Node: Budgeting vs forecasting403960 -Node: Balance report layout405637 -Node: Wide layout406842 -Node: Tall layout409247 -Node: Bare layout410553 -Node: Tidy layout412617 -Node: Balance report output414161 -Node: Some useful balance reports414976 -Node: roi416236 -Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl418483 -Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl419209 -Node: IRR and TWR explained421296 -Node: Chart commands424707 -Node: activity424888 -Node: Data generation commands425385 -Node: close425591 -Node: close --clopen428154 -Node: close --close430328 -Node: close --open430852 -Node: close --assert431102 -Node: close --assign431429 -Node: close --retain432108 -Node: close customisation432965 -Node: close and balance assertions434609 -Node: close examples436131 -Node: Retain earnings436368 -Node: Migrate balances to a new file436871 -Node: More detailed close examples438233 -Node: rewrite438455 -Node: Re-write rules in a file441027 -Node: Diff output format442337 -Node: rewrite vs print --auto443610 -Node: Maintenance commands444324 -Node: check444533 -Node: Basic checks445615 -Node: Strict checks446568 -Node: Other checks447443 -Node: Custom checks449298 -Node: diff449753 -Node: test450960 -Node: PART 5 COMMON TASKS451832 -Node: Getting help452065 -Node: Constructing command lines452974 -Node: Starting a journal file453812 -Node: Setting LEDGER_FILE455196 -Node: Setting opening balances456454 -Node: Recording transactions459776 -Node: Reconciling460501 -Node: Reporting462890 -Node: Migrating to a new file467004 -Node: BUGS467453 -Node: Troubleshooting468418 +Node: Special characters19282 +Node: Escaping shell special characters20232 +Node: Escaping on Windows21476 +Node: Escaping regular expression special characters22209 +Node: Escaping add-on arguments23196 +Node: Escaping in other situations24225 +Node: Using a wild card25184 +Node: Unicode characters25563 +Node: Regular expressions27227 +Node: hledger's regular expressions30486 +Node: Argument files32127 +Node: Config files32830 +Node: Shell completions35983 +Node: Output36472 +Node: Output destination36663 +Node: Output format37221 +Node: Text output39007 +Node: Box-drawing characters39986 +Node: Colour40486 +Node: Paging41072 +Node: HTML output42598 +Node: CSV / TSV output43052 +Node: FODS output43306 +Node: Beancount output44110 +Node: Beancount account names45565 +Node: Beancount commodity names46106 +Node: Beancount virtual postings46753 +Node: Beancount metadata47069 +Node: Beancount costs47849 +Node: Beancount operating currency48265 +Node: SQL output48715 +Node: JSON output49506 +Node: Commodity styles50323 +Node: Debug output51210 +Node: Environment52042 +Node: PART 2 DATA FORMATS52699 +Node: Journal52842 +Node: Journal cheatsheet55320 +Node: Comments61534 +Node: Transactions62478 +Node: Dates63615 +Node: Simple dates63767 +Node: Posting dates64383 +Node: Status65470 +Node: Code67236 +Node: Description67571 +Node: Payee and note68258 +Node: Transaction comments69349 +Node: Postings69865 +Node: Debits and credits71028 +Node: The two space delimiter71638 +Node: Account names72203 +Node: Amounts74007 +Node: Decimal marks75036 +Node: Digit group marks76140 +Node: Commodity76775 +Node: Costs77892 +Node: Balance assertions80144 +Node: Assertions and ordering81407 +Node: Assertions and multiple included files82135 +Node: Assertions and multiple -f files82895 +Node: Assertions and costs83537 +Node: Assertions and commodities84187 +Node: Assertions and subaccounts85846 +Node: Assertions and status86506 +Node: Assertions and virtual postings86926 +Node: Assertions and auto postings87291 +Node: Assertions and precision88166 +Node: Posting comments88617 +Node: Transaction balancing89157 +Node: Tags91159 +Node: Querying with tags92453 +Node: Displaying tags93252 +Node: When to use tags ?93648 +Node: Tag names94312 +Node: Special tags94865 +Node: Directives96430 +Node: Directives and multiple files97887 +Node: Directive effects98832 +Node: account directive101988 +Node: Account comments103438 +Node: Account error checking104097 +Node: Account display order105634 +Node: Account types106832 +Node: alias directive110606 +Node: Basic aliases111817 +Node: Regex aliases112692 +Node: Combining aliases113739 +Node: Aliases and multiple files115193 +Node: end aliases directive115976 +Node: Aliases can generate bad account names116344 +Node: Aliases and account types117177 +Node: commodity directive118069 +Node: Commodity directive syntax119656 +Node: Commodity error checking121305 +Node: decimal-mark directive121780 +Node: include directive122359 +Node: P directive123435 +Node: payee directive124469 +Node: tag directive125091 +Node: Periodic transactions125703 +Node: Periodic rule syntax127857 +Node: Periodic rules and relative dates128680 +Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!129457 +Node: Auto postings130418 +Node: Auto postings and multiple files133578 +Node: Auto postings and dates133983 +Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions134424 +Node: Auto posting tags135270 +Node: Auto postings on forecast transactions only136165 +Node: Other syntax136635 +Node: Balance assignments137407 +Node: Balance assignments and costs138935 +Node: Balance assignments and multiple files139357 +Node: Bracketed posting dates139780 +Node: D directive140478 +Node: apply account directive142251 +Node: Y directive143118 +Node: Secondary dates144106 +Node: Star comments145591 +Node: Valuation expressions146283 +Node: Virtual postings146582 +Node: Other Ledger directives148206 +Node: Other cost/lot notations148968 +Node: CSV151809 +Node: CSV rules cheatsheet153905 +Node: source155932 +Node: encoding156932 +Node: separator157871 +Node: skip158524 +Node: date-format159174 +Node: timezone160017 +Node: newest-first161143 +Node: intra-day-reversed161856 +Node: decimal-mark162456 +Node: fields list162936 +Node: Field assignment164744 +Node: Field names165963 +Node: date field167295 +Node: date2 field167459 +Node: status field167654 +Node: code field167844 +Node: description field168032 +Node: comment field168249 +Node: account field168806 +Node: amount field169524 +Node: currency field172363 +Node: balance field172771 +Node: if block173294 +Node: Matchers174821 +Node: Multiple matchers176811 +Node: Match groups177619 +Node: if table178512 +Node: balance-type180575 +Node: include181402 +Node: Working with CSV181971 +Node: Rapid feedback182523 +Node: Valid CSV183106 +Node: File Extension183982 +Node: Reading CSV from standard input184717 +Node: Reading multiple CSV files185103 +Node: Reading files specified by rule185579 +Node: Valid transactions186976 +Node: Deduplicating importing187801 +Node: Setting amounts189030 +Node: Amount signs191557 +Node: Setting currency/commodity192622 +Node: Amount decimal places193998 +Node: Referencing other fields195255 +Node: How CSV rules are evaluated196363 +Node: Well factored rules198031 +Node: CSV rules examples198521 +Node: Bank of Ireland198719 +Node: Coinbase200316 +Node: Amazon201499 +Node: Paypal203341 +Node: Timeclock211091 +Node: Timedot213360 +Node: Timedot examples216837 +Node: PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS219114 +Node: Time periods219278 +Node: Report start & end date219551 +Node: Smart dates221027 +Node: Report intervals222970 +Node: Date adjustments223544 +Node: Start date adjustment223764 +Node: End date adjustment224667 +Node: Period headings225412 +Node: Period expressions226345 +Node: Period expressions with a report interval228250 +Node: More complex report intervals228698 +Node: Multiple weekday intervals230814 +Node: Depth231825 +Node: Queries233660 +Node: Query types235358 +Node: acct query235775 +Node: amt query236086 +Node: code query236703 +Node: cur query236898 +Node: desc query237504 +Node: date query237687 +Node: date2 query238083 +Node: depth query238374 +Node: expr query238710 +Node: not query239091 +Node: note query239431 +Node: payee query239697 +Node: real query239978 +Node: status query240183 +Node: type query240423 +Node: tag query240956 +Node: Combining query terms241585 +Node: Queries and command options243325 +Node: Queries and account aliases243779 +Node: Queries and valuation244104 +Node: Pivoting244466 +Node: Generating data246742 +Node: Forecasting248542 +Node: --forecast249198 +Node: Inspecting forecast transactions250299 +Node: Forecast reports251632 +Node: Forecast tags252741 +Node: Forecast period in detail253361 +Node: Forecast troubleshooting254449 +Node: Budgeting255520 +Node: Amount formatting256080 +Node: Commodity display style256324 +Node: Rounding258165 +Node: Trailing decimal marks258770 +Node: Amount parseability259703 +Node: Cost reporting261284 +Node: Recording costs262115 +Node: Reporting at cost263842 +Node: Equity conversion postings264607 +Node: Inferring equity conversion postings267252 +Node: Combining costs and equity conversion postings268394 +Node: Requirements for detecting equity conversion postings269619 +Node: Infer cost and equity by default ?271141 +Node: Value reporting271578 +Node: -V Value272514 +Node: -X Value in specified commodity272841 +Node: Valuation date273191 +Node: Finding market price274151 +Node: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions275531 +Node: Valuation commodity278575 +Node: --value Flexible valuation280008 +Node: Valuation examples281851 +Node: Interaction of valuation and queries283983 +Node: Effect of valuation on reports284700 +Node: PART 4 COMMANDS292598 +Node: Help commands294814 +Node: commands295000 +Node: demo295208 +Node: help296442 +Node: User interface commands298147 +Node: repl298358 +Node: Examples300622 +Node: run301180 +Node: Examples 2303595 +Node: ui304619 +Node: web304756 +Node: Data entry commands304884 +Node: add305082 +Node: import307537 +Node: Import preview308571 +Node: Overlap detection309519 +Node: First import312405 +Node: Importing balance assignments313600 +Node: Import and commodity styles314655 +Node: Import special cases315093 +Node: Basic report commands316428 +Node: accounts316729 +Node: codes319662 +Node: commodities320684 +Node: descriptions320928 +Node: files321395 +Node: notes321692 +Node: payees322204 +Node: prices322988 +Node: stats323880 +Node: tags325621 +Node: Standard report commands326928 +Node: print327233 +Node: print explicitness329974 +Node: print amount style330894 +Node: print parseability332132 +Node: print other features333051 +Node: print output format333914 +Node: aregister337199 +Node: aregister and posting dates341752 +Node: register342653 +Node: Custom register output349894 +Node: balancesheet351079 +Node: balancesheetequity356044 +Node: cashflow361379 +Node: incomestatement366192 +Node: Advanced report commands371041 +Node: balance371249 +Node: balance features376686 +Node: Simple balance report378762 +Node: Balance report line format380572 +Node: Filtered balance report382932 +Node: List or tree mode383451 +Node: Depth limiting384964 +Node: Dropping top-level accounts385731 +Node: Showing declared accounts386241 +Node: Sorting by amount386971 +Node: Percentages387808 +Node: Multi-period balance report388515 +Node: Balance change end balance391267 +Node: Balance report types392904 +Node: Calculation type393583 +Node: Accumulation type394287 +Node: Valuation type395388 +Node: Combining balance report types396577 +Node: Budget report398609 +Node: Using the budget report400914 +Node: Budget date surprises403190 +Node: Selecting budget goals404554 +Node: Budgeting vs forecasting405502 +Node: Balance report layout407179 +Node: Wide layout408384 +Node: Tall layout410789 +Node: Bare layout412095 +Node: Tidy layout414159 +Node: Balance report output415703 +Node: Some useful balance reports416518 +Node: roi417778 +Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl420025 +Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl420751 +Node: IRR and TWR explained422838 +Node: Chart commands426249 +Node: activity426430 +Node: Data generation commands426927 +Node: close427133 +Node: close --clopen429696 +Node: close --close431870 +Node: close --open432394 +Node: close --assert432644 +Node: close --assign432971 +Node: close --retain433650 +Node: close customisation434507 +Node: close and balance assertions436151 +Node: close examples437673 +Node: Retain earnings437910 +Node: Migrate balances to a new file438413 +Node: More detailed close examples439775 +Node: rewrite439997 +Node: Re-write rules in a file442569 +Node: Diff output format443879 +Node: rewrite vs print --auto445152 +Node: Maintenance commands445866 +Node: check446075 +Node: Basic checks447157 +Node: Strict checks448110 +Node: Other checks448985 +Node: Custom checks450840 +Node: diff451295 +Node: test452502 +Node: PART 5 COMMON TASKS453374 +Node: Getting help453607 +Node: Constructing command lines454516 +Node: Starting a journal file455354 +Node: Setting LEDGER_FILE456738 +Node: Setting opening balances457996 +Node: Recording transactions461318 +Node: Reconciling462043 +Node: Reporting464432 +Node: Migrating to a new file468546 +Node: BUGS468995 +Node: Troubleshooting469960  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger/hledger.txt b/hledger/hledger.txt index 027617b3e..290050106 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.txt +++ b/hledger/hledger.txt @@ -344,42 +344,44 @@ Options Usually hledger accepts any unambiguous flag prefix, eg you can write --tl instead of --tldr or --dry instead of --dry-run. - If the same option appears more than once in a command, usually the - last (right-most) wins. + If the same option appears more than once in a command line, usually + the last (right-most) wins. Similarly, if mutually exclusive flags are + used together, the right-most wins. (When flags are mutually exclu- + sive, they'll usually have a group prefix in --help.) - With most commands, arguments are interpreted as a hledger query which - filter the data. Some queries can be expressed either with options or + With most commands, arguments are interpreted as a hledger query which + filter the data. Some queries can be expressed either with options or with arguments. Below are more tips for using the command line interface - feel free to skip these until you need them. Special characters - Here we touch on shell escaping/quoting rules, and give some examples. - This is a slightly complicated topic which you may not need at first, + Here we touch on shell escaping/quoting rules, and give some examples. + This is a slightly complicated topic which you may not need at first, but you should be aware of it, so you can return here when needed. If you are able to minimise the use of special characters in your data, - you won't need escaping as much, and your command lines will be sim- - pler. For example, avoiding spaces in account names, and using an - ISO-4217 currency code like USD instead of the $ currency symbol, can + you won't need escaping as much, and your command lines will be sim- + pler. For example, avoiding spaces in account names, and using an + ISO-4217 currency code like USD instead of the $ currency symbol, can be helpful. - But if you want to use spaced account names and $, go right ahead; es- + But if you want to use spaced account names and $, go right ahead; es- caping isn't a big deal. Escaping shell special characters - At the command line, characters which have special meaning for your + At the command line, characters which have special meaning for your shell must be "shell-escaped" (AKA "quoted") if you want hledger to see them. Often these include space, <, >, (, ), |, \, $ and/or %. - For example, to match an account name containing the phrase "credit + For example, to match an account name containing the phrase "credit card", don't write this: $ hledger register credit card - In that command, "credit" and "card" are treated as separate query ar- - guments (described below), so this would match accounts containing ei- + In that command, "credit" and "card" are treated as separate query ar- + guments (described below), so this would match accounts containing ei- ther word. Instead, enclose the phrase in double or single quotes: $ hledger register "credit card" @@ -389,10 +391,10 @@ Options $ hledger register credit\ card - Some shell characters still have a special meaning inside double + Some shell characters still have a special meaning inside double quotes, such as the dollar sign ($). Eg in "assets:$account", the bash - shell would replace $account with the value of a shell variable with - that name. When you don't want that, use single quotes, which escape + shell would replace $account with the value of a shell variable with + that name. When you don't want that, use single quotes, which escape more strongly: $ hledger balance 'assets:$account' @@ -401,21 +403,21 @@ Options If you are using hledger in a Powershell or Command window on Microsoft Windows, the escaping rules are different: - o In a Powershell window (powershell, blue background), you must use + o In a Powershell window (powershell, blue background), you must use double quotes or single quotes (not backslash). - o In a Command window (cmd, black background), you must use double + o In a Command window (cmd, black background), you must use double quotes (not single quotes or backslash). - The next two sections were written for Unix-like shells, so might need + The next two sections were written for Unix-like shells, so might need to be adapted if you're using cmd or powershell. (Edits welcome.) Escaping regular expression special characters - Many hledger arguments are regular expressions (described below), and - these too have characters which cause special effects. Some of those - characters are ., ^, $, [, ], (, ), |, and \. When you don't want - these to cause special effects, you can "regex-escape" them by writing - \ (a backslash) before them. But since backslash is also special to + Many hledger arguments are regular expressions (described below), and + these too have characters which cause special effects. Some of those + characters are ., ^, $, [, ], (, ), |, and \. When you don't want + these to cause special effects, you can "regex-escape" them by writing + \ (a backslash) before them. But since backslash is also special to the shell, you may need to also shell-escape the backslashes. Eg, in the bash shell, to match a literal $ sign, you could write: @@ -426,14 +428,14 @@ Options $ hledger balance 'cur:\$' - (The dollar sign is regex-escaped by the backslash preceding it. Then - that backslash is shell-escaped by another backslash, or by single + (The dollar sign is regex-escaped by the backslash preceding it. Then + that backslash is shell-escaped by another backslash, or by single quotes.) Escaping add-on arguments When you run an external add-on command with hledger (described below), - any options or arguments being passed through to the add-on executable - lose one level of shell-escaping, so you must add an extra level of + any options or arguments being passed through to the add-on executable + lose one level of shell-escaping, so you must add an extra level of shell-escaping to compensate. Eg, in the bash shell, to run the ui add-on and match a literal $ sign, @@ -453,7 +455,7 @@ Options o \\$ is regex-escaped, then shell-escaped - o \\\\$ is regex-escaped, then shell-escaped, then both slashes are + o \\\\$ is regex-escaped, then shell-escaped, then both slashes are shell-escaped once more for hledger argument pass-through. Or you can avoid such triple-escaping, by running the add-on executable @@ -462,8 +464,8 @@ Options $ hledger-ui cur:\\$ Escaping in other situations - hledger options and arguments are sometimes used in places other than - the command line, with different escaping rules. For example, back- + hledger options and arguments are sometimes used in places other than + the command line, with different escaping rules. For example, back- slash-quoting generally does not work there. Here are some more tips. In Windows cmd Use double quotes @@ -473,16 +475,16 @@ Options filter prompt In hledger-web's Use single or double quotes search form - In an argument Don't use spaces, don't shell-escape, do regex-es- + In an argument Don't use spaces, don't shell-escape, do regex-es- file cape when needed - In a config file Use single or double quotes, and enclose the whole + In a config file Use single or double quotes, and enclose the whole argument ("desc:a b" not desc:"a b") - In ghci (the Use double quotes, and enclose the whole argument + In ghci (the Use double quotes, and enclose the whole argument Haskell REPL) Using a wild card - When escaping a special character is too much hassle (or impossible), - you can often just write . (period) instead. In regular expressions, + When escaping a special character is too much hassle (or impossible), + you can often just write . (period) instead. In regular expressions, this means "accept any character here". Eg: $ hledger register credit.card @@ -490,8 +492,8 @@ Options Unicode characters hledger is expected to handle non-ascii characters correctly: - o they should be parsed correctly in input files and on the command - line, by all hledger tools (add, iadd, hledger-web's search/add/edit + o they should be parsed correctly in input files and on the command + line, by all hledger tools (add, iadd, hledger-web's search/add/edit forms, etc.) o they should be displayed correctly by all hledger tools, and @@ -499,40 +501,40 @@ Options This requires a well-configured environment. Here are some tips: - o A system locale must be configured, and it must be one that can de- - code the characters being used. In bash, you can set a locale like - this: export LANG=en_US.UTF-8. There are some more details in Trou- - bleshooting. This step is essential - without it, hledger will quit - on encountering a non-ascii character (as with all GHC-compiled pro- + o A system locale must be configured, and it must be one that can de- + code the characters being used. In bash, you can set a locale like + this: export LANG=en_US.UTF-8. There are some more details in Trou- + bleshooting. This step is essential - without it, hledger will quit + on encountering a non-ascii character (as with all GHC-compiled pro- grams). - o Your terminal software (eg Terminal.app, iTerm, CMD.exe, xterm..) + o Your terminal software (eg Terminal.app, iTerm, CMD.exe, xterm..) must support unicode. On Windows, you may need to use Windows Termi- nal and/or enable UTF-8 support. o The terminal must be using a font which includes the required unicode glyphs. - o The terminal should be configured to display wide characters as dou- + o The terminal should be configured to display wide characters as dou- ble width (for report alignment). - o On Windows, for best results you should run hledger in the same kind - of environment in which it was built. Eg hledger built in the stan- - dard CMD.EXE environment (like the binaries on our download page) - might show display problems when run in a cygwin or msys terminal, + o On Windows, for best results you should run hledger in the same kind + of environment in which it was built. Eg hledger built in the stan- + dard CMD.EXE environment (like the binaries on our download page) + might show display problems when run in a cygwin or msys terminal, and vice versa. (See eg #961). Regular expressions - A regular expression (regexp) is a small piece of text where certain - characters (like ., ^, $, +, *, (), |, [], \) have special meanings, - forming a tiny language for matching text precisely - very useful in - hledger and elsewhere. To learn all about them, visit regular-expres- + A regular expression (regexp) is a small piece of text where certain + characters (like ., ^, $, +, *, (), |, [], \) have special meanings, + forming a tiny language for matching text precisely - very useful in + hledger and elsewhere. To learn all about them, visit regular-expres- sions.info. - hledger supports regexps whenever you are entering a pattern to match - something, eg in query arguments, account aliases, CSV if rules, + hledger supports regexps whenever you are entering a pattern to match + something, eg in query arguments, account aliases, CSV if rules, hledger-web's search form, hledger-ui's / search, etc. You may need to - wrap them in quotes, especially at the command line (see Special char- + wrap them in quotes, especially at the command line (see Special char- acters above). Here are some examples: Account name queries (quoted for command line use): @@ -588,59 +590,59 @@ Options & %date (29|30|31|01|02|03)$ hledger's regular expressions - hledger's regular expressions come from the regex-tdfa library. If - they're not doing what you expect, it's important to know exactly what + hledger's regular expressions come from the regex-tdfa library. If + they're not doing what you expect, it's important to know exactly what they support: 1. they are case insensitive - 2. they are infix matching (they do not need to match the entire thing + 2. they are infix matching (they do not need to match the entire thing being matched) 3. they are POSIX ERE (extended regular expressions) 4. they also support GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>) - 5. backreferences are supported when doing text replacement in account - aliases or CSV rules, where backreferences can be used in the re- + 5. backreferences are supported when doing text replacement in account + aliases or CSV rules, where backreferences can be used in the re- placement string to reference capturing groups in the search regexp. Otherwise, if you write \1, it will match the digit 1. - 6. they do not support mode modifiers ((?s)), character classes (\w, + 6. they do not support mode modifiers ((?s)), character classes (\w, \d), or anything else not mentioned above. - 7. they may not (I'm guessing not) properly support right-to-left or + 7. they may not (I'm guessing not) properly support right-to-left or bidirectional text. Some things to note: - o In the alias directive and --alias option, regular expressions must - be enclosed in forward slashes (/REGEX/). Elsewhere in hledger, + o In the alias directive and --alias option, regular expressions must + be enclosed in forward slashes (/REGEX/). Elsewhere in hledger, these are not required. - o In queries, to match a regular expression metacharacter like $ as a - literal character, prepend a backslash. Eg to search for amounts + o In queries, to match a regular expression metacharacter like $ as a + literal character, prepend a backslash. Eg to search for amounts with the dollar sign in hledger-web, write cur:\$. - o On the command line, some metacharacters like $ have a special mean- + o On the command line, some metacharacters like $ have a special mean- ing to the shell and so must be escaped at least once more. See Spe- cial characters. Argument files You can save a set of command line options and arguments in a file, and - then reuse them by writing @FILENAME as a command line argument. Eg: + then reuse them by writing @FILENAME as a command line argument. Eg: hledger bal @foo.args. - An argument file's format is more restrictive than the command line. + An argument file's format is more restrictive than the command line. Each line should contain just one option or argument. Don't use spaces - except inside quotes; write = or nothing between a flag and its argu- - ment. If you use quotes, they must enclose the whole line. For the - special characters mentioned above, use one less level of quoting than + except inside quotes; write = or nothing between a flag and its argu- + ment. If you use quotes, they must enclose the whole line. For the + special characters mentioned above, use one less level of quoting than you would at the command line. Config files - With hledger 1.40+, you can save extra command line options and argu- - ments in a more featureful hledger config file. Here's a small exam- + With hledger 1.40+, you can save extra command line options and argu- + ments in a more featureful hledger config file. Here's a small exam- ple: # General options are listed first, and used with hledger commands that support them. @@ -650,45 +652,45 @@ Options [print] --explicit --show-costs - To use a config file, specify it with the --conf option. Its options - will be inserted near the start of your command line, so you can over- + To use a config file, specify it with the --conf option. Its options + will be inserted near the start of your command line, so you can over- ride them with command line options if needed. - Or, you can set up an automatic config file that is used whenever you - run hledger, by creating hledger.conf in the current directory or - above, or .hledger.conf in your home directory (~/.hledger.conf), or - hledger.conf in your XDG config directory (~/.con- + Or, you can set up an automatic config file that is used whenever you + run hledger, by creating hledger.conf in the current directory or + above, or .hledger.conf in your home directory (~/.hledger.conf), or + hledger.conf in your XDG config directory (~/.con- fig/hledger/hledger.conf). - Here is another example config you could start with: + Here is another example config you could start with: https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/master/hledger.conf.sample - You can put not only options, but also arguments in a config file. If - the first word in a config file's top (general) section does not begin - with a dash (eg: print), it is treated as the command argument (over- + You can put not only options, but also arguments in a config file. If + the first word in a config file's top (general) section does not begin + with a dash (eg: print), it is treated as the command argument (over- riding any argument on the command line). - On unix machines, you can add a shebang line at the top of a config - file, set executable permission on the file, and use it like a script. + On unix machines, you can add a shebang line at the top of a config + file, set executable permission on the file, and use it like a script. Eg (the -S is needed on some operating systems): #!/usr/bin/env -S hledger --conf You can ignore config files by adding the -n/--no-conf flag to the com- mand line. This is useful when using hledger in scripts, or when trou- - bleshooting. When both --conf and --no-conf options are used, the + bleshooting. When both --conf and --no-conf options are used, the right-most wins. To inspect the processing of config files, use --debug or --debug=8. Warning! - There aren't many hledger features that need a warning, but this is + There aren't many hledger features that need a warning, but this is one! - Automatic config files, while convenient, also make hledger less pre- - dictable and dependable. It's easy to make a config file that changes - a report's behaviour, or breaks your hledger-using scripts/applica- + Automatic config files, while convenient, also make hledger less pre- + dictable and dependable. It's easy to make a config file that changes + a report's behaviour, or breaks your hledger-using scripts/applica- tions, in ways that will surprise you later. If you don't want this, @@ -698,32 +700,32 @@ Options 2. Also be alert to downloaded directories which may contain a hledger.conf file. - 3. Also if you are sharing scripts or examples or support, consider + 3. Also if you are sharing scripts or examples or support, consider that others may have a hledger.conf file. Conversely, once you decide to use this feature, try to remember: - 1. Whenever a hledger command does not work as expected, try it again + 1. Whenever a hledger command does not work as expected, try it again with -n (--no-conf) to see if a config file was to blame. - 2. Whenever you call hledger from a script, consider whether that call + 2. Whenever you call hledger from a script, consider whether that call should use -n or not. - 3. Be conservative about what you put in your config file; try to con- + 3. Be conservative about what you put in your config file; try to con- sider the effect on all your reports. - 4. To troubleshoot the effect of config files, run with --debug or + 4. To troubleshoot the effect of config files, run with --debug or --debug 8. The config file feature was added in hledger 1.40 and is considered ex- perimental. Shell completions - If you use the bash or zsh shells, you can optionally set up con- - text-sensitive autocompletion for hledger command lines. Try pressing - hledger (should list all hledger commands) or hledger - reg acct: (should list your top-level account names). If - completions aren't working, or for more details, see Install > Shell + If you use the bash or zsh shells, you can optionally set up con- + text-sensitive autocompletion for hledger command lines. Try pressing + hledger (should list all hledger commands) or hledger + reg acct: (should list your top-level account names). If + completions aren't working, or for more details, see Install > Shell completions. Output @@ -733,15 +735,15 @@ Output $ hledger print > foo.txt - Some commands (print, register, stats, the balance commands) also pro- - vide the -o/--output-file option, which does the same thing without + Some commands (print, register, stats, the balance commands) also pro- + vide the -o/--output-file option, which does the same thing without needing the shell. Eg: $ hledger print -o foo.txt $ hledger print -o - # write to stdout (the default) Output format - Some commands offer other kinds of output, not just text on the termi- + Some commands offer other kinds of output, not just text on the termi- nal. Here are those commands and the formats currently supported: command txt html csv/tsv fods beancount sql json @@ -755,14 +757,14 @@ Output print Y Y Y Y Y Y Y register Y Y Y Y Y - You can also see which output formats a command supports by running + You can also see which output formats a command supports by running hledger CMD -h and looking for the -O/--output-format=FMT option, You can select the output format by using that option: $ hledger print -O csv # print CSV to standard output - or by choosing a suitable filename extension with the -o/--out- + or by choosing a suitable filename extension with the -o/--out- put-file=FILE.FMT option: $ hledger balancesheet -o foo.csv # write CSV to foo.csv @@ -780,96 +782,96 @@ Output unicode or wide characters, you'll need a terminal and font that render those correctly. (This can be challenging on MS Windows.) - Some reports (register, aregister) will normally use the full window - width. If this isn't working or you want to override it, you can use + Some reports (register, aregister) will normally use the full window + width. If this isn't working or you want to override it, you can use the -w/--width option. - Balance reports (balance, balancesheet, incomestatement...) use what- + Balance reports (balance, balancesheet, incomestatement...) use what- ever width they need. Multi-period multi-currency reports can often be - wider than the window. Besides using a pager, helpful techniques for - this situation include --layout=bare, -V, cur:, --transpose, --tree, + wider than the window. Besides using a pager, helpful techniques for + this situation include --layout=bare, -V, cur:, --transpose, --tree, --depth, --drop, switching to html output, etc. Box-drawing characters - hledger draws simple table borders by default, to minimise the risk of - display problems caused by a terminal/font not supporting box-drawing + hledger draws simple table borders by default, to minimise the risk of + display problems caused by a terminal/font not supporting box-drawing characters. - But your terminal and font probably do support them, so we recommend - using the --pretty flag to show prettier tables in the terminal. This + But your terminal and font probably do support them, so we recommend + using the --pretty flag to show prettier tables in the terminal. This is a good flag to add to your hledger config file. Colour hledger tries to automatically detect ANSI colour and text styling sup- - port and use it when appropriate. (Currently, it is used rather mini- - mally: some reports show negative numbers in red, and help output uses + port and use it when appropriate. (Currently, it is used rather mini- + mally: some reports show negative numbers in red, and help output uses bold text for emphasis.) - You can override this by setting the NO_COLOR environment variable to - disable it, or by using the --color/--colour option, perhaps in your + You can override this by setting the NO_COLOR environment variable to + disable it, or by using the --color/--colour option, perhaps in your config file, with a y/yes or n/no value to force it on or off. Paging - In unix-like environments, when displaying large output (in any output + In unix-like environments, when displaying large output (in any output format) in the terminal, hledger tries to use a pager when appropriate. - (You can disable this with the --pager=no option, perhaps in your con- + (You can disable this with the --pager=no option, perhaps in your con- fig file.) - The pager shows one page of text at a time, and lets you scroll around - to see more. While it is active, usually SPACE shows the next page, h - shows help, and q quits. The home/end/page up/page down/cursor keys, + The pager shows one page of text at a time, and lets you scroll around + to see more. While it is active, usually SPACE shows the next page, h + shows help, and q quits. The home/end/page up/page down/cursor keys, and mouse scrolling, may also work. hledger will use the pager specified by the PAGER environment variable, - otherwise less if available, otherwise more if available. (With one - exception: hledger help -p TOPIC will always use less, so that it can + otherwise less if available, otherwise more if available. (With one + exception: hledger help -p TOPIC will always use less, so that it can scroll to the topic.) - The pager is expected to display hledger's ANSI colour and text - styling. If you see junk characters, you might need to configure your - pager to handle ANSI codes. Or you could disable colour as described + The pager is expected to display hledger's ANSI colour and text + styling. If you see junk characters, you might need to configure your + pager to handle ANSI codes. Or you could disable colour as described above. If you are using the less pager, hledger automatically appends a number - of options to the LESS variable to enable ANSI colour and a number of - other conveniences. (At the time of writing: --chop-long-lines - --hilite-unread --ignore-case --mouse --no-init --quit-at-eof - --quit-if-one-screen --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS --shift=8 + of options to the LESS variable to enable ANSI colour and a number of + other conveniences. (At the time of writing: --chop-long-lines + --hilite-unread --ignore-case --mouse --no-init --quit-at-eof + --quit-if-one-screen --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS --shift=8 --squeeze-blank-lines --use-backslash ). If these don't work well, you can set your preferred options in the HLEDGER_LESS variable, which will be used instead. HTML output - HTML output can be styled by an optional hledger.css file in the same + HTML output can be styled by an optional hledger.css file in the same directory. HTML output will be UTF-8 encoded. If your web browser is showing junk - characters, you may need to change its text encoding to UTF-8. Eg in - Safari, see View -> Text Encoding and Settings -> Advanced -> Default + characters, you may need to change its text encoding to UTF-8. Eg in + Safari, see View -> Text Encoding and Settings -> Advanced -> Default Encoding. CSV / TSV output - In CSV or TSV output, digit group marks (such as thousands separators) + In CSV or TSV output, digit group marks (such as thousands separators) are disabled automatically. FODS output - FODS is the OpenDocument Spreadsheet format as plain XML, as accepted - by LibreOffice and OpenOffice. If you use their spreadsheet applica- + FODS is the OpenDocument Spreadsheet format as plain XML, as accepted + by LibreOffice and OpenOffice. If you use their spreadsheet applica- tions, this is better than CSV because it works across locales (decimal point vs. decimal comma, character encoding stored in XML header, thus - no problems with umlauts), it supports fixed header rows and columns, - cell types (string vs. number vs. date), separation of number and + no problems with umlauts), it supports fixed header rows and columns, + cell types (string vs. number vs. date), separation of number and currency (currency is displayed but the cell type is still a number ac- cessible for computation), styles (bold), borders. Btw. you can still - extract CSV from FODS/ODS using various utilities like libreoffice + extract CSV from FODS/ODS using various utilities like libreoffice --headless or ods2csv. Beancount output - This is Beancount's journal format. You can use this to export your + This is Beancount's journal format. You can use this to export your hledger data to Beancount, eg to use the Fava web app. - hledger will try to adjust your data to suit Beancount, automatically. - Be cautious and check the conversion until you are confident it is + hledger will try to adjust your data to suit Beancount, automatically. + Be cautious and check the conversion until you are confident it is good. If you plan to export to Beancount often, you may want to follow its conventions, for a cleaner conversion: @@ -881,10 +883,10 @@ Output o avoid virtual postings - There is one big adjustment you must handle yourself: for Beancount, - the top level account names must be Assets, Liabilities, Equity, In- + There is one big adjustment you must handle yourself: for Beancount, + the top level account names must be Assets, Liabilities, Equity, In- come, and/or Expenses. You can use account aliases to rewrite your ac- - count names temporarily, if needed, as in this hledger2beancount.conf + count names temporarily, if needed, as in this hledger2beancount.conf config file. 2024-12-20: Some more things not yet handled for you: @@ -895,19 +897,19 @@ Output - replace those with explicit amounts Beancount account names - Aside from the top-level names, hledger will adjust your account names - to make valid Beancount account names, by capitalising each part, re- - placing spaces with -, replacing other unsupported characters with - C, prepending A to account name parts which don't begin with - a letter or digit, and appending :A to account names which have only + Aside from the top-level names, hledger will adjust your account names + to make valid Beancount account names, by capitalising each part, re- + placing spaces with -, replacing other unsupported characters with + C, prepending A to account name parts which don't begin with + a letter or digit, and appending :A to account names which have only one part. Beancount commodity names - hledger will adjust your commodity names to make valid Beancount com- + hledger will adjust your commodity names to make valid Beancount com- modity/currency names, which must be 2-24 uppercase letters, digits, or - ', ., _, -, beginning with a letter and ending with a letter or digit. + ', ., _, -, beginning with a letter and ending with a letter or digit. hledger will convert known currency symbols to ISO 4217 currency codes, - capitalise letters, replace spaces with -, replace other unsupported + capitalise letters, replace spaces with -, replace other unsupported characters with C, and prepend or append C if needed. Beancount virtual postings @@ -915,42 +917,42 @@ Output omitted from beancount output. Beancount metadata - hledger tags will be converted to Beancount metadata (except for tags + hledger tags will be converted to Beancount metadata (except for tags whose name begins with _). Metadata names will be adjusted to be Bean- count-compatible: beginning with a lowercase letter, at least two char- - acters long, and with unsupported characters encoded. Metadata values + acters long, and with unsupported characters encoded. Metadata values will use Beancount's string type. - In hledger, objects can have the same tag repeated with multiple val- + In hledger, objects can have the same tag repeated with multiple val- ues. Eg an assets:cash account might have both type:Asset and - type:Cash tags. For Beancount these will be combined into one, with + type:Cash tags. For Beancount these will be combined into one, with the values combined, comma separated. Eg: type: "Asset, Cash". Beancount costs - Beancount doesn't allow redundant costs and conversion postings as - hledger does. If you have any of these, the conversion postings will - be omitted. Currently we support at most one cost + conversion post- + Beancount doesn't allow redundant costs and conversion postings as + hledger does. If you have any of these, the conversion postings will + be omitted. Currently we support at most one cost + conversion post- ings group per transaction. Beancount operating currency - Declaring an operating currency (or several) improves Beancount and - Fava reports. Currently hledger will declare each currency used in - cost amounts as an operating currency. If needed, replace these with + Declaring an operating currency (or several) improves Beancount and + Fava reports. Currently hledger will declare each currency used in + cost amounts as an operating currency. If needed, replace these with your own declaration, like option "operating_currency" "USD" SQL output - SQL output is expected to work at least with SQLite, MySQL and Post- + SQL output is expected to work at least with SQLite, MySQL and Post- gres. - The SQL statements are expected to be executed in the empty database. + The SQL statements are expected to be executed in the empty database. If you already have tables created via SQL output of hledger, you would - probably want to either clear data from these (via delete or truncate - SQL statements) or drop the tables completely before import; otherwise + probably want to either clear data from these (via delete or truncate + SQL statements) or drop the tables completely before import; otherwise your postings would be duplicated. - For SQLite, it is more useful if you modify the generated id field to + For SQLite, it is more useful if you modify the generated id field to be a PRIMARY KEY. Eg: $ hledger print -O sql | sed 's/id serial/id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL/g' | ... @@ -958,48 +960,48 @@ Output This is not yet much used; feedback is welcome. JSON output - Our JSON is rather large and verbose, since it is a faithful represen- - tation of hledger's internal data types. To understand its structure, - read the Haskell type definitions, which are mostly in + Our JSON is rather large and verbose, since it is a faithful represen- + tation of hledger's internal data types. To understand its structure, + read the Haskell type definitions, which are mostly in https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/mas- - ter/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs. hledger-web's OpenAPI specifi- + ter/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs. hledger-web's OpenAPI specifi- cation may also be relevant. - hledger stores numbers with sometimes up to 255 significant digits. - This is too many digits for most JSON consumers, so in JSON output we + hledger stores numbers with sometimes up to 255 significant digits. + This is too many digits for most JSON consumers, so in JSON output we round numbers to at most 10 decimal places. (We don't limit the number - of integer digits.) If you find this causing problems, please let us + of integer digits.) If you find this causing problems, please let us know. Related: #1195 This is not yet much used; feedback is welcome. Commodity styles - When displaying amounts, hledger infers a standard display style for + When displaying amounts, hledger infers a standard display style for each commodity/currency, as described below in Commodity display style. If needed, this can be overridden by a -c/--commodity-style option (ex- cept for cost amounts and amounts displayed by the print command, which - are always displayed with all decimal digits). For example, the fol- + are always displayed with all decimal digits). For example, the fol- lowing will force dollar amounts to be displayed as shown: $ hledger print -c '$1.000,0' - This option can be repeated to set the display style for multiple com- + This option can be repeated to set the display style for multiple com- modities/currencies. Its argument is as described in the commodity di- rective. - In some cases hledger will adjust number formatting to improve their + In some cases hledger will adjust number formatting to improve their parseability (such as adding trailing decimal marks when needed). Debug output We intend hledger to be relatively easy to troubleshoot, introspect and - develop. You can add --debug[=N] to any hledger command line to see - additional debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the default) - to 9 (maximum output). Typically you would start with 1 and increase - until you are seeing enough. Debug output goes to stderr, and is not + develop. You can add --debug[=N] to any hledger command line to see + additional debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the default) + to 9 (maximum output). Typically you would start with 1 and increase + until you are seeing enough. Debug output goes to stderr, and is not affected by -o/--output-file (unless you redirect stderr to stdout, eg: - 2>&1). It will be interleaved with normal output, which can help re- - veal when parts of the code are evaluated. To capture debug output in + 2>&1). It will be interleaved with normal output, which can help re- + veal when parts of the code are evaluated. To capture debug output in a log file instead, you can usually redirect stderr, eg: hledger bal --debug=3 2>hledger.log @@ -1009,35 +1011,35 @@ Output Environment These environment variables affect hledger: - HLEDGER_LESS If less is your pager, this variable specifies the less - options hledger should use. (Otherwise, LESS + custom options are + HLEDGER_LESS If less is your pager, this variable specifies the less + options hledger should use. (Otherwise, LESS + custom options are used.) - LEDGER_FILE The main journal file to use when not specified with + LEDGER_FILE The main journal file to use when not specified with -f/--file. Default: $HOME/.hledger.journal. NO_COLOR If this environment variable exists (with any value, including - empty), hledger will not use ANSI color codes in terminal output, un- + empty), hledger will not use ANSI color codes in terminal output, un- less overridden by an explicit --color=y or --colour=y option. PART 2: DATA FORMATS Journal hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal en- - tries in hledger journal format. If you're looking for a quick refer- - ence, jump ahead to the journal cheatsheet (or use the table of con- + tries in hledger journal format. If you're looking for a quick refer- + ence, jump ahead to the journal cheatsheet (or use the table of con- tents at https://hledger.org/hledger.html). - This file represents an accounting General Journal. The .journal file - extension is most often used, though not strictly required. The jour- - nal file contains a number of transaction entries, each describing a - transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more named ac- + This file represents an accounting General Journal. The .journal file + extension is most often used, though not strictly required. The jour- + nal file contains a number of transaction entries, each describing a + transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more named ac- counts, in a simple format readable by both hledger and humans. - hledger's journal format is compatible with most of Ledger's journal + hledger's journal format is compatible with most of Ledger's journal format, but not all of it. The differences and interoperation tips are - described at hledger and Ledger. With some care, and by avoiding in- - compatible features, you can keep your hledger journal readable by - Ledger and vice versa. This can useful eg for comparing the behaviour + described at hledger and Ledger. With some care, and by avoiding in- + compatible features, you can keep your hledger journal readable by + Ledger and vice versa. This can useful eg for comparing the behaviour of one app against the other. You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just use @@ -1045,16 +1047,16 @@ Journal Many users, though, edit the journal file with a text editor, and track changes with a version control system such as git. Editor add-ons such - as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger for Vim, and + as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger for Vim, and hledger-vscode for Visual Studio Code, make this easier, adding colour, formatting, tab completion, and useful commands. See Editor configura- tion at hledger.org for the full list. A hledger journal file can contain three kinds of thing: comment lines, - transactions, and/or directives (including periodic transaction rules - and auto posting rules). Understanding the journal file format will - also give you a good understanding of hledger's data model. Here's a - quick cheatsheet/overview, followed by detailed descriptions of each + transactions, and/or directives (including periodic transaction rules + and auto posting rules). Understanding the journal file format will + also give you a good understanding of hledger's data model. Here's a + quick cheatsheet/overview, followed by detailed descriptions of each part. Journal cheatsheet @@ -1188,7 +1190,7 @@ Journal Comments Lines in the journal will be ignored if they begin with a hash (#) or a - semicolon (;). (See also Other syntax.) hledger will also ignore re- + semicolon (;). (See also Other syntax.) hledger will also ignore re- gions beginning with a comment line and ending with an end comment line (or file end). Here's a suggestion for choosing between them: @@ -1210,15 +1212,15 @@ Journal end comment Some hledger entries can have same-line comments attached to them, from - ; (semicolon) to end of line. See Transaction comments, Posting com- + ; (semicolon) to end of line. See Transaction comments, Posting com- ments, and Account comments below. Transactions - Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. They - represent events, typically a movement of some quantity of commodities + Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. They + represent events, typically a movement of some quantity of commodities between two or more named accounts. - Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, beginning with a sim- + Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, beginning with a sim- ple date in column 0. This can be followed by any of the following op- tional fields, separated by spaces: @@ -1228,11 +1230,11 @@ Journal o a description (any remaining text until end of line or a semicolon) - o a comment (any remaining text following a semicolon until end of + o a comment (any remaining text following a semicolon until end of line, and any following indented lines beginning with a semicolon) o 0 or more indented posting lines, describing what was transferred and - the accounts involved (indented comment lines are also allowed, but + the accounts involved (indented comment lines are also allowed, but not blank lines or non-indented lines). Here's a simple journal file containing one transaction: @@ -1243,22 +1245,22 @@ Journal Dates Simple dates - Dates in the journal file use simple dates format: YYYY-MM-DD or + Dates in the journal file use simple dates format: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, with leading zeros optional. The year may be - omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the context: the cur- - rent transaction, the default year set with a Y directive, or the cur- + omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the context: the cur- + rent transaction, the default year set with a Y directive, or the cur- rent date when the command is run. Some examples: 2010-01-31, 2010/01/31, 2010.1.31, 1/31. - (The UI also accepts simple dates, as well as the more flexible smart + (The UI also accepts simple dates, as well as the more flexible smart dates documented in the hledger manual.) Posting dates - You can give individual postings a different date from their parent - transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below) + 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 re- - ports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for + precisely. Eg in this example the expense should appear in May re- + ports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for easy bank reconciliation: 2015/5/30 @@ -1271,15 +1273,15 @@ Journal $ 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 + DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use the year of the transaction's date. - The date: tag must have a valid simple date value if it is present, eg + The date: tag must have a valid simple date value if it is present, eg a date: tag with no value is not allowed. Status - Transactions (or individual postings within a transaction) can have a - status mark, which is a single character before the transaction de- - scription (or posting account name), separated from it by a space, in- + Transactions (or individual postings within a transaction) can have a + status mark, which is a single character before the transaction de- + scription (or posting account name), separated from it by a space, in- dicating one of three statuses: mark status @@ -1288,20 +1290,20 @@ Journal ! pending * cleared - When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, + When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, -P/--pending, and -C/--cleared flags (and you can combine these, eg -UP - to match all except cleared things). Or you can use the status:, sta- + to match all except cleared things). Or you can use the status:, sta- tus:!, and status:* queries, or the U, P, C keys in hledger-ui. (Note: in Ledger the "unmarked" state is called "uncleared"; in hledger we renamed it to "unmarked" for semantic clarity.) - Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with + Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with real-world accounts. Some editor modes provide highlighting and short- - cuts for working with status. Eg in Emacs ledger-mode, you can toggle + cuts 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. + What "uncleared", "pending", and "cleared" actually mean is up to you. Here's one suggestion: status meaning @@ -1312,55 +1314,55 @@ Journal cleared complete, reconciled as far as possible, and considered cor- rect - With this scheme, you would use -PC to see the current balance at your + 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 un- - cashed checks), and no flags to see the most up-to-date state of your + cashed checks), and no flags to see the most up-to-date state of your finances. Code - After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally - write a transaction "code", enclosed in parentheses. This is a good - place to record a check number, or some other important transaction id + After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally + write a transaction "code", enclosed in parentheses. This is a good + place to record a check number, or some other important transaction id or reference number. Description - After the date, status mark and/or code fields, the rest of the line - (or until a comment is begun with ;) is the transaction's description. + After the date, status mark and/or code fields, the rest of the line + (or until a comment is begun with ;) is the transaction's description. Here you can describe the transaction (called the "narration" in tradi- - tional bookkeeping), or you can record a payee/payer name, or you can + tional bookkeeping), or you can record a payee/payer name, or you can leave it empty. - Transaction descriptions show up in print output and in register re- + Transaction descriptions show up in print output and in register re- ports, and can be listed with the descriptions command. - You can query by description with desc:DESCREGEX, or pivot on descrip- + You can query by description with desc:DESCREGEX, or pivot on descrip- tion with --pivot desc. Payee and note Sometimes people want a dedicated payee/payer field that can be queried - and checked more strictly. If you want that, you can write a | (pipe) - character in the description. This divides it into a "payee" field on + and checked more strictly. If you want that, you can write a | (pipe) + character in the description. This divides it into a "payee" field on the left, and a "note" field on the right. (Either can be empty.) - You can query these with payee:PAYEEREGEX and note:NOTEREGEX, list - their values with the payees and notes commands, or pivot on payee or + You can query these with payee:PAYEEREGEX and note:NOTEREGEX, list + their values with the payees and notes commands, or pivot on payee or note. Note: in transactions with no | character, description, payee, and note all have the same value. Once a | is added, they become distinct. (If - you'd like to change this behaviour, please propose it on the mail + you'd like to change this behaviour, please propose it on the mail list.) If you want more strict error checking, you can declare the valid payee - names with payee directives, and then enforce these with hledger check - payees. (Note: because of the above, for this you'll need to ensure - every transaction description contains a | and therefore a checkable + names with payee directives, and then enforce these with hledger check + payees. (Note: because of the above, for this you'll need to ensure + every transaction description contains a | and therefore a checkable payee name, even if it's empty.) Transaction comments - Text following ;, after a transaction description, and/or on indented - lines immediately below it, form comments for that transaction. They - are reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain + Text following ;, after a transaction description, and/or on indented + lines immediately below it, form comments for that transaction. They + are reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain tags, which are not ignored. 2012-01-01 something ; a transaction comment @@ -1369,63 +1371,63 @@ Journal assets 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 + 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: o (optional) a status character (empty, !, or *), followed by a space - o (required) an account name (any text, optionally containing single + o (required) an account name (any text, optionally containing single spaces, until end of line or a double space) o (optional) two or more spaces (or tabs) followed by an amount. - If the amount is positive, it is being added to the account; if nega- + If the amount is positive, it is being added to the account; if nega- tive, it is being removed from the account. - The posting amounts in a transaction must sum up to zero, indicating - that the inflows and outflows are equal. We call this a balanced + The posting amounts in a transaction must sum up to zero, indicating + that the inflows and outflows are equal. We call this a balanced transaction. (You can read more about the nitty-gritty details of "sum up to zero" in Transaction balancing below.) - As a convenience, you can optionally leave one amount blank; hledger + As a convenience, you can optionally leave one amount blank; hledger will infer what it should be so as to balance the transaction. Debits and credits The traditional accounting concepts of debit and credit of course exist - in hledger, but we represent them with numeric sign, as described - above. Positive and negative posting amounts represent debits and + in hledger, but we represent them with numeric sign, as described + above. Positive and negative posting amounts represent debits and credits respectively. - You don't need to remember that, but if you would like to - eg for - helping newcomers or for talking with your accountant - here's a handy + You don't need to remember that, but if you would like to - eg for + helping newcomers or for talking with your accountant - here's a handy mnemonic: debit / plus / left / short words credit / minus / right / longer words The two space delimiter - Be sure to notice the unusual separator between the account name and + Be sure to notice the unusual separator between the account name and the following amount. Because hledger allows account names with spaces - in them, you must separate the account name and amount (if any) by two - or more spaces (or tabs). It's easy to forget at first. If you ever - see the amount being treated as part of the account name, you'll know + in them, you must separate the account name and amount (if any) by two + or more spaces (or tabs). It's easy to forget at first. If you ever + see the amount being treated as part of the account name, you'll know you probably need to add another space between them. Account names - Accounts are the main way of categorising things in hledger. As in - Double Entry Bookkeeping, they can represent real world accounts (such + Accounts are the main way of categorising things in hledger. As in + Double Entry Bookkeeping, they can represent real world accounts (such as a bank account), or more abstract categories such as "money borrowed from Frank" or "money spent on electricity". - You can use any account names you like, but we usually start with the + You can use any account names you like, but we usually start with the traditional accounting categories, which in english are assets, liabil- ities, equity, revenues, expenses. (You might see these referred to as A, L, E, R, X for short.) - For more precise reporting, we usually divide the top level accounts + For more precise reporting, we usually divide the top level accounts into more detailed subaccounts, by writing a full colon between account - name parts. For example, from the account names assets:bank:checking + name parts. For example, from the account names assets:bank:checking and expenses:food, hledger will infer this hierarchy of five accounts: assets @@ -1443,33 +1445,33 @@ Journal food hledger reports can summarise the account tree to any depth, so you can - go as deep as you like with subcategories, but keeping your account + go as deep as you like with subcategories, but keeping your account names relatively simple may be best when starting out. Account names may be capitalised or not; they may contain letters, num- - bers, symbols, or single spaces. Note, when an account name and an - amount are written on the same line, they must be separated by two or + bers, symbols, or single spaces. Note, when an account name and an + amount are written on the same line, they must be separated by two or more spaces (or tabs). - Parentheses or brackets enclosing the full account name indicate vir- - tual postings, described below. Parentheses or brackets internal to + Parentheses or brackets enclosing the full account name indicate vir- + tual postings, described below. Parentheses or brackets internal to the account name have no special meaning. - Account names can be altered temporarily or permanently by account + Account names can be altered temporarily or permanently by account aliases. Amounts After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Remember: between account name and amount, there must be two or more spaces.) - hledger's amount format is flexible, supporting several international - formats. Here are some examples. Amounts have a number (the "quan- + hledger's amount format is flexible, supporting several international + formats. Here are some examples. Amounts have a number (the "quan- tity"): 1 ..and usually a currency symbol or commodity name (more on this below), - to the left or right of the quantity, with or without a separating + to the left or right of the quantity, with or without a separating space: $1 @@ -1477,13 +1479,13 @@ Journal 3 "green apples" Amounts can be preceded by a minus sign (or a plus sign, though plus is - the default), The sign can be written before or after a left-side com- + the default), The sign can be written before or after a left-side com- modity symbol: -$1 $-1 - One or more spaces between the sign and the number are acceptable when + One or more spaces between the sign and the number are acceptable when parsing (but they won't be displayed in output): + $1 @@ -1501,31 +1503,31 @@ Journal 1,23 Both of these are common in international number formats, so hledger is - not biased towards one or the other. Because hledger also supports - digit group marks (eg thousands separators), this means that a number - like 1,000 or 1.000 containing just one period or comma is ambiguous. - In such cases, hledger by default assumes it is a decimal mark, and + not biased towards one or the other. Because hledger also supports + digit group marks (eg thousands separators), this means that a number + like 1,000 or 1.000 containing just one period or comma is ambiguous. + In such cases, hledger by default assumes it is a decimal mark, and will parse both of those as 1. - To help hledger parse such ambiguous numbers more accurately, if you - use digit group marks, we recommend declaring the decimal mark explic- - itly. The best way is to add a decimal-mark directive at the top of + To help hledger parse such ambiguous numbers more accurately, if you + use digit group marks, we recommend declaring the decimal mark explic- + itly. The best way is to add a decimal-mark directive at the top of each data file, like this: decimal-mark . - Or you can declare it per commodity with commodity directives, de- + Or you can declare it per commodity with commodity directives, de- scribed below. - hledger also accepts numbers like 10. with no digits after the decimal - mark (and will sometimes display numbers that way to disambiguate them + hledger also accepts numbers like 10. with no digits after the decimal + mark (and will sometimes display numbers that way to disambiguate them - see Trailing decimal marks). Digit group marks - In the integer part of the amount quantity (left of the decimal mark), - groups of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a - comma or period (whichever is not used as decimal mark), or a space - (several Unicode space variants, like no-break space, are also ac- + In the integer part of the amount quantity (left of the decimal mark), + groups of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a + comma or period (whichever is not used as decimal mark), or a space + (several Unicode space variants, like no-break space, are also ac- cepted). So these are all valid amounts in a journal file: $1,000,000.00 @@ -1535,46 +1537,46 @@ Journal 1 000 000.00 ; <- no-break space Commodity - Amounts in hledger have both a "quantity", which is a signed decimal + Amounts in hledger have both a "quantity", which is a signed decimal number, and a "commodity", which is a currency symbol, stock ticker, or any word or phrase describing something you are tracking. If the commodity name contains non-letters (spaces, numbers, or punctu- - ation), you must always write it inside double quotes ("green apples", + ation), you must always write it inside double quotes ("green apples", "ABC123"). - If you write just a bare number, that too will have a commodity, with + If you write just a bare number, that too will have a commodity, with name ""; we call that the "no-symbol commodity". - Actually, hledger combines these single-commodity amounts into more - powerful multi-commodity amounts, which are what it works with most of - the time. A multi-commodity amount could be, eg: 1 USD, 2 EUR, 3.456 - TSLA. In practice, you will only see multi-commodity amounts in + Actually, hledger combines these single-commodity amounts into more + powerful multi-commodity amounts, which are what it works with most of + the time. A multi-commodity amount could be, eg: 1 USD, 2 EUR, 3.456 + TSLA. In practice, you will only see multi-commodity amounts in hledger's output; you can't write them directly in the journal file. By default, the format of amounts in the journal influences how hledger - displays them in output. This is explained in Commodity display style + displays them in output. This is explained in Commodity display style below. Costs - After a posting amount, you can note its cost (when buying) or selling - price (when selling) in another commodity, by writing either @ UNIT- - PRICE or @@ TOTALPRICE after it. This indicates a conversion transac- + After a posting amount, you can note its cost (when buying) or selling + price (when selling) in another commodity, by writing either @ UNIT- + PRICE or @@ TOTALPRICE after it. This indicates a conversion transac- tion, where one commodity is exchanged for another. - (You might also see this called "transaction price" in hledger docs, - discussions, or code; that term was directionally neutral and reminded - that it is a price specific to a transaction, but we now just call it + (You might also see this called "transaction price" in hledger docs, + discussions, or code; that term was directionally neutral and reminded + that it is a price specific to a transaction, but we now just call it "cost", with the understanding that the transaction could be a purchase or a sale.) - Costs are usually written explicitly with @ or @@, but can also be in- + Costs are usually written explicitly with @ or @@, but can also be in- ferred automatically for simple multi-commodity transactions. Note, if - costs are inferred, the order of postings is significant; the first + costs are inferred, the order of postings is significant; the first posting will have a cost attached, in the commodity of the second. - As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign - currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or im- + As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign + currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or im- plicitly: 1. Write the price per unit, as @ UNITPRICE after the amount: @@ -1598,17 +1600,17 @@ Journal assets:euros 100 ; one hundred euros purchased assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 - Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the -B/--cost + Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the -B/--cost flag; this is discussed more in the Cost reporting section. - Note that the cost normally should be a positive amount, though it's - not required to be. This can be a little confusing, see discussion at + Note that the cost normally should be a positive amount, though it's + not required to be. This can be a little confusing, see discussion at --infer-market-prices: market prices from transactions. Balance assertions - hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. - These look like, for example, = EXPECTEDBALANCE following a posting's - amount. Eg here we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a + hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. + These look like, for example, = EXPECTEDBALANCE following a posting's + amount. Eg here we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a and b after each posting: 2013/1/1 @@ -1620,42 +1622,42 @@ Journal 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 pro- - tect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances while - cleaning up old entries. You can disable them temporarily with the + and report an error if any of them fail. Balance assertions can pro- + tect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances while + cleaning up old entries. You can disable them temporarily with the -I/--ignore-assertions flag, which can be useful for troubleshooting or - for reading Ledger files. (Note: this flag currently does not disable + for reading Ledger files. (Note: this flag currently does not disable balance assignments, described below). Assertions and ordering - hledger calculates and checks an account's balance assertions in date + hledger calculates and checks an account's balance assertions in date order (and when there are multiple assertions on the same day, in parse - order). Note this is different from Ledger, which checks assertions + order). Note this is different from Ledger, which checks assertions always in parse order, ignoring dates. This means in hledger you can freely reorder transactions, postings, or files, and balance assertions will usually keep working. The exception - is when you reorder multiple postings on the same day, to the same ac- + is when you reorder multiple postings on the same day, to the same ac- count, which have balance assertions; those will likely need updating. Assertions and multiple included files - Multiple files included with the include directive are processed as if - concatenated into one file, preserving their order and the posting or- - der within each file. It means that balance assertions in later files + Multiple files included with the include directive are processed as if + concatenated into one file, preserving their order and the posting or- + der within each file. It means that balance assertions in later files will see balance from earlier files. - And if you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split - across multiple files, and you want to assert the account's balance on + And if you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split + across multiple files, and you want to assert the account's balance on that day, you'll need to put the assertion in the right file - the last one in the sequence, probably. Assertions and multiple -f files - Unlike include, when multiple files are specified on the command line - with multiple -f/--file options, balance assertions will not see bal- + Unlike include, when multiple files are specified on the command line + with multiple -f/--file options, balance assertions will not see bal- ance from earlier files. This can be useful when you do not want prob- lems in earlier files to disrupt valid assertions in later files. - If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use in- + If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use in- clude, or concatenate the files temporarily. Assertions and costs @@ -1665,20 +1667,20 @@ Journal 2019/1/1 (a) $1 @ 1 = $1 - We do allow costs to be written in balance assertion amounts, however, - and print shows them, but they don't affect whether the assertion - passes or fails. This is for backward compatibility (hledger's close - command used to generate balance assertions with costs), and because + We do allow costs to be written in balance assertion amounts, however, + and print shows them, but they don't affect whether the assertion + passes or fails. This is for backward compatibility (hledger's close + command used to generate balance assertions with costs), and because balance assignments do use costs (see below). Assertions and commodities - The balance assertions described so far are "single commodity balance + The balance assertions described so far are "single commodity balance assertions": they assert and check the balance in one commodity, ignor- - ing any others that may be present. This is how balance assertions + ing any others that may be present. This is how balance assertions work in Ledger also. - If an account contains multiple commodities, you can assert their bal- - ances by writing multiple postings with balance assertions, one for + If an account contains multiple commodities, you can assert their bal- + ances by writing multiple postings with balance assertions, one for each commodity: 2013/1/1 @@ -1690,8 +1692,8 @@ Journal both 0 = $1 both 0 = 1 - In hledger you can make a stronger "sole commodity balance assertion" - by writing two equals signs (== EXPECTEDBALANCE). This also asserts + In hledger you can make a stronger "sole commodity balance assertion" + by writing two equals signs (== EXPECTEDBALANCE). This also asserts that there are no other commodities in the account besides the asserted one (or at least, that their current balance is zero): @@ -1701,12 +1703,12 @@ Journal both ;== $1 ; this one would fail because 'both' contains $ and It's less easy to make a "sole commodities balance assertion" (note the - plural) - ie, asserting that an account contains two or more specified + plural) - ie, asserting that an account contains two or more specified commodities and no others. It can be done by 1. isolating each commodity in a subaccount, and asserting those - 2. and also asserting there are no commodities in the parent account + 2. and also asserting there are no commodities in the parent account itself: 2013/1/1 @@ -1718,10 +1720,10 @@ Journal Assertions and subaccounts All of the balance assertions above (both = and ==) are "subaccount-ex- - clusive balance assertions"; they ignore any balances that exist in + clusive balance assertions"; they ignore any balances that exist in deeper subaccounts. - In hledger you can make "subaccount-inclusive balance assertions" by + In hledger you can make "subaccount-inclusive balance assertions" by adding a star after the equals (=* or ==*): 2019/1/1 @@ -1731,8 +1733,8 @@ Journal assets $0 ==* $20 ; assets + subaccounts contains $20 and nothing else Assertions and status - Balance assertions always consider postings of all statuses (unmarked, - pending, or cleared); they are not affected by the -U/--unmarked / + Balance assertions always consider postings of all statuses (unmarked, + pending, or cleared); they are not affected by the -U/--unmarked / -P/--pending / -C/--cleared flags or the status: query. Assertions and virtual postings @@ -1740,10 +1742,10 @@ Journal are not affected by the --real/-R flag or real: query. Assertions and auto postings - Balance assertions are affected by the --auto flag, which generates + Balance assertions are affected by the --auto flag, which generates auto postings, which can alter account balances. Because auto postings are optional in hledger, accounts affected by them effectively have two - balances. But balance assertions can only test one or the other of + balances. But balance assertions can only test one or the other of these. So to avoid making fragile assertions, either: o assert the balance calculated with --auto, and always use --auto with @@ -1756,15 +1758,15 @@ Journal avoid auto postings entirely). Assertions and precision - Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are - not always what is shown by reports. Eg a commodity directive may - limit the display precision, but this will not affect balance asser- + Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are + not always what is shown by reports. Eg a commodity directive may + limit the display precision, but this will not affect balance asser- tions. Balance assertion failure messages show exact amounts. Posting comments - Text following ;, at the end of a posting line, and/or on indented - lines immediately below it, form comments for that posting. They are - reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain + Text following ;, at the end of a posting line, and/or on indented + lines immediately below it, form comments for that posting. They are + reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain tags, which are not ignored. 2012-01-01 @@ -1774,56 +1776,56 @@ Journal ; a second comment line for posting 2 Transaction balancing - How exactly does hledger decide when a transaction is balanced ? The + How exactly does hledger decide when a transaction is balanced ? The general goal is that if you look at the journal entry and calculate the amounts' sum perfectly with pencil and paper, hledger should agree with you. - Real world transactions, especially for investments or cryptocurren- - cies, often involve imprecise costs, complex decimals, and/or infi- - nitely-recurring decimals, which are difficult or inconvenient to han- + Real world transactions, especially for investments or cryptocurren- + cies, often involve imprecise costs, complex decimals, and/or infi- + nitely-recurring decimals, which are difficult or inconvenient to han- dle on a computer. So to be a practical accounting system, hledger al- - lows some imprecision when checking transaction balancedness. The + lows some imprecision when checking transaction balancedness. The question is, how much imprecision should be allowed ? - hledger currently decides it based on the commodity display styles: if + hledger currently decides it based on the commodity display styles: if the postings' sum would appear to be zero when displayed with the stan- dard display precisions, the transaction is considered balanced. Or equivalently: if the journal entry is displayed with amounts rounded - to the standard display precisions (with hledger print --round=hard), - and a human with pencil and paper would agree that those displayed + to the standard display precisions (with hledger print --round=hard), + and a human with pencil and paper would agree that those displayed amounts add up to zero, the transaction is considered balanced. - This has some advantages: it is fairly intuitive, general not - hard-coded, yet configurable when needed. On the downside it means - that transaction balancedness is related to commodity display preci- - sions, so eg when using -c/--commodity-style to display things with - more than usual precision, you might need to fix some of your journal + This has some advantages: it is fairly intuitive, general not + hard-coded, yet configurable when needed. On the downside it means + that transaction balancedness is related to commodity display preci- + sions, so eg when using -c/--commodity-style to display things with + more than usual precision, you might need to fix some of your journal entries (ie, add decimal digits to make them balance more precisely). Other PTA tools (Ledger, Beancount..) have their own ways of doing it. Possible improvements are discussed at #1964. - Note: if you have multiple journal files, and are relying on commodity - directives to make imprecise journal entries balance, the directives' + Note: if you have multiple journal files, and are relying on commodity + directives to make imprecise journal entries balance, the directives' placement might be important - see commodity directive. Tags - Tags are a way to add extra labels or data fields to transactions, + Tags are a way to add extra labels or data fields to transactions, postings, or accounts. They are usually a word or hyphenated word, im- - mediately followed by a full colon, written within the comment of a + mediately followed by a full colon, written within the comment of a transaction, a posting, or an account directive. (Yes, storing data in comments is slightly weird!) You can write each tag on its own comment line, or multiple tags on one - line, separated by commas. Tags can also have a value, which is any - text after the colon until the next comma or end of line, excluding + line, separated by commas. Tags can also have a value, which is any + text after the colon until the next comma or end of line, excluding surrounding whitespace. (hledger tag values can't contain commas.) If - the same tag name appears multiple times in a comment, each name:value + the same tag name appears multiple times in a comment, each name:value pair is preserved. - An example: in this journal there are six tags, one of them with a + An example: in this journal there are six tags, one of them with a value: account assets:checking ; accounttag: @@ -1836,17 +1838,17 @@ Journal expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag-2:, posting-tag-3: with a value Querying with tags - Tags are most often used to select a subset of data; you can match - tagged things by tag name and or tag value with a tag: query. (See + Tags are most often used to select a subset of data; you can match + tagged things by tag name and or tag value with a tag: query. (See queries below.) - When querying for tag names or values, note that postings inherit tags + When querying for tag names or values, note that postings inherit tags from their transaction and from their account, and transactions acquire tags from their postings. So in the example above, - the assets:check- ing posting effectively has four tags (one of its own, one from the ac- - count, two from the transaction) - the expenses:food posting effec- - tively has four tags (two of its own, two from the transaction) - the - transaction effectively has all six tags (two of its own, and two from + count, two from the transaction) - the expenses:food posting effec- + tively has four tags (two of its own, two from the transaction) - the + transaction effectively has all six tags (two of its own, and two from each posting) Displaying tags @@ -1854,16 +1856,16 @@ Journal The print command also shows tags. - You can use --pivot to display tag values in other reports, in various + You can use --pivot to display tag values in other reports, in various ways (eg appended to account names, like pseudo subaccounts). When to use tags ? - Tags provide more dimensions of categorisation, complementing accounts - and transaction descriptions. When to use each of these is somewhat a - matter of taste. Accounts have the most built-in support, and regex - queries on descriptions are also quite powerful. So you may not need - tags at all. But if you want to track multiple cross-cutting cate- - gories, they can be a good fit. For example, you could tag trip-re- + Tags provide more dimensions of categorisation, complementing accounts + and transaction descriptions. When to use each of these is somewhat a + matter of taste. Accounts have the most built-in support, and regex + queries on descriptions are also quite powerful. So you may not need + tags at all. But if you want to track multiple cross-cutting cate- + gories, they can be a good fit. For example, you could tag trip-re- lated transactions with trip: YEAR:PLACE, without disturbing your usual account categories. @@ -1871,15 +1873,15 @@ Journal What is allowed in a tag name ? Currently, most non-whitespace charac- ters. Eg : is a valid tag. - For extra error checking, you can declare valid tag names with the tag + For extra error checking, you can declare valid tag names with the tag directive, and then enforce these with the check command. - But note that tags are detected quite loosely at present, sometimes - where you didn't intend them. Eg ; see https://foo.com contains a + But note that tags are detected quite loosely at present, sometimes + where you didn't intend them. Eg ; see https://foo.com contains a https tag with value //foo.com. Special tags - Some tag names have special significance to hledger. They are ex- + Some tag names have special significance to hledger. They are ex- plained elsewhere, but here's a quick reference: type -- declares an account's type @@ -1899,18 +1901,18 @@ Journal and which have an equivalent cost posting in the transaction The second group above (generated-transaction, etc.) are normally hid- - den, with a _ prefix added. This means print doesn't show them by de- - fault; but you can still use them in queries. You can add the --ver- - bose-tags flag to make them visible, which can be useful for trou- + den, with a _ prefix added. This means print doesn't show them by de- + fault; but you can still use them in queries. You can add the --ver- + bose-tags flag to make them visible, which can be useful for trou- bleshooting. Directives - Besides transactions, there is something else you can put in a journal - file: directives. These are declarations, beginning with a keyword, - that modify hledger's behaviour. Some directives can have more spe- - cific subdirectives, indented below them. hledger's directives are + Besides transactions, there is something else you can put in a journal + file: directives. These are declarations, beginning with a keyword, + that modify hledger's behaviour. Some directives can have more spe- + cific subdirectives, indented below them. hledger's directives are similar to Ledger's in many cases, but there are also many differences. - Directives are not required, but can be useful. Here are the main di- + Directives are not required, but can be useful. Here are the main di- rectives: purpose directive @@ -1918,16 +1920,16 @@ Journal READING DATA: Rewrite account names alias Comment out sections of the file comment - Declare file's decimal mark, to help decimal-mark + Declare file's decimal mark, to help decimal-mark parse amounts accurately Include other data files include GENERATING DATA: - Generate recurring transactions or bud- ~ + Generate recurring transactions or bud- ~ get goals - Generate extra postings on existing = + Generate extra postings on existing = transactions CHECKING FOR ERRORS: - Define valid entities to provide more account, commodity, payee, tag + Define valid entities to provide more account, commodity, payee, tag error checking REPORTING: Declare accounts' type and display order account @@ -1935,23 +1937,23 @@ Journal Declare market prices P Directives and multiple files - Directives vary in their scope, ie which journal entries and which in- + Directives vary in their scope, ie which journal entries and which in- put files they affect. Most often, a directive will affect the follow- - ing entries and included files if any, until the end of the current + ing entries and included files if any, until the end of the current file - and no further. You might find this inconvenient! For example, - alias directives do not affect parent or sibling files. But there are + alias directives do not affect parent or sibling files. But there are usually workarounds; for example, put alias directives in your top-most file, before including other files. - The restriction, though it may be annoying at first, is in a good + The restriction, though it may be annoying at first, is in a good cause; it allows reports to be stable and deterministic, independent of - the order of input. Without it, reports could show different numbers - depending on the order of -f options, or the positions of include di- + the order of input. Without it, reports could show different numbers + depending on the order of -f options, or the positions of include di- rectives in your files. Directive effects - Here are all hledger's directives, with their effects and scope sum- - marised - nine main directives, plus four others which we consider + Here are all hledger's directives, with their effects and scope sum- + marised - nine main directives, plus four others which we consider non-essential: di- what it does ends @@ -1959,53 +1961,53 @@ Journal tive file end? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ac- Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; and N + ac- Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; and N count its display order and type. Subdirectives: any text, ignored. - alias Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of cur- Y + alias Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of cur- Y rent file or end aliases. Command line equivalent: --alias - com- Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file or Y + com- Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file or Y ment end comment. com- Declares up to four things: 1. a commodity symbol, for checking N,N,Y,Y - mod- all amounts in all files 2. the display style for all amounts - ity of this commodity 3. the decimal mark for parsing amounts of - this commodity, in the rest of this file and its children, if - there is no decimal-mark directive 4. the precision to use for - balanced-transaction checking in this commodity, in this file - and its children. Takes precedence over D. Subdirectives: + mod- all amounts in all files 2. the display style for all amounts + ity of this commodity 3. the decimal mark for parsing amounts of + this commodity, in the rest of this file and its children, if + there is no decimal-mark directive 4. the precision to use for + balanced-transaction checking in this commodity, in this file + and its children. Takes precedence over D. Subdirectives: format (ignored). Command line equivalent: -c/--commodity-style - deci- Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all commodi- Y + deci- Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all commodi- Y mal-mark ties in following entries until next decimal-mark or end of cur- - rent file. Included files can override. Takes precedence over + rent file. Included files can override. Takes precedence over commodity and D. - include Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they N - were written inline. Command line alternative: multiple + include Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they N + were written inline. Command line alternative: multiple -f/--file payee Declares a payee name, for checking all entries in all files. N P Declares the market price of a commodity on some date, for value N reports. - ~ Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future N - (tilde) transactions with --forecast and budget goals with balance + ~ Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future N + (tilde) transactions with --forecast and budget goals with balance --budget. Other syntax: - apply Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in fol- Y + apply Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in fol- Y account lowing entries until end of current file or end apply account. - D Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts;and, if Y,Y,N,N - there is no commodity directive for this commodity: its decimal + D Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts;and, if Y,Y,N,N + there is no commodity directive for this commodity: its decimal mark, balancing precision, and display style, as above. - Y Sets a default year to use for any yearless dates, in following Y + Y Sets a default year to use for any yearless dates, in following Y entries until end of current file. - = Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings on partly - (equals) matched transactions with --auto, in current, parent, and child + = Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings on partly + (equals) matched transactions with --auto, in current, parent, and child files (but not sibling files, see #1212). - Other Other directives from Ledger's file format are accepted but ig- + Other Other directives from Ledger's file format are accepted but ig- Ledger nored. direc- tives account directive account directives can be used to declare accounts (ie, the places that - amounts are transferred from and to). Though not required, these dec- + amounts are transferred from and to). Though not required, these dec- larations can provide several benefits: o They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a refer- @@ -2017,17 +2019,17 @@ Journal o They can restrict which accounts may be posted to by transactions, eg in strict mode, which helps prevent errors. - o They influence account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- + o They influence account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- betic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). - o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, + o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, equity, revenue, expense), enabling reports like balancesheet and in- comestatement. - o They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, + o They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) - They are written as the word account followed by a hledger-style ac- + They are written as the word account followed by a hledger-style ac- count name. Eg: account assets:bank:checking @@ -2039,11 +2041,11 @@ Journal Account comments Text following two or more spaces and ; at the end of an account direc- - tive line, and/or following ; on indented lines immediately below it, - form comments for that account. They are ignored except they may con- + tive line, and/or following ; on indented lines immediately below it, + form comments for that account. They are ignored except they may con- tain tags, which are not ignored. - The two-space requirement for same-line account comments is because ; + The two-space requirement for same-line account comments is because ; is allowed in account names. account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon @@ -2051,38 +2053,38 @@ Journal ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 Account error checking - By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence - when a posting references them. This is convenient, but it means - hledger can't warn you when you mis-spell an account name in the jour- + By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence + when a posting references them. This is convenient, but it means + hledger can't warn you when you mis-spell an account name in the jour- nal. Usually you'll find that error later, as an extra account in bal- ance reports, or an incorrect balance when reconciling. - In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, or when you run + In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, or when you run hledger check accounts, hledger will report an error if any transaction - uses an account name that has not been declared by an account direc- + uses an account name that has not been declared by an account direc- tive. Some notes: - o The declaration is case-sensitive; transactions must use the correct + o The declaration is case-sensitive; transactions must use the correct account name capitalisation. - o The account directive's scope is "whole file and below" (see direc- + o The account directive's scope is "whole file and below" (see direc- tives). This means it affects all of the current file, and any files - it includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of ac- - count directives within the file does not matter, though it's usual + it includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of ac- + count directives within the file does not matter, though it's usual to put them at the top. - o Accounts can only be declared in journal files, but will affect in- + o Accounts can only be declared in journal files, but will affect in- cluded files of all types. - o It's currently not possible to declare "all possible subaccounts" + o It's currently not possible to declare "all possible subaccounts" with a wildcard; every account posted to must be declared. - o If you use the --infer-equity flag, you will also need declarations + o If you use the --infer-equity flag, you will also need declarations for the account names it generates. Account display order Account directives also cause hledger to display accounts in a particu- - lar order, not just alphabetically. Eg, here is a conventional order- + lar order, not just alphabetically. Eg, here is a conventional order- ing for the top-level accounts: account assets @@ -2100,42 +2102,42 @@ Journal revenues expenses - If there are undeclared accounts, those will be displayed last, in al- + If there are undeclared accounts, those will be displayed last, in al- phabetical order. Sorting is done within each group of sibling accounts, at each level of - the account tree. Eg, a declaration like account parent:child influ- + the account tree. Eg, a declaration like account parent:child influ- ences child's position among its siblings. - Note, it does not affect parent's position; for that, you need an ac- + Note, it does not affect parent's position; for that, you need an ac- count parent declaration. - Sibling accounts are always displayed together; hledger won't display + Sibling accounts are always displayed together; hledger won't display x:y in between a:b and a:c. - An account directive both declares an account as a valid posting tar- - get, and declares its display order; you can't easily do one without + An account directive both declares an account as a valid posting tar- + get, and declares its display order; you can't easily do one without the other. Account types hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, - expenses and so on. This enables easy reports like balancesheet and + expenses and so on. This enables easy reports like balancesheet and incomestatement, and filtering by account type with the type: query. As a convenience, hledger will detect these account types automatically - if you are using common english-language top-level account names (de- - scribed below). But it's more robust to declare accounts' types ex- - plicitly, by adding type: tags to their account directives. The tag's + if you are using common english-language top-level account names (de- + scribed below). But it's more robust to declare accounts' types ex- + plicitly, by adding type: tags to their account directives. The tag's value should be one of the five main account types: o A or Asset (things you own) o L or Liability (things you owe) - o E or Equity (investment/ownership; balanced counterpart of assets & + o E or Equity (investment/ownership; balanced counterpart of assets & liabilities) - o R or Revenue (what you received money from, AKA income; technically + o R or Revenue (what you received money from, AKA income; technically part of Equity) o X or Expense (what you spend money on; technically part of Equity) @@ -2145,7 +2147,7 @@ Journal o C or Cash (a subtype of Asset, indicating liquid assets for the cash- flow report) - o V or Conversion (a subtype of Equity, for conversions (see Cost re- + o V or Conversion (a subtype of Equity, for conversions (see Cost re- porting).) Subaccounts inherit their parent's type, or they can override it. Here @@ -2164,7 +2166,7 @@ Journal Here are some tips for working with account types. - o The rules for inferring types from account names are as follows. + o The rules for inferring types from account names are as follows. These are just a convenience that sometimes help new users get going; if they don't work for you, just ignore them and declare your account types. See also Regular expressions. @@ -2179,25 +2181,25 @@ Journal ^(income|revenue)s?(:|$) | Revenue ^expenses?(:|$) | Expense - o If you declare any account types, it's a good idea to declare an ac- + o If you declare any account types, it's a good idea to declare an ac- count for all of the account types, because a mixture of declared and name-inferred types can disrupt certain reports. - o Certain uses of account aliases can disrupt account types. See + o Certain uses of account aliases can disrupt account types. See Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. o As mentioned above, subaccounts will inherit a type from their parent - account. More precisely, an account's type is decided by the first + account. More precisely, an account's type is decided by the first of these that exists: 1. A type: declaration for this account. - 2. A type: declaration in the parent accounts above it, preferring + 2. A type: declaration in the parent accounts above it, preferring the nearest. 3. An account type inferred from this account's name. - 4. An account type inferred from a parent account's name, preferring + 4. An account type inferred from a parent account's name, preferring the nearest parent. 5. Otherwise, it will have no type. @@ -2223,7 +2225,7 @@ Journal o customising reports Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives. They - do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or + do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger-web. Account aliases are very powerful. They are generally easy to use cor- @@ -2233,9 +2235,9 @@ Journal See also Rewrite account names. 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 (but note: not sibling or parent files). The spaces + 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 (but note: not sibling or parent files). The spaces around the = are optional: alias OLD = NEW @@ -2243,17 +2245,17 @@ Journal 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 case sensitive full account names. hledger will re- - place any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Subac- + OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. hledger will re- + place any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Subac- counts 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" Regex aliases - There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, - indicated by wrapping the pattern in forward slashes. (This is the - only place where hledger requires forward slashes around a regular ex- + There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, + indicated by wrapping the pattern in forward slashes. (This is the + only place where hledger requires forward slashes around a regular ex- pression.) Eg: @@ -2264,13 +2266,13 @@ Journal $ hledger --alias '/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT' ... - Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by RE- + Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by RE- PLACEMENT. REGEX is case-insensitive as usual. - If you need to match a forward slash, escape it with a backslash, eg + If you need to match a forward slash, escape it with a backslash, eg /\/=:. - If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced + If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced by the usual backslash and number in REPLACEMENT: alias /^(.+):bank:([^:]+):(.*)/ = \1:\2 \3 @@ -2280,21 +2282,21 @@ Journal option argument), so it can contain trailing whitespace. Combining aliases - You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives + You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives and/or command line options. - Recursive aliases - where an account name is rewritten by one alias, - then by another alias, and so on - are allowed. Each alias sees the + Recursive aliases - where an account name is rewritten by one alias, + then by another alias, and so on - are allowed. Each alias sees the effect of previously applied aliases. - In such cases it can be important to understand which aliases will be - applied and in which order. For (each account name in) each journal + In such cases it can be important to understand which aliases will be + applied and in which order. For (each account name in) each journal entry, we apply: - 1. alias directives preceding the journal entry, most recently parsed + 1. alias directives preceding the journal entry, most recently parsed first (ie, reading upward from the journal entry, bottom to top) - 2. --alias options, in the order they appeared on the command line + 2. --alias options, in the order they appeared on the command line (left to right). In other words, for (an account name in) a given journal entry: @@ -2305,20 +2307,20 @@ Journal o aliases defined after/below the entry do not affect it. - This gives nearby aliases precedence over distant ones, and helps pro- - vide semantic stability - aliases will keep working the same way inde- + This gives nearby aliases precedence over distant ones, and helps pro- + vide semantic stability - aliases will keep working the same way inde- pendent of which files are being read and in which order. - In case of trouble, adding --debug=6 to the command line will show + In case of trouble, adding --debug=6 to the command line will show which aliases are being applied when. Aliases and multiple files - As explained at Directives and multiple files, alias directives do not + As explained at Directives and multiple files, alias directives do not affect parent or sibling files. Eg in this command, hledger -f a.aliases -f b.journal - account aliases defined in a.aliases will not affect b.journal. In- + account aliases defined in a.aliases will not affect b.journal. In- cluding the aliases doesn't work either: include a.aliases @@ -2346,7 +2348,7 @@ Journal end aliases Aliases can generate bad account names - Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, + Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, which could cause confusing reports or invalid print output. For exam- ple, you could erase all account names: @@ -2358,8 +2360,8 @@ Journal 2021-01-01 1 - The above print output is not a valid journal. Or you could insert an - illegal double space, causing print output that would give a different + The above print output is not a valid journal. Or you could insert an + illegal double space, causing print output that would give a different journal when reparsed: 2021-01-01 @@ -2376,15 +2378,15 @@ Journal types) is renamed by an alias, normally the account type remains in ef- fect. - However, renaming in a way that reshapes the account tree (eg renaming - parent accounts but not their children, or vice versa) could prevent + However, renaming in a way that reshapes the account tree (eg renaming + parent accounts but not their children, or vice versa) could prevent child accounts from inheriting the account type of their parents. - Secondly, if an account's type is being inferred from its name, renam- + Secondly, if an account's type is being inferred from its name, renam- ing it by an alias could prevent or alter that. - If you are using account aliases and the type: query is not matching - accounts as you expect, try troubleshooting with the accounts command, + If you are using account aliases and the type: query is not matching + accounts as you expect, try troubleshooting with the accounts command, eg something like: $ hledger accounts --types -1 --alias assets=bassetts @@ -2392,37 +2394,37 @@ Journal commodity directive The commodity directive performs several functions: - 1. It declares which commodity symbols may be used in the journal, en- - abling useful error checking with strict mode or the check command. + 1. It declares which commodity symbols may be used in the journal, en- + abling useful error checking with strict mode or the check command. See Commodity error checking below. - 2. It declares how all amounts in this commodity should be displayed, + 2. It declares how all amounts in this commodity should be displayed, eg how many decimals to show. See Commodity display style above. - 3. (If no decimal-mark directive is in effect:) It sets the decimal - mark to expect (period or comma) when parsing amounts in this com- + 3. (If no decimal-mark directive is in effect:) It sets the decimal + mark to expect (period or comma) when parsing amounts in this com- modity, in this file and files it includes, from the directive until end of current file. See Decimal marks above. 4. It declares the precision with which this commodity's amounts should - be compared when checking for balanced transactions, anywhere in + be compared when checking for balanced transactions, anywhere in this file and files it includes, until end of current file. - Declaring commodities solves several common parsing/display problems, + Declaring commodities solves several common parsing/display problems, so we recommend it. Note that effects 3 and 4 above end at the end of the directive's file, - and will not affect sibling or parent files. So if you are relying on - them (especially 4) and using multiple files, placing your commodity - directives in a top-level parent file might be important. Or, keep - your decimal marks unambiguous and your entries well balanced and pre- + and will not affect sibling or parent files. So if you are relying on + them (especially 4) and using multiple files, placing your commodity + directives in a top-level parent file might be important. Or, keep + your decimal marks unambiguous and your entries well balanced and pre- cise. (Related: #793) Commodity directive syntax A commodity directive is normally the word commodity followed by a sam- - ple amount (and optionally a comment). Only the amount's symbol and + ple amount (and optionally a comment). Only the amount's symbol and the number's format is significant. Eg: commodity $1000.00 @@ -2431,19 +2433,19 @@ Journal Commodities do not have tags (tags in the comment will be ignored). - A commodity directive's sample amount must always include a period or - comma decimal mark (this rule helps disambiguate decimal marks and - digit group marks). If you don't want to show any decimal digits, + A commodity directive's sample amount must always include a period or + comma decimal mark (this rule helps disambiguate decimal marks and + digit group marks). If you don't want to show any decimal digits, write the decimal mark at the end: commodity 1000. AAAA ; show AAAA with no decimals - Commodity symbols containing spaces, numbers, or punctuation must be + Commodity symbols containing spaces, numbers, or punctuation must be enclosed in double quotes, as usual: commodity 1.0000 "AAAA 2023" - Commodity directives normally include a sample amount, but can declare + Commodity directives normally include a sample amount, but can declare only a symbol (ie, just function 1 above): commodity $ @@ -2452,7 +2454,7 @@ Journal commodity "" ; the no-symbol commodity Commodity directives may also be written with an indented format subdi- - rective, as in Ledger. The symbol is repeated and must be the same in + rective, as in Ledger. The symbol is repeated and must be the same in both places. Other subdirectives are currently ignored: ; display indian rupees with currency name on the left, @@ -2463,10 +2465,10 @@ Journal an unsupported subdirective ; ignored by hledger Commodity error checking - In strict mode (-s/--strict) (or when you run hledger check commodi- - ties), hledger will report an error if an undeclared commodity symbol - is used. (With one exception: zero amounts are always allowed to have - no commodity symbol.) It works like account error checking (described + In strict mode (-s/--strict) (or when you run hledger check commodi- + ties), hledger will report an error if an undeclared commodity symbol + is used. (With one exception: zero amounts are always allowed to have + no commodity symbol.) It works like account error checking (described above). decimal-mark directive @@ -2480,20 +2482,20 @@ Journal decimal-mark , - This prevents any ambiguity when parsing numbers in the file, so we - recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg + This prevents any ambiguity when parsing numbers in the file, so we + recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg thousands separators). include directive - You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include + You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include directive, like this: include FILEPATH - Only journal files can include, and only journal, timeclock or timedot + Only journal files can include, and only journal, timeclock or timedot files can be included (not CSV files, currently). - If the file path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the + If the file path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the current file's folder. A tilde means home directory, eg: include ~/main.journal. @@ -2502,27 +2504,27 @@ Journal *.journal. There is limited support for recursive wildcards: **/ (the slash is re- - quired) matches 0 or more subdirectories. It's not super convenient - since you have to avoid include cycles and including directories, but + quired) matches 0 or more subdirectories. It's not super convenient + since you have to avoid include cycles and including directories, but this can be done, eg: include */**/*.journal. The path may also be prefixed to force a specific file format, overrid- - ing the file extension (as described in Data formats): include time- + ing the file extension (as described in Data formats): include time- dot:~/notes/2023*.md. P directive The P directive declares a market price, which is a conversion rate be- - tween two commodities on a certain date. This allows value reports to + tween two commodities on a certain date. This allows value reports to convert amounts of one commodity to their value in another, on or after - that date. These prices are often obtained from a stock exchange, + that date. These prices are often obtained from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, the or foreign exchange market. The format is: P DATE COMMODITY1SYMBOL COMMODITY2AMOUNT - DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the commodity - being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and quantity) + DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the commodity + being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and quantity) of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this date. Ex- amples: @@ -2532,15 +2534,15 @@ Journal # and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: P 2010-01-01 $1.40 - The -V, -X and --value flags use these market prices to show amount + The -V, -X and --value flags use these market prices to show amount values in another commodity. See Value reporting. payee directive payee PAYEE NAME This directive can be used to declare a limited set of payees which may - appear in transaction descriptions. The "payees" check will report an - error if any transaction refers to a payee that has not been declared. + appear in transaction descriptions. The "payees" check will report an + error if any transaction refers to a payee that has not been declared. Eg: payee Whole Foods ; a comment @@ -2556,58 +2558,58 @@ Journal tag directive tag TAGNAME - This directive can be used to declare a limited set of tag names al- + This directive can be used to declare a limited set of tag names al- lowed in tags. TAGNAME should be a valid tag name (no spaces). Eg: tag item-id Any indented subdirectives are currently ignored. - The "tags" check will report an error if any undeclared tag name is + The "tags" check will report an error if any undeclared tag name is used. It is quite easy to accidentally create a tag through normal use of colons in comments; if you want to prevent this, you can declare and check your tags . Periodic transactions - The ~ directive declares a "periodic rule" which generates temporary + The ~ directive declares a "periodic rule" which generates temporary extra transactions, usually recurring at some interval, when hledger is run with the --forecast flag. These "forecast transactions" are useful - for forecasting future activity. They exist only for the duration of + for forecasting future activity. They exist only for the duration of the report, and only when --forecast is used; they are not saved in the journal file by hledger. - Periodic rules also have a second use: with the --budget flag they set + Periodic rules also have a second use: with the --budget flag they set budget goals for budgeting. - Periodic rules can be a little tricky, so before you use them, read + Periodic rules can be a little tricky, so before you use them, read this whole section, or at least the following tips: - 1. Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - + 1. Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - read about this below. - 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with hledger - print --forecast tag:generated or hledger register --forecast + 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with hledger + print --forecast tag:generated or hledger register --forecast tag:generated. - 3. Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last non-fore- + 3. Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last non-fore- casted transaction's date. - 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. + 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. See below for the exact start/end rules. - 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs im- + 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs im- provement, but is worth studying. - 6. Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a - natural boundary of that interval. Eg in weekly from DATE, DATE - must be a monday. ~ weekly from 2019/10/1 (a tuesday) will give an + 6. Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a + natural boundary of that interval. Eg in weekly from DATE, DATE + must be a monday. ~ weekly from 2019/10/1 (a tuesday) will give an error. 7. Other period expressions with an interval are automatically expanded - to cover a whole number of that interval. (This is done to improve + to cover a whole number of that interval. (This is done to improve reports, but it also affects periodic transactions. Yes, it's a bit - inconsistent with the above.) Eg: ~ every 10th day of month from - 2023/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from + inconsistent with the above.) Eg: ~ every 10th day of month from + 2023/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from 2023/01/01, will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. Periodic rule syntax @@ -2625,14 +2627,14 @@ Journal expenses:utilities $400 assets:bank:checking - The period expression is the same syntax used for specifying multi-pe- - riod reports, just interpreted differently; there, it specifies report + The period expression is the same syntax used for specifying multi-pe- + riod reports, just interpreted differently; there, it specifies report periods; here it specifies recurrence dates (the periods' start dates). Periodic rules and relative dates - Partial or relative dates (like 12/31, 25, tomorrow, last week, next - quarter) are usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the re- - sults will change as time passes. If used, they will be interpreted + Partial or relative dates (like 12/31, 25, tomorrow, last week, next + quarter) are usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the re- + sults will change as time passes. If used, they will be interpreted relative to, in order of preference: 1. the first day of the default year specified by a recent Y directive @@ -2641,11 +2643,11 @@ Journal 3. or the date on which you are running the report. - They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period + They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period dates. Two spaces between period expression and description! - If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, + If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, these must be separated by two or more spaces. This helps hledger know where the period expression ends, so that descriptions can not acciden- tally alter their meaning, as in this example: @@ -2659,51 +2661,51 @@ Journal So, - o Do write two spaces between your period expression and your transac- + o Do write two spaces between your period expression and your transac- tion description, if any. - o Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period ex- + o Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period ex- pression. Auto postings The = directive declares an "auto posting rule", which adds extra post- - ings to existing transactions. (Remember, postings are the account + ings to existing transactions. (Remember, postings are the account name & amount lines below a transaction's date & description.) - In the journal, an auto posting rule looks quite like a transaction, - but instead of date and description it has = (mnemonic: "match") and a + In the journal, an auto posting rule looks quite like a transaction, + but instead of date and description it has = (mnemonic: "match") and a query, like this: = QUERY ACCOUNT AMOUNT ... - Queries are just like command line queries; an account name substring - is most common. Query terms containing spaces should be enclosed in + Queries are just like command line queries; an account name substring + is most common. Query terms containing spaces should be enclosed in single or double quotes. - Each = rule works like this: when hledger is run with the --auto flag, - wherever the QUERY matches a posting in the journal, the rule's post- + Each = rule works like this: when hledger is run with the --auto flag, + wherever the QUERY matches a posting in the journal, the rule's post- ings are added to that transaction, immediately below the matched post- - ing. Note these generated postings are temporary, existing only for - the duration of the report, and only when --auto is used; they are not + ing. Note these generated postings are temporary, existing only for + the duration of the report, and only when --auto is used; they are not saved in the journal file by hledger. Generated postings' amounts can depend on the matched posting's amount. - So auto postings can be useful for, eg, adding tax postings with a + So auto postings can be useful for, eg, adding tax postings with a standard percentage. AMOUNT can be: - o a number with no commodity symbol, like 2. The matched posting's + o a number with no commodity symbol, like 2. The matched posting's commodity symbol will be added to this. - o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, like $2. This will be used + o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, like $2. This will be used as-is. - o an asterisk followed by a number, like *2. This will multiply the + o an asterisk followed by a number, like *2. This will multiply the matched posting's amount (and total price, if any) by the number. - o an asterisk followed by an amount with commodity symbol, like *$2. - This multiplies and also replaces the commodity symbol with this new + o an asterisk followed by an amount with commodity symbol, like *$2. + This multiplies and also replaces the commodity symbol with this new one. Some examples: @@ -2738,38 +2740,38 @@ Journal assets:checking $20 Note that depending fully on generated data such as this has some draw- - backs - it's less portable, less future-proof, less auditable by oth- + backs - it's less portable, less future-proof, less auditable by oth- ers, and less robust (eg your balance assertions will depend on whether - you use or don't use --auto). An alternative is to use auto postings + you use or don't use --auto). An alternative is to use auto postings in "one time" fashion - use them to help build a complex journal entry, - view it with hledger print --auto, and then copy that output into the + view it with hledger print --auto, and then copy that output into the journal file to make it permanent. Auto postings and multiple files An auto posting rule can affect any transaction in the current file, or - in any parent file or child file. Note, currently it will not affect + in any parent file or child file. Note, currently it will not affect sibling files (when multiple -f/--file are used - see #1212). Auto postings and dates - A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking - precedence) a posting date in the auto posting rule itself, will also + A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking + precedence) a posting date in the auto posting rule itself, will also be used in the generated posting. Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance asser- tions Currently, auto postings are added: - o after missing amounts are inferred, and transactions are checked for + o after missing amounts are inferred, and transactions are checked for balancedness, o but before balance assertions are checked. - Note this means that journal entries must be balanced both before and + Note this means that journal entries must be balanced both before and after auto postings are added. This changed in hledger 1.12+; see #893 for background. - This also means that you cannot have more than one auto-posting with a - missing amount applied to a given transaction, as it will be unable to + This also means that you cannot have more than one auto-posting with a + missing amount applied to a given transaction, as it will be unable to infer amounts. Auto posting tags @@ -2778,11 +2780,11 @@ Journal o generated-posting:= QUERY - shows this was generated by an auto post- ing rule, and the query - o _generated-posting:= QUERY - a hidden tag, which does not appear in + o _generated-posting:= QUERY - a hidden tag, which does not appear in hledger's output. This can be used to match postings generated "just now", rather than generated in the past and saved to the journal. - Also, any transaction that has been changed by auto posting rules will + Also, any transaction that has been changed by auto posting rules will have these tags added: o modified: - this transaction was modified @@ -2791,24 +2793,24 @@ Journal tion was modified "just now". Auto postings on forecast transactions only - Tip: you can can make auto postings that will apply to forecast trans- - actions but not recorded transactions, by adding tag:_generated-trans- - action to their QUERY. This can be useful when generating new journal + Tip: you can can make auto postings that will apply to forecast trans- + actions but not recorded transactions, by adding tag:_generated-trans- + action to their QUERY. This can be useful when generating new journal entries to be saved in the journal. Other syntax - hledger journal format supports quite a few other features, mainly to - make interoperating with or converting from Ledger easier. Note some - of the features below are powerful and can be useful in special cases, - but in general, features in this section are considered less important - or even not recommended for most users. Downsides are mentioned to + hledger journal format supports quite a few other features, mainly to + make interoperating with or converting from Ledger easier. Note some + of the features below are powerful and can be useful in special cases, + but in general, features in this section are considered less important + or even not recommended for most users. Downsides are mentioned to help you decide if you want to use them. 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 + 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 @@ -2826,15 +2828,15 @@ Journal 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 assign- + at that point (which depends on the previously-dated postings of the + commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or assign- ment). - Downsides: using balance assignments makes your journal less explicit; + Downsides: using balance assignments makes your journal less explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger or do the cal- - culations yourself, instead of just reading it. Also balance assign- + culations yourself, instead of just reading it. Also balance assign- ments' forcing of balances can hide errors. These things make your fi- - nancial data less portable, less future-proof, and less trustworthy in + nancial data less portable, less future-proof, and less trustworthy in an audit. Balance assignments and costs @@ -2849,31 +2851,31 @@ Journal (a) $1 @ 2 = $1 @ 2 Balance assignments and multiple files - Balance assignments handle multiple files like balance assertions. - They see balance from other files previously included from the current + Balance assignments handle multiple files like balance assertions. + They see balance from other files previously included from the current file, but not from previous sibling or parent files. Bracketed posting dates - For setting posting dates and secondary posting dates, Ledger's brack- + For setting posting dates and secondary posting dates, Ledger's brack- eted date syntax is also supported: [DATE], [DATE=DATE2] or [=DATE2] in - posting comments. hledger will attempt to parse any square-bracketed - sequence of the 0123456789/-.= characters in this way. With this syn- - tax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 infers its + posting comments. hledger will attempt to parse any square-bracketed + sequence of the 0123456789/-.= characters in this way. With this syn- + tax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 infers its year from DATE. - Downsides: another syntax to learn, redundant with hledger's + Downsides: another syntax to learn, redundant with hledger's date:/date2: tags, and confusingly similar to Ledger's lot date syntax. D directive D AMOUNT - This directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any subsequent - commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing the jour- - nal. This effect lasts until the next D directive, or the end of the + This directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any subsequent + commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing the jour- + nal. This effect lasts until the next D directive, or the end of the current file. - For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity di- - rective (setting the commodity's decimal mark for parsing and display + For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity di- + rective (setting the commodity's decimal mark for parsing and display style for output). So its argument is not just a commodity symbol, but a full amount demonstrating the style. The amount must include a deci- mal mark (either period or comma). Eg: @@ -2888,23 +2890,23 @@ Journal Interactions with other directives: - For setting a commodity's display style, a commodity directive has + For setting a commodity's display style, a commodity directive has highest priority, then a D directive. - For detecting a commodity's decimal mark during parsing, decimal-mark + For detecting a commodity's decimal mark during parsing, decimal-mark has highest priority, then commodity, then D. - For checking commodity symbols with the check command, a commodity di- + For checking commodity symbols with the check command, a commodity di- rective is required (hledger check commodities ignores D directives). - Downsides: omitting commodity symbols makes your financial data less - explicit, less portable, and less trustworthy in an audit. It is usu- - ally an unsustainable shortcut; sooner or later you will want to track - multiple commodities. D is overloaded with functions redundant with + Downsides: omitting commodity symbols makes your financial data less + explicit, less portable, and less trustworthy in an audit. It is usu- + ally an unsustainable shortcut; sooner or later you will want to track + multiple commodities. D is overloaded with functions redundant with commodity and decimal-mark. And it works differently from Ledger's D. apply account directive - This directive sets a default parent account, which will be prepended + This directive sets a default parent account, which will be prepended to all accounts in following entries, until an end apply account direc- tive or end of current file. Eg: @@ -2926,10 +2928,10 @@ Journal Account names entered via hledger add or hledger-web are not affected. - Account aliases, if any, are applied after the parent account is + Account aliases, if any, are applied after the parent account is prepended. - Downsides: this can make your financial data less explicit, less + Downsides: this can make your financial data less explicit, less portable, and less trustworthy in an audit. Y directive @@ -2939,7 +2941,7 @@ Journal year YEAR apply year YEAR - The space is optional. This sets a default year to be used for subse- + The space is optional. This sets a default year to be used for subse- quent dates which don't specify a year. Eg: Y2009 ; set default year to 2009 @@ -2960,38 +2962,38 @@ Journal Downsides: omitting the year (from primary transaction dates, at least) makes your financial data less explicit, less portable, and less trust- - worthy in an audit. Such dates can get separated from their corre- - sponding Y directive, eg when evaluating a region of the journal in - your editor. A missing Y directive makes reports dependent on today's + worthy in an audit. Such dates can get separated from their corre- + sponding Y directive, eg when evaluating a region of the journal in + your editor. A missing Y directive makes reports dependent on today's date. Secondary dates A secondary date is written after the primary date, following an equals - sign: DATE1=DATE2. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is + sign: DATE1=DATE2. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is assumed. When running reports, the primary (left side) date is used by default, but with the --date2 flag (--aux-date or--effective also work, - for Ledger users), the secondary (right side) date will be used in- + for Ledger users), the secondary (right side) date will be used in- stead. - The meaning of secondary dates is up to you. Eg it could be "primary - is the bank's clearing date, secondary is the date the transaction was + The meaning of secondary dates is up to you. Eg it could be "primary + is the bank's clearing date, secondary is the date the transaction was initiated, if different". In practice, this feature usually adds confusion: - o You have to remember the primary and secondary dates' meaning, and + o You have to remember the primary and secondary dates' meaning, and follow that consistently. - o It splits your bookkeeping into two modes, and you have to remember + o It splits your bookkeeping into two modes, and you have to remember which mode is appropriate for a given report. - o Usually your balance assertions will work with only one of these + o Usually your balance assertions will work with only one of these modes. - o It makes your financial data more complicated, less portable, and + o It makes your financial data more complicated, less portable, and less clear in an audit. - o It interacts with every feature, creating an ongoing cost for imple- + o It interacts with every feature, creating an ongoing cost for imple- mentors. o It distracts new users and supporters. @@ -2999,38 +3001,38 @@ Journal o Posting dates are simpler and work better. So secondary dates are officially deprecated in hledger, remaining only - as a Ledger compatibility aid; we recommend using posting dates in- + as a Ledger compatibility aid; we recommend using posting dates in- stead. Star comments - Lines beginning with * (star/asterisk) are also comment lines. This + Lines beginning with * (star/asterisk) are also comment lines. This feature allows Emacs users to insert org headings in their journal, al- lowing them to fold/unfold/navigate it like an outline when viewed with org mode. - Downsides: another, unconventional comment syntax to learn. Decreases - your journal's portability. And switching to Emacs org mode just for - folding/unfolding meant losing the benefits of ledger mode; nowadays - you can add outshine mode to ledger mode to get folding without losing + Downsides: another, unconventional comment syntax to learn. Decreases + your journal's portability. And switching to Emacs org mode just for + folding/unfolding meant losing the benefits of ledger mode; nowadays + you can add outshine mode to ledger mode to get folding without losing ledger mode's features. Valuation expressions - Ledger allows a valuation function or value to be written in double + Ledger allows a valuation function or value to be written in double parentheses after an amount. hledger ignores these. Virtual postings A posting with parentheses around the account name, like (some:account) - 10, is called an unbalanced virtual posting. These postings do not - participate in transaction balancing. (And if you write them without - an amount, a zero amount is always inferred.) These can occasionally - be convenient for special circumstances, but they violate double entry - bookkeeping and make your data less portable across applications, so + 10, is called an unbalanced virtual posting. These postings do not + participate in transaction balancing. (And if you write them without + an amount, a zero amount is always inferred.) These can occasionally + be convenient for special circumstances, but they violate double entry + bookkeeping and make your data less portable across applications, so many people avoid using them at all. - A posting with brackets around the account name ([some:account]) is - called a balanced virtual posting. The balanced virtual postings in a + A posting with brackets around the account name ([some:account]) is + called a balanced virtual posting. The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must add up to zero, just like ordinary postings, but sepa- - rately from them. These are not part of double entry bookkeeping ei- + rately from them. These are not part of double entry bookkeeping ei- ther, but they are at least balanced. An example: 2022-01-01 buy food with cash, update budget envelope subaccounts, & something else @@ -3041,13 +3043,13 @@ Journal [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- (something:else) $5 ; <- this is not required to balance - Ordinary postings, whose account names are neither parenthesised nor - bracketed, are called real postings. You can exclude virtual postings + Ordinary postings, whose account names are neither parenthesised nor + bracketed, are called real postings. You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the -R/--real flag or a real:1 query. Other Ledger directives These other Ledger directives are currently accepted but ignored. This - allows hledger to read more Ledger files, but be aware that hledger's + allows hledger to read more Ledger files, but be aware that hledger's reports may differ from Ledger's if you use these. apply fixed COMM AMT @@ -3068,7 +3070,7 @@ Journal value EXPR --command-line-flags - See also https://hledger.org/ledger.html for a detailed hledger/Ledger + See also https://hledger.org/ledger.html for a detailed hledger/Ledger syntax comparison. Other cost/lot notations @@ -3080,12 +3082,12 @@ Journal o expresses a conversion rate, as in hledger - o when buying, also creates a lot that can be selected at selling + o when buying, also creates a lot that can be selected at selling time o (@) UNITCOST and (@@) TOTALCOST (virtual cost) - o like the above, but also means "this cost was exceptional, don't + o like the above, but also means "this cost was exceptional, don't use it when inferring market prices". o {=UNITCOST} and {{=TOTALCOST}} (fixed price) @@ -3095,10 +3097,10 @@ Journal o {UNITCOST} and {{TOTALCOST}} (lot price) - o can be used identically to @ UNITCOST and @@ TOTALCOST, also cre- + o can be used identically to @ UNITCOST and @@ TOTALCOST, also cre- ates a lot - o when selling, combined with @ ..., selects an existing lot by its + o when selling, combined with @ ..., selects an existing lot by its cost basis. Does not check if that lot is present. o [YYYY/MM/DD] (lot date) @@ -3129,8 +3131,8 @@ Journal o expresses a cost without creating a lot, as in hledger - o when buying (acquiring) or selling (disposing of) a lot, and com- - bined with {...}: is not used except to document the cost/selling + o when buying (acquiring) or selling (disposing of) a lot, and com- + bined with {...}: is not used except to document the cost/selling price o {UNITCOST} and {{TOTALCOST}} @@ -3147,10 +3149,10 @@ Journal o expresses the selling price for transaction balancing - o {}, {YYYY-MM-DD}, {"LABEL"}, {UNITCOST, "LABEL"}, {UNITCOST, + o {}, {YYYY-MM-DD}, {"LABEL"}, {UNITCOST, "LABEL"}, {UNITCOST, YYYY-MM-DD, "LABEL"} - o when selling, other combinations of date/cost/label, like the + o when selling, other combinations of date/cost/label, like the above, are accepted for selecting the lot. Currently, hledger @@ -3162,29 +3164,29 @@ Journal o and rejects the rest. CSV - hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, - semicolon, or tab) containing dated records, automatically converting + hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, + semicolon, or tab) containing dated records, automatically converting each record into a transaction. (To learn about writing CSV, see CSV output.) - For best error messages when reading CSV/TSV/SSV files, make sure they + For best error messages when reading CSV/TSV/SSV files, make sure they have a corresponding .csv, .tsv or .ssv file extension or use a hledger file prefix (see File Extension below). Each CSV file must be described by a corresponding rules file. - This contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields lay- - out, date format etc.), how to construct hledger transactions from it, - and how to categorise transactions based on description or other at- + This contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields lay- + out, date format etc.), how to construct hledger transactions from it, + and how to categorise transactions based on description or other at- tributes. - By default, hledger expects this rules file to be named like the CSV - file, with an extra .rules extension added, in the same directory. Eg - when asked to read foo/FILE.csv, hledger looks for foo/FILE.csv.rules. + By default, hledger expects this rules file to be named like the CSV + file, with an extra .rules extension added, in the same directory. Eg + when asked to read foo/FILE.csv, hledger looks for foo/FILE.csv.rules. You can specify a different rules file with the --rules option. - At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, - and often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines + At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, + and often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines there are. Here's a simple CSV file and a rules file for it: Date, Description, Id, Amount @@ -3201,58 +3203,58 @@ CSV income:unknown -10.23 There's an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org, and - more CSV rules examples below, and a larger collection at + more CSV rules examples below, and a larger collection at https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv. CSV rules cheatsheet The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order. (Blank lines and lines beginning with # or ; or * are ignored.) - source optionally declare which file to read data + source optionally declare which file to read data from - encoding optionally declare which text encoding the + encoding optionally declare which text encoding the data has - separator declare the field separator, instead of rely- + separator declare the field separator, instead of rely- ing on file extension skip skip one or more header lines at start of file date-format declare how to parse CSV dates/date-times - timezone declare the time zone of ambiguous CSV + timezone declare the time zone of ambiguous CSV date-times - newest-first improve txn order when: there are multiple + newest-first improve txn order when: there are multiple records, newest first, all with the same date - intra-day-reversed improve txn order when: same-day txns are in + intra-day-reversed improve txn order when: same-day txns are in opposite order to the overall file - decimal-mark declare the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, + decimal-mark declare the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, when ambiguous - fields list name CSV fields for easy reference, and op- + fields list name CSV fields for easy reference, and op- tionally assign their values to hledger fields - Field assignment assign a CSV value or interpolated text value + Field assignment assign a CSV value or interpolated text value to a hledger field if block conditionally assign values to hledger fields, or skip a record or end (skip rest of file) if table conditionally assign values to hledger fields, using compact syntax - balance-type select which type of balance assertions/as- + balance-type select which type of balance assertions/as- signments to generate include inline another CSV rules file - Working with CSV tips can be found below, including How CSV rules are + Working with CSV tips can be found below, including How CSV rules are evaluated. source - If you tell hledger to read a csv file with -f foo.csv, it will look - for rules in foo.csv.rules. Or, you can tell it to read the rules - file, with -f foo.csv.rules, and it will look for data in foo.csv + If you tell hledger to read a csv file with -f foo.csv, it will look + for rules in foo.csv.rules. Or, you can tell it to read the rules + file, with -f foo.csv.rules, and it will look for data in foo.csv (since 1.30). - These are mostly equivalent, but the second method provides some extra - features. For one, the data file can be missing, without causing an - error; it is just considered empty. And, you can specify a different + These are mostly equivalent, but the second method provides some extra + features. For one, the data file can be missing, without causing an + error; it is just considered empty. And, you can specify a different data file by adding a "source" rule: source ./Checking1.csv - If you specify just a file name with no path, hledger will look for it + If you specify just a file name with no path, hledger will look for it in your system's downloads directory (~/Downloads, currently): source Checking1.csv @@ -3267,24 +3269,24 @@ CSV encoding encoding ENCODING - hledger normally expects non-ascii text to be UTF8-encoded. If you + hledger normally expects non-ascii text to be UTF8-encoded. If you need to read CSV files which have some other encoding, you can do it by adding encoding ENCODING to your CSV rules. Eg: encoding ISO88591. - The following encodings are supported (these names are case-insensi- - tive, and can be written with inner spaces or hyphens if you prefer): - ASCII, UTF8, UTF16, UTF32, ISO88591, ISO88592, ISO88593, ISO88594, + The following encodings are supported (these names are case-insensi- + tive, and can be written with inner spaces or hyphens if you prefer): + ASCII, UTF8, UTF16, UTF32, ISO88591, ISO88592, ISO88593, ISO88594, ISO88595, ISO88596, ISO88597, ISO88598, ISO88599, ISO885910, ISO885911, - ISO885913, ISO885914, ISO885915, ISO885916, CP1250, CP1251, CP1252, - CP1253, CP1254, CP1255, CP1256, CP1257, CP1258, KOI8R, KOI8U, GB18030, - MacOSRoman, JISX0201, JISX0208, ISO2022JP, ShiftJIS, CP437, CP737, - CP775, CP850, CP852, CP855, CP857, CP860, CP861, CP862, CP863, CP864, + ISO885913, ISO885914, ISO885915, ISO885916, CP1250, CP1251, CP1252, + CP1253, CP1254, CP1255, CP1256, CP1257, CP1258, KOI8R, KOI8U, GB18030, + MacOSRoman, JISX0201, JISX0208, ISO2022JP, ShiftJIS, CP437, CP737, + CP775, CP850, CP852, CP855, CP857, CP860, CP861, CP862, CP863, CP864, CP865, CP866, CP869, CP874, CP932. separator - You can use the separator rule to read other kinds of character-sepa- - rated data. The argument is any single separator character, or the - words tab or space (case insensitive). Eg, for comma-separated values + You can use the separator rule to read other kinds of character-sepa- + rated data. The argument is any single separator character, or the + words tab or space (case insensitive). Eg, for comma-separated values (CSV): separator , @@ -3297,32 +3299,32 @@ CSV separator TAB - If the input file has a .csv, .ssv or .tsv file extension (or a csv:, + If the input file has a .csv, .ssv or .tsv file extension (or a csv:, ssv:, tsv: prefix), the appropriate separator will be inferred automat- ically, and you won't need this rule. skip skip N - The word skip followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells - hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines at the start of the input - data. You'll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. - Note, empty and blank lines are skipped automatically, so you don't + The word skip followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells + hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines at the start of the input + data. You'll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. + Note, empty and blank lines are skipped automatically, so you don't need to count those. - skip has a second meaning: it can be used inside if blocks (described - below), to skip one or more records whenever the condition is true. + skip has a second meaning: it can be used inside if blocks (described + below), to skip one or more records whenever the condition is true. Records skipped in this way are ignored, except they are still required to be valid CSV. date-format date-format DATEFMT - This is a helper for the date (and date2) fields. If your CSV dates - are not formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, you'll - need to add a date-format rule describing them with a strptime-style - date parsing pattern - see https://hackage.haskell.org/pack- - age/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. The pattern must + This is a helper for the date (and date2) fields. If your CSV dates + are not formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, you'll + need to add a date-format rule describing them with a strptime-style + date parsing pattern - see https://hackage.haskell.org/pack- + age/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. The pattern must parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples: # MM/DD/YY @@ -3342,33 +3344,33 @@ CSV timezone timezone TIMEZONE - When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone + When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone other than yours, but containing no explicit time zone information, you - can use this rule to declare the CSV's native time zone, which helps + can use this rule to declare the CSV's native time zone, which helps prevent off-by-one dates. - When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don't - need this rule; instead, use %Z in date-format (or %z, %EZ, %Ez; see + When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don't + need this rule; instead, use %Z in date-format (or %z, %EZ, %Ez; see the formatTime link above). In either of these cases, hledger will do a time-zone-aware conversion, localising the CSV date-times to your current system time zone. If you prefer to localise to some other time zone, eg for reproducibility, you - can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with the TZ environment + can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with the TZ environment variable, eg: $ TZ=-1000 hledger print -f foo.csv # or TZ=-1000 hledger import foo.csv - timezone currently does not understand timezone names, except "UTC", - "GMT", "EST", "EDT", "CST", "CDT", "MST", "MDT", "PST", or "PDT". For + timezone currently does not understand timezone names, except "UTC", + "GMT", "EST", "EDT", "CST", "CDT", "MST", "MDT", "PST", or "PDT". For others, use numeric format: +HHMM or -HHMM. newest-first hledger tries to ensure that the generated transactions will be ordered chronologically, including same-day transactions. Usually it can - auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. But if it encounters CSV + auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. But if it encounters CSV where all records are on the same date, it assumes that the records are - oldest first. If in fact the CSV's records are normally newest first, + oldest first. If in fact the CSV's records are normally newest first, like: 2022-10-01, txn 3... @@ -3382,9 +3384,9 @@ CSV newest-first intra-day-reversed - If CSV records within a single day are ordered opposite to the overall - record order, you can add the intra-day-reversed rule to improve the - order of journal entries. Eg, here the overall record order is newest + If CSV records within a single day are ordered opposite to the overall + record order, you can add the intra-day-reversed rule to improve the + order of journal entries. Eg, here the overall record order is newest first, but same-day records are oldest first: 2022-10-02, txn 3... @@ -3402,10 +3404,10 @@ CSV decimal-mark , - hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal mark - when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). However if any numbers in the CSV - contain digit group marks, such as thousand-separating commas, you - should declare the decimal mark explicitly with this rule, to avoid + hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal mark + when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). However if any numbers in the CSV + contain digit group marks, such as thousand-separating commas, you + should declare the decimal mark explicitly with this rule, to avoid misparsed numbers. fields list @@ -3414,17 +3416,17 @@ CSV A fields list (the word fields followed by comma-separated field names) is optional, but convenient. It does two things: - 1. It names the CSV field in each column. This can be convenient if - you are referencing them in other rules, so you can say %SomeField + 1. It names the CSV field in each column. This can be convenient if + you are referencing them in other rules, so you can say %SomeField instead of remembering %13. - 2. Whenever you use one of the special hledger field names (described - below), it assigns the CSV value in this position to that hledger - field. This is the quickest way to populate hledger's fields and + 2. Whenever you use one of the special hledger field names (described + below), it assigns the CSV value in this position to that hledger + field. This is the quickest way to populate hledger's fields and build a transaction. - Here's an example that says "use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as the - transaction's date, description and amount; name the last two fields + Here's an example that says "use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as the + transaction's date, description and amount; name the last two fields for later reference; and ignore the others": fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield @@ -3434,35 +3436,35 @@ CSV o There must be least two items in the list (at least one comma). - o Field names may not contain spaces. Spaces before/after field names + o Field names may not contain spaces. Spaces before/after field names are optional. o Field names may contain _ (underscore) or - (hyphen). - o Fields you don't care about can be given a dummy name or an empty + o Fields you don't care about can be given a dummy name or an empty name. - If the CSV contains column headings, it's convenient to use these for - your field names, suitably modified (eg lower-cased with spaces re- + If the CSV contains column headings, it's convenient to use these for + your field names, suitably modified (eg lower-cased with spaces re- placed by underscores). - Sometimes you may want to alter a CSV field name to avoid assigning to - a hledger field with the same name. Eg you could call the CSV's "bal- - ance" field balance_ to avoid directly setting hledger's balance field + Sometimes you may want to alter a CSV field name to avoid assigning to + a hledger field with the same name. Eg you could call the CSV's "bal- + ance" field balance_ to avoid directly setting hledger's balance field (and generating a balance assertion). Field assignment HLEDGERFIELD FIELDVALUE - Field assignments are the more flexible way to assign CSV values to + Field assignments are the more flexible way to assign CSV values to hledger fields. They can be used instead of or in addition to a fields list (see above). - To assign a value to a hledger field, write the field name (any of the - standard hledger field/pseudo-field names, defined below), a space, - followed by a text value on the same line. This text value may inter- - polate CSV fields, referenced either by their 1-based position in the - CSV record (%N) or by the name they were given in the fields list + To assign a value to a hledger field, write the field name (any of the + standard hledger field/pseudo-field names, defined below), a space, + followed by a text value on the same line. This text value may inter- + polate CSV fields, referenced either by their 1-based position in the + CSV record (%N) or by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSVFIELD), and regular expression match groups (\N). Some examples: @@ -3475,26 +3477,26 @@ CSV Tips: - o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " be- + o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " be- comes 1 when interpolated) (#1051). - o Interpolations always refer to a CSV field - you can't interpolate a + o Interpolations always refer to a CSV field - you can't interpolate a hledger field. (See Referencing other fields below). Field names - Note the two kinds of field names mentioned here, and used only in + Note the two kinds of field names mentioned here, and used only in hledger CSV rules files: - 1. CSV field names (CSVFIELD in these docs): you can optionally name - the CSV columns for easy reference (since hledger doesn't yet auto- + 1. CSV field names (CSVFIELD in these docs): you can optionally name + the CSV columns for easy reference (since hledger doesn't yet auto- matically recognise column headings in a CSV file), by writing arbi- trary names in a fields list, eg: fields When, What, Some_Id, Net, Total, Foo, Bar - 2. Special hledger field names (HLEDGERFIELD in these docs): you must - set at least some of these to generate the hledger transaction from - a CSV record, by writing them as the left hand side of a field as- + 2. Special hledger field names (HLEDGERFIELD in these docs): you must + set at least some of these to generate the hledger transaction from + a CSV record, by writing them as the left hand side of a field as- signment, eg: date %When @@ -3509,7 +3511,7 @@ CSV currency $ comment %Foo %Bar - Here are all the special hledger field names available, and what hap- + Here are all the special hledger field names available, and what hap- pens when you assign values to them: date field @@ -3532,7 +3534,7 @@ CSV commentN, where N is a number, sets the Nth posting's comment. - You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal \n in the code. + You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal \n in the code. A comment starting with \n will begin on a new line. Comments can contain tags, as usual. @@ -3544,99 +3546,99 @@ CSV Assigning to accountN, where N is 1 to 99, sets the account name of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to be generated. - Most often there are two postings, so you'll want to set account1 and - account2. Typically account1 is associated with the CSV file, and is - set once with a top-level assignment, while account2 is set based on + Most often there are two postings, so you'll want to set account1 and + account2. Typically account1 is associated with the CSV file, and is + set once with a top-level assignment, while account2 is set based on each transaction's description, in conditional rules. - If a posting's account name is left unset but its amount is set (see - below), a default account name will be chosen (like "expenses:unknown" + If a posting's account name is left unset but its amount is set (see + below), a default account name will be chosen (like "expenses:unknown" or "income:unknown"). amount field - There are several ways to set posting amounts from CSV, useful in dif- + There are several ways to set posting amounts from CSV, useful in dif- ferent situations. - 1. amount is the oldest and simplest. Assigning to this sets the + 1. amount is the oldest and simplest. Assigning to this sets the amount of the first and second postings. In the second posting, the - amount will be negated; also, if it has a cost attached, it will be + amount will be negated; also, if it has a cost attached, it will be converted to cost. - 2. amount-in and amount-out work exactly like the above, but should be - used when the CSV has two amount fields (such as "Debit" and + 2. amount-in and amount-out work exactly like the above, but should be + used when the CSV has two amount fields (such as "Debit" and "Credit", or "Inflow" and "Outflow"). Whichever field has a - non-zero value will be used as the amount of the first and second + non-zero value will be used as the amount of the first and second postings. Here are some tips to avoid confusion: - o It's not "amount-in for posting 1 and amount-out for posting 2", - it is "extract a single amount from the amount-in or amount-out + o It's not "amount-in for posting 1 and amount-out for posting 2", + it is "extract a single amount from the amount-in or amount-out field, and use that for posting 1 and (negated) for posting 2". - o Don't use both amount and amount-in/amount-out in the same rules + o Don't use both amount and amount-in/amount-out in the same rules file; choose based on whether the amount is in a single CSV field or spread across two fields. - o In each record, at most one of the two CSV fields should contain - a non-zero amount; the other field must contain a zero or noth- + o In each record, at most one of the two CSV fields should contain + a non-zero amount; the other field must contain a zero or noth- ing. - o hledger assumes both CSV fields contain unsigned numbers, and it + o hledger assumes both CSV fields contain unsigned numbers, and it automatically negates the amount-out values. - o If the data doesn't fit these requirements, you'll probably need + o If the data doesn't fit these requirements, you'll probably need an if rule (see below). 3. amountN (where N is a number from 1 to 99) sets the amount of only a - single posting: the Nth posting in the transaction. You'll usually - need at least two such assignments to make a balanced transaction. + single posting: the Nth posting in the transaction. You'll usually + need at least two such assignments to make a balanced transaction. You can also generate more than two postings, to represent more com- - plex transactions. The posting numbers don't have to be consecu- - tive; with if rules, higher posting numbers can be useful to ensure + plex transactions. The posting numbers don't have to be consecu- + tive; with if rules, higher posting numbers can be useful to ensure a certain order of postings. - 4. amountN-in and amountN-out work exactly like the above, but should - be used when the CSV has two amount fields. This is analogous to + 4. amountN-in and amountN-out work exactly like the above, but should + be used when the CSV has two amount fields. This is analogous to amount-in and amount-out, and those tips also apply here. 5. Remember that a fields list can also do assignments. So in a fields - list if you name a CSV field "amount", that counts as assigning to - amount. (If you don't want that, call it something else in the + list if you name a CSV field "amount", that counts as assigning to + amount. (If you don't want that, call it something else in the fields list, like "amount_".) - 6. The above don't handle every situation; if you need more flexibil- + 6. The above don't handle every situation; if you need more flexibil- ity, use an if rule to set amounts conditionally. See "Working with - CSV > Setting amounts" below for more on this and on amount-setting + CSV > Setting amounts" below for more on this and on amount-setting generally. currency field - currency sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all postings' - amounts. You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency + currency sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all postings' + amounts. You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency symbol, eg if it is in a separate column. currencyN prepends a currency symbol to just the Nth posting's amount. balance field - balanceN sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting amount is + balanceN sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting amount is left empty, a balance assignment) on posting N. balance is a compatibility spelling for hledger <1.17; it is equivalent to balance1. - You can adjust the type of assertion/assignment with the balance-type + You can adjust the type of assertion/assignment with the balance-type rule (see below). - See the Working with CSV tips below for more about setting amounts and + See the Working with CSV tips below for more about setting amounts and currency. if block - Rules can be applied conditionally, depending on patterns in the CSV - data. This allows flexibility; in particular, it is how you can cate- - gorise transactions, selecting an appropriate account name based on - their description (for example). There are two ways to write condi- - tional rules: "if blocks", described here, and "if tables", described + Rules can be applied conditionally, depending on patterns in the CSV + data. This allows flexibility; in particular, it is how you can cate- + gorise transactions, selecting an appropriate account name based on + their description (for example). There are two ways to write condi- + tional rules: "if blocks", described here, and "if tables", described below. - An if block is the word if and one or more "matcher" expressions (can + An if block is the word if and one or more "matcher" expressions (can be a word or phrase), one per line, starting either on the same or next line; followed by one or more indented rules. Eg, @@ -3652,11 +3654,11 @@ CSV RULE RULE - If any of the matchers succeeds, all of the indented rules will be ap- - plied. They are usually field assignments, but the following special + If any of the matchers succeeds, all of the indented rules will be ap- + plied. They are usually field assignments, but the following special rules may also be used within an if block: - o skip - skips the matched CSV record (generating no transaction from + o skip - skips the matched CSV record (generating no transaction from it) o end - skips the rest of the current CSV file. @@ -3682,39 +3684,39 @@ CSV Matchers There are two kinds of matcher: - 1. A whole record matcher is simplest: it is just a word, single-line - text fragment, or other regular expression, which hledger will try + 1. A whole record matcher is simplest: it is just a word, single-line + text fragment, or other regular expression, which hledger will try to match case-insensitively anywhere within the CSV record. Eg: whole foods. - 2. A field matcher has a percent-prefixed CSV field number or name be- + 2. A field matcher has a percent-prefixed CSV field number or name be- fore the pattern. Eg: %3 whole foods or %description whole foods. hledger will try to match the pattern just within the named CSV field. When using these, there's two things to be aware of: - 1. Whole record matchers don't see the exact original record; they see - a reconstruction of it, in which values are comma-separated, and - quotes enclosing values and whitespace outside those quotes are re- + 1. Whole record matchers don't see the exact original record; they see + a reconstruction of it, in which values are comma-separated, and + quotes enclosing values and whitespace outside those quotes are re- moved. Eg when reading an SSV record like: 2023-01-01 ; "Acme, Inc. " ; 1,000 the whole record matcher sees instead: 2023-01-01,Acme, Inc. ,1,000 2. Field matchers expect either a CSV field number, or a CSV field name - declared with fields. (Don't use a hledger field name here, unless - it is also a CSV field name.) A non-CSV field name will cause the - matcher to match against "" (the empty string), and does not raise - an error, allowing easier reuse of common rules with different CSV + declared with fields. (Don't use a hledger field name here, unless + it is also a CSV field name.) A non-CSV field name will cause the + matcher to match against "" (the empty string), and does not raise + an error, allowing easier reuse of common rules with different CSV files. You can also prefix a matcher with ! (and optional space) to negate it. - Eg ! whole foods, ! %3 whole foods, !%description whole foods will + Eg ! whole foods, ! %3 whole foods, !%description whole foods will match if "whole foods" is NOT present. Added in 1.32. - The pattern is, as usual in hledger, a POSIX extended regular expres- - sion that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>) and noth- - ing else. If you have trouble with it, see "Regular expressions" in + The pattern is, as usual in hledger, a POSIX extended regular expres- + sion that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>) and noth- + ing else. If you have trouble with it, see "Regular expressions" in the hledger manual (https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expres- sions). @@ -3723,28 +3725,28 @@ CSV o By default they are OR'd (any of them can match). - o Matcher lines beginning with & (or &&, since 1.42) are AND'ed with + o Matcher lines beginning with & (or &&, since 1.42) are AND'ed with the matcher above (all in the AND'ed group must match). - o Matcher lines beginning with & ! (since 1.41, or && !, since 1.42) + o Matcher lines beginning with & ! (since 1.41, or && !, since 1.42) are first negated and then AND'ed with the matcher above. - You can also combine multiple matchers one the same line separated by + You can also combine multiple matchers one the same line separated by && (AND) or && ! (AND NOT). Eg %description amazon && %date 2025-01-01 - will match only when the description field contains "amazon" and the + will match only when the description field contains "amazon" and the date field contains "2025-01-01". Added in 1.42. Match groups Added in 1.32 Matchers can define match groups: parenthesised portions of the regular - expression which are available for reference in field assignments. + expression which are available for reference in field assignments. Groups are enclosed in regular parentheses (( and )) and can be nested. - Each group is available in field assignments using the token \N, where - N is an index into the match groups for this conditional block (e.g. + Each group is available in field assignments using the token \N, where + N is an index into the match groups for this conditional block (e.g. \1, \2, etc.). - Example: Warp credit card payment postings to the beginning of the + Example: Warp credit card payment postings to the beginning of the billing period (Month start), to match how they are presented in state- ments, using posting dates: @@ -3758,8 +3760,8 @@ CSV account1 \1 if table - "if tables" are an alternative to if blocks; they can express many - matchers and field assignments in a more compact tabular format, like + "if tables" are an alternative to if blocks; they can express many + matchers and field assignments in a more compact tabular format, like this: if,HLEDGERFIELD1,HLEDGERFIELD2,... @@ -3770,21 +3772,21 @@ CSV The first character after if is taken to be this if table's field sepa- - rator. It is unrelated to the separator used in the CSV file. It + rator. It is unrelated to the separator used in the CSV file. It should be a non-alphanumeric character like , or | that does not appear - anywhere else in the table (it should not be used in field names or + anywhere else in the table (it should not be used in field names or matchers or values, and it cannot be escaped with a backslash). - Each line must contain the same number of separators; empty values are - allowed. Whitespace can be used in the matcher lines for readability - (but not in the if line, currently). You can use the comment lines in - the table body. The table must be terminated by an empty line (or end + Each line must contain the same number of separators; empty values are + allowed. Whitespace can be used in the matcher lines for readability + (but not in the if line, currently). You can use the comment lines in + the table body. The table must be terminated by an empty line (or end of file). - An if table like the above is interpreted as follows: try all of the + An if table like the above is interpreted as follows: try all of the lines with matchers; whenever a line with matchers succeeds, assign all of the values on that line to the corresponding hledger fields; If mul- - tiple lines match, later lines will override fields assigned by the + tiple lines match, later lines will override fields assigned by the earlier ones - just like the sequence of if blocks would behave. If table presented above is equivalent to this sequence of if blocks: @@ -3815,10 +3817,10 @@ CSV balance-type Balance assertions generated by assigning to balanceN are of the simple - = type by default, which is a single-commodity, subaccount-excluding + = type by default, which is a single-commodity, subaccount-excluding assertion. You may find the subaccount-including variants more useful, - eg if you have created some virtual subaccounts of checking to help - with budgeting. You can select a different type of assertion with the + eg if you have created some virtual subaccounts of checking to help + with budgeting. You can select a different type of assertion with the balance-type rule: # balance assertions will consider all commodities and all subaccounts @@ -3834,9 +3836,9 @@ CSV include include RULESFILE - This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point. - RULESFILE is an absolute file path or a path relative to the current - file's directory. This can be useful for sharing common rules between + This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point. + RULESFILE is an absolute file path or a path relative to the current + file's directory. This can be useful for sharing common rules between several rules files, eg: # someaccount.csv.rules @@ -3853,42 +3855,42 @@ CSV Some tips: Rapid feedback - It's a good idea to get rapid feedback while creating/troubleshooting + It's a good idea to get rapid feedback while creating/troubleshooting CSV rules. Here's a good way, using entr from eradman.com/entrproject: $ ls foo.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ----; hledger -f foo.csv print desc:SOMEDESC' - A desc: query (eg) is used to select just one, or a few, transactions - of interest. "bash -c" is used to run multiple commands, so we can - echo a separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to + A desc: query (eg) is used to select just one, or a few, transactions + of interest. "bash -c" is used to run multiple commands, so we can + echo a separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to read the output. Valid CSV - Note that hledger will only accept valid CSV conforming to RFC 4180, + Note that hledger will only accept valid CSV conforming to RFC 4180, and equivalent SSV and TSV formats (like RFC 4180 but with semicolon or tab as separators). This means, eg: o Values may be enclosed in double quotes, or not. Enclosing in single quotes is not allowed. (Eg 'A','B' is rejected.) - o When values are enclosed in double quotes, spaces outside the quotes + o When values are enclosed in double quotes, spaces outside the quotes are not allowed. (Eg "A", "B" is rejected.) - o When values are not enclosed in quotes, they may not contain double + o When values are not enclosed in quotes, they may not contain double quotes. (Eg A"A, B is rejected.) - If your CSV/SSV/TSV is not valid in this sense, you'll need to trans- - form it before reading with hledger. Try using sed, or a more permis- + If your CSV/SSV/TSV is not valid in this sense, you'll need to trans- + form it before reading with hledger. Try using sed, or a more permis- sive CSV parser like python's csv lib. File Extension - To help hledger choose the CSV file reader and show the right error - messages (and choose the right field separator character by default), - it's best if CSV/SSV/TSV files are named with a .csv, .ssv or .tsv + To help hledger choose the CSV file reader and show the right error + messages (and choose the right field separator character by default), + it's best if CSV/SSV/TSV files are named with a .csv, .ssv or .tsv filename extension. (More about this at Data formats.) - When reading files with the "wrong" extension, you can ensure the CSV - reader (and the default field separator) by prefixing the file path + When reading files with the "wrong" extension, you can ensure the CSV + reader (and the default field separator) by prefixing the file path with csv:, ssv: or tsv:: Eg: $ hledger -f ssv:foo.dat print @@ -3897,29 +3899,29 @@ CSV if needed. Reading CSV from standard input - You'll need the file format prefix when reading CSV from stdin also, + You'll need the file format prefix when reading CSV from stdin also, since hledger assumes journal format by default. Eg: $ cat foo.dat | hledger -f ssv:- print Reading multiple CSV files - If you use multiple -f options to read multiple CSV files at once, - hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each CSV - file. But if you specify a rules file with --rules, that rules file + If you use multiple -f options to read multiple CSV files at once, + hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each CSV + file. But if you specify a rules file with --rules, that rules file will be used for all the CSV files. Reading files specified by rule Instead of specifying a CSV file in the command line, you can specify a - rules file, as in hledger -f foo.csv.rules CMD. By default this will - read data from foo.csv in the same directory, but you can add a source - rule to specify a different data file, perhaps located in your web + rules file, as in hledger -f foo.csv.rules CMD. By default this will + read data from foo.csv in the same directory, but you can add a source + rule to specify a different data file, perhaps located in your web browser's download directory. This feature was added in hledger 1.30, so you won't see it in most CSV - rules examples. But it helps remove some of the busywork of managing + rules examples. But it helps remove some of the busywork of managing CSV downloads. Most of your financial institutions's default CSV file- - names are different and can be recognised by a glob pattern. So you - can put a rule like source Checking1*.csv in foo-checking.csv.rules, + names are different and can be recognised by a glob pattern. So you + can put a rule like source Checking1*.csv in foo-checking.csv.rules, and then periodically follow a workflow like: 1. Download CSV from Foo's website, using your browser's defaults @@ -3927,45 +3929,45 @@ CSV 2. Run hledger import foo-checking.csv.rules to import any new transac- tions - After import, you can: discard the CSV, or leave it where it is for a - while, or move it into your archives, as you prefer. If you do noth- - ing, next time your browser will save something like Checking1-2.csv, - and hledger will use that because of the * wild card and because it is + After import, you can: discard the CSV, or leave it where it is for a + while, or move it into your archives, as you prefer. If you do noth- + ing, next time your browser will save something like Checking1-2.csv, + and hledger will use that because of the * wild card and because it is the most recent. Valid transactions After reading a CSV file, hledger post-processes and validates the gen- erated journal entries as it would for a journal file - balancing them, - applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. Any - errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying the + applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. Any + errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying the problem entry. There is one exception: balance assertions, if you have generated them, - will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV - data is part of the main journal. If you do need to check balance as- + will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV + data is part of the main journal. If you do need to check balance as- sertions generated from CSV right away, pipe into another hledger: $ hledger -f file.csv print | hledger -f- print Deduplicating, importing - When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank - transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing + When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank + transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing some of the same records. The import command will (a) detect the new transactions, and (b) append just those transactions to your main journal. It is idempotent, so you - don't have to remember how many times you ran it or with which version - of the CSV. (It keeps state in a hidden .latest.FILE.csv file.) This + don't have to remember how many times you ran it or with which version + of the CSV. (It keeps state in a hidden .latest.FILE.csv file.) This is the easiest way to import CSV data. Eg: # download the latest CSV files, then run this command. # Note, no -f flags needed here. $ hledger import *.csv [--dry] - This method works for most CSV files. (Where records have a stable + This method works for most CSV files. (Where records have a stable chronological order, and new records appear only at the new end.) - A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, + A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, exist for converting, deduplicating, classifying and managing CSV data. See: @@ -3974,16 +3976,16 @@ CSV o https://plaintextaccounting.org -> data import/conversion Setting amounts - Continuing from amount field above, here are more tips for amount-set- + Continuing from amount field above, here are more tips for amount-set- ting: 1. If the amount is in a single CSV field: a. If its sign indicates direction of flow: - Assign it to amountN, to set the Nth posting's amount. N is usu- + Assign it to amountN, to set the Nth posting's amount. N is usu- ally 1 or 2 but can go up to 99. b. If another field indicates direction of flow: - Use one or more conditional rules to set the appropriate amount + Use one or more conditional rules to set the appropriate amount sign. Eg: # assume a withdrawal unless Type contains "deposit": @@ -3991,15 +3993,15 @@ CSV if %Type deposit amount1 %Amount - 2. If the amount is in two CSV fields (such as Debit and Credit, or In + 2. If the amount is in two CSV fields (such as Debit and Credit, or In and Out): a. If both fields are unsigned: - Assign one field to amountN-in and the other to amountN-out. - hledger will automatically negate the "out" field, and will use + Assign one field to amountN-in and the other to amountN-out. + hledger will automatically negate the "out" field, and will use whichever field value is non-zero as posting N's amount. b. If either field is signed: - You will probably need to override hledger's sign for one or the + You will probably need to override hledger's sign for one or the other field, as in the following example: # Negate the -out value, but only if it is not empty: @@ -4007,12 +4009,12 @@ CSV if %amount1-out [1-9] amount1-out -%amount1-out - c. If both fields can contain a non-zero value (or both can be + c. If both fields can contain a non-zero value (or both can be empty): - The -in/-out rules normally choose the value which is - non-zero/non-empty. Some value pairs can be ambiguous, such as 1 + The -in/-out rules normally choose the value which is + non-zero/non-empty. Some value pairs can be ambiguous, such as 1 and none. For such cases, use conditional rules to help select the - amount. Eg, to handle the above you could select the value con- + amount. Eg, to handle the above you could select the value con- taining non-zero digits: fields date, description, in, out @@ -4025,8 +4027,8 @@ CSV Use the unnumbered amount (or amount-in and amount-out) syntax. 4. If the CSV has only balance amounts, not transaction amounts: - Assign to balanceN, to set a balance assignment on the Nth posting, - causing the posting's amount to be calculated automatically. balance + Assign to balanceN, to set a balance assignment on the Nth posting, + causing the posting's amount to be calculated automatically. balance with no number is equivalent to balance1. In this situation hledger is more likely to guess the wrong default account name, so you may need to set that explicitly. @@ -4042,20 +4044,20 @@ CSV o If an amount value is parenthesised: it will be de-parenthesised and sign-flipped: (AMT) becomes -AMT - o If an amount value has two minus signs (or two sets of parentheses, + o If an amount value has two minus signs (or two sets of parentheses, or a minus sign and parentheses): they cancel out and will be removed: --AMT or -(AMT) becomes AMT - o If an amount value contains just a sign (or just a set of parenthe- + o If an amount value contains just a sign (or just a set of parenthe- ses): - that is removed, making it an empty value. "+" or "-" or "()" becomes + that is removed, making it an empty value. "+" or "-" or "()" becomes "". - It's not possible (without preprocessing the CSV) to set an amount to + It's not possible (without preprocessing the CSV) to set an amount to its absolute value, ie discard its sign. Setting currency/commodity - If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV's amount + If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV's amount field(s): 2023-01-01,foo,$123.00 @@ -4074,7 +4076,7 @@ CSV 2023-01-01,foo,USD,123.00 You can assign that to the currency pseudo-field, which has the special - effect of prepending itself to every amount in the transaction (on the + effect of prepending itself to every amount in the transaction (on the left, with no separating space): fields date,description,currency,amount @@ -4083,7 +4085,7 @@ CSV expenses:unknown USD123.00 income:unknown USD-123.00 - Or, you can use a field assignment to construct the amount yourself, + Or, you can use a field assignment to construct the amount yourself, with more control. Eg to put the symbol on the right, and separated by a space: @@ -4094,38 +4096,38 @@ CSV expenses:unknown 123.00 USD income:unknown -123.00 USD - Note we used a temporary field name (cur) that is not currency - that + Note we used a temporary field name (cur) that is not currency - that would trigger the prepending effect, which we don't want here. Amount decimal places - When you are reading CSV data, eg with a command like hledger -f - foo.csv print, hledger will infer each commodity's decimal precision - (and other commodity display styles) from the amounts - much as when + When you are reading CSV data, eg with a command like hledger -f + foo.csv print, hledger will infer each commodity's decimal precision + (and other commodity display styles) from the amounts - much as when reading a journal file without commodity directives (see the link). - Note, the commodity styles are not inferred from the numbers in the + Note, the commodity styles are not inferred from the numbers in the original CSV data; rather, they are inferred from the amounts generated by the CSV rules. When you are importing CSV data with the import command, eg hledger im- - port foo.csv, there's another step: import tries to make the new en- - tries conform to the journal's existing styles. So for each commodity + port foo.csv, there's another step: import tries to make the new en- + tries conform to the journal's existing styles. So for each commodity - let's say it's EUR - import will choose: 1. the style declared for EUR by a commodity directive in the journal 2. otherwise, the style inferred from EUR amounts in the journal - 3. otherwise, the style inferred from EUR amounts generated by the CSV + 3. otherwise, the style inferred from EUR amounts generated by the CSV rules. - TLDR: if import is not generating the precisions or styles you want, + TLDR: if import is not generating the precisions or styles you want, add a commodity directive to specify them. Referencing other fields - In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger - fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger - field named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the + In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger + fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger + field named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the hledger field: # Name the third CSV field "amount1" @@ -4137,7 +4139,7 @@ CSV # Set comment to the CSV amount1 (not the amount1 assigned above) comment %amount1 - Here, since there's no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a lit- + Here, since there's no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a lit- eral "amount1": fields date,description,csvamount @@ -4145,7 +4147,7 @@ CSV # Can't interpolate amount1 here comment %amount1 - When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, + When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, only the last one takes effect. Here, comment's value will be be B, or C if "something" is matched, but never A: @@ -4155,14 +4157,14 @@ CSV comment C How CSV rules are evaluated - Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need + Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need to). First, - o include - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth first. - (At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further + o include - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth first. + (At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further includes, recursively, before proceeding.) - Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is re- + Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is re- peated, the last one wins: o skip (at top level) @@ -4176,30 +4178,30 @@ CSV Then for each CSV record in turn: - o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all re- - maining CSV records. Otherwise if any of them contain a skip rule, - skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip + o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all re- + maining CSV records. Otherwise if any of them contain a skip rule, + skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip rules, the first one wins. - o collect all field assignments at top level and in matched if blocks. - When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last + o collect all field assignments at top level and in matched if blocks. + When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last one. - o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was as- + o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was as- signed to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELD references), or a default o generate a hledger transaction (journal entry) from these values. - This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can - use to parse input files. When all files have been read successfully, - the transactions are passed as input to whichever hledger command the + This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can + use to parse input files. When all files have been read successfully, + the transactions are passed as input to whichever hledger command the user specified. Well factored rules - Some things than can help reduce duplication and complexity in rules + Some things than can help reduce duplication and complexity in rules files: - o Extracting common rules usable with multiple CSV files into a com- + o Extracting common rules usable with multiple CSV files into a com- mon.rules, and adding include common.rules to each CSV's rules file. o Splitting if blocks into smaller if blocks, extracting the frequently @@ -4207,8 +4209,8 @@ CSV CSV rules examples Bank of Ireland - Here's a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a balance - field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not neces- + Here's a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a balance + field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not neces- sary but provides extra error checking: Date,Details,Debit,Credit,Balance @@ -4250,13 +4252,13 @@ CSV assets:bank:boi:checking EUR-5.0 = EUR126.0 expenses:unknown EUR5.0 - The balance assertions don't raise an error above, because we're read- - ing directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are + The balance assertions don't raise an error above, because we're read- + ing directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are imported into a journal file. Coinbase - A simple example with some CSV from Coinbase. The spot price is - recorded using cost notation. The legacy amount field name conve- + A simple example with some CSV from Coinbase. The spot price is + recorded using cost notation. The legacy amount field name conve- niently sets amount 2 (posting 2's amount) to the total cost. # Timestamp,Transaction Type,Asset,Quantity Transacted,Spot Price Currency,Spot Price at Transaction,Subtotal,Total (inclusive of fees and/or spread),Fees and/or Spread,Notes @@ -4278,7 +4280,7 @@ CSV Amazon Here we convert amazon.com order history, and use an if block to gener- - ate a third posting if there's a fee. (In practice you'd probably get + ate a third posting if there's a fee. (In practice you'd probably get this data from your bank instead, but it's an example.) "Date","Type","To/From","Name","Status","Amount","Fees","Transaction ID" @@ -4330,7 +4332,7 @@ CSV expenses:fees $1.00 Paypal - Here's a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with some + Here's a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with some Paypal-specific rules, and a second rules file included: "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Item Title","Item ID","Reference Txn ID","Receipt ID","Balance","Note" @@ -4481,12 +4483,12 @@ CSV Timeclock The time logging format of timeclock.el, as read by hledger. - hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. As with Ledger, these - are (a subset of) timeclock.el's format, containing clock-in and - clock-out entries as in the example below. The date is a simple date. - The time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. Seconds and timezone are op- - tional. The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored - (currently the time is always interpreted as a local time). Lines be- + hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. As with Ledger, these + are (a subset of) timeclock.el's format, containing clock-in and + clock-out entries as in the example below. The date is a simple date. + The time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. Seconds and timezone are op- + tional. The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored + (currently the time is always interpreted as a local time). Lines be- ginning with # or ; or *, and blank lines, are ignored. i 2015/03/30 09:00:00 some account optional description after 2 spaces ; optional comment, tags: @@ -4494,9 +4496,9 @@ Timeclock i 2015/03/31 22:21:45 another:account o 2015/04/01 02:00:34 - hledger treats each clock-in/clock-out pair as a transaction posting - some number of hours to an account. Or if the session spans more than - one day, it is split into several transactions, one for each day. For + hledger treats each clock-in/clock-out pair as a transaction posting + some number of hours to an account. Or if the session spans more than + one day, it is split into several transactions, one for each day. For the above time log, hledger print generates these journal entries: $ hledger -f t.timeclock print @@ -4526,13 +4528,13 @@ Timeclock perhaps the extras in ledgerutils.el o or use the old ti and to scripts in the ledger 2.x repository. These - rely on a "timeclock" executable which I think is just the ledger 2 + rely on a "timeclock" executable which I think is just the ledger 2 executable renamed. Timedot - timedot format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Com- - pared to timeclock format, it is more convenient for quick, approxi- - mate, and retroactive time logging, and more human-readable (you can + timedot format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Com- + pared to timeclock format, it is more convenient for quick, approxi- + mate, and retroactive time logging, and more human-readable (you can see at a glance where time was spent). A quick example: 2023-05-01 @@ -4551,59 +4553,59 @@ Timedot (per:admin:finance) 0 A timedot file contains a series of transactions (usually one per day). - Each begins with a simple date (Y-M-D, Y/M/D, or Y.M.D), optionally be + Each begins with a simple date (Y-M-D, Y/M/D, or Y.M.D), optionally be followed on the same line by a transaction description, and/or a trans- action comment following a semicolon. After the date line are zero or more time postings, consisting of: - o An account name - any hledger-style account name, optionally in- + o An account name - any hledger-style account name, optionally in- dented. - o Two or more spaces - required if there is an amount (as in journal + o Two or more spaces - required if there is an amount (as in journal format). o A timedot amount, which can be o empty (representing zero) - o a number, optionally followed by a unit s, m, h, d, w, mo, or y, - representing a precise number of seconds, minutes, hours, days + o a number, optionally followed by a unit s, m, h, d, w, mo, or y, + representing a precise number of seconds, minutes, hours, days weeks, months or years (hours is assumed by default), which will be - converted to hours according to 60s = 1m, 60m = 1h, 24h = 1d, 7d = + converted to hours according to 60s = 1m, 60m = 1h, 24h = 1d, 7d = 1w, 30d = 1mo, 365d = 1y. - o one or more dots (period characters), each representing 0.25. - These are the dots in "timedot". Spaces are ignored and can be + o one or more dots (period characters), each representing 0.25. + These are the dots in "timedot". Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping/alignment. - o Added in 1.32 one or more letters. These are like dots but they - also generate a tag t: (short for "type") with the letter as its - value, and a separate posting for each of the values. This pro- - vides a second dimension of categorisation, viewable in reports + o Added in 1.32 one or more letters. These are like dots but they + also generate a tag t: (short for "type") with the letter as its + value, and a separate posting for each of the values. This pro- + vides a second dimension of categorisation, viewable in reports with --pivot t. - o An optional comment following a semicolon (a hledger-style posting + o An optional comment following a semicolon (a hledger-style posting comment). - There is some flexibility to help with keeping time log data and notes + There is some flexibility to help with keeping time log data and notes in the same file: o Blank lines and lines beginning with # or ; are ignored. - o After the first date line, lines which do not contain a double space + o After the first date line, lines which do not contain a double space are parsed as postings with zero amount. (hledger's register reports will show these if you add -E). - o Before the first date line, lines beginning with * (eg org headings) - are ignored. And from the first date line onward, Emacs org mode + o Before the first date line, lines beginning with * (eg org headings) + are ignored. And from the first date line onward, Emacs org mode heading prefixes at the start of lines (one or more *'s followed by a - space) will be ignored. This means the time log can also be a org + space) will be ignored. This means the time log can also be a org outline. Timedot files don't support directives like journal files. So a common - pattern is to have a main journal file (eg time.journal) that contains - any needed directives, and then includes the timedot file (include + pattern is to have a main journal file (eg time.journal) that contains + any needed directives, and then includes the timedot file (include time.timedot). Timedot examples @@ -4711,21 +4713,21 @@ Timedot PART 3: REPORTING CONCEPTS Time periods Report start & end date - Most hledger reports will by default show the full time period repre- - sented by the journal. The report start date will be the earliest + Most hledger reports will by default show the full time period repre- + sented by the journal. The report start date will be the earliest transaction or posting date, and the report end date will be the latest transaction, posting, or market price date. Often you will want to see a shorter period, such as the current month. - You can specify a start and/or end date with the -b/--begin, -e/--end, - or -p/--period options, or a date: query argument, described below. + You can specify a start and/or end date with the -b/--begin, -e/--end, + or -p/--period options, or a date: query argument, described below. All of these accept the smart date syntax, also described below. End dates are exclusive; specify the day after the last day you want to see in the report. When dates are specified by multiple options, the last (right-most) op- - tion wins. And when date: queries and date options are combined, the + tion wins. And when date: queries and date options are combined, the report period will be their intersection. Examples: @@ -4753,17 +4755,17 @@ Time periods -b and -e) Smart dates - In hledger's user interfaces (though not in the journal file), you can - optionally use "smart date" syntax. Smart dates can be written with - english words, can be relative, and can have parts omitted. Missing - parts are inferred as 1, when needed. Smart dates can be interpreted + In hledger's user interfaces (though not in the journal file), you can + optionally use "smart date" syntax. Smart dates can be written with + english words, can be relative, and can have parts omitted. Missing + parts are inferred as 1, when needed. Smart dates can be interpreted as dates or periods depending on context. Examples: 2004-01-01, 2004/10/1, 2004.9.1, 20240504 : - Exact dates. The year must have at least four digits, the month must - be 1-12, the day must be 1-31, the separator can be - or / or . or + Exact dates. The year must have at least four digits, the month must + be 1-12, the day must be 1-31, the separator can be - or / or . or nothing. 2004-10 @@ -4796,7 +4798,7 @@ Time periods 201812 6 digit YYYYMM with valid year and month - Dates with no separators are allowed but might give surprising results + Dates with no separators are allowed but might give surprising results if mistyped: o 20181301 (YYYYMMDD with an invalid month) is parsed as an eight-digit @@ -4804,20 +4806,20 @@ Time periods o 20181232 (YYYYMMDD with an invalid day) gives a parse error - o 201801012 (a valid YYYYMMDD followed by additional digits) gives a + o 201801012 (a valid YYYYMMDD followed by additional digits) gives a parse error - The meaning of relative dates depends on today's date. If you need to - test or reproduce old reports, you can use the --today option to over- - ride that. (Except for periodic transaction rules, which are not af- + The meaning of relative dates depends on today's date. If you need to + test or reproduce old reports, you can use the --today option to over- + ride that. (Except for periodic transaction rules, which are not af- fected by --today.) Report intervals - A report interval can be specified so that reports like register, bal- + A report interval can be specified so that reports like register, bal- ance or activity become multi-period, showing each subperiod as a sepa- rate row or column. - The following standard intervals can be enabled with command-line + The following standard intervals can be enabled with command-line flags: o -D/--daily @@ -4830,7 +4832,7 @@ Time periods o -Y/--yearly - More complex intervals can be specified using -p/--period, described + More complex intervals can be specified using -p/--period, described below. Date adjustments @@ -4841,17 +4843,17 @@ Time periods For example, if the journal's first transaction is on january 10th, - o hledger register (no report interval) will start the report on janu- + o hledger register (no report interval) will start the report on janu- ary 10th. - o hledger register --monthly will start the report on the previous + o hledger register --monthly will start the report on the previous month boundary, january 1st. o hledger register --monthly --begin 1/5 will start the report on janu- ary 5th [1]. - Also if you are generating transactions or budget goals with periodic - transaction rules, their start date may be adjusted in a similar way + Also if you are generating transactions or budget goals with periodic + transaction rules, their start date may be adjusted in a similar way (in certain situations). End date adjustment @@ -4862,7 +4864,7 @@ Time periods o hledger register will end the report on february 20th. - o hledger register --monthly will end the report at the end of febru- + o hledger register --monthly will end the report at the end of febru- ary. o hledger register --monthly --end 2/14 also will end the report at the @@ -4874,40 +4876,40 @@ Time periods [1] Since hledger 1.29. Period headings - With non-standard subperiods, hledger will show "STARTDATE..ENDDATE" + With non-standard subperiods, hledger will show "STARTDATE..ENDDATE" headings. With standard subperiods (ie, starting on a natural interval - boundary), you'll see more compact headings, which are usually prefer- + boundary), you'll see more compact headings, which are usually prefer- able. (Though month names will be in english, currently.) - So if you are specifying a start date and you want compact headings: + So if you are specifying a start date and you want compact headings: choose a start of year for yearly reports, a start of quarter for quar- - terly reports, a start of month for monthly reports, etc. (Remember, - you can write eg -b 2024 or 1/1 as a shortcut for a start of year, or + terly reports, a start of month for monthly reports, etc. (Remember, + you can write eg -b 2024 or 1/1 as a shortcut for a start of year, or 2024-04 or 202404 or Apr for a start of month or quarter.) - For weekly reports, choose a date that's a Monday. (You can try dif- - ferent dates until you see the short headings, or write eg -b '3 weeks + For weekly reports, choose a date that's a Monday. (You can try dif- + ferent dates until you see the short headings, or write eg -b '3 weeks ago'.) Period expressions - The -p/--period option specifies a period expression, which is a com- + The -p/--period option specifies a period expression, which is a com- pact way of expressing a start date, end date, and/or report interval. - Here's a period expression with a start and end date (specifying the + Here's a period expression with a start and end date (specifying the first quarter of 2009): -p "from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1" - Several keywords like "from" and "to" are supported for readability; - these are optional. "to" can also be written as ".." or "-". The - spaces are also optional, as long as you don't run two dates together. + Several keywords like "from" and "to" are supported for readability; + these are optional. "to" can also be written as ".." or "-". The + spaces are also optional, as long as you don't run two dates together. So the following are equivalent to the above: -p "2009/1/1 2009/4/1" -p2009/1/1to2009/4/1 -p2009/1/1..2009/4/1 - Dates are smart dates, so if the current year is 2009, these are also + Dates are smart dates, so if the current year is 2009, these are also equivalent to the above: -p "1/1 4/1" @@ -4919,28 +4921,28 @@ Time periods -p "from 2009/1/1" everything after january 1, 2009 - -p "since 2009/1" the same, since is a syn- + -p "since 2009/1" the same, since is a syn- onym -p "from 2009" the same - -p "to 2009" everything before january + -p "to 2009" everything before january 1, 2009 You can also specify a period by writing a single partial or full date: -p "2009" the year 2009; equivalent to "2009/1/1 to 2010/1/1" - -p "2009/1" the month of january 2009; equivalent to "2009/1/1 to + -p "2009/1" the month of january 2009; equivalent to "2009/1/1 to 2009/2/1" - -p "2009/1/1" the first day of 2009; equivalent to "2009/1/1 to + -p "2009/1/1" the first day of 2009; equivalent to "2009/1/1 to 2009/1/2" or by using the "Q" quarter-year syntax (case insensitive): - -p "2009Q1" first quarter of 2009, equivalent to "2009/1/1 to + -p "2009Q1" first quarter of 2009, equivalent to "2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1" -p "q4" fourth quarter of the current year Period expressions with a report interval - A period expression can also begin with a report interval, separated + A period expression can also begin with a report interval, separated from the start/end dates (if any) by a space or the word in: -p "weekly from 2009/1/1 to 2009/4/1" @@ -4963,15 +4965,15 @@ Time periods Weekly on a custom day: - o every Nth day of week (th, nd, rd, or st are all accepted after the + o every Nth day of week (th, nd, rd, or st are all accepted after the number) - o every WEEKDAYNAME (full or three-letter english weekday name, case + o every WEEKDAYNAME (full or three-letter english weekday name, case insensitive) Monthly on a custom day: - o every Nth day [of month] (31st day will be adjusted to each month's + o every Nth day [of month] (31st day will be adjusted to each month's last day) o every Nth WEEKDAYNAME [of month] @@ -4980,7 +4982,7 @@ Time periods o every MM/DD [of year] (month number and day of month number) - o every MONTHNAME DDth [of year] (full or three-letter english month + o every MONTHNAME DDth [of year] (full or three-letter english month name, case insensitive, and day of month number) o every DDth MONTHNAME [of year] (equivalent to the above) @@ -4993,21 +4995,21 @@ Time periods 2009/03" -p "every 2nd day of week" periods will go from Tue to Tue -p "every Tue" same - -p "every 15th day" period boundaries will be on 15th of each + -p "every 15th day" period boundaries will be on 15th of each month - -p "every 2nd Monday" period boundaries will be on second Monday + -p "every 2nd Monday" period boundaries will be on second Monday of each month - -p "every 11/05" yearly periods with boundaries on 5th of + -p "every 11/05" yearly periods with boundaries on 5th of November -p "every 5th November" same -p "every Nov 5th" same - Show historical balances at end of the 15th day of each month (N is an + Show historical balances at end of the 15th day of each month (N is an end date, exclusive as always): $ hledger balance -H -p "every 16th day" - Group postings from the start of wednesday to end of the following + Group postings from the start of wednesday to end of the following tuesday (N is both (inclusive) start date and (exclusive) end date): $ hledger register checking -p "every 3rd day of week" @@ -5018,10 +5020,10 @@ Time periods o every WEEKDAYNAME,WEEKDAYNAME,... (full or three-letter english week- day names, case insensitive) - Also, weekday and weekendday are shorthand for mon,tue,wed,thu,fri and + Also, weekday and weekendday are shorthand for mon,tue,wed,thu,fri and sat,sun. - This is mainly intended for use with --forecast, to generate periodic + This is mainly intended for use with --forecast, to generate periodic transactions on arbitrary days of the week. It may be less useful with -p, since it divides each week into subperiods of unequal length, which is unusual. (Related: #1632) @@ -5030,32 +5032,32 @@ Time periods -p "every dates will be Mon, Wed, Fri; periods will be mon,wed,fri" Mon-Tue, Wed-Thu, Fri-Sun - -p "every weekday" dates will be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri; periods will + -p "every weekday" dates will be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri; periods will be Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri-Sun -p "every weekend- dates will be Sat, Sun; periods will be Sat, Sun-Fri day" Depth - With the --depth NUM option (short form: -NUM), reports will show ac- - counts only to the specified depth, hiding deeper subaccounts. Use - this when you want a summary with less detail. This flag has the same + With the --depth NUM option (short form: -NUM), reports will show ac- + counts only to the specified depth, hiding deeper subaccounts. Use + this when you want a summary with less detail. This flag has the same effect as a depth: query argument: depth:2, --depth=2 or -2 are equiva- lent. - In place of a single number which limits the depth for all accounts, + In place of a single number which limits the depth for all accounts, you can also provide separate depth limits for different accounts using regular expressions (since 1.41). - For example, --depth assets=2 (or, equivalently: depth:assets=2) will - collapse accounts matching the regular expression assets to depth 2. + For example, --depth assets=2 (or, equivalently: depth:assets=2) will + collapse accounts matching the regular expression assets to depth 2. So assets:bank:savings would be collapsed to assets:bank, while liabil- - ities:bank:credit card would not be affected. This can be combined - with a flat depth to collapse other accounts not matching the regular - expression, so --depth assets=2 --depth 1 would collapse as- - sets:bank:savings to assets:bank and liabilities:bank:credit card to + ities:bank:credit card would not be affected. This can be combined + with a flat depth to collapse other accounts not matching the regular + expression, so --depth assets=2 --depth 1 would collapse as- + sets:bank:savings to assets:bank and liabilities:bank:credit card to liabilities. - You can supply multiple depth arguments and they will all be applied, + You can supply multiple depth arguments and they will all be applied, so --depth assets=2 --depth liabilities=3 --depth 1 would collapse: o accounts matching assets to depth 2, @@ -5064,31 +5066,31 @@ Depth o all other accounts to depth 1. - If an account is matched by more than one regular expression depth ar- - gument then the more specific one will used. For example, if --depth - assets=1 --depth assets:bank:savings=2 is provided, then as- - sets:bank:savings will be collapsed to depth 2 rather than depth 1. - This is because assets:bank:savings matches at level 3 in the account + If an account is matched by more than one regular expression depth ar- + gument then the more specific one will used. For example, if --depth + assets=1 --depth assets:bank:savings=2 is provided, then as- + sets:bank:savings will be collapsed to depth 2 rather than depth 1. + This is because assets:bank:savings matches at level 3 in the account name, while assets matches at level 1. The same would be true with the argument --depth assets=1 --depth savings=2. Queries One of hledger's strengths is being able to quickly report on a precise - subset of your data. Most hledger commands accept query arguments, to + subset of your data. Most hledger commands accept query arguments, to restrict their scope. Multiple query terms can be provided to build up a more complex query. - o By default, a query term is interpreted as a case-insensitive sub- + o By default, a query term is interpreted as a case-insensitive sub- string pattern for matching account names: car:fuel dining groceries - o Patterns containing spaces or other special characters must be en- + o Patterns containing spaces or other special characters must be en- closed in single or double quotes: 'personal care' - o These patterns are actually regular expressions, so you can add reg- - exp metacharacters for more precision (see "Regular expressions" + o These patterns are actually regular expressions, so you can add reg- + exp metacharacters for more precision (see "Regular expressions" above for details): '^expenses\b' @@ -5109,15 +5111,15 @@ Queries not:status:'*' not:desc:'opening|closing' not:cur:USD - o Terms with different types are AND-ed, terms with the same type are - OR-ed (mostly; see "Combining query terms" below). The following + o Terms with different types are AND-ed, terms with the same type are + OR-ed (mostly; see "Combining query terms" below). The following query: date:2022 desc:amazon desc:amzn is interpreted as: - date is in 2022 AND ( transaction description contains "amazon" OR + date is in 2022 AND ( transaction description contains "amazon" OR "amzn" ) Query types @@ -5125,19 +5127,19 @@ Queries acct: query acct:REGEX, or just REGEX - Match account names containing this case insensitive regular expres- + Match account names containing this case insensitive regular expres- sion. - This is the default query type, so we usually don't bother writing the + This is the default query type, so we usually don't bother writing the "acct:" prefix. amt: query amt:N, amt:'N', amt:'>=N' - Match postings with a single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or - greater than N. (Postings with multi-commodity amounts are not tested + Match postings with a single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or + greater than N. (Postings with multi-commodity amounts are not tested and will always match.) The comparison has two modes: if N is preceded - by a + or - sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. Oth- - erwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. amt: - needs quotes to hide the less than/greater than sign from the command + by a + or - sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. Oth- + erwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. amt: + needs quotes to hide the less than/greater than sign from the command line shell. code: query @@ -5148,10 +5150,10 @@ Queries cur:REGEX Match postings or transactions including any amounts whose cur- rency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (Contrary to - hledger's usual infix matching. To do infix matching, write + hledger's usual infix matching. To do infix matching, write .*REGEX.*.) Note, to match special characters which are regex-signifi- - cant, you need to escape them with \. And for characters which are - significant to your shell you will usually need one more level of es- + cant, you need to escape them with \. And for characters which are + significant to your shell you will usually need one more level of es- caping. Eg to match the dollar sign: cur:\\$ or cur:'\$' desc: query @@ -5160,25 +5162,25 @@ Queries date: query date:PERIODEXPR - Match dates (or with the --date2 flag, secondary dates) within the + Match dates (or with the --date2 flag, secondary dates) within the specified period. PERIODEXPR is a period expression with no report in- terval. Examples: date:2016, date:thismonth, date:2/1-2/15, date:2021-07-27..nextquarter. date2: query date2:PERIODEXPR - If you use secondary dates: this matches secondary dates within the + If you use secondary dates: this matches secondary dates within the specified period. It is not affected by the --date2 flag. depth: query depth:[REGEXP=]N - Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this + Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this depth, optionally only for accounts matching a provided regular expres- sion. See Depth for detailed rules. expr: query expr:'QUERYEXPR' - expr lets you write more complicated query expressions with AND, OR, + expr lets you write more complicated query expressions with AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses. Eg: expr:'date:lastmonth and not (food or rent)' The expression should be enclosed in quotes. See Combining query terms @@ -5188,7 +5190,7 @@ Queries not:QUERYTERM You can prepend not: to any other query term to negate the match. Eg: not:equity, not:desc:apple - (Also, a trick: not:not:... can sometimes solve query problems conve- + (Also, a trick: not:not:... can sometimes solve query problems conve- niently..) note: query @@ -5198,7 +5200,7 @@ Queries payee: query payee:REGEX - Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left + Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left of |, or the whole description if there's no |). real: query @@ -5211,18 +5213,18 @@ Queries type: query type:TYPECODES - Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). TYPE- - CODES is one or more of the single-letter account type codes ALERXCV, + Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). TYPE- + CODES is one or more of the single-letter account type codes ALERXCV, case insensitive. Note type:A and type:E will also match their respec- - tive subtypes C (Cash) and V (Conversion). Certain kinds of account - alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts > Aliases and + tive subtypes C (Cash) and V (Conversion). Certain kinds of account + alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. tag: query tag:NAMEREGEX[=VALREGEX] Match by tag name, and optionally also by tag value. Note: - o Both regular expressions do infix matching. If you need a complete + o Both regular expressions do infix matching. If you need a complete match, use ^ and $. Eg: tag:'^fullname$', tag:'^fullname$=^fullvalue$ @@ -5236,7 +5238,7 @@ Queries o Transactions also acquire the tags of their postings. Combining query terms - When given multiple space-separated query terms, most commands select + When given multiple space-separated query terms, most commands select things which match: o any of the description terms AND @@ -5257,8 +5259,8 @@ Queries o match all the other terms. - We also support more complex boolean queries with the expr: prefix. - This allows one to combine query terms using and, or, not keywords + We also support more complex boolean queries with the expr: prefix. + This allows one to combine query terms using and, or, not keywords (case insensitive), and to group them by enclosing in parentheses. Some examples: @@ -5271,44 +5273,44 @@ Queries expr:"desc:cool and tag:A" (expr:"desc:cool tag:A" is equivalent) - o Match things which either do not reference the 'expenses:food' ac- + o Match things which either do not reference the 'expenses:food' ac- count, or do have the 'A' tag: expr:"not expenses:food or tag:A" - o Match things which either do not reference the 'expenses:food' ac- - count, or which reference the 'expenses:drink' account and also have + o Match things which either do not reference the 'expenses:food' ac- + count, or which reference the 'expenses:drink' account and also have the 'A' tag: expr:"expenses:food or (expenses:drink and tag:A)" - expr: has a restriction: date: queries may not be used inside or ex- + expr: has a restriction: date: queries may not be used inside or ex- pressions. That would allow disjoint report periods or disjoint result sets, with unclear semantics for our reports. Queries and command options - Some queries can also be expressed as command-line options: depth:2 is + Some queries can also be expressed as command-line options: depth:2 is equivalent to --depth 2, date:2023 is equivalent to -p 2023, etc. When - you mix command options and query arguments, generally the resulting + you mix command options and query arguments, generally the resulting query is their intersection. Queries and account aliases - When account names are rewritten with --alias or alias, acct: will + When account names are rewritten with --alias or alias, acct: will match either the old or the new account name. Queries and valuation - When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value re- - ports, cur: and amt: match the old commodity symbol and the old amount + When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value re- + ports, cur: and amt: match the old commodity symbol and the old amount quantity, not the new ones. (Except in hledger 1.22, #1625.) Pivoting - Normally, hledger groups amounts and displays their totals by account - (name). With --pivot PIVOTEXPR, some other field's (or multiple - fields') value is used as a synthetic account name, causing different + Normally, hledger groups amounts and displays their totals by account + (name). With --pivot PIVOTEXPR, some other field's (or multiple + fields') value is used as a synthetic account name, causing different grouping and display. PIVOTEXPR can be - o any of these standard transaction or posting fields (their value is - substituted): status, code, desc, payee, note, acct, comm/cur, amt, + o any of these standard transaction or posting fields (their value is + substituted): status, code, desc, payee, note, acct, comm/cur, amt, cost o or a tag name @@ -5320,10 +5322,10 @@ Pivoting o Colons appearing in PIVOTEXPR or in a pivoted tag value will generate account hierarchy. - o When pivoting a posting has multiple values for a tag, the pivoted + o When pivoting a posting has multiple values for a tag, the pivoted value of that tag will be the first value. - o When a posting has multiple commodities, the pivoted value of + o When a posting has multiple commodities, the pivoted value of "comm"/"cur" will be "". Also when an unrecognised tag name or field is provided, its pivoted value will be "". (If this causes confusing output, consider excluding those postings from the report.) @@ -5357,7 +5359,7 @@ Pivoting -------------------- -2 EUR - Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted "account + Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted "account name"): $ hledger balance --pivot member acct:. @@ -5373,78 +5375,78 @@ Pivoting -2 EUR Generating data - hledger can enrich the data provided to it, or generate new data, in a + hledger can enrich the data provided to it, or generate new data, in a number of ways. Mostly, this is done only if you request it: - o Missing amounts or missing costs in transactions are inferred auto- + o Missing amounts or missing costs in transactions are inferred auto- matically when possible. - o The --infer-equity flag infers missing conversion equity postings + o The --infer-equity flag infers missing conversion equity postings from @/@@ costs. - o The --infer-costs flag infers missing costs from conversion equity + o The --infer-costs flag infers missing costs from conversion equity postings. o The --infer-market-prices flag infers P price directives from costs. - o The --auto flag adds extra postings to transactions matched by auto + o The --auto flag adds extra postings to transactions matched by auto posting rules. - o The --forecast option generates transactions from periodic transac- + o The --forecast option generates transactions from periodic transac- tion rules. - o The balance --budget report infers budget goals from periodic trans- + o The balance --budget report infers budget goals from periodic trans- action rules. - o Commands like close, rewrite, and hledger-interest generate transac- + o Commands like close, rewrite, and hledger-interest generate transac- tions or postings. - o CSV data is converted to transactions by applying CSV conversion + o CSV data is converted to transactions by applying CSV conversion rules.. etc. - Such generated data is temporary, existing only at report time. You - can convert it to permanent recorded data by, eg, capturing the output - of hledger print and saving it in your journal file. This can some- + Such generated data is temporary, existing only at report time. You + can convert it to permanent recorded data by, eg, capturing the output + of hledger print and saving it in your journal file. This can some- times be useful as a data entry aid. - If you are curious what data is being generated and why, run hledger - print -x --verbose-tags. -x/--explicit shows inferred amounts and - --verbose-tags adds tags like generated-transaction (from periodic + If you are curious what data is being generated and why, run hledger + print -x --verbose-tags. -x/--explicit shows inferred amounts and + --verbose-tags adds tags like generated-transaction (from periodic rules) and generated-posting, modified (from auto posting rules). Sim- - ilar hidden tags (with an underscore prefix) are always present, also, - so you can always match such data with queries like tag:generated or + ilar hidden tags (with an underscore prefix) are always present, also, + so you can always match such data with queries like tag:generated or tag:modified. Forecasting - Forecasting, or speculative future reporting, can be useful for esti- + Forecasting, or speculative future reporting, can be useful for esti- mating future balances, or for exploring different future scenarios. The simplest and most flexible way to do it with hledger is to manually record a bunch of future-dated transactions. You could keep these in a - separate future.journal and include that with -f only when you want to + separate future.journal and include that with -f only when you want to see them. --forecast - There is another way: with the --forecast option, hledger can generate - temporary "forecast transactions" for reporting purposes, according to - periodic transaction rules defined in the journal. Each rule can gen- - erate multiple recurring transactions, so by changing one rule you can + There is another way: with the --forecast option, hledger can generate + temporary "forecast transactions" for reporting purposes, according to + periodic transaction rules defined in the journal. Each rule can gen- + erate multiple recurring transactions, so by changing one rule you can change many forecasted transactions. - Forecast transactions usually start after ordinary transactions end. + Forecast transactions usually start after ordinary transactions end. By default, they begin after your latest-dated ordinary transaction, or - today, whichever is later, and they end six months from today. (The + today, whichever is later, and they end six months from today. (The exact rules are a little more complicated, and are given below.) This is the "forecast period", which need not be the same as the report - period. You can override it - eg to forecast farther into the future, + period. You can override it - eg to forecast farther into the future, or to force forecast transactions to overlap your ordinary transactions - - by giving the --forecast option a period expression argument, like - --forecast=..2099 or --forecast=2023-02-15... Note that the = is re- + - by giving the --forecast option a period expression argument, like + --forecast=..2099 or --forecast=2023-02-15... Note that the = is re- quired. Inspecting forecast transactions - print is the best command for inspecting and troubleshooting forecast + print is the best command for inspecting and troubleshooting forecast transactions. Eg: ~ monthly from 2022-12-20 rent @@ -5478,7 +5480,7 @@ Forecasting expenses:rent $1000 Here there are no ordinary transactions, so the forecasted transactions - begin on the first occurrence after today's date. (You won't normally + begin on the first occurrence after today's date. (You won't normally use --today; it's just to make these examples reproducible.) Forecast reports @@ -5502,19 +5504,19 @@ Forecasting || $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 Forecast tags - Forecast transactions generated by --forecast have a hidden tag, _gen- - erated-transaction. So if you ever need to match forecast transac- + Forecast transactions generated by --forecast have a hidden tag, _gen- + erated-transaction. So if you ever need to match forecast transac- tions, you could use tag:_generated-transaction (or just tag:generated) in a query. - For troubleshooting, you can add the --verbose-tags flag. Then, visi- + For troubleshooting, you can add the --verbose-tags flag. Then, visi- ble generated-transaction tags will be added also, so you can view them - with the print command. Their value indicates which periodic rule was + with the print command. Their value indicates which periodic rule was responsible. Forecast period, in detail Forecast start/end dates are chosen so as to do something useful by de- - fault in almost all situations, while also being flexible. Here are + fault in almost all situations, while also being flexible. Here are (with luck) the exact rules, to help with troubleshooting: The forecast period starts on: @@ -5546,7 +5548,7 @@ Forecasting o otherwise: 180 days (~6 months) from today. Forecast troubleshooting - When --forecast is not doing what you expect, one of these tips should + When --forecast is not doing what you expect, one of these tips should help: o Remember to use the --forecast option. @@ -5556,22 +5558,22 @@ Forecasting o Test with print --forecast. - o Check for typos or too-restrictive start/end dates in your periodic + o Check for typos or too-restrictive start/end dates in your periodic transaction rule. - o Leave at least 2 spaces between the rule's period expression and de- + o Leave at least 2 spaces between the rule's period expression and de- scription fields. - o Check for future-dated ordinary transactions suppressing forecasted + o Check for future-dated ordinary transactions suppressing forecasted transactions. o Try setting explicit report start and/or end dates with -b, -e, -p or date: - o Try adding the -E flag to encourage display of empty periods/zero + o Try adding the -E flag to encourage display of empty periods/zero transactions. - o Try setting explicit forecast start and/or end dates with --fore- + o Try setting explicit forecast start and/or end dates with --fore- cast=START..END o Consult Forecast period, in detail, above. @@ -5579,13 +5581,13 @@ Forecasting o Check inside the engine: add --debug=2 (eg). Budgeting - With the balance command's --budget report, each periodic transaction - rule generates recurring budget goals in specified accounts, and goals - and actual performance can be compared. See the balance command's doc + With the balance command's --budget report, each periodic transaction + rule generates recurring budget goals in specified accounts, and goals + and actual performance can be compared. See the balance command's doc below. - You can generate budget goals and forecast transactions at the same - time, from the same or different periodic transaction rules: hledger + You can generate budget goals and forecast transactions at the same + time, from the same or different periodic transaction rules: hledger bal -M --budget --forecast ... See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. @@ -5593,17 +5595,17 @@ Budgeting Amount formatting Commodity display style For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display - style (symbol placement, decimal mark and digit group marks, number of + style (symbol placement, decimal mark and digit group marks, number of decimal digits) to use in most reports. This is inferred as follows: - First, if there's a D directive declaring a default commodity, that - commodity symbol and amount format is applied to all no-symbol amounts + First, if there's a D directive declaring a default commodity, that + commodity symbol and amount format is applied to all no-symbol amounts in the journal. - Then each commodity's display style is determined from its commodity - directive. We recommend always declaring commodities with commodity + Then each commodity's display style is determined from its commodity + directive. We recommend always declaring commodities with commodity directives, since they help ensure consistent display styles and preci- - sions, and bring other benefits such as error checking for commodity + sions, and bring other benefits such as error checking for commodity symbols. Here's an example: # Set display styles (and decimal marks, for parsing, if there is no decimal-mark directive) @@ -5613,9 +5615,9 @@ Amount formatting commodity INR 9,99,99,999.00 commodity 1 000 000.9455 - But for convenience, if a commodity directive is not present, hledger - infers a commodity's display styles from its amounts as they are writ- - ten in the journal (excluding cost amounts and amounts in periodic + But for convenience, if a commodity directive is not present, hledger + infers a commodity's display styles from its amounts as they are writ- + ten in the journal (excluding cost amounts and amounts in periodic transaction rules or auto posting rules). It uses o the symbol placement and decimal mark of the first amount seen @@ -5624,7 +5626,7 @@ Amount formatting o and the maximum number of decimal digits seen across all amounts. - And as fallback if no applicable amounts are found, it would use a de- + And as fallback if no applicable amounts are found, it would use a de- fault style, like $1000.00 (symbol on the left with no space, period as decimal mark, and two decimal digits). @@ -5633,16 +5635,16 @@ Amount formatting Rounding Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal - places. They are displayed with their original journal precisions by - print and print-like reports, and rounded to their display precision + places. They are displayed with their original journal precisions by + print and print-like reports, and rounded to their display precision (the number of decimal digits specified by the commodity display style) - by other reports. When rounding, hledger uses banker's rounding (it + by other reports. When rounding, hledger uses banker's rounding (it rounds to the nearest even digit). So eg 0.5 displayed with zero deci- mal digits appears as "0". Trailing decimal marks If you're wondering why your print report sometimes shows trailing dec- - imal marks, with no decimal digits; it does this when showing amounts + imal marks, with no decimal digits; it does this when showing amounts that have digit group marks but no decimal digits, to disambiguate them and allow them to be re-parsed reliably (see Decimal marks). Eg: @@ -5656,7 +5658,7 @@ Amount formatting (a) $1,000. If this is a problem (eg when exporting to Ledger), you can avoid it by - disabling digit group marks, eg with -c/--commodity (for each affected + disabling digit group marks, eg with -c/--commodity (for each affected commodity): $ hledger print -c '$1000.00' @@ -5673,19 +5675,19 @@ Amount formatting More generally, hledger output falls into three rough categories, which format amounts a little bit differently to suit different consumers: - 1. "hledger-readable output" - should be readable by hledger (and by + 1. "hledger-readable output" - should be readable by hledger (and by humans) - o This is produced by reports that show full journal entries: print, + o This is produced by reports that show full journal entries: print, import, close, rewrite etc. - o It shows amounts with their original journal precisions, which may + o It shows amounts with their original journal precisions, which may not be consistent. - o It adds a trailing decimal mark when needed to avoid showing ambigu- + o It adds a trailing decimal mark when needed to avoid showing ambigu- ous amounts. - o It can be parsed reliably (by hledger and ledger2beancount at least, + o It can be parsed reliably (by hledger and ledger2beancount at least, but perhaps not by Ledger..) 2. "human-readable output" - usually for humans @@ -5697,13 +5699,13 @@ Amount formatting o It shows ambiguous amounts unmodified. - o It can be parsed reliably in the context of a known report (when you + o It can be parsed reliably in the context of a known report (when you know decimals are consistently not being shown, you can assume a sin- gle mark is a digit group mark). 3. "machine-readable output" - usually for other software - o This is produced by all reports when an output format like csv, tsv, + o This is produced by all reports when an output format like csv, tsv, json, or sql is selected. o It shows amounts as 1 or 2 do, but without digit group marks. @@ -5713,17 +5715,17 @@ Amount formatting Cost reporting In some transactions - for example a currency conversion, or a purchase - or sale of stock - one commodity is exchanged for another. In these - transactions there is a conversion rate, also called the cost (when - buying) or selling price (when selling). (In hledger docs we just say - "cost" generically for convenience.) With the -B/--cost flag, hledger + or sale of stock - one commodity is exchanged for another. In these + transactions there is a conversion rate, also called the cost (when + buying) or selling price (when selling). (In hledger docs we just say + "cost" generically for convenience.) With the -B/--cost flag, hledger can show amounts "at cost", converted to the cost's commodity. Recording costs - We'll explore several ways of recording transactions involving costs. + We'll explore several ways of recording transactions involving costs. These are also summarised at hledger Cookbook > Cost notation. - Costs can be recorded explicitly in the journal, using the @ UNITCOST + Costs can be recorded explicitly in the journal, using the @ UNITCOST or @@ TOTALCOST notation described in Journal > Costs: Variant 1 @@ -5738,11 +5740,11 @@ Cost reporting assets:dollars $-135 assets:euros 100 @@ $135 ; $135 total cost - Typically, writing the unit cost (variant 1) is preferable; it can be + Typically, writing the unit cost (variant 1) is preferable; it can be more effort, requiring more attention to decimal digits; but it reveals the per-unit cost basis, and makes stock sales easier. - Costs can also be left implicit, and hledger will infer the cost that + Costs can also be left implicit, and hledger will infer the cost that is consistent with a balanced transaction: Variant 3 @@ -5751,49 +5753,49 @@ Cost reporting assets:dollars $-135 assets:euros 100 - Here, hledger will attach a @@ 100 cost to the first amount (you can - see it with hledger print -x). This form looks convenient, but there + Here, hledger will attach a @@ 100 cost to the first amount (you can + see it with hledger print -x). This form looks convenient, but there are downsides: - o It sacrifices some error checking. For example, if you accidentally + o It sacrifices some error checking. For example, if you accidentally wrote 10 instead of 100, hledger would not be able to detect the mis- take. - o It is sensitive to the order of postings - if they were reversed, a + o It is sensitive to the order of postings - if they were reversed, a different entry would be inferred and reports would be different. o The per-unit cost basis is not easy to read. - So generally this kind of entry is not recommended. You can make sure + So generally this kind of entry is not recommended. You can make sure you have none of these by using -s (strict mode), or by running hledger check balanced. Reporting at cost - Now when you add the -B/--cost flag to reports ("B" is from Ledger's - -B/--basis/--cost flag), any amounts which have been annotated with - costs will be converted to their cost's commodity (in the report out- + Now when you add the -B/--cost flag to reports ("B" is from Ledger's + -B/--basis/--cost flag), any amounts which have been annotated with + costs will be converted to their cost's commodity (in the report out- put). Ie they will be displayed "at cost" or "at sale price". Some things to note: - o Costs are attached to specific posting amounts in specific transac- - tions, and once recorded they do not change. This contrasts with + o Costs are attached to specific posting amounts in specific transac- + tions, and once recorded they do not change. This contrasts with market prices, which are ambient and fluctuating. - o Conversion to cost is performed before conversion to market value + o Conversion to cost is performed before conversion to market value (described below). Equity conversion postings - There is a problem with the entries above - they are not conventional - Double Entry Bookkeeping (DEB) notation, and because of the "magical" - transformation of one commodity into another, they cause an imbalance + There is a problem with the entries above - they are not conventional + Double Entry Bookkeeping (DEB) notation, and because of the "magical" + transformation of one commodity into another, they cause an imbalance in the Accounting Equation. This shows up as a non-zero grand total in balance reports like hledger bse. - For most hledger users, this doesn't matter in practice and can safely + For most hledger users, this doesn't matter in practice and can safely be ignored ! But if you'd like to learn more, keep reading. - Conventional DEB uses an extra pair of equity postings to balance the + Conventional DEB uses an extra pair of equity postings to balance the transaction. Of course you can do this in hledger as well: Variant 4 @@ -5804,10 +5806,10 @@ Cost reporting equity:conversion $135 equity:conversion -100 - Now the transaction is perfectly balanced according to standard DEB, + Now the transaction is perfectly balanced according to standard DEB, and hledger bse's total will not be disrupted. - And, hledger can still infer the cost for cost reporting, but it's not + And, hledger can still infer the cost for cost reporting, but it's not done by default - you must add the --infer-costs flag like so: $ hledger print --infer-costs @@ -5829,14 +5831,14 @@ Cost reporting o Instead of -B you must remember to type -B --infer-costs. - o --infer-costs works only where hledger can identify the two eq- - uity:conversion postings and match them up with the two non-equity - postings. So writing the journal entry in a particular format be- + o --infer-costs works only where hledger can identify the two eq- + uity:conversion postings and match them up with the two non-equity + postings. So writing the journal entry in a particular format be- comes more important. More on this below. Inferring equity conversion postings Can we go in the other direction ? Yes, if you have transactions writ- - ten with the @/@@ cost notation, hledger can infer the missing equity + ten with the @/@@ cost notation, hledger can infer the missing equity postings, if you add the --infer-equity flag. Eg: 2022-01-01 @@ -5850,18 +5852,18 @@ Cost reporting equity:conversion:$-: -100 equity:conversion:$-:$ $135.00 - The equity account names will be "equity:conversion:A-B:A" and "eq- - uity:conversion:A-B:B" where A is the alphabetically first commodity + The equity account names will be "equity:conversion:A-B:A" and "eq- + uity:conversion:A-B:B" where A is the alphabetically first commodity symbol. You can customise the "equity:conversion" part by declaring an account with the V/Conversion account type. - Note you will need to add account declarations for these to your jour- + Note you will need to add account declarations for these to your jour- nal, if you use check accounts or check --strict. Combining costs and equity conversion postings Finally, you can use both the @/@@ cost notation and equity postings at - the same time. This in theory gives the best of all worlds - preserv- - ing the accounting equation, revealing the per-unit cost basis, and + the same time. This in theory gives the best of all worlds - preserv- + ing the accounting equation, revealing the per-unit cost basis, and providing more flexibility in how you write the entry: Variant 5 @@ -5872,15 +5874,15 @@ Cost reporting equity:conversion -100 assets:euros 100 @ $1.35 - All the other variants above can (usually) be rewritten to this final + All the other variants above can (usually) be rewritten to this final form with: $ hledger print -x --infer-costs --infer-equity Downsides: - o The precise format of the journal entry becomes more important. If - hledger can't detect and match up the cost and equity postings, it + o The precise format of the journal entry becomes more important. If + hledger can't detect and match up the cost and equity postings, it will give a transaction balancing error. o The add command does not yet accept this kind of entry (#2056). @@ -5888,34 +5890,34 @@ Cost reporting o This is the most verbose form. Requirements for detecting equity conversion postings - --infer-costs has certain requirements (unlike --infer-equity, which + --infer-costs has certain requirements (unlike --infer-equity, which always works). It will infer costs only in transactions with: - o Two non-equity postings, in different commodities. Their order is + o Two non-equity postings, in different commodities. Their order is significant: the cost will be added to the first of them. - o Two postings to equity conversion accounts, next to one another, + o Two postings to equity conversion accounts, next to one another, which balance the two non-equity postings. This balancing is checked - to the same precision (number of decimal places) used in the conver- + to the same precision (number of decimal places) used in the conver- sion posting's amount. Equity conversion accounts are: o any accounts declared with account type V/Conversion, or their sub- accounts - o otherwise, accounts named equity:conversion, equity:trade, or eq- + o otherwise, accounts named equity:conversion, equity:trade, or eq- uity:trading, or their subaccounts. - And multiple such four-posting groups can coexist within a single - transaction. When --infer-costs fails, it does not infer a cost in - that transaction, and does not raise an error (ie, it infers costs + And multiple such four-posting groups can coexist within a single + transaction. When --infer-costs fails, it does not infer a cost in + that transaction, and does not raise an error (ie, it infers costs where it can). - Reading variant 5 journal entries, combining cost notation and equity - postings, has all the same requirements. When reading such an entry + Reading variant 5 journal entries, combining cost notation and equity + postings, has all the same requirements. When reading such an entry fails, hledger raises an "unbalanced transaction" error. Infer cost and equity by default ? - Should --infer-costs and --infer-equity be enabled by default ? Try + Should --infer-costs and --infer-equity be enabled by default ? Try using them always, eg with a shell alias: alias h="hledger --infer-equity --infer-costs" @@ -5923,104 +5925,104 @@ Cost reporting and let us know what problems you find. Value reporting - hledger can also show amounts "at market value", converted to some - other commodity using the market price or conversion rate on a certain + hledger can also show amounts "at market value", converted to some + other commodity using the market price or conversion rate on a certain date. - This is controlled by the --value=TYPE[,COMMODITY] option. We also - provide simpler -V and -X COMMODITY aliases for this, which are often + This is controlled by the --value=TYPE[,COMMODITY] option. We also + provide simpler -V and -X COMMODITY aliases for this, which are often sufficient. The market prices are declared with a special P directive, and/or they can be inferred from the costs recorded in transactions, by using the --infer-market-prices flag. -V: Value - The -V/--market flag converts amounts to market value in their default + The -V/--market flag converts amounts to market value in their default valuation commodity, using the market prices in effect on the valuation date(s), if any. More on these in a minute. -X: Value in specified commodity The -X/--exchange=COMM option is like -V, except you tell it which cur- - rency you want to convert to, and it tries to convert everything to + rency you want to convert to, and it tries to convert everything to that. Valuation date - Market prices can change from day to day. hledger will use the prices - on a particular valuation date (or on more than one date). By default + Market prices can change from day to day. hledger will use the prices + on a particular valuation date (or on more than one date). By default hledger uses "end" dates for valuation. More specifically: - o For single period reports (including normal print and register re- + o For single period reports (including normal print and register re- ports): o If an explicit report end date is specified, that is used - o Otherwise the latest transaction date or P directive date is used + o Otherwise the latest transaction date or P directive date is used (even if it's in the future) o For multiperiod reports, each period is valued on its last day. - This can be customised with the --value option described below, which + This can be customised with the --value option described below, which can select either "then", "end", "now", or "custom" dates. (Note, this has a bug in hledger-ui <=1.31: turning on valuation with the V key al- ways resets it to "end".) Finding market price - To convert a commodity A to its market value in another commodity B, - hledger looks for a suitable market price (exchange rate) as follows, + To convert a commodity A to its market value in another commodity B, + hledger looks for a suitable market price (exchange rate) as follows, in this order of preference: - 1. A declared market price or inferred market price: A's latest market + 1. A declared market price or inferred market price: A's latest market price in B on or before the valuation date as declared by a P direc- tive, or (with the --infer-market-prices flag) inferred from costs. 2. A reverse market price: the inverse of a declared or inferred market price from B to A. - 3. A forward chain of market prices: a synthetic price formed by com- + 3. A forward chain of market prices: a synthetic price formed by com- bining the shortest chain of "forward" (only 1 above) market prices, leading from A to B. - 4. Any chain of market prices: a chain of any market prices, including - both forward and reverse prices (1 and 2 above), leading from A to + 4. Any chain of market prices: a chain of any market prices, including + both forward and reverse prices (1 and 2 above), leading from A to B. - There is a limit to the length of these price chains; if hledger - reaches that length without finding a complete chain or exhausting all - possibilities, it will give up (with a "gave up" message visible in + There is a limit to the length of these price chains; if hledger + reaches that length without finding a complete chain or exhausting all + possibilities, it will give up (with a "gave up" message visible in --debug=2 output). That limit is currently 1000. - Amounts for which no suitable market price can be found, are not con- + Amounts for which no suitable market price can be found, are not con- verted. --infer-market-prices: market prices from transactions Normally, market value in hledger is fully controlled by, and requires, P directives in your journal. Since adding and updating those can be a - chore, and since transactions usually take place at close to market - value, why not use the recorded costs as additional market prices (as - Ledger does) ? Adding the --infer-market-prices flag to -V, -X or + chore, and since transactions usually take place at close to market + value, why not use the recorded costs as additional market prices (as + Ledger does) ? Adding the --infer-market-prices flag to -V, -X or --value enables this. - So for example, hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices will get market - prices both from P directives and from transactions. If both occur on + So for example, hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices will get market + prices both from P directives and from transactions. If both occur on the same day, the P directive takes precedence. There is a downside: value reports can sometimes be affected in confus- - ing/undesired ways by your journal entries. If this happens to you, - read all of this Value reporting section carefully, and try adding + ing/undesired ways by your journal entries. If this happens to you, + read all of this Value reporting section carefully, and try adding --debug or --debug=2 to troubleshoot. --infer-market-prices can infer market prices from: o multicommodity transactions with explicit prices (@/@@) - o multicommodity transactions with implicit prices (no @, two commodi- - ties, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings matters. + o multicommodity transactions with implicit prices (no @, two commodi- + ties, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings matters. hledger print -x can be useful for troubleshooting.) o multicommodity transactions with equity postings, if cost is inferred with --infer-costs. - There is a limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity is - not specified, prices inferred with --infer-market-prices do not help + There is a limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity is + not specified, prices inferred with --infer-market-prices do not help select a default valuation commodity, as P prices would. So conversion might not happen because no valuation commodity was detected (--debug=2 will show this). To be safe, specify the valuation commmodity, eg: @@ -6030,8 +6032,8 @@ Value reporting o --value=then,EUR --infer-market-prices, not --value=then --infer-mar- ket-prices - Signed costs and market prices can be confusing. For reference, here - is the current behaviour, since hledger 1.25. (If you think it should + Signed costs and market prices can be confusing. For reference, here + is the current behaviour, since hledger 1.25. (If you think it should work differently, see #1870.) 2022-01-01 Positive Unit prices @@ -6061,7 +6063,7 @@ Value reporting b B -1 @@ A -1 All of the transactions above are considered balanced (and on each day, - the two transactions are considered equivalent). Here are the market + the two transactions are considered equivalent). Here are the market prices inferred for B: $ hledger -f- --infer-market-prices prices @@ -6074,34 +6076,34 @@ Value reporting Valuation commodity When you specify a valuation commodity (-X COMM or --value TYPE,COMM): - hledger will convert all amounts to COMM, wherever it can find a suit- + hledger will convert all amounts to COMM, wherever it can find a suit- able market price (including by reversing or chaining prices). - When you leave the valuation commodity unspecified (-V or --value + When you leave the valuation commodity unspecified (-V or --value TYPE): - For each commodity A, hledger picks a default valuation commodity as + For each commodity A, hledger picks a default valuation commodity as follows, in this order of preference: 1. The price commodity from the latest P-declared market price for A on or before valuation date. 2. The price commodity from the latest P-declared market price for A on - any date. (Allows conversion to proceed when there are inferred + any date. (Allows conversion to proceed when there are inferred prices before the valuation date.) - 3. If there are no P directives at all (any commodity or date) and the - --infer-market-prices flag is used: the price commodity from the + 3. If there are no P directives at all (any commodity or date) and the + --infer-market-prices flag is used: the price commodity from the latest transaction-inferred price for A on or before valuation date. This means: - o If you have P directives, they determine which commodities -V will + o If you have P directives, they determine which commodities -V will convert, and to what. - o If you have no P directives, and use the --infer-market-prices flag, + o If you have no P directives, and use the --infer-market-prices flag, costs determine it. - Amounts for which no valuation commodity can be found are not con- + Amounts for which no valuation commodity can be found are not con- verted. --value: Flexible valuation @@ -6118,26 +6120,26 @@ Value reporting The TYPE part selects cost or value and valuation date: --value=then - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- ity, using market prices on each posting's date. --value=end - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- - ity, using market prices on the last day of the report period - (or if unspecified, the journal's end date); or in multiperiod + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- + ity, using market prices on the last day of the report period + (or if unspecified, the journal's end date); or in multiperiod reports, market prices on the last day of each subperiod. --value=now - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- - ity using current market prices (as of when report is gener- + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- + ity using current market prices (as of when report is gener- ated). --value=YYYY-MM-DD - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- ity using market prices on this date. To select a different valuation commodity, add the optional ,COMM part: - a comma, then the target commodity's symbol. Eg: --value=now,EUR. + a comma, then the target commodity's symbol. Eg: --value=now,EUR. hledger will do its best to convert amounts to this commodity, deducing market prices as described above. @@ -6165,13 +6167,13 @@ Value reporting $ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros -V -e 2016/11/4 $110.00 assets:euros - What are they worth after 2016/12/21 ? (no report end date specified, + What are they worth after 2016/12/21 ? (no report end date specified, defaults to today) $ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros -V $103.00 assets:euros - Here are some examples showing the effect of --value, as seen with + Here are some examples showing the effect of --value, as seen with print: P 2000-01-01 A 1 B @@ -6209,7 +6211,7 @@ Value reporting 2000-02-01 (a) 2 B - With no report period specified, that shows the value as of the last + With no report period specified, that shows the value as of the last day of the journal (2000-03-01): $ hledger -f- print --value=end @@ -6247,7 +6249,7 @@ Value reporting (a) 1 B Interaction of valuation and queries - When matching postings based on queries in the presence of valuation, + When matching postings based on queries in the presence of valuation, the following happens: 1. The query is separated into two parts: @@ -6261,45 +6263,45 @@ Value reporting 3. Valuation is applied to the postings. - 4. The postings are matched to the other parts of the query based on + 4. The postings are matched to the other parts of the query based on post-valued amounts. Related: #1625 Effect of valuation on reports - Here is a reference for how valuation is supposed to affect each part - of hledger's reports. (It's wide, you may need to scroll sideways.) - It may be useful when troubleshooting. If you find problems, please - report them, ideally with a reproducible example. Related: #329, + Here is a reference for how valuation is supposed to affect each part + of hledger's reports. (It's wide, you may need to scroll sideways.) + It may be useful when troubleshooting. If you find problems, please + report them, ideally with a reproducible example. Related: #329, #1083. First, a quick glossary: cost calculated using price(s) recorded in the transaction(s). - value market value using available market price declarations, or the + value market value using available market price declarations, or the unchanged amount if no conversion rate can be found. report start - the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or + the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or date:, otherwise today. report or journal start - the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or - date:, otherwise the earliest transaction date in the journal, + the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or + date:, otherwise the earliest transaction date in the journal, otherwise today. report end - the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or + the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or date:, otherwise today. report or journal end - the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or - date:, otherwise the latest transaction date in the journal, + the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or + date:, otherwise the latest transaction date in the journal, otherwise today. report interval - a flag (-D/-W/-M/-Q/-Y) or period expression that activates the + a flag (-D/-W/-M/-Q/-Y) or period expression that activates the report's multi-period mode (whether showing one or many subperi- ods). @@ -6307,8 +6309,8 @@ Value reporting type --value=now -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- print - posting cost value at re- value at posting value at re- value at - amounts port end or date port or DATE/today + posting cost value at re- value at posting value at re- value at + amounts port end or date port or DATE/today today journal end balance unchanged unchanged unchanged unchanged unchanged asser- @@ -6324,7 +6326,7 @@ Value reporting (-H) with port or posting was made port or report journal journal interval start start - posting cost value at re- value at posting value at re- value at + posting cost value at re- value at posting value at re- value at amounts port or date port or DATE/today journal end journal end summary summarised value at pe- sum of postings value at pe- value at @@ -6340,8 +6342,8 @@ Value reporting balance (bs, bse, cf, is) - balance sums of value at re- value at posting value at re- value at - changes costs port end or date port or DATE/today of + balance sums of value at re- value at posting value at re- value at + changes costs port end or date port or DATE/today of today of journal end sums of post- sums of of sums of ings postings postings @@ -6349,7 +6351,7 @@ Value reporting amounts changes changes changes ances changes (--bud- get) - grand to- sum of dis- sum of dis- sum of displayed sum of dis- sum of dis- + grand to- sum of dis- sum of dis- sum of displayed sum of dis- sum of dis- tal played val- played val- valued played val- played values ues ues ues @@ -6375,7 +6377,7 @@ Value reporting end bal- sums of same as sums of values of period end value at ances costs of --value=end postings from be- balances, DATE/today of (bal -H, postings fore period start valued at sums of post- - is --H, from before to period end at period ends ings + is --H, from before to period end at period ends ings bs, cf) report start respective post- to period ing dates end @@ -6384,10 +6386,10 @@ Value reporting (--bud- balances balances ances balances get) row to- sums, aver- sums, aver- sums, averages of sums, aver- sums, aver- - tals, row ages of dis- ages of dis- displayed values ages of dis- ages of dis- + tals, row ages of dis- ages of dis- displayed values ages of dis- ages of dis- averages played val- played val- played val- played values (-T, -A) ues ues ues - column sums of dis- sums of dis- sums of displayed sums of dis- sums of dis- + column sums of dis- sums of dis- sums of displayed sums of dis- sums of dis- totals played val- played val- values played val- played values ues ues ues grand to- sum, average sum, average sum, average of sum, average sum, average @@ -6400,7 +6402,7 @@ Value reporting starting balance. PART 4: COMMANDS - Here are the standard commands, which you can list by running hledger. + Here are the standard commands, which you can list by running hledger. If you have installed more add-on commands, they also will be listed. Help commands @@ -6449,7 +6451,7 @@ PART 4: COMMANDS o aregister (areg) - show transactions in a particular account - o register (reg) - show postings in one or more accounts & running to- + o register (reg) - show postings in one or more accounts & running to- tal o balancesheet (bs) - show assets, liabilities and net worth @@ -6500,19 +6502,19 @@ Help commands -s --speed=SPEED playback speed (1 is original speed, .5 is half, 2 is double, etc (default: 2)) - Run this command with no argument to list the demos. To play a demo, + Run this command with no argument to list the demos. To play a demo, write its number or a prefix or substring of its title. Tips: Make your terminal window large enough to see the demo clearly. - Use the -s/--speed SPEED option to set your preferred playback speed, + Use the -s/--speed SPEED option to set your preferred playback speed, eg -s4 to play at 4x original speed or -s.5 to play at half speed. The default speed is 2x. - Other asciinema options can be added following a double dash, eg -- + Other asciinema options can be added following a double dash, eg -- -i.1 to limit pauses or -- -h to list asciinema's other options. - During playback, several keys are available: SPACE to pause/unpause, . + During playback, several keys are available: SPACE to pause/unpause, . to step forward (while paused), CTRL-c quit. Examples: @@ -6524,7 +6526,7 @@ Help commands This command is experimental: there aren't many useful demos yet. help - Show the hledger user manual with info, man, or a pager. With a (case + Show the hledger user manual with info, man, or a pager. With a (case insensitive) TOPIC argument, try to open it at that section heading. Flags: @@ -6533,23 +6535,23 @@ Help commands -p show the manual with $PAGER or less (less is always used if TOPIC is specified) - This command shows the hledger manual built in to your hledger exe- - cutable. It can be useful when offline, or when you prefer the termi- + This command shows the hledger manual built in to your hledger exe- + cutable. It can be useful when offline, or when you prefer the termi- nal to a web browser, or when the appropriate hledger manual or viewers are not installed properly on your system. - By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH, trying in this - order: info, man, $PAGER, less, more, stdout. (If a TOPIC is speci- - fied, $PAGER and more are not tried.) You can force the use of info, - man, or a pager with the -i, -m, or -p flags. If no viewer can be - found, or if running non-interactively, it just prints the manual to + By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH, trying in this + order: info, man, $PAGER, less, more, stdout. (If a TOPIC is speci- + fied, $PAGER and more are not tried.) You can force the use of info, + man, or a pager with the -i, -m, or -p flags. If no viewer can be + found, or if running non-interactively, it just prints the manual to stdout. - When using info, TOPIC can match either the full heading or a prefix. + When using info, TOPIC can match either the full heading or a prefix. If your info --version is < 6, you'll need to upgrade it, eg with 'brew install texinfo' on mac. - When using man or less, TOPIC must match the full heading. For a pre- + When using man or less, TOPIC must match the full heading. For a pre- fix match, you can write 'TOPIC.*'. Examples @@ -6561,7 +6563,7 @@ Help commands User interface commands repl - Start an interactive prompt, where you can run any of hledger's com- + Start an interactive prompt, where you can run any of hledger's com- mands. Data files are parsed just once, so the commands run faster. Flags: @@ -6569,21 +6571,21 @@ User interface commands This command is experimental and could change in the future. - hledger repl starts a read-eval-print loop (REPL) where you can enter - commands interactively. As with the run command, each input file (or + hledger repl starts a read-eval-print loop (REPL) where you can enter + commands interactively. As with the run command, each input file (or each input file/input options combination) is parsed just once, so com- - mands will run more quickly than if you ran them individually at the + mands will run more quickly than if you ran them individually at the command line. Also like run, the input file(s) specified for the repl command will be - the default input for all interactive commands. You can override this - temporarily by specifying an -f option in particular commands. But - note that commands will not see any changes made to input files (eg by + the default input for all interactive commands. You can override this + temporarily by specifying an -f option in particular commands. But + note that commands will not see any changes made to input files (eg by add) until you exit and restart the REPL. The command syntax is the same as with run: - o enter one hledger command at a time, without the usual hledger first + o enter one hledger command at a time, without the usual hledger first word o empty lines and comment text from # to end of line are ignored @@ -6592,7 +6594,7 @@ User interface commands o type exit or quit or control-D to exit the REPL. - While it is running, the REPL remembers your command history, and you + While it is running, the REPL remembers your command history, and you can navigate in the usual ways: o Keypad or Emacs navigation keys to edit the current command line @@ -6603,9 +6605,9 @@ User interface commands o TAB to complete file paths. - Generally repl command lines should feel much like the normal hledger - CLI, but you may find differences. repl is a little stricter; eg it - requires full command names or official abbreviations (as seen in the + Generally repl command lines should feel much like the normal hledger + CLI, but you may find differences. repl is a little stricter; eg it + requires full command names or official abbreviations (as seen in the commands list). The commands and help commands, and the command help flags (CMD --tldr, @@ -6614,7 +6616,7 @@ User interface commands You can type control-C to cancel a long-running command (but only once; typing it a second time will exit the REPL). - And in most shells you can type control-Z to temporarily exit to the + And in most shells you can type control-Z to temporarily exit to the shell (and then fg to return to the REPL). Examples @@ -6644,8 +6646,8 @@ User interface commands ... run - Run a sequence of hledger commands, provided as files or command line - arguments. Data files are parsed just once, so the commands run + Run a sequence of hledger commands, provided as files or command line + arguments. Data files are parsed just once, so the commands run faster. Flags: @@ -6655,52 +6657,52 @@ User interface commands You can use run in three ways: - o hledger run -- CMD1 -- CMD2 -- CMD3 - read commands from the command + o hledger run -- CMD1 -- CMD2 -- CMD3 - read commands from the command line, separated by -- - o hledger run SCRIPTFILE1 SCRIPTFILE2 - read commands from one or more + o hledger run SCRIPTFILE1 SCRIPTFILE2 - read commands from one or more files o cat SCRIPTFILE1 | hledger run - read commands from standard input. run first loads the input file(s) specified by LEDGER_FILE or by -f op- tions, in the usual way. Then it runs each command in turn, each using - the same input data. But if you want a particular command to use dif- - ferent input, you can specify an -f option within that command. This + the same input data. But if you want a particular command to use dif- + ferent input, you can specify an -f option within that command. This will override (not add to) the default input, just for that command. Each input file (more precisely, each combination of input file and in- - put options) is parsed only once. This means that commands will not - see any changes made to these files, until the next run. But the com- - mands will run more quickly than if run individually (typically about + put options) is parsed only once. This means that commands will not + see any changes made to these files, until the next run. But the com- + mands will run more quickly than if run individually (typically about twice as fast). Command scripts, whether in a file or written on the command line, have a simple syntax: - o each line may contain a single hledger command and its arguments, + o each line may contain a single hledger command and its arguments, without the usual hledger first word o empty lines are ignored o text from # to end of line is a comment, and ignored - o you can use single or double quotes to quote arguments when needed, + o you can use single or double quotes to quote arguments when needed, as on the command line - o these extra commands are available: echo TEXT prints some text, and + o these extra commands are available: echo TEXT prints some text, and exit or quit ends the run. - On unix systems you can use #!/usr/bin/env hledger run in the first - line of a command file to make it a runnable script. If that gives an + On unix systems you can use #!/usr/bin/env hledger run in the first + line of a command file to make it a runnable script. If that gives an error, use #!/usr/bin/env -S hledger run. It's ok to use the run command recursively within a command script. - You may find some differences in behaviour between run command lines - and normal hledger command lines. run is a little stricter; eg it re- - quires full command names or official abbreviations (as seen in the - commands list), and command options must be written after the command + You may find some differences in behaviour between run command lines + and normal hledger command lines. run is a little stricter; eg it re- + quires full command names or official abbreviations (as seen in the + commands list), and command options must be written after the command name. Examples @@ -6708,8 +6710,8 @@ User interface commands hledger -f some.journal run -- balance assets --depth 2 -- balance liabilities -f /some/other.journal --depth 3 --transpose -- stats - This would load some.journal, run balance assets --depth 2 on it, then - run balance liabilities --depth 3 --transpose on /some/other.journal, + This would load some.journal, run balance assets --depth 2 on it, then + run balance liabilities --depth 3 --transpose on /some/other.journal, and finally run stats on some.journal Run commands from standard input: @@ -6751,30 +6753,30 @@ Data entry commands Flags: --no-new-accounts don't allow creating new accounts - Many hledger users edit their journals directly with a text editor, or - generate them from CSV. For more interactive data entry, there is the - add command, which prompts interactively on the console for new trans- - actions, and appends them to the main journal file (which should be in - journal format). Existing transactions are not changed. This is one - of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file (see also + Many hledger users edit their journals directly with a text editor, or + generate them from CSV. For more interactive data entry, there is the + add command, which prompts interactively on the console for new trans- + actions, and appends them to the main journal file (which should be in + journal format). Existing transactions are not changed. This is one + of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file (see also import). To use it, just run hledger add and follow the prompts. You can add as - many transactions as you like; when you are finished, enter . or press + many transactions as you like; when you are finished, enter . or press control-d or control-c to exit. Features: - o add tries to provide useful defaults, using the most similar (by de- - scription) recent transaction (filtered by the query, if any) as a + o add tries to provide useful defaults, using the most similar (by de- + scription) recent transaction (filtered by the query, if any) as a template. o You can also set the initial defaults with command line arguments. o Readline-style edit keys can be used during data entry. - o The tab key will auto-complete whenever possible - accounts, pay- - ees/descriptions, dates (yesterday, today, tomorrow). If the input + o The tab key will auto-complete whenever possible - accounts, pay- + ees/descriptions, dates (yesterday, today, tomorrow). If the input area is empty, it will insert the default value. o A parenthesised transaction code may be entered following a date. @@ -6783,15 +6785,15 @@ Data entry commands o If you make a mistake, enter < at any prompt to go one step backward. - o Input prompts are displayed in a different colour when the terminal + o Input prompts are displayed in a different colour when the terminal supports it. Notes: o If you enter a number with no commodity symbol, and you have declared - a default commodity with a D directive, you might expect add to add - this symbol for you. It does not do this; we assume that if you are - using a D directive you prefer not to see the commodity symbol re- + a default commodity with a D directive, you might expect add to add + this symbol for you. It does not do this; we assume that if you are + using a D directive you prefer not to see the commodity symbol re- peated on amounts in the journal. Examples: @@ -6812,22 +6814,22 @@ Data entry commands There is a detailed tutorial at https://hledger.org/add.html. import - Import new transactions from one or more data files to the main jour- + Import new transactions from one or more data files to the main jour- nal. Flags: --catchup just mark all transactions as already imported --dry-run just show the transactions to be imported - This command detects new transactions in one or more data files speci- + This command detects new transactions in one or more data files speci- fied as arguments, and appends them to the main journal. - You can import from any input file format hledger supports, but + You can import from any input file format hledger supports, but CSV/SSV/TSV files, downloaded from financial institutions, are the most common import source. - The import destination is the default journal file, or another speci- - fied in the usual way with $LEDGER_FILE or -f/--file. It should be in + The import destination is the default journal file, or another speci- + fied in the usual way with $LEDGER_FILE or -f/--file. It should be in journal format. Examples: @@ -6837,44 +6839,44 @@ Data entry commands $ hledger import *.csv Import preview - It's useful to preview the import by running first with --dry-run, to + It's useful to preview the import by running first with --dry-run, to sanity check the range of dates being imported, and to check the effect of your conversion rules if converting from CSV. Eg: $ hledger import bank.csv --dry-run The dry run output is valid journal format, so hledger can re-parse it. - If the output is large, you could show just the uncategorised transac- + If the output is large, you could show just the uncategorised transac- tions like so: $ hledger import --dry-run bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown - You could also run this repeatedly to see the effect of edits to your + You could also run this repeatedly to see the effect of edits to your conversion rules: $ watchexec -- 'hledger import --dry-run bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' - Once the conversion and dates look good enough to import to your jour- + Once the conversion and dates look good enough to import to your jour- nal, perhaps with some manual fixups to follow, you would do the actual import: $ hledger import bank.csv Overlap detection - Reading CSV files is built in to hledger, and not specific to import; - so you could also import by doing hledger -f bank.csv print + Reading CSV files is built in to hledger, and not specific to import; + so you could also import by doing hledger -f bank.csv print >>$LEDGER_FILE. - But import is easier and provides some advantages. The main one is - that it avoids re-importing transactions it has seen on previous runs. + But import is easier and provides some advantages. The main one is + that it avoids re-importing transactions it has seen on previous runs. This means you don't have to worry about overlapping data in successive - downloads of your bank CSV; just download and import as often as you + downloads of your bank CSV; just download and import as often as you like, and only the new transactions will be imported each time. - We don't call this "deduplication", as it's generally not possible to - reliably detect duplicates in bank CSV. Instead, import remembers the - latest date processed previously in each CSV file (saving it in a hid- - den file), and skips any records prior to that date. This works well + We don't call this "deduplication", as it's generally not possible to + reliably detect duplicates in bank CSV. Instead, import remembers the + latest date processed previously in each CSV file (saving it in a hid- + den file), and skips any records prior to that date. This works well for most real-world CSV, where: 1. the data file name is stable (does not change) across imports @@ -6885,115 +6887,115 @@ Data entry commands 4. the newest items have the newest dates - (Occasional violations of 2-4 are often harmless; you can reduce the + (Occasional violations of 2-4 are often harmless; you can reduce the chance of disruption by downloading and importing more often.) - Overlap detection is automatic, and shouldn't require much attention - from you, except perhaps at first import (see below). But here's how + Overlap detection is automatic, and shouldn't require much attention + from you, except perhaps at first import (see below). But here's how it works: o For each FILE being imported from: - 1. hledger reads a file named .latest.FILE file in the same direc- - tory, if any. This file contains the latest record date previ- - ously imported from FILE, in YYYY-MM-DD format. If multiple - records with that date were imported, the date is repeated on N + 1. hledger reads a file named .latest.FILE file in the same direc- + tory, if any. This file contains the latest record date previ- + ously imported from FILE, in YYYY-MM-DD format. If multiple + records with that date were imported, the date is repeated on N lines. - 2. hledger reads records from FILE. If a latest date was found in - step 1, any records before that date, and the first N records on + 2. hledger reads records from FILE. If a latest date was found in + step 1, any records before that date, and the first N records on that date, are skipped. - o After a successful import from all FILEs, without error and without + o After a successful import from all FILEs, without error and without --dry-run, hledger updates each FILE's .latest.FILE for next time. If this goes wrong, it's relatively easy to repair: - o You'll notice it before import when you preview with import + o You'll notice it before import when you preview with import --dry-run. - o Or after import when you try to reconcile your hledger account bal- + o Or after import when you try to reconcile your hledger account bal- ances with your bank. - o hledger print -f FILE.csv will show all recently downloaded transac- + o hledger print -f FILE.csv will show all recently downloaded transac- tions. Compare these with your journal. Copy/paste if needed. o Update your conversion rules and print again, if needed. - o You can manually update or remove the .latest file, or use import + o You can manually update or remove the .latest file, or use import --catchup FILE. - o Download and import more often, eg twice a week, at least while you - are learning. It's easier to review and troubleshoot when there are + o Download and import more often, eg twice a week, at least while you + are learning. It's easier to review and troubleshoot when there are fewer transactions. First import - The first time you import from a file, when no corresponding .latest + The first time you import from a file, when no corresponding .latest file has been created yet, all of the records will be imported. - But perhaps you have been entering the data manually, so you know that + But perhaps you have been entering the data manually, so you know that all of these transactions are already recorded in the journal. In this - case you can run hledger import --catchup once. This will create a - .latest file containing the latest CSV record date, so that none of + case you can run hledger import --catchup once. This will create a + .latest file containing the latest CSV record date, so that none of those records will be re-imported. - Or, if you know that some but not all of the transactions are in the - journal, you can create the .latest file yourself. Eg, let's say you - previously recorded foobank transactions up to 2024-10-31 in the jour- - nal. Then in the directory where you'll be saving foobank.csv, you + Or, if you know that some but not all of the transactions are in the + journal, you can create the .latest file yourself. Eg, let's say you + previously recorded foobank transactions up to 2024-10-31 in the jour- + nal. Then in the directory where you'll be saving foobank.csv, you would create a .latest.foobank.csv file containing 2024-10-31 - Or if you had three foobank transactions recorded with that date, you + Or if you had three foobank transactions recorded with that date, you would repeat the date that many times: 2024-10-31 2024-10-31 2024-10-31 - Then hledger import foobank.csv [--dry-run] will import only the newer + Then hledger import foobank.csv [--dry-run] will import only the newer records. Importing balance assignments - Journal entries added by import will have all posting amounts made ex- + Journal entries added by import will have all posting amounts made ex- plicit (like print -x). - This means that any balance assignments in the imported entries would - need to be evaluated. But this generally isn't possible, as the main + This means that any balance assignments in the imported entries would + need to be evaluated. But this generally isn't possible, as the main file's account balances are not visible during import. So try to avoid generating balance assignments with your CSV rules, or importing from a - journal that contains balance assignments. (Balance assignments are + journal that contains balance assignments. (Balance assignments are best avoided anyway.) - But if you must use them, eg because your CSV includes only balances: - you can import with print, which leaves implicit amounts implicit. + But if you must use them, eg because your CSV includes only balances: + you can import with print, which leaves implicit amounts implicit. (print can also do overlap detection like import, with the --new flag): $ hledger print --new -f bank.csv >> $LEDGER_FILE - (If you think import should preserve implicit balances, please test + (If you think import should preserve implicit balances, please test that and send a pull request.) Import and commodity styles - Amounts in entries added by import will be formatted according to the - journal's canonical commodity styles, as declared by commodity direc- + Amounts in entries added by import will be formatted according to the + journal's canonical commodity styles, as declared by commodity direc- tives or inferred from the journal's amounts. Related: CSV > Amount decimal places. Import special cases If you have a download whose file name varies, you could rename it to a - fixed name after each download. Or you could use a CSV source rule - with a suitable glob pattern, and import from the .rules file instead + fixed name after each download. Or you could use a CSV source rule + with a suitable glob pattern, and import from the .rules file instead of the data file. - Here's a situation where you would need to run import with care: say - you download bank.csv, but forget to import it or delete it. And next + Here's a situation where you would need to run import with care: say + you download bank.csv, but forget to import it or delete it. And next month you download it again. This time your web browser may save it as - bank (2).csv. So now each of these may have data not included in the + bank (2).csv. So now each of these may have data not included in the other. And a source rule with a glob pattern would match only the most - recent file. So in this case you should import from each one in turn, + recent file. So in this case you should import from each one in turn, in the correct order, taking care to use the same filename each time: $ hledger import bank.csv @@ -7001,13 +7003,13 @@ Data entry commands $ hledger import bank.csv Here are two kinds of "deduplication" which import does not handle (and - generally should not, since these can happen legitimately in financial + generally should not, since these can happen legitimately in financial data): - o Two or more of the new CSV records are identical, and generate iden- + o Two or more of the new CSV records are identical, and generate iden- tical new journal entries. - o A new CSV record generates a journal entry identical to one(s) al- + o A new CSV record generates a journal entry identical to one(s) al- ready in the journal. Basic report commands @@ -7025,42 +7027,43 @@ Basic report commands --find find the first account matched by the first argument (a case-insensitive infix regexp or account name) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default) - -t --tree show accounts as a tree + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default) + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts - This command lists account names. By default it shows all known ac- - counts, either used in transactions or declared with account direc- + This command lists account names. By default it shows all known ac- + counts, either used in transactions or declared with account direc- tives. With query arguments, only matched account names and account names ref- erenced by matched postings are shown. - Or it can show just the used accounts (--used/-u), the declared ac- - counts (--declared/-d), the accounts declared but not used (--unused), + Or it can show just the used accounts (--used/-u), the declared ac- + counts (--declared/-d), the accounts declared but not used (--unused), the accounts used but not declared (--undeclared), or the first account matched by an account name pattern, if any (--find). - It shows a flat list by default. With --tree, it uses indentation to - show the account hierarchy. In flat mode you can add --drop N to omit - the first few account name components. Account names can be + It shows a flat list by default. With --tree, it uses indentation to + show the account hierarchy. In flat mode you can add --drop N to omit + the first few account name components. Account names can be depth-clipped with depth:N or --depth N or -N. - With --types, it also shows each account's type, if it's known. (See + With --types, it also shows each account's type, if it's known. (See Declaring accounts > Account types.) - With --positions, it also shows the file and line number of each ac- - count's declaration, if any, and the account's overall declaration or- + With --positions, it also shows the file and line number of each ac- + count's declaration, if any, and the account's overall declaration or- der; these may be useful when troubleshooting account display order. - With --directives, it adds the account keyword, showing valid account + With --directives, it adds the account keyword, showing valid account directives which can be pasted into a journal file. This is useful to- - gether with --undeclared when updating your account declarations to + gether with --undeclared when updating your account declarations to satisfy hledger check accounts. - The --find flag can be used to look up a single account name, in the - same way that the aregister command does. It returns the alphanumeri- - cally-first matched account name, or if none can be found, it fails + The --find flag can be used to look up a single account name, in the + same way that the aregister command does. It returns the alphanumeri- + cally-first matched account name, or if none can be found, it fails with a non-zero exit code. Examples: @@ -7084,13 +7087,13 @@ Basic report commands Flags: no command-specific flags - This command prints the value of each transaction's code field, in the - order transactions were parsed. The transaction code is an optional - value written in parentheses between the date and description, often + This command prints the value of each transaction's code field, in the + order transactions were parsed. The transaction code is an optional + value written in parentheses between the date and description, often used to store a cheque number, order number or similar. Transactions aren't required to have a code, and missing or empty codes - will not be shown by default. With the -E/--empty flag, they will be + will not be shown by default. With the -E/--empty flag, they will be printed as blank lines. You can add a query to select a subset of transactions. @@ -7137,7 +7140,7 @@ Basic report commands no command-specific flags This command lists the unique descriptions that appear in transactions, - in alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of trans- + in alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of trans- actions. Example: @@ -7148,7 +7151,7 @@ Basic report commands Person A files - List all files included in the journal. With a REGEX argument, only + List all files included in the journal. With a REGEX argument, only file names matching the regular expression (case sensitive) are shown. Flags: @@ -7161,8 +7164,8 @@ Basic report commands no command-specific flags This command lists the unique notes that appear in transactions, in al- - phabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of transac- - tions. The note is the part of the transaction description after a | + phabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of transac- + tions. The note is the part of the transaction description after a | character (or if there is no |, the whole description). Example: @@ -7178,14 +7181,14 @@ Basic report commands --declared show payees declared with payee directives --used show payees referenced by transactions - This command lists unique payee/payer names which have been declared - with payee directives (--declared), used in transaction descriptions + This command lists unique payee/payer names which have been declared + with payee directives (--declared), used in transaction descriptions (--used), or both (the default). - The payee/payer is the part of the transaction description before a | + The payee/payer is the part of the transaction description before a | character (or if there is no |, the whole description). - You can add query arguments to select a subset of transactions. This + You can add query arguments to select a subset of transactions. This implies --used. Example: @@ -7196,8 +7199,8 @@ Basic report commands Person A prices - Print the market prices declared with P directives. With --infer-mar- - ket-prices, also show any additional prices inferred from costs. With + Print the market prices declared with P directives. With --infer-mar- + ket-prices, also show any additional prices inferred from costs. With --show-reverse, also show additional prices inferred by reversing known prices. @@ -7205,14 +7208,14 @@ Basic report commands --show-reverse also show the prices inferred by reversing known prices - Price amounts are always displayed with their full precision, except + Price amounts are always displayed with their full precision, except for reverse prices which are limited to 8 decimal digits. Prices can be filtered by a date:, cur: or amt: query. Generally if you run this command with --infer-market-prices --show-re- - verse, it will show the same prices used internally to calculate value - reports. But if in doubt, you can inspect those directly by running + verse, it will show the same prices used internally to calculate value + reports. But if in doubt, you can inspect those directly by running the value report with --debug=2. stats @@ -7223,10 +7226,10 @@ Basic report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. The stats command shows summary information for the whole journal, or a - matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report for + matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report for each report period. - The default output is fairly impersonal, though it reveals the main + The default output is fairly impersonal, though it reveals the main file name. With -v/--verbose, more details are shown, like file paths, included files, and commodity names. @@ -7238,8 +7241,8 @@ Basic report commands o live: the peak memory in use by the program to do its work - o alloc: the peak memory allocation from the OS as seen by GHC. Mea- - suring this externally, eg with GNU time, is more accurate; usually + o alloc: the peak memory allocation from the OS as seen by GHC. Mea- + suring this externally, eg with GNU time, is more accurate; usually that will be a larger number; sometimes (with swapping?) smaller. The stats command's run time is similar to that of a balance report. @@ -7260,7 +7263,7 @@ Basic report commands Market prices : 1000 Runtime stats : 0.12 s elapsed, 8266 txns/s, 4 MB live, 16 MB alloc - This command supports the -o/--output-file option (but not -O/--out- + This command supports the -o/--output-file option (but not -O/--out- put-format). tags @@ -7274,22 +7277,22 @@ Basic report commands This command lists the tag names used in the journal, whether on trans- actions, postings, or account declarations. - With a TAGREGEX argument, only tag names matching this regular expres- + With a TAGREGEX argument, only tag names matching this regular expres- sion (case insensitive, infix matched) are shown. - With QUERY arguments, only transactions and accounts matching this + With QUERY arguments, only transactions and accounts matching this query are considered. If the query involves transaction fields (date:, desc:, amt:, ...), the search is restricted to the matched transactions and their accounts. - With the --values flag, the tags' unique non-empty values are listed + With the --values flag, the tags' unique non-empty values are listed instead. With -E/--empty, blank/empty values are also shown. - With --parsed, tags or values are shown in the order they were parsed, - with duplicates included. (Except, tags from account declarations are + With --parsed, tags or values are shown in the order they were parsed, + with duplicates included. (Except, tags from account declarations are always shown first.) - Tip: remember, accounts also acquire tags from their parents, postings + Tip: remember, accounts also acquire tags from their parents, postings also acquire tags from their account and transaction, transactions also acquire tags from their postings. @@ -7327,9 +7330,9 @@ Standard report commands The print command displays full journal entries (transactions) from the journal file, sorted by date (or with --date2, by secondary date). - Directives and inter-transaction comments are not shown, currently. + Directives and inter-transaction comments are not shown, currently. This means the print command is somewhat lossy, and if you are using it - to reformat/regenerate your journal you should take care to also copy + to reformat/regenerate your journal you should take care to also copy over the directives and inter-transaction comments. Eg: @@ -7349,55 +7352,55 @@ Standard report commands assets:cash $-2 print explicitness - Normally, whether posting amounts are implicit or explicit is pre- + Normally, whether posting amounts are implicit or explicit is pre- served. For example, when an amount is omitted in the journal, it will - not appear in the output. Similarly, if a conversion cost is implied + not appear in the output. Similarly, if a conversion cost is implied but not written, it will not appear in the output. - You can use the -x/--explicit flag to force explicit display of all - amounts and costs. This can be useful for troubleshooting or for mak- - ing your journal more readable and robust against data entry errors. + You can use the -x/--explicit flag to force explicit display of all + amounts and costs. This can be useful for troubleshooting or for mak- + ing your journal more readable and robust against data entry errors. -x is also implied by using any of -B,-V,-X,--value. - The -x/--explicit flag will cause any postings with a multi-commodity - amount (which can arise when a multi-commodity transaction has an im- - plicit amount) to be split into multiple single-commodity postings, + The -x/--explicit flag will cause any postings with a multi-commodity + amount (which can arise when a multi-commodity transaction has an im- + plicit amount) to be split into multiple single-commodity postings, keeping the output parseable. print amount style - Amounts are shown right-aligned within each transaction (but not - aligned across all transactions; you can do that with ledger-mode in + Amounts are shown right-aligned within each transaction (but not + aligned across all transactions; you can do that with ledger-mode in Emacs). - Amounts will be (mostly) normalised to their commodity display style: - their symbol placement, decimal mark, and digit group marks will be - made consistent. By default, decimal digits are shown as they are + Amounts will be (mostly) normalised to their commodity display style: + their symbol placement, decimal mark, and digit group marks will be + made consistent. By default, decimal digits are shown as they are written in the journal. - With the --round (Added in 1.32) option, print will try increasingly - hard to display decimal digits according to the commodity display + With the --round (Added in 1.32) option, print will try increasingly + hard to display decimal digits according to the commodity display styles: o --round=none show amounts with original precisions (default) o --round=soft add/remove decimal zeros in amounts (except costs) - o --round=hard round amounts (except costs), possibly hiding signifi- + o --round=hard round amounts (except costs), possibly hiding signifi- cant digits o --round=all round all amounts and costs - soft is good for non-lossy cleanup, formatting amounts more consis- + soft is good for non-lossy cleanup, formatting amounts more consis- tently where it's safe to do so. - hard and all can cause print to show invalid unbalanced journal en- - tries; they may be useful eg for stronger cleanup, with manual fixups + hard and all can cause print to show invalid unbalanced journal en- + tries; they may be useful eg for stronger cleanup, with manual fixups when needed. print parseability - print's output is usually a valid hledger journal, and you can process + print's output is usually a valid hledger journal, and you can process it again with a second hledger command. This can be useful for certain - kinds of search (though the same can be achieved with expr: queries + kinds of search (though the same can be achieved with expr: queries now): # Show running total of food expenses paid from cash. @@ -7406,7 +7409,7 @@ Standard report commands There are some situations where print's output can become unparseable: - o Value reporting affects posting amounts but not balance assertion or + o Value reporting affects posting amounts but not balance assertion or balance assignment amounts, potentially causing those to fail. o Auto postings can generate postings with too many missing amounts. @@ -7416,42 +7419,42 @@ Standard report commands print, other features With -B/--cost, amounts with costs are shown converted to cost. - With --invert, posting amounts are shown with their sign flipped. It - could be useful if you have accidentally recorded some transactions + With --invert, posting amounts are shown with their sign flipped. It + could be useful if you have accidentally recorded some transactions with the wrong signs. With --new, print shows only transactions it has not seen on a previous - run. This uses the same deduplication system as the import command. + run. This uses the same deduplication system as the import command. (See import's docs for details.) With -m DESC/--match=DESC, print shows one recent transaction whose de- - scription is most similar to DESC. DESC should contain at least two - characters. If there is no similar-enough match, no transaction will + scription is most similar to DESC. DESC should contain at least two + characters. If there is no similar-enough match, no transaction will be shown and the program exit code will be non-zero. print output format This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, beancount (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, beancount (Added in 1.32), csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), json and sql. - The beancount format tries to produce Beancount-compatible output, as + The beancount format tries to produce Beancount-compatible output, as follows: - o Transaction and postings with unmarked status are converted to + o Transaction and postings with unmarked status are converted to cleared (*) status. - o Transactions' payee and note are backslash-escaped and dou- + o Transactions' payee and note are backslash-escaped and dou- ble-quote-escaped and wrapped in double quotes. o Transaction tags are copied to Beancount #tag format. - o Commodity symbols are converted to upper case, and a small number of - currency symbols like $ are converted to the corresponding currency + o Commodity symbols are converted to upper case, and a small number of + currency symbols like $ are converted to the corresponding currency names. o Account name parts are capitalised and unsupported characters are re- placed with -. If an account name part does not begin with a letter, - or if the first part is not Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income, or + or if the first part is not Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income, or Expenses, an error is raised. (Use --alias options to bring your ac- counts into compliance.) @@ -7484,26 +7487,26 @@ Standard report commands "5","2008/12/31","","*","","pay off","","liabilities:debts","1","$","","1","","" "5","2008/12/31","","*","","pay off","","assets:bank:checking","-1","$","1","","","" - o There is one CSV record per posting, with the parent transaction's + o There is one CSV record per posting, with the parent transaction's fields repeated. o The "txnidx" (transaction index) field shows which postings belong to - the same transaction. (This number might change if transactions are - reordered within the file, files are parsed/included in a different + the same transaction. (This number might change if transactions are + reordered within the file, files are parsed/included in a different order, etc.) - o The amount is separated into "commodity" (the symbol) and "amount" + o The amount is separated into "commodity" (the symbol) and "amount" (numeric quantity) fields. o The numeric amount is repeated in either the "credit" or "debit" col- - umn, for convenience. (Those names are not accurate in the account- - ing sense; it just puts negative amounts under credit and zero or + umn, for convenience. (Those names are not accurate in the account- + ing sense; it just puts negative amounts under credit and zero or greater amounts under debit.) aregister (areg) - Show the transactions and running balances in one account, with each + Show the transactions and running balances in one account, with each transaction on one line. Flags: @@ -7511,9 +7514,11 @@ Standard report commands date. Warning: this can show a wrong running balance. --no-elide don't show only 2 commodities per amount - --cumulative show running total from report start date - -H --historical show historical running total/balance (includes - postings before report start date) (default) + --cumulative accumulation mode: show running total from report + start date + -H --historical accumulation mode: show historical running + total/balance (includes postings before report + start date) (default) --invert display all amounts with reversed sign --heading=YN show heading row above table: yes (default) or no -w --width=N set output width (default: terminal width). -wN,M @@ -7525,64 +7530,64 @@ Standard report commands one of the above formats selects that format. aregister shows the overall transactions affecting a particular account - (and any subaccounts). Each report line represents one transaction in - this account. Transactions before the report start date are included - in the running balance (--historical mode is the default). You can + (and any subaccounts). Each report line represents one transaction in + this account. Transactions before the report start date are included + in the running balance (--historical mode is the default). You can suppress this behaviour using the --cumulative option. - This is a more "real world", bank-like view than the register command - (which shows individual postings, possibly from multiple accounts, not + This is a more "real world", bank-like view than the register command + (which shows individual postings, possibly from multiple accounts, not necessarily in historical mode). As a quick rule of thumb: - use areg- ister for reviewing and reconciling real-world asset/liability accounts - use register for reviewing detailed revenues/expenses. - aregister requires one argument: the account to report on. You can - write either the full account name, or a case-insensitive regular ex- + aregister requires one argument: the account to report on. You can + write either the full account name, or a case-insensitive regular ex- pression which will select the alphabetically first matched account. When there are multiple matches, the alphabetically-first choice can be - surprising; eg if you have assets:per:checking 1 and assets:biz:check- - ing 2 accounts, hledger areg checking would select assets:biz:checking - 2. It's just a convenience to save typing, so if in doubt, write the + surprising; eg if you have assets:per:checking 1 and assets:biz:check- + ing 2 accounts, hledger areg checking would select assets:biz:checking + 2. It's just a convenience to save typing, so if in doubt, write the full account name, or a distinctive substring that matches uniquely. - Transactions involving subaccounts of this account will also be shown. - aregister ignores depth limits, so its final total will always match a + Transactions involving subaccounts of this account will also be shown. + aregister ignores depth limits, so its final total will always match a balance report with similar arguments. - Any additional arguments form a query which will filter the transac- + Any additional arguments form a query which will filter the transac- tions shown. Note some queries will disturb the running balance, caus- ing it to be different from the account's real-world running balance. - An example: this shows the transactions and historical running balance + An example: this shows the transactions and historical running balance during july, in the first account whose name contains "checking": $ hledger areg checking date:jul Each aregister line item shows: - o the transaction's date (or the relevant posting's date if different, + o the transaction's date (or the relevant posting's date if different, see below) - o the names of all the other account(s) involved in this transaction + o the names of all the other account(s) involved in this transaction (probably abbreviated) o the total change to this account's balance from this transaction o the account's historical running balance after this transaction. - Transactions making a net change of zero are not shown by default; add + Transactions making a net change of zero are not shown by default; add the -E/--empty flag to show them. - For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first - 1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause - visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to - ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the + For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first + 1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause + visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to + ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the --align-all flag. - By default, aregister shows a heading above the data. However, when - reporting in a language different from English, it is easier to omit - this heading and prepend your own one. For this purpose, use the + By default, aregister shows a heading above the data. However, when + reporting in a language different from English, it is easier to omit + this heading and prepend your own one. For this purpose, use the --heading=no option. This command also supports the output destination and output format op- @@ -7590,13 +7595,13 @@ Standard report commands html, fods (Added in 1.41) and json. aregister and posting dates - aregister always shows one line (and date and amount) per transaction. - But sometimes transactions have postings with different dates. Also, - not all of a transaction's postings may be within the report period. + aregister always shows one line (and date and amount) per transaction. + But sometimes transactions have postings with different dates. Also, + not all of a transaction's postings may be within the report period. To resolve this, aregister shows the earliest of the transaction's date and posting dates that is in-period, and the sum of the in-period post- - ings. In other words it will show a combined line item with just the - earliest date, and the running balance will (temporarily, until the + ings. In other words it will show a combined line item with just the + earliest date, and the running balance will (temporarily, until the transaction's last posting) be inaccurate. Use register -H if you need to see the individual postings. @@ -7610,10 +7615,11 @@ Standard report commands Show postings and their running total. Flags: - --cumulative show running total from report start date - (default) - -H --historical show historical running total/balance (includes - postings before report start date) + --cumulative accumulation mode: show running total from report + start date (default) + -H --historical accumulation mode: show historical running + total/balance (includes postings before report + start date) -A --average show running average of posting amounts instead of total (implies --empty) -m --match=DESC fuzzy search for one recent posting with @@ -7635,14 +7641,14 @@ Standard report commands one of the above formats selects that format. The register command displays matched postings, across all accounts, in - date order, with their running total or running historical balance. - (See also the aregister command, which shows matched transactions in a + date order, with their running total or running historical balance. + (See also the aregister command, which shows matched transactions in a specific account.) register normally shows line per posting, but note that multi-commodity amounts will occupy multiple lines (one line per commodity). - It is typically used with a query selecting a particular account, to + It is typically used with a query selecting a particular account, to see that account's activity: $ hledger register checking @@ -7653,14 +7659,14 @@ Standard report commands With --date2, it shows and sorts by secondary date instead. - For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first - 1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause - visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to - ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the + For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first + 1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause + visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to + ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the --align-all flag. - The --historical/-H flag adds the balance from any undisplayed prior - postings to the running total. This is useful when you want to see + The --historical/-H flag adds the balance from any undisplayed prior + postings to the running total. This is useful when you want to see only recent activity, with a historically accurate running balance: $ hledger register checking -b 2008/6 --historical @@ -7670,25 +7676,25 @@ Standard report commands The --depth option limits the amount of sub-account detail displayed. - The --average/-A flag shows the running average posting amount instead + The --average/-A flag shows the running average posting amount instead of the running total (so, the final number displayed is the average for - the whole report period). This flag implies --empty (see below). It - is affected by --historical. It works best when showing just one ac- + the whole report period). This flag implies --empty (see below). It + is affected by --historical. It works best when showing just one ac- count and one commodity. - The --related/-r flag shows the other postings in the transactions of + The --related/-r flag shows the other postings in the transactions of the postings which would normally be shown. - The --invert flag negates all amounts. For example, it can be used on + The --invert flag negates all amounts. For example, it can be used on an income account where amounts are normally displayed as negative num- - bers. It's also useful to show postings on the checking account to- + bers. It's also useful to show postings on the checking account to- gether with the related account: - The --sort=FIELDS flag sorts by the fields given, which can be any of + The --sort=FIELDS flag sorts by the fields given, which can be any of account, amount, absamount, date, or desc/description, optionally sepa- - rated by commas. For example, --sort account,amount will group all + rated by commas. For example, --sort account,amount will group all transactions in each account, sorted by transaction amount. Each field - can be negated by a preceding -, so --sort -amount will show transac- + can be negated by a preceding -, so --sort -amount will show transac- tions ordered from smallest amount to largest amount. $ hledger register --related --invert assets:checking @@ -7700,7 +7706,7 @@ Standard report commands 2008/01 income:salary $-1 $-1 2008/06 income:gifts $-1 $-2 - Periods with no activity, and summary postings with a zero amount, are + Periods with no activity, and summary postings with a zero amount, are not shown by default; use the --empty/-E flag to see them: $ hledger register --monthly income -E @@ -7717,7 +7723,7 @@ Standard report commands 2008/11 0 $-2 2008/12 0 $-2 - Often, you'll want to see just one line per interval. The --depth op- + Often, you'll want to see just one line per interval. The --depth op- tion helps with this, causing subaccounts to be aggregated: $ hledger register --monthly assets --depth 1h @@ -7725,21 +7731,21 @@ Standard report commands 2008/06 assets $-1 0 2008/12 assets $-1 $-1 - Note when using report intervals, if you specify start/end dates these - will be adjusted outward if necessary to contain a whole number of in- - tervals. This ensures that the first and last intervals are full + Note when using report intervals, if you specify start/end dates these + will be adjusted outward if necessary to contain a whole number of in- + tervals. This ensures that the first and last intervals are full length and comparable to the others in the report. - With -m DESC/--match=DESC, register does a fuzzy search for one recent + With -m DESC/--match=DESC, register does a fuzzy search for one recent posting whose description is most similar to DESC. DESC should contain at least two characters. If there is no similar-enough match, no post- ing will be shown and the program exit code will be non-zero. Custom register output - register normally uses the full terminal width (or 80 columns if it + register normally uses the full terminal width (or 80 columns if it can't detect that). You can override this with the --width/-w option. - The description and account columns normally share the space equally + The description and account columns normally share the space equally (about half of (width - 40) each). You can adjust this by adding a de- scription width as part of --width's argument, comma-separated: --width W,D . Here's a diagram (won't display correctly in --help): @@ -7755,37 +7761,39 @@ Standard report commands $ hledger reg -w 100,40 # set overall width 100, description width 40 This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), and json. balancesheet (bs) - Show the end balances in asset and liability accounts. Amounts are - shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial state- + Show the end balances in asset and liability accounts. Amounts are + shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial state- ments. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of period-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts (default) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) (default) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -7794,8 +7802,7 @@ Standard report commands --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name -% --percent express values in percentage of each column's @@ -7812,13 +7819,13 @@ Standard report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- + This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- ances of asset and liability accounts. (To see equity as well, use the balancesheetequity command.) Accounts declared with the Asset, Cash or Liability type are shown (see - account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows - top-level accounts named asset or liability (case insensitive, plurals + account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows + top-level accounts named asset or liability (case insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -7844,43 +7851,45 @@ Standard report commands Net: || 0 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. - It is similar to hledger balance -H assets liabilities, but with - smarter account detection, and liabilities displayed with their sign + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + It is similar to hledger balance -H assets liabilities, but with + smarter account detection, and liabilities displayed with their sign flipped. This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), html, and json. balancesheetequity (bse) - This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- - ances of asset, liability and equity accounts. Amounts are shown with + This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- + ances of asset, liability and equity accounts. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of period-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts (default) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) (default) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -7889,8 +7898,7 @@ Standard report commands --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name -% --percent express values in percentage of each column's @@ -7907,9 +7915,9 @@ Standard report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - This report shows accounts declared with the Asset, Cash, Liability or - Equity type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, - it shows top-level accounts named asset, liability or equity (case in- + This report shows accounts declared with the Asset, Cash, Liability or + Equity type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, + it shows top-level accounts named asset, liability or equity (case in- sensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -7940,14 +7948,14 @@ Standard report commands Net: || 0 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. It is similar to hledger balance -H assets liabilities equity, but with - smarter account detection, and liabilities/equity displayed with their + smarter account detection, and liabilities/equity displayed with their sign flipped. This report is the easiest way to see if the accounting equation (A+L+E - = 0) is satisfied (after you have done a close --retain to merge rev- - enues and expenses with equity, and perhaps added --infer-equity to + = 0) is satisfied (after you have done a close --retain to merge rev- + enues and expenses with equity, and perhaps added --infer-equity to balance your commodity conversions). This command also supports the output destination and output format op- @@ -7956,31 +7964,35 @@ Standard report commands cashflow (cf) - This command displays a (simple) cashflow statement, showing the in- - flows and outflows affecting "cash" (ie, liquid, easily convertible) - assets. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conven- + This command displays a (simple) cashflow statement, showing the in- + flows and outflows affecting "cash" (ie, liquid, easily convertible) + assets. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conven- tional financial statements. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of period-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) (default) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + (default) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -7989,8 +8001,7 @@ Standard report commands --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name -% --percent express values in percentage of each column's @@ -8007,10 +8018,10 @@ Standard report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - This report shows accounts declared with the Cash type (see account + This report shows accounts declared with the Cash type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows accounts - o under a top-level account named asset (case insensitive, plural al- + o under a top-level account named asset (case insensitive, plural al- lowed) o whose name contains some variation of cash, bank, checking or saving. @@ -8037,41 +8048,45 @@ Standard report commands || $-1 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. - It is similar to hledger balance assets not:fixed not:investment + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + It is similar to hledger balance assets not:fixed not:investment not:receivable, but with smarter account detection. This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), html, and json. incomestatement (is) - Show revenue inflows and expense outflows during the report period. - Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional finan- + Show revenue inflows and expense outflows during the report period. + Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional finan- cial statements. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of period-end historical - balance value (caused by deposits, withdrawals, - market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports) (default) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N flat mode: omit N leading account name parts + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, + withdrawals, market price fluctuations) + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports) + (default) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -8080,8 +8095,7 @@ Standard report commands --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name -% --percent express values in percentage of each column's @@ -8098,12 +8112,12 @@ Standard report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - This command displays an income statement, showing revenues and ex- + This command displays an income statement, showing revenues and ex- penses during one or more periods. - It shows accounts declared with the Revenue or Expense type (see ac- - count types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows top-level - accounts named revenue or income or expense (case insensitive, plurals + It shows accounts declared with the Revenue or Expense type (see ac- + count types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows top-level + accounts named revenue or income or expense (case insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -8130,50 +8144,54 @@ Standard report commands Net: || 0 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. It is similar to hledger balance '(revenues|income)' expenses, but with - smarter account detection, and revenues/income displayed with their + smarter account detection, and revenues/income displayed with their sign flipped. This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), html, and json. Advanced report commands balance (bal) - A flexible, general purpose "summing" report that shows accounts with + A flexible, general purpose "summing" report that shows accounts with some kind of numeric data. This can be balance changes per period, end balances, budget performance, unrealised capital gains, etc. Flags: - --sum show sum of posting amounts (default) - --valuechange show total change of value of period-end - historical balances (caused by deposits, + --sum calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + (default) + --valuechange calculation mode: show total change of value of + period-end historical balances (caused by deposits, withdrawals, market price fluctuations) - --gain show unrealised capital gain/loss (historical - balance value minus cost basis) - --budget[=DESCPAT] show sum of posting amounts together with budget - goals defined by periodic + --gain calculation mode: show unrealised capital + gain/loss (historical balance value minus cost + basis) + --budget[=DESCPAT] calculation mode: show sum of posting amounts + together with budget goals defined by periodic transactions. With a DESCPAT argument (must be separated by = not space), use only periodic transactions with matching description (case insensitive substring match). - --count show the count of postings - --change accumulate amounts from column start to column - end (in multicolumn reports, default) - --cumulative accumulate amounts from report start (specified - by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end - -H --historical accumulate amounts from journal start to column - end (includes postings before report start date) - -l --flat show accounts as a flat list (default). Amounts - exclude subaccount amounts, except where the - account is depth-clipped. - -t --tree show accounts as a tree. Amounts include - subaccount amounts. - --drop=N omit N leading account name parts (in flat mode) + --count calculation mode: show the count of postings + --change accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from column + start to column end (in multicolumn reports, + default) + --cumulative accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from report + start (specified by e.g. -b/--begin) to column end + -H --historical accumulation mode: accumulate amounts from + journal start to column end (includes postings + before report start date) + -l --flat list/tree mode: show accounts as a flat list + (default). Amounts exclude subaccount amounts, + except where the account is depth-clipped. + -t --tree list/tree mode: show accounts as a tree. Amounts + include subaccount amounts. + --drop=N in list mode, omit N leading account name parts --declared include non-parent declared accounts (best used with -E) -A --average show a row average column (in multicolumn @@ -8182,8 +8200,7 @@ Advanced report commands --summary-only display only row summaries (e.g. row total, average) (in multicolumn reports) -N --no-total omit the final total row - --no-elide don't squash boring parent accounts (in tree - mode) + --no-elide in tree mode, don't squash boring parent accounts --format=FORMATSTR use this custom line format (in simple reports) -S --sort-amount sort by amount instead of account code/name (in flat mode). With multiple columns, sorts by the row @@ -8207,19 +8224,19 @@ Advanced report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - balance is one of hledger's oldest and most versatile commands, for - listing account balances, balance changes, values, value changes and + balance is one of hledger's oldest and most versatile commands, for + listing account balances, balance changes, values, value changes and more, during one time period or many. Generally it shows a table, with rows representing accounts, and columns representing periods. - Note there are some higher-level variants of the balance command with - convenient defaults, which can be simpler to use: balancesheet, bal- + Note there are some higher-level variants of the balance command with + convenient defaults, which can be simpler to use: balancesheet, bal- ancesheetequity, cashflow and incomestatement. When you need more con- trol, then use balance. balance features - Here's a quick overview of the balance command's features, followed by - more detailed descriptions and examples. Many of these work with the + Here's a quick overview of the balance command's features, followed by + more detailed descriptions and examples. Many of these work with the higher-level commands as well. balance can show.. @@ -8274,7 +8291,7 @@ Advanced report commands ..with.. - o totals (-T), averages (-A), percentages (-%), inverted sign (--in- + o totals (-T), averages (-A), percentages (-%), inverted sign (--in- vert) o rows and columns swapped (--transpose) @@ -8287,20 +8304,20 @@ Advanced report commands This command supports the output destination and output format options, with output formats txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), json, and (multi-pe- - riod reports only:) html, fods (Added in 1.40). In txt output in a + riod reports only:) html, fods (Added in 1.40). In txt output in a colour-supporting terminal, negative amounts are shown in red. Simple balance report - With no arguments, balance shows a list of all accounts and their - change of balance - ie, the sum of posting amounts, both inflows and - outflows - during the entire period of the journal. ("Simple" here - means just one column of numbers, covering a single period. You can + With no arguments, balance shows a list of all accounts and their + change of balance - ie, the sum of posting amounts, both inflows and + outflows - during the entire period of the journal. ("Simple" here + means just one column of numbers, covering a single period. You can also have multi-period reports, described later.) - For real-world accounts, these numbers will normally be their end bal- + For real-world accounts, these numbers will normally be their end bal- ance at the end of the journal period; more on this below. - Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then alphabeti- + Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then alphabeti- cally by account name. For instance (using examples/sample.journal): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal @@ -8315,7 +8332,7 @@ Advanced report commands 0 Accounts with a zero balance (and no non-zero subaccounts, in tree mode - - see below) are hidden by default. Use -E/--empty to show them (re- + - see below) are hidden by default. Use -E/--empty to show them (re- vealing assets:bank:checking here): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal -E @@ -8330,12 +8347,12 @@ Advanced report commands -------------------- 0 - The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless + The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless -N/--no-total is used. Balance report line format For single-period balance reports displayed in the terminal (only), you - can use --format FMT to customise the format and content of each line. + can use --format FMT to customise the format and content of each line. Eg: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance --format "%20(account) %12(total)" @@ -8352,7 +8369,7 @@ Advanced report commands --------------------------------- 0 - The FMT format string specifies the formatting applied to each ac- + The FMT format string specifies the formatting applied to each ac- count/balance pair. It may contain any suitable text, with data fields interpolated like so: @@ -8364,14 +8381,14 @@ Advanced report commands o FIELDNAME must be enclosed in parentheses, and can be one of: - o depth_spacer - a number of spaces equal to the account's depth, or + o depth_spacer - a number of spaces equal to the account's depth, or if MIN is specified, MIN * depth spaces. o account - the account's name o total - the account's balance/posted total, right justified - Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how multi-com- + Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how multi-com- modity amounts are rendered: o %_ - render on multiple lines, bottom-aligned (the default) @@ -8381,25 +8398,25 @@ Advanced report commands o %, - render on one line, comma-separated There are some quirks. Eg in one-line mode, %(depth_spacer) has no ef- - fect, instead %(account) has indentation built in. Experimentation + fect, instead %(account) has indentation built in. Experimentation may be needed to get pleasing results. Some example formats: o %(total) - the account's total - o %-20.20(account) - the account's name, left justified, padded to 20 + o %-20.20(account) - the account's name, left justified, padded to 20 characters and clipped at 20 characters - o %,%-50(account) %25(total) - account name padded to 50 characters, - total padded to 20 characters, with multiple commodities rendered on + o %,%-50(account) %25(total) - account name padded to 50 characters, + total padded to 20 characters, with multiple commodities rendered on one line - o %20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account) - the default format for the + o %20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account) - the default format for the single-column balance report Filtered balance report - You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from + You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from cleared transactions only, etc. by using query arguments or options to limit the postings being matched. Eg: @@ -8409,10 +8426,10 @@ Advanced report commands $-2 List or tree mode - By default, or with -l/--flat, accounts are shown as a flat list with + By default, or with -l/--flat, accounts are shown as a flat list with their full names visible, as in the examples above. - With -t/--tree, the account hierarchy is shown, with subaccounts' + With -t/--tree, the account hierarchy is shown, with subaccounts' "leaf" names indented below their parent: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance @@ -8432,26 +8449,26 @@ Advanced report commands Notes: o "Boring" accounts are combined with their subaccount for more compact - output, unless --no-elide is used. Boring accounts have no balance - of their own and just one subaccount (eg assets:bank and liabilities + output, unless --no-elide is used. Boring accounts have no balance + of their own and just one subaccount (eg assets:bank and liabilities above). - o All balances shown are "inclusive", ie including the balances from - all subaccounts. Note this means some repetition in the output, + o All balances shown are "inclusive", ie including the balances from + all subaccounts. Note this means some repetition in the output, which requires explanation when sharing reports with non-plaintextac- - counting-users. A tree mode report's final total is the sum of the + counting-users. A tree mode report's final total is the sum of the top-level balances shown, not of all the balances shown. - o Each group of sibling accounts (ie, under a common parent) is sorted + o Each group of sibling accounts (ie, under a common parent) is sorted separately. Depth limiting - With a depth:NUM query, or --depth NUM option, or just -NUM (eg: -3) - balance reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, hiding - the deeper subaccounts. This can be useful for getting an overview + With a depth:NUM query, or --depth NUM option, or just -NUM (eg: -3) + balance reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, hiding + the deeper subaccounts. This can be useful for getting an overview without too much detail. - Account balances at the depth limit always include the balances from + Account balances at the depth limit always include the balances from any deeper subaccounts (even in list mode). Eg, limiting to depth 1: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance -1 @@ -8463,7 +8480,7 @@ Advanced report commands 0 Dropping top-level accounts - You can also hide one or more top-level account name parts, using + You can also hide one or more top-level account name parts, using --drop NUM. This can be useful for hiding repetitive top-level account names: @@ -8474,53 +8491,53 @@ Advanced report commands $2 Showing declared accounts - With --declared, accounts which have been declared with an account di- - rective will be included in the balance report, even if they have no + With --declared, accounts which have been declared with an account di- + rective will be included in the balance report, even if they have no transactions. (Since they will have a zero balance, you will also need -E/--empty to see them.) - More precisely, leaf declared accounts (with no subaccounts) will be + More precisely, leaf declared accounts (with no subaccounts) will be included, since those are usually the more useful in reports. - The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance re- + The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance re- port, even when you don't have transactions in all of your declared ac- counts yet. Sorting by amount - With -S/--sort-amount, accounts with the largest (most positive) bal- - ances are shown first. Eg: hledger bal expenses -MAS shows your - biggest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity - is present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commod- - ity first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing + With -S/--sort-amount, accounts with the largest (most positive) bal- + ances are shown first. Eg: hledger bal expenses -MAS shows your + biggest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity + is present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commod- + ity first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing a commodity, it is treated as 0). - Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -S - shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add --in- - vert to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, + Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -S + shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add --in- + vert to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, which flip the sign automatically. Eg: hledger incomestatement -MAS). Percentages - With -%/--percent, balance reports show each account's value expressed + With -%/--percent, balance reports show each account's value expressed as a percentage of the (column) total. Note it is not useful to calculate percentages if the amounts in a col- - umn have mixed signs. In this case, make a separate report for each + umn have mixed signs. In this case, make a separate report for each sign, eg: $ hledger bal -% amt:`>0` $ hledger bal -% amt:`<0` - Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert - them to one commodity with -B, -V, -X or --value, or make a separate + Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert + them to one commodity with -B, -V, -X or --value, or make a separate report for each commodity: $ hledger bal -% cur:\\$ $ hledger bal -% cur: Multi-period balance report - With a report interval (set by the -D/--daily, -W/--weekly, - -M/--monthly, -Q/--quarterly, -Y/--yearly, or -p/--period flag), bal- - ance shows a tabular report, with columns representing successive time + With a report interval (set by the -D/--daily, -W/--weekly, + -M/--monthly, -Q/--quarterly, -Y/--yearly, or -p/--period flag), bal- + ance shows a tabular report, with columns representing successive time periods (and a title): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal --quarterly income expenses -E @@ -8541,24 +8558,24 @@ Advanced report commands encompass the displayed subperiods (so that the first and last subpe- riods have the same duration as the others). - o Leading and trailing periods (columns) containing all zeroes are not + o Leading and trailing periods (columns) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless -E/--empty is used. - o Accounts (rows) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless + o Accounts (rows) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless -E/--empty is used. - o Amounts with many commodities are shown in abbreviated form, unless + o Amounts with many commodities are shown in abbreviated form, unless --no-elide is used. - o Average and/or total columns can be added with the -A/--average and + o Average and/or total columns can be added with the -A/--average and -T/--row-total flags. o The --transpose flag can be used to exchange rows and columns. - o The --pivot FIELD option causes a different transaction field to be + o The --pivot FIELD option causes a different transaction field to be used as "account name". See PIVOTING. - o The --summary-only flag (--summary also works) hides all but the To- + o The --summary-only flag (--summary also works) hides all but the To- tal and Average columns (those should be enabled with --row-total and -A/--average). @@ -8577,57 +8594,57 @@ Advanced report commands o Reduce the terminal's font size - o View with a pager like less, eg: hledger bal -D --color=yes | less + o View with a pager like less, eg: hledger bal -D --color=yes | less -RS - o Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata (hledger bal -D -O - csv | vd -f csv), Emacs' csv-mode (M-x csv-mode, C-c C-a), or a + o Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata (hledger bal -D -O + csv | vd -f csv), Emacs' csv-mode (M-x csv-mode, C-c C-a), or a spreadsheet (hledger bal -D -o a.csv && open a.csv) - o Output as HTML and view with a browser: hledger bal -D -o a.html && + o Output as HTML and view with a browser: hledger bal -D -o a.html && open a.html Balance change, end balance - It's important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in bal- + It's important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in bal- ance reports. Here is some terminology we use: - A balance change is the net amount added to, or removed from, an ac- + A balance change is the net amount added to, or removed from, an ac- count during some period. - An end balance is the amount accumulated in an account as of some date - (and some time, but hledger doesn't store that; assume end of day in + An end balance is the amount accumulated in an account as of some date + (and some time, but hledger doesn't store that; assume end of day in your timezone). It is the sum of previous balance changes. - We call it a historical end balance if it includes all balance changes + We call it a historical end balance if it includes all balance changes since the account was created. For a real world account, this means it - will match the "historical record", eg the balances reported in your + will match the "historical record", eg the balances reported in your bank statements or bank web UI. (If they are correct!) - In general, balance changes are what you want to see when reviewing + In general, balance changes are what you want to see when reviewing revenues and expenses, and historical end balances are what you want to see when reviewing or reconciling asset, liability and equity accounts. - balance shows balance changes by default. To see accurate historical + balance shows balance changes by default. To see accurate historical end balances: - 1. Initialise account starting balances with an "opening balances" - transaction (a transfer from equity to the account), unless the + 1. Initialise account starting balances with an "opening balances" + transaction (a transfer from equity to the account), unless the journal covers the account's full lifetime. 2. Include all of of the account's prior postings in the report, by not - specifying a report start date, or by using the -H/--historical + specifying a report start date, or by using the -H/--historical flag. (-H causes report start date to be ignored when summing post- ings.) Balance report types - The balance command is quite flexible; here is the full detail on how - to control what it reports. If the following seems complicated, don't - worry - this is for advanced reporting, and it does take time and ex- + The balance command is quite flexible; here is the full detail on how + to control what it reports. If the following seems complicated, don't + worry - this is for advanced reporting, and it does take time and ex- perimentation to get familiar with all the report modes. There are three important option groups: - hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] + hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] ... Calculation type @@ -8639,57 +8656,57 @@ Advanced report commands each account/period) o --valuechange : show the change in period-end historical balance val- - ues (caused by deposits, withdrawals, and/or market price fluctua- + ues (caused by deposits, withdrawals, and/or market price fluctua- tions) - o --gain : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current valued + o --gain : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current valued balance minus each amount's original cost) o --count : show the count of postings Accumulation type - How amounts should accumulate across a report's subperiods/columns. - Another way to say it: which time period's postings should contribute + How amounts should accumulate across a report's subperiods/columns. + Another way to say it: which time period's postings should contribute to each cell's calculation. It is one of: - o --change : calculate with postings from column start to column end, - ie "just this column". Typically used to see revenues/expenses. + o --change : calculate with postings from column start to column end, + ie "just this column". Typically used to see revenues/expenses. (default for balance, cashflow, incomestatement) - o --cumulative : calculate with postings from report start to column - end, ie "previous columns plus this column". Typically used to show + o --cumulative : calculate with postings from report start to column + end, ie "previous columns plus this column". Typically used to show changes accumulated since the report's start date. Not often used. - o --historical/-H : calculate with postings from journal start to col- - umn end, ie "all postings from before report start date until this - column's end". Typically used to see historical end balances of as- - sets/liabilities/equity. (default for balancesheet, balancesheete- + o --historical/-H : calculate with postings from journal start to col- + umn end, ie "all postings from before report start date until this + column's end". Typically used to see historical end balances of as- + sets/liabilities/equity. (default for balancesheet, balancesheete- quity) Valuation type - Which kind of value or cost conversion should be applied, if any, be- + Which kind of value or cost conversion should be applied, if any, be- fore displaying the report. It is one of: o no valuation type : don't convert to cost or value (default) - o --value=cost[,COMM] : convert amounts to cost (then optionally to + o --value=cost[,COMM] : convert amounts to cost (then optionally to some other commodity) - o --value=then[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on transaction + o --value=then[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on transaction dates - o --value=end[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on period end + o --value=end[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on period end date(s) (default with --valuechange, --gain) o --value=now[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on today's date - o --value=YYYY-MM-DD[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on an- + o --value=YYYY-MM-DD[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on an- other date or one of the equivalent simpler flags: - o -B/--cost : like --value=cost (though, note --cost and --value are + o -B/--cost : like --value=cost (though, note --cost and --value are independent options which can both be used at once) o -V/--market : like --value=end @@ -8699,13 +8716,13 @@ Advanced report commands See Cost reporting and Value reporting for more about these. Combining balance report types - Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, - but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. The + Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, + but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. The following restrictions are applied: o --valuechange implies --value=end - o --valuechange makes --change the default when used with the bal- + o --valuechange makes --change the default when used with the bal- ancesheet/balancesheetequity commands o --cumulative or --historical disables --row-total/-T @@ -8718,18 +8735,18 @@ Advanced report commands Accumu- /now lation:v ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --change change in period sum of post- period-end DATE-value of - ing-date market value of change change in pe- + --change change in period sum of post- period-end DATE-value of + ing-date market value of change change in pe- values in period in period riod - --cumu- change from re- sum of post- period-end DATE-value of - lative port start to ing-date market value of change change from + --cumu- change from re- sum of post- period-end DATE-value of + lative port start to ing-date market value of change change from period end values from re- from report report start port start to pe- start to period to period end riod end end - --his- change from sum of post- period-end DATE-value of + --his- change from sum of post- period-end DATE-value of torical journal start to ing-date market value of change change from /-H period end (his- values from jour- from journal journal start - torical end bal- nal start to pe- start to period to period end + torical end bal- nal start to pe- start to period to period end ance) riod end end Budget report @@ -8740,11 +8757,11 @@ Advanced report commands o Accounts which don't have budget goals are hidden by default. - This is useful for comparing planned and actual income, expenses, time + This is useful for comparing planned and actual income, expenses, time usage, etc. - Periodic transaction rules are used to define budget goals. For exam- - ple, here's a periodic rule defining monthly goals for bus travel and + Periodic transaction rules are used to define budget goals. For exam- + ple, here's a periodic rule defining monthly goals for bus travel and food expenses: ;; Budget @@ -8786,66 +8803,66 @@ Advanced report commands || 0 [ 0% of $430] 0 [ 0% of $430] This is "goal-based budgeting"; you define goals for accounts and peri- - ods, often recurring, and hledger shows performance relative to the - goals. This contrasts with "envelope budgeting", which is more de- - tailed and strict - useful when cash is tight, but also quite a bit - more work. https://plaintextaccounting.org/Budgeting has more on this + ods, often recurring, and hledger shows performance relative to the + goals. This contrasts with "envelope budgeting", which is more de- + tailed and strict - useful when cash is tight, but also quite a bit + more work. https://plaintextaccounting.org/Budgeting has more on this topic. Using the budget report - Historically this report has been confusing and fragile. hledger's - version should be relatively robust and intuitive, but you may still - find surprises. Here are more notes to help with learning and trou- + Historically this report has been confusing and fragile. hledger's + version should be relatively robust and intuitive, but you may still + find surprises. Here are more notes to help with learning and trou- bleshooting. - o In the above example, expenses:bus and expenses:food are shown be- + o In the above example, expenses:bus and expenses:food are shown be- cause they have budget goals during the report period. - o Their parent expenses is also shown, with budget goals aggregated + o Their parent expenses is also shown, with budget goals aggregated from the children. - o The subaccounts expenses:food:groceries and expenses:food:dining are - not shown since they have no budget goal of their own, but they con- + o The subaccounts expenses:food:groceries and expenses:food:dining are + not shown since they have no budget goal of their own, but they con- tribute to expenses:food's actual amount. - o Unbudgeted accounts expenses:movies and expenses:gifts are also not + o Unbudgeted accounts expenses:movies and expenses:gifts are also not shown, but they contribute to expenses's actual amount. - o The other unbudgeted accounts income and assets:bank:checking are + o The other unbudgeted accounts income and assets:bank:checking are grouped as . - o --depth or depth: can be used to limit report depth in the usual way + o --depth or depth: can be used to limit report depth in the usual way (but will not reveal unbudgeted subaccounts). o Amounts are always inclusive of subaccounts (even in -l/--list mode). o Numbers displayed in a --budget report will not always agree with the - totals, because of hidden unbudgeted accounts; this is normal. + totals, because of hidden unbudgeted accounts; this is normal. -E/--empty can be used to reveal the hidden accounts. o In the periodic rules used for setting budget goals, unbalanced post- ings are convenient. - o You can filter budget reports with the usual queries, eg to focus on - particular accounts. It's common to restrict them to just expenses. - (The account is occasionally hard to exclude; this is + o You can filter budget reports with the usual queries, eg to focus on + particular accounts. It's common to restrict them to just expenses. + (The account is occasionally hard to exclude; this is because of date surprises, discussed below.) - o When you have multiple currencies, you may want to convert them to - one (-X COMM --infer-market-prices) and/or show just one at a time - (cur:COMM). If you do need to show multiple currencies at once, + o When you have multiple currencies, you may want to convert them to + one (-X COMM --infer-market-prices) and/or show just one at a time + (cur:COMM). If you do need to show multiple currencies at once, --layout bare can be helpful. - o You can "roll over" amounts (actual and budgeted) to the next period + o You can "roll over" amounts (actual and budgeted) to the next period with --cumulative. See also: https://hledger.org/budgeting.html. Budget date surprises - With small data, or when starting out, some of the generated budget - goal transaction dates might fall outside the report periods. Eg with - the following journal and report, the first period appears to have no - expenses:food budget. (Also the account should be ex- + With small data, or when starting out, some of the generated budget + goal transaction dates might fall outside the report periods. Eg with + the following journal and report, the first period appears to have no + expenses:food budget. (Also the account should be ex- cluded by the expenses query, but isn't.): ~ monthly in 2020 @@ -8865,64 +8882,64 @@ Advanced report commands ---------------++-------------------- || $400 [80% of $500] - In this case, the budget goal transactions are generated on first days - of of month (this can be seen with hledger print --forecast tag:gener- - ated expenses). Whereas the report period defaults to just the 15th - day of january (this can be seen from the report table's column head- + In this case, the budget goal transactions are generated on first days + of of month (this can be seen with hledger print --forecast tag:gener- + ated expenses). Whereas the report period defaults to just the 15th + day of january (this can be seen from the report table's column head- ings). - To fix this kind of thing, be more explicit about the report period - (and/or the periodic rules' dates). In this case, adding -b 2020 does + To fix this kind of thing, be more explicit about the report period + (and/or the periodic rules' dates). In this case, adding -b 2020 does the trick. Selecting budget goals - By default, the budget report uses all available periodic transaction - rules to generate goals. This includes rules with a different report - interval from your report. Eg if you have daily, weekly and monthly - periodic rules, all of these will contribute to the goals in a monthly + By default, the budget report uses all available periodic transaction + rules to generate goals. This includes rules with a different report + interval from your report. Eg if you have daily, weekly and monthly + periodic rules, all of these will contribute to the goals in a monthly budget report. - You can select a subset of periodic rules by providing an argument to - the --budget flag. --budget=DESCPAT will match all periodic rules + You can select a subset of periodic rules by providing an argument to + the --budget flag. --budget=DESCPAT will match all periodic rules whose description contains DESCPAT, a case-insensitive substring (not a - regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic - rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed between period - expression and description), and then select from multiple budgets de- + regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic + rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed between period + expression and description), and then select from multiple budgets de- fined in your journal. Budgeting vs forecasting - --forecast and --budget both use the periodic transaction rules in the - journal to generate temporary transactions for reporting purposes. - However they are separate features - though you can use both at the + --forecast and --budget both use the periodic transaction rules in the + journal to generate temporary transactions for reporting purposes. + However they are separate features - though you can use both at the same time if you want. Here are some differences between them: --forecast --budget -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - is a general option; it enables fore- is a balance command option; it - casting with all reports selects the balance report's + is a general option; it enables fore- is a balance command option; it + casting with all reports selects the balance report's budget mode - generates visible transactions which generates invisible transactions + generates visible transactions which generates invisible transactions appear in reports which produce goal amounts - generates forecast transactions from generates budget goal transac- - after the last regular transaction, to tions throughout the report pe- - the end of the report period; or with riod, optionally restricted by - an argument --forecast=PERIODEXPR gen- periods specified in the peri- - erates them throughout the specified odic transaction rules - period, both optionally restricted by - periods specified in the periodic + generates forecast transactions from generates budget goal transac- + after the last regular transaction, to tions throughout the report pe- + the end of the report period; or with riod, optionally restricted by + an argument --forecast=PERIODEXPR gen- periods specified in the peri- + erates them throughout the specified odic transaction rules + period, both optionally restricted by + periods specified in the periodic transaction rules uses all periodic rules uses all periodic rules; or with an argument --budget=DESCPAT - uses just the rules matched by + uses just the rules matched by DESCPAT Balance report layout The --layout option affects how balance and the other balance-like com- - mands show multi-commodity amounts and commodity symbols. It can im- + mands show multi-commodity amounts and commodity symbols. It can im- prove readability, for humans and/or machines (other software). It has four possible values: - o --layout=wide[,WIDTH]: commodities are shown on a single line, op- + o --layout=wide[,WIDTH]: commodities are shown on a single line, op- tionally elided to WIDTH o --layout=tall: each commodity is shown on a separate line @@ -8930,11 +8947,11 @@ Advanced report commands o --layout=bare: commodity symbols are in their own column, amounts are bare numbers - o --layout=tidy: data is normalised to easily-consumed "tidy" form, - with one row per data value. (This one is currently supported only + o --layout=tidy: data is normalised to easily-consumed "tidy" form, + with one row per data value. (This one is currently supported only by the balance command.) - Here are the --layout modes supported by each output format Only CSV + Here are the --layout modes supported by each output format Only CSV output supports all of them: - txt csv html json sql @@ -8970,7 +8987,7 @@ Advanced report commands || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. Tall layout - Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in each column), and + Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in each column), and account names are repeated: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=tall @@ -8991,7 +9008,7 @@ Advanced report commands || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT Bare layout - Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each commodity has its own + Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each commodity has its own row, amounts are bare numbers, account names are repeated: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=bare @@ -9027,15 +9044,15 @@ Advanced report commands "Total:","VEA","36.00" "Total:","VHT","294.00" - Bare layout will sometimes display an extra row for the no-symbol com- - modity, because of zero amounts (hledger treats zeroes as commod- + Bare layout will sometimes display an extra row for the no-symbol com- + modity, because of zero amounts (hledger treats zeroes as commod- ity-less, usually). This can break hledger-bar confusingly (workaround: add a cur: query to exclude the no-symbol row). Tidy layout This produces normalised "tidy data" (see https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/vignettes/tidy-data.html) - where every variable has its own column and each row represents a sin- + where every variable has its own column and each row represents a sin- gle data point. This is the easiest kind of data for other software to consume: @@ -9058,41 +9075,41 @@ Advanced report commands "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VHT","170.00" Balance report output - As noted in Output format, if you choose HTML output (by using -O html - or -o somefile.html), it will use the UTF-8 text encoding, And you can - create a hledger.css file in the same directory to customise the re- + As noted in Output format, if you choose HTML output (by using -O html + or -o somefile.html), it will use the UTF-8 text encoding, And you can + create a hledger.css file in the same directory to customise the re- port's appearance. The HTML and FODS output formats can generate hyperlinks to a - hledger-web register view for each account and period. E.g. if your + hledger-web register view for each account and period. E.g. if your hledger-web server is reachable at http://localhost:5000 then you might - run the balance command with the extra option --base-url=http://local- - host:5000. You can also produce relative links, like + run the balance command with the extra option --base-url=http://local- + host:5000. You can also produce relative links, like --base-url="some/path" or --base-url="".) Some useful balance reports Some frequently used balance options/reports are: o bal -M revenues expenses - Show revenues/expenses in each month. Also available as the incomes- + Show revenues/expenses in each month. Also available as the incomes- tatement command. o bal -M -H assets liabilities - Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. Also + Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. Also available as the balancesheet command. o bal -M -H assets liabilities equity - Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. + Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. Also available as the balancesheetequity command. o bal -M assets not:receivable - Show changes to liquid assets in each month. Also available as the + Show changes to liquid assets in each month. Also available as the cashflow command. Also: o bal -M expenses -2 -SA - Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average + Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average amount. o bal -M --budget expenses @@ -9106,7 +9123,7 @@ Advanced report commands Show top gainers [or losers] last week roi - Shows the time-weighted (TWR) and money-weighted (IRR) rate of return + Shows the time-weighted (TWR) and money-weighted (IRR) rate of return on your investments. Flags: @@ -9116,38 +9133,38 @@ Advanced report commands --profit-loss=QUERY --pnl query to select profit-and-loss or appreciation/valuation transactions - At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an ac- - count name) to select your investment(s) with --inv, and another query + At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an ac- + count name) to select your investment(s) with --inv, and another query to identify your profit and loss transactions with --pnl. - If you do not record changes in the value of your investment manually, - or do not require computation of time-weighted return (TWR), --pnl + If you do not record changes in the value of your investment manually, + or do not require computation of time-weighted return (TWR), --pnl could be an empty query (--pnl "" or --pnl STR where STR does not match any of your accounts). - This command will compute and display the internalized rate of return - (IRR, also known as money-weighted rate of return) and time-weighted - rate of return (TWR) for your investments for the time period re- - quested. IRR is always annualized due to the way it is computed, but - TWR is reported both as a rate over the chosen reporting period and as + This command will compute and display the internalized rate of return + (IRR, also known as money-weighted rate of return) and time-weighted + rate of return (TWR) for your investments for the time period re- + quested. IRR is always annualized due to the way it is computed, but + TWR is reported both as a rate over the chosen reporting period and as an annual rate. - Price directives will be taken into account if you supply appropriate + Price directives will be taken into account if you supply appropriate --cost or --value flags (see VALUATION). Note, in some cases this report can fail, for these reasons: - o Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR). - Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of investment be- + o Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR). + Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of investment be- comes negative at some point in time. - o Error (SearchFailed): Failed to find solution for Internal Rate of + o Error (SearchFailed): Failed to find solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Either search does not converge to a solution, or con- verges too slowly. Examples: - o Using roi to compute total return of investment in stocks: + o Using roi to compute total return of investment in stocks: https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/master/examples/invest- ing/roi-unrealised.ledger @@ -9157,28 +9174,28 @@ Advanced report commands Note that --inv and --pnl's argument is a query, and queries could have several space-separated terms (see QUERIES). - To indicate that all search terms form single command-line argument, + To indicate that all search terms form single command-line argument, you will need to put them in quotes (see Special characters): $ hledger roi --inv 'term1 term2 term3 ...' - If any query terms contain spaces themselves, you will need an extra + If any query terms contain spaces themselves, you will need an extra level of nested quoting, eg: $ hledger roi --inv="'Assets:Test 1'" --pnl="'Equity:Unrealized Profit and Loss'" Semantics of --inv and --pnl - Query supplied to --inv has to match all transactions that are related + Query supplied to --inv has to match all transactions that are related to your investment. Transactions not matching --inv will be ignored. In these transactions, ROI will conside postings that match --inv to be - "investment postings" and other postings (not matching --inv) will be - sorted into two categories: "cash flow" and "profit and loss", as ROI - needs to know which part of the investment value is your contributions + "investment postings" and other postings (not matching --inv) will be + sorted into two categories: "cash flow" and "profit and loss", as ROI + needs to know which part of the investment value is your contributions and which is due to the return on investment. o "Cash flow" is depositing or withdrawing money, buying or selling as- - sets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity and + sets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity and any other commodity. Example: 2019-01-01 Investing in Snake Oil @@ -9195,12 +9212,12 @@ Advanced report commands investment:snake oil = $57 equity:unrealized profit or loss - All non-investment postings are assumed to be "cash flow", unless they - match --pnl query. Changes in value of your investment due to "profit - and loss" postings will be considered as part of your investment re- + All non-investment postings are assumed to be "cash flow", unless they + match --pnl query. Changes in value of your investment due to "profit + and loss" postings will be considered as part of your investment re- turn. - Example: if you use --inv snake --pnl equity:unrealized, then postings + Example: if you use --inv snake --pnl equity:unrealized, then postings in the example below would be classifed as: 2019-01-01 Snake Oil #1 @@ -9217,58 +9234,58 @@ Advanced report commands snake oil $50 ; investment posting IRR and TWR explained - "ROI" stands for "return on investment". Traditionally this was com- - puted as a difference between current value of investment and its ini- + "ROI" stands for "return on investment". Traditionally this was com- + puted as a difference between current value of investment and its ini- tial value, expressed in percentage of the initial value. However, this approach is only practical in simple cases, where invest- - ments receives no in-flows or out-flows of money, and where rate of + ments receives no in-flows or out-flows of money, and where rate of growth is fixed over time. For more complex scenarios you need differ- - ent ways to compute rate of return, and this command implements two of + ent ways to compute rate of return, and this command implements two of them: IRR and TWR. - Internal rate of return, or "IRR" (also called "money-weighted rate of - return") takes into account effects of in-flows and out-flows, and the - time between them. Investment at a particular fixed interest rate is - going to give you more interest than the same amount invested at the - same interest rate, but made later in time. If you are withdrawing - from your investment, your future gains would be smaller (in absolute - numbers), and will be a smaller percentage of your initial investment, + Internal rate of return, or "IRR" (also called "money-weighted rate of + return") takes into account effects of in-flows and out-flows, and the + time between them. Investment at a particular fixed interest rate is + going to give you more interest than the same amount invested at the + same interest rate, but made later in time. If you are withdrawing + from your investment, your future gains would be smaller (in absolute + numbers), and will be a smaller percentage of your initial investment, so your IRR will be smaller. And if you are adding to your investment, you will receive bigger absolute gains, which will be a bigger percent- age of your initial investment, so your IRR will be larger. - As mentioned before, in-flows and out-flows would be any cash that you + As mentioned before, in-flows and out-flows would be any cash that you personally put in or withdraw, and for the "roi" command, these are the - postings that match the query in the--inv argument and NOT match the + postings that match the query in the--inv argument and NOT match the query in the--pnl argument. - If you manually record changes in the value of your investment as - transactions that balance them against "profit and loss" (or "unreal- - ized gains") account or use price directives, then in order for IRR to - compute the precise effect of your in-flows and out-flows on the rate - of return, you will need to record the value of your investement on or + If you manually record changes in the value of your investment as + transactions that balance them against "profit and loss" (or "unreal- + ized gains") account or use price directives, then in order for IRR to + compute the precise effect of your in-flows and out-flows on the rate + of return, you will need to record the value of your investement on or close to the days when in- or out-flows occur. - In technical terms, IRR uses the same approach as computation of net + In technical terms, IRR uses the same approach as computation of net present value, and tries to find a discount rate that makes net present value of all the cash flows of your investment to add up to zero. This - could be hard to wrap your head around, especially if you haven't done + could be hard to wrap your head around, especially if you haven't done discounted cash flow analysis before. Implementation of IRR in hledger should produce results that match the =XIRR formula in Excel. - Second way to compute rate of return that roi command implements is - called "time-weighted rate of return" or "TWR". Like IRR, it will ac- - count for the effect of your in-flows and out-flows, but unlike IRR it - will try to compute the true rate of return of the underlying asset, - compensating for the effect that deposits and withdrawas have on the + Second way to compute rate of return that roi command implements is + called "time-weighted rate of return" or "TWR". Like IRR, it will ac- + count for the effect of your in-flows and out-flows, but unlike IRR it + will try to compute the true rate of return of the underlying asset, + compensating for the effect that deposits and withdrawas have on the apparent rate of growth of your investment. - TWR represents your investment as an imaginary "unit fund" where - in-flows/ out-flows lead to buying or selling "units" of your invest- - ment and changes in its value change the value of "investment unit". - Change in "unit price" over the reporting period gives you rate of re- - turn of your investment, and make TWR less sensitive than IRR to the + TWR represents your investment as an imaginary "unit fund" where + in-flows/ out-flows lead to buying or selling "units" of your invest- + ment and changes in its value change the value of "investment unit". + Change in "unit price" over the reporting period gives you rate of re- + turn of your investment, and make TWR less sensitive than IRR to the effects of cash in-flows and out-flows. References: @@ -9281,7 +9298,7 @@ Advanced report commands o IRR vs TWR - o Examples of computing IRR and TWR and discussion of the limitations + o Examples of computing IRR and TWR and discussion of the limitations of both metrics Chart commands @@ -9291,8 +9308,8 @@ Chart commands Flags: no command-specific flags - The activity command displays an ascii histogram showing transaction - counts by day, week, month or other reporting interval (by day is the + The activity command displays an ascii histogram showing transaction + counts by day, week, month or other reporting interval (by day is the default). With query arguments, it counts only matched transactions. Examples: @@ -9307,10 +9324,10 @@ Data generation commands close (equity) - close prints several kinds of "closing" and/or "opening" transactions, + close prints several kinds of "closing" and/or "opening" transactions, useful in various situations: migrating balances to a new journal file, - retaining earnings into equity, consolidating balances, viewing lot - costs.. Like print, it prints valid journal entries. You can copy + retaining earnings into equity, consolidating balances, viewing lot + costs.. Like print, it prints valid journal entries. You can copy these into your journal file(s) when you are happy with how they look. Flags: @@ -9341,13 +9358,13 @@ Data generation commands all - also round cost amounts to precision (can unbalance transactions) - close has six modes, selected by choosing one of the mode flags - (--close is the default). They all do much the same operation, but + close has six modes, selected by choosing one of the mode flags + (--close is the default). They all do much the same operation, but with different defaults, useful in different situations. close --clopen This is useful if migrating balances to a new journal file at the start - of a new year. It prints a "closing balances" transaction that zeroes + of a new year. It prints a "closing balances" transaction that zeroes out account balances (Asset and Liability accounts, by default), and an opposite "opening balances" transaction that restores them again. Typ- ically, you would run @@ -9358,45 +9375,45 @@ Data generation commands (and probably also update your LEDGER_FILE environment variable). Why might you do this ? If your reports are fast, you may not need it. - But at some point you will probably want to partition your data by - time, for performance or data integrity or regulatory reasons. A new - file or set of files per year is common. Then, having each file/file- - set "bookended" with opening and closing balance transactions will al- - low you to freely pick and choose which files to read - just the cur- + But at some point you will probably want to partition your data by + time, for performance or data integrity or regulatory reasons. A new + file or set of files per year is common. Then, having each file/file- + set "bookended" with opening and closing balance transactions will al- + low you to freely pick and choose which files to read - just the cur- rent year, any past year, any sequence of years, or all of them - while - showing correct account balances in each case. The earliest opening - balances transaction sets correct starting balances, and any later + showing correct account balances in each case. The earliest opening + balances transaction sets correct starting balances, and any later closing/opening pairs will harmlessly cancel each other out. - The balances will be transferred to and from equity:opening/closing - balances by default. You can override this by using --close-acct + The balances will be transferred to and from equity:opening/closing + balances by default. You can override this by using --close-acct and/or --open-acct. - You can select a different set of accounts to close/open by providing - an account query. Eg to add Equity accounts, provide arguments like - assets liabilities equity or type:ALE. When migrating to a new file, - you'll usually want to bring along the AL or ALE accounts, but not the + You can select a different set of accounts to close/open by providing + an account query. Eg to add Equity accounts, provide arguments like + assets liabilities equity or type:ALE. When migrating to a new file, + you'll usually want to bring along the AL or ALE accounts, but not the RX accounts (Revenue, Expense). - Assertions will be added indicating and checking the new balances of + Assertions will be added indicating and checking the new balances of the closed/opened accounts. - The generated transactions will have a clopen: tag. If the main jour- - nal's base file name contains a number (eg a year number), the tag's - value will be that base file name with the number incremented. Or you + The generated transactions will have a clopen: tag. If the main jour- + nal's base file name contains a number (eg a year number), the tag's + value will be that base file name with the number incremented. Or you can choose the tag value yourself, by using --clopen=TAGVAL. close --close - This prints just the closing balances transaction of --clopen. It is + This prints just the closing balances transaction of --clopen. It is the default if you don't specify a mode. - More customisation options are described below. Among other things, + More customisation options are described below. Among other things, you can use close --close to generate a transaction moving the balances from any set of accounts, to a different account. (If you need to move just a portion of the balance, see hledger-move.) close --open - This prints just the opening balances transaction of --clopen. (It is + This prints just the opening balances transaction of --clopen. (It is similar to Ledger's equity command.) close --assert @@ -9406,29 +9423,29 @@ Data generation commands close --assign This prints a transaction that assigns the account balances as they are - on the end date (and adds an "assign:" tag). Unlike balance asser- + on the end date (and adds an "assign:" tag). Unlike balance asser- tions, assignments will post changes to balances as needed to reach the specified amounts. - This is another way to set starting balances when migrating to a new - file, and it will set them correctly even in the presence of earlier - files which do not have a closing balances transaction. However, it - can hide errors, and disturb the accounting equation, so --clopen is + This is another way to set starting balances when migrating to a new + file, and it will set them correctly even in the presence of earlier + files which do not have a closing balances transaction. However, it + can hide errors, and disturb the accounting equation, so --clopen is usually recommended. close --retain - This is like --close, but it closes Revenue and Expense account bal- - ances by default. They will be transferred to equity:retained earn- + This is like --close, but it closes Revenue and Expense account bal- + ances by default. They will be transferred to equity:retained earn- ings, or another account specified with --close-acct. - Revenues and expenses correspond to changes in equity. They are cate- + Revenues and expenses correspond to changes in equity. They are cate- gorised separately for reporting purposes, but traditionally at the end - of each accounting period, businesses consolidate them into equity, + of each accounting period, businesses consolidate them into equity, This is called "retaining earnings", or "closing the books". - In personal accounting, there's not much reason to do this, and most - people don't. (One reason to do it is to help the balancesheetequity - report show a zero total, demonstrating that the accounting equation + In personal accounting, there's not much reason to do this, and most + people don't. (One reason to do it is to help the balancesheetequity + report show a zero total, demonstrating that the accounting equation (A-L=E) is satisfied.) close customisation @@ -9438,57 +9455,57 @@ Data generation commands o the balancing account, with --close-acct=ACCT and/or --open-acct=ACCT - o the transaction descriptions, with --close-desc=DESC and + o the transaction descriptions, with --close-desc=DESC and --open-desc=DESC o the transaction's tag value, with a --MODE=NEW option argument o the closing/opening dates, with -e OPENDATE - By default, the closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, - whichever is later; and the opening date is always one day after the - closing date. You can change these by specifying a report end date; + By default, the closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, + whichever is later; and the opening date is always one day after the + closing date. You can change these by specifying a report end date; the closing date will be the last day of the report period. Eg -e 2024 means "close on 2023-12-31, open on 2024-01-01". With --x/--explicit, the balancing amount will be shown explicitly, and - if it involves multiple commodities, a separate posting will be gener- + if it involves multiple commodities, a separate posting will be gener- ated for each of them (similar to print -x). - With --interleaved, each individual transfer is shown with source and - destination postings next to each other (perhaps useful for trou- + With --interleaved, each individual transfer is shown with source and + destination postings next to each other (perhaps useful for trou- bleshooting). With --show-costs, balances' costs are also shown, with different costs - kept separate. This may generate very large journal entries, if you - have many currency conversions or investment transactions. close - --show-costs is currently the best way to view investment lots with - hledger. (To move or dispose of lots, see the more capable + kept separate. This may generate very large journal entries, if you + have many currency conversions or investment transactions. close + --show-costs is currently the best way to view investment lots with + hledger. (To move or dispose of lots, see the more capable hledger-move script.) close and balance assertions close adds balance assertions verifying that the accounts have been re- set to zero in a closing transaction or restored to their previous bal- - ances in an opening transaction. These provide useful error checking, + ances in an opening transaction. These provide useful error checking, but you can ignore them temporarily with -I, or remove them if you pre- fer. - Single-commodity, subaccount-exclusive balance assertions (=) are gen- - erated by default. This can be changed with --assertion-type='==*' + Single-commodity, subaccount-exclusive balance assertions (=) are gen- + erated by default. This can be changed with --assertion-type='==*' (eg). - When running close you should probably avoid using -C, -R, status: - (filtering by status or realness) or --auto (generating postings), + When running close you should probably avoid using -C, -R, status: + (filtering by status or realness) or --auto (generating postings), since the generated balance assertions would then require these. - Transactions with multiple dates (eg posting dates) spanning the file + Transactions with multiple dates (eg posting dates) spanning the file boundary also can disrupt the balance assertions: 2023-12-30 a purchase made in december, cleared in january expenses:food 5 assets:bank:checking -5 ; date: 2023-01-02 - To solve this you can transfer the money to and from a temporary ac- + To solve this you can transfer the money to and from a temporary ac- count, splitting the multi-day transaction into two single-day transac- tions: @@ -9509,7 +9526,7 @@ Data generation commands $ hledger close --retain -f 2022.journal -p 2022 >> 2022.journal - After this, to see 2022's revenues and expenses you must exclude the + After this, to see 2022's revenues and expenses you must exclude the retain earnings transaction: $ hledger -f 2022.journal is not:desc:'retain earnings' @@ -9521,12 +9538,12 @@ Data generation commands # copy/paste the closing transaction to the end of 2022.journal # copy/paste the opening transaction to the start of 2023.journal - After this, to see 2022's end-of-year balances you must exclude the + After this, to see 2022's end-of-year balances you must exclude the closing balances transaction: $ hledger -f 2022.journal bs not:desc:'closing balances' - For more flexibility, it helps to tag closing and opening transactions + For more flexibility, it helps to tag closing and opening transactions with eg clopen:NEWYEAR, then you can ensure correct balances by exclud- ing all opening/closing transactions except the first, like so: @@ -9542,7 +9559,7 @@ Data generation commands rewrite Print all transactions, rewriting the postings of matched transactions. - For now the only rewrite available is adding new postings, like print + For now the only rewrite available is adding new postings, like print --auto. Flags: @@ -9556,9 +9573,9 @@ Data generation commands patch tool This is a start at a generic rewriter of transaction entries. It reads - the default journal and prints the transactions, like print, but adds + the default journal and prints the transactions, like print, but adds one or more specified postings to any transactions matching QUERY. The - posting amounts can be fixed, or a multiplier of the existing transac- + posting amounts can be fixed, or a multiplier of the existing transac- tion's first posting amount. Examples: @@ -9574,7 +9591,7 @@ Data generation commands (reserve:grocery) *0.25 ; reserve 25% for grocery (reserve:) *0.25 ; reserve 25% for grocery - Note the single quotes to protect the dollar sign from bash, and the + Note the single quotes to protect the dollar sign from bash, and the two spaces between account and amount. More: @@ -9584,16 +9601,16 @@ Data generation commands $ hledger rewrite -- expenses:gifts --add-posting '(budget:gifts) *-1"' $ hledger rewrite -- ^income --add-posting '(budget:foreign currency) *0.25 JPY; diversify' - Argument for --add-posting option is a usual posting of transaction - with an exception for amount specification. More precisely, you can + Argument for --add-posting option is a usual posting of transaction + with an exception for amount specification. More precisely, you can use '*' (star symbol) before the amount to indicate that that this is a - factor for an amount of original matched posting. If the amount in- + factor for an amount of original matched posting. If the amount in- cludes a commodity name, the new posting amount will be in the new com- - modity; otherwise, it will be in the matched posting amount's commod- + modity; otherwise, it will be in the matched posting amount's commod- ity. Re-write rules in a file - During the run this tool will execute so called "Automated Transac- + During the run this tool will execute so called "Automated Transac- tions" found in any journal it process. I.e instead of specifying this operations in command line you can put them in a journal file. @@ -9608,7 +9625,7 @@ Data generation commands budget:gifts *-1 assets:budget *1 - Note that '=' (equality symbol) that is used instead of date in trans- + Note that '=' (equality symbol) that is used instead of date in trans- actions you usually write. It indicates the query by which you want to match the posting to add new ones. @@ -9621,12 +9638,12 @@ Data generation commands --add-posting 'assets:budget *1' \ > rewritten-tidy-output.journal - It is important to understand that relative order of such entries in - journal is important. You can re-use result of previously added post- + It is important to understand that relative order of such entries in + journal is important. You can re-use result of previously added post- ings. Diff output format - To use this tool for batch modification of your journal files you may + To use this tool for batch modification of your journal files you may find useful output in form of unified diff. $ hledger rewrite -- --diff -f examples/sample.journal '^income' --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33' @@ -9650,10 +9667,10 @@ Data generation commands If you'll pass this through patch tool you'll get transactions contain- ing the posting that matches your query be updated. Note that multiple - files might be update according to list of input files specified via + files might be update according to list of input files specified via --file options and include directives inside of these files. - Be careful. Whole transaction being re-formatted in a style of output + Be careful. Whole transaction being re-formatted in a style of output from hledger print. See also: @@ -9661,17 +9678,17 @@ Data generation commands https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/issues/99 rewrite vs. print --auto - This command predates print --auto, and currently does much the same + This command predates print --auto, and currently does much the same thing, but with these differences: - o with multiple files, rewrite lets rules in any file affect all other - files. print --auto uses standard directive scoping; rules affect + o with multiple files, rewrite lets rules in any file affect all other + files. print --auto uses standard directive scoping; rules affect only child files. - o rewrite's query limits which transactions can be rewritten; all are + o rewrite's query limits which transactions can be rewritten; all are printed. print --auto's query limits which transactions are printed. - o rewrite applies rules specified on command line or in the journal. + o rewrite applies rules specified on command line or in the journal. print --auto applies rules specified in the journal. Maintenance commands @@ -9681,103 +9698,103 @@ Maintenance commands Flags: no command-specific flags - hledger provides a number of built-in correctness checks to help vali- - date your data and prevent errors. Some are run automatically, some - when you enable --strict mode; or you can run any of them on demand by - providing them as arguments to the check command. check produces no + hledger provides a number of built-in correctness checks to help vali- + date your data and prevent errors. Some are run automatically, some + when you enable --strict mode; or you can run any of them on demand by + providing them as arguments to the check command. check produces no output and a zero exit code if all is well. Eg: hledger check # run basic checks hledger check -s # run basic and strict checks hledger check ordereddates payees # run basic checks and two others - If you are an Emacs user, you can also configure flycheck-hledger to + If you are an Emacs user, you can also configure flycheck-hledger to run these checks, providing instant feedback as you edit the journal. Here are the checks currently available. Generally, they are performed - in the order they are shown here (and only the first failure is re- + in the order they are shown here (and only the first failure is re- ported). Basic checks - These important checks are performed by default, by almost all hledger + These important checks are performed by default, by almost all hledger commands: - o parseable - data files are in a supported format, with no syntax er- - rors and no invalid include directives. This ensures that all files + o parseable - data files are in a supported format, with no syntax er- + rors and no invalid include directives. This ensures that all files exist and are readable. o autobalanced - all transactions are balanced, after inferring missing - amounts and conversion costs where possible, and then converting to + amounts and conversion costs where possible, and then converting to cost. This ensures that each individual transaction is well formed. o assertions - all balance assertions in the journal are passing. Bal- - ance assertions are like canaries in your journal, they catch many - problems. They can get in the way sometimes; you can disable them - temporarily with -I/--ignore-assertions (unless overridden with + ance assertions are like canaries in your journal, they catch many + problems. They can get in the way sometimes; you can disable them + temporarily with -I/--ignore-assertions (unless overridden with -s/--strict or hledger check assertions). Strict checks - These additional checks are performed by any command when the + These additional checks are performed by any command when the -s/--strict flag is used (strict mode). Strict mode always enables the - balance assertions check, also. These provide extra error-catching - power when you are serious about keeping your data clean and free of + balance assertions check, also. These provide extra error-catching + power when you are serious about keeping your data clean and free of typos: - o balanced - like autobalanced, but in conversion transactions, costs - must be written explicitly. This ensures some redundancy in the en- + o balanced - like autobalanced, but in conversion transactions, costs + must be written explicitly. This ensures some redundancy in the en- try, which helps prevent typos. - o commodities - all commodity symbols used must be declared. This + o commodities - all commodity symbols used must be declared. This guards against mistyping or omitting commodity symbols. - o accounts - all account names used must be declared. This prevents + o accounts - all account names used must be declared. This prevents the use of mis-spelled or outdated account names. Other checks These other checks are not wanted by everyone, but can be run using the check command: - o ordereddates - within each file, transactions are ordered by date. - This is a simple and effective error catcher, and you should use it. - Alas! not everyone wants it. If you do, use hledger check -s or- + o ordereddates - within each file, transactions are ordered by date. + This is a simple and effective error catcher, and you should use it. + Alas! not everyone wants it. If you do, use hledger check -s or- dereddates. When enabled, this check is performed early, before bal- - ance assertions (because copy-pasted dates are often the root cause + ance assertions (because copy-pasted dates are often the root cause of balance assertion failures). o payees - all payees used by transactions must be declared. This will - force you to always use known/declared payee names. For most people + force you to always use known/declared payee names. For most people this is a bit too restrictive. o tags - all tags used by transactions must be declared. This prevents mistyped tag names. - o recentassertions - all accounts with balance assertions must have a + o recentassertions - all accounts with balance assertions must have a balance assertion within the last 7 days before their latest posting. - This encourages you to add balance assertions fairly regularly for - your active asset/liability accounts, which in turn should encourage + This encourages you to add balance assertions fairly regularly for + your active asset/liability accounts, which in turn should encourage you to check and reconcile with their real world balances fairly reg- - ularly. close --assert can be helpful. (The older balance asser- - tions become redundant; you can remove them periodically, or leave + ularly. close --assert can be helpful. (The older balance asser- + tions become redundant; you can remove them periodically, or leave them in place, perhaps commented, as documentation.) - o uniqueleafnames - no two accounts may have the same leaf name. The - leaf name is the last colon-separated part of an account name, eg - checking in assets:bank:checking. This encourages you to keep those - unique, effectively giving each account a short name which is easier + o uniqueleafnames - no two accounts may have the same leaf name. The + leaf name is the last colon-separated part of an account name, eg + checking in assets:bank:checking. This encourages you to keep those + unique, effectively giving each account a short name which is easier to remember and to type in reporting commands. Custom checks - You can build your own custom checks with add-on command scripts. See + You can build your own custom checks with add-on command scripts. See also Cookbook > Scripting. Here are some examples from hledger/bin/: - o hledger-check-tagfiles - all tag values containing / (a forward + o hledger-check-tagfiles - all tag values containing / (a forward slash) exist as file paths - o hledger-check-fancyassertions - more complex balance assertions are + o hledger-check-fancyassertions - more complex balance assertions are passing diff - Compares a particular account's transactions in two input files. It + Compares a particular account's transactions in two input files. It shows any transactions to this account which are in one file but not in the other. @@ -9785,16 +9802,16 @@ Maintenance commands no command-specific flags More precisely: for each posting affecting this account in either file, - this command looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which - posts the same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, + this command looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which + posts the same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, etc). Since it compares postings, not transactions, this also works when mul- tiple bank transactions have been combined into a single journal entry. - This command is useful eg if you have downloaded an account's transac- - tions from your bank (eg as CSV data): when hledger and your bank dis- - agree about the account balance, you can compare the bank data with + This command is useful eg if you have downloaded an account's transac- + tions from your bank (eg as CSV data): when hledger and your bank dis- + agree about the account balance, you can compare the bank data with your journal to find out the cause. Examples: @@ -9815,13 +9832,13 @@ Maintenance commands Flags: no command-specific flags - This command runs the unit tests built in to hledger and hledger-lib, - printing the results on stdout. If any test fails, the exit code will + This command runs the unit tests built in to hledger and hledger-lib, + printing the results on stdout. If any test fails, the exit code will be non-zero. - This is mainly used by hledger developers, but you can also use it to - sanity-check the installed hledger executable on your platform. All - tests are expected to pass - if you ever see a failure, please report + This is mainly used by hledger developers, but you can also use it to + sanity-check the installed hledger executable on your platform. All + tests are expected to pass - if you ever see a failure, please report as a bug! This command also accepts tasty test runner options, written after a -- @@ -9830,11 +9847,11 @@ Maintenance commands $ hledger test -- -pData.Amount --color=never - For help on these, see https://github.com/feuerbach/tasty#options (-- + For help on these, see https://github.com/feuerbach/tasty#options (-- --help currently doesn't show them). PART 5: COMMON TASKS - Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with + Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with hledger. Getting help @@ -9844,37 +9861,37 @@ Getting help $ hledger --help # show common options $ hledger CMD --help # show CMD's options, common options and CMD's documentation - You can also view your hledger version's manual in several formats by + You can also view your hledger version's manual in several formats by using the help command. Eg: $ hledger help # show the hledger manual with info, man or $PAGER (best available) $ hledger help journal # show the journal topic in the hledger manual $ hledger help --help # find out more about the help command - To view manuals and introductory docs on the web, visit - https://hledger.org. Chat and mail list support and discussion + To view manuals and introductory docs on the web, visit + https://hledger.org. Chat and mail list support and discussion archives can be found at https://hledger.org/support. Constructing command lines - hledger has a flexible command line interface. We strive to keep it - simple and ergonomic, but if you run into one of the sharp edges de- + hledger has a flexible command line interface. We strive to keep it + simple and ergonomic, but if you run into one of the sharp edges de- scribed in OPTIONS, here are some tips that might help: - o command-specific options must go after the command (it's fine to put + o command-specific options must go after the command (it's fine to put common options there too: hledger CMD OPTS ARGS) - o running add-on executables directly simplifies command line parsing + o running add-on executables directly simplifies command line parsing (hledger-ui OPTS ARGS) o enclose "problematic" args in single quotes - o if needed, also add a backslash to hide regular expression metachar- + o if needed, also add a backslash to hide regular expression metachar- acters from the shell o to see how a misbehaving command line is being parsed, add --debug=2. Starting a journal file - hledger looks for your accounting data in a journal file, + hledger looks for your accounting data in a journal file, $HOME/.hledger.journal by default: $ hledger stats @@ -9882,9 +9899,9 @@ Starting a journal file Please create it first, eg with "hledger add" or a text editor. Or, specify an existing journal file with -f or LEDGER_FILE. - You can override this by setting the LEDGER_FILE environment variable - (see below). It's a good practice to keep this important file under - version control, and to start a new file each year. So you could do + You can override this by setting the LEDGER_FILE environment variable + (see below). It's a good practice to keep this important file under + version control, and to start a new file each year. So you could do something like this: $ mkdir ~/finance @@ -9910,52 +9927,52 @@ Starting a journal file Setting LEDGER_FILE How to set LEDGER_FILE permanently depends on your setup: - On unix and mac, running these commands in the terminal will work for + On unix and mac, running these commands in the terminal will work for many people; adapt as needed: $ echo 'export LEDGER_FILE=~/finance/2023.journal' >> ~/.profile $ source ~/.profile - When correctly configured, in a new terminal window env | grep + When correctly configured, in a new terminal window env | grep LEDGER_FILE will show your file, and so will hledger files. - On mac, this additional step might be helpful for GUI applications - (like Emacs started from the dock): add an entry to ~/.MacOSX/environ- + On mac, this additional step might be helpful for GUI applications + (like Emacs started from the dock): add an entry to ~/.MacOSX/environ- ment.plist like { "LEDGER_FILE" : "~/finance/2023.journal" } - and then run killall Dock in a terminal window (or restart the ma- + and then run killall Dock in a terminal window (or restart the ma- chine). On Windows, see https://www.java.com/en/download/help/path.html, or try - running these commands in a powershell window (let us know if it per- + running these commands in a powershell window (let us know if it per- sists across a reboot, and if you need to be an Administrator): > CD > MKDIR finance > SETX LEDGER_FILE "C:\Users\USERNAME\finance\2023.journal" - When correctly configured, in a new terminal window $env:LEDGER_FILE + When correctly configured, in a new terminal window $env:LEDGER_FILE will show the file path, and so will hledger files. Setting opening balances - Pick a starting date for which you can look up the balances of some - real-world assets (bank accounts, wallet..) and liabilities (credit + Pick a starting date for which you can look up the balances of some + real-world assets (bank accounts, wallet..) and liabilities (credit cards..). - To avoid a lot of data entry, you may want to start with just one or + To avoid a lot of data entry, you may want to start with just one or two accounts, like your checking account or cash wallet; and pick a re- - cent starting date, like today or the start of the week. You can al- - ways come back later and add more accounts and older transactions, eg + cent starting date, like today or the start of the week. You can al- + ways come back later and add more accounts and older transactions, eg going back to january 1st. - Add an opening balances transaction to the journal, declaring the bal- + Add an opening balances transaction to the journal, declaring the bal- ances on this date. Here are two ways to do it: - o The first way: open the journal in any text editor and save an entry + o The first way: open the journal in any text editor and save an entry like this: 2023-01-01 * opening balances @@ -9965,19 +9982,19 @@ Setting opening balances liabilities:creditcard $-50 = $-50 equity:opening/closing balances - These are start-of-day balances, ie whatever was in the account at + These are start-of-day balances, ie whatever was in the account at the end of the previous day. - The * after the date is an optional status flag. Here it means + The * after the date is an optional status flag. Here it means "cleared & confirmed". - The currency symbols are optional, but usually a good idea as you'll + The currency symbols are optional, but usually a good idea as you'll be dealing with multiple currencies sooner or later. - The = amounts are optional balance assertions, providing extra error + The = amounts are optional balance assertions, providing extra error checking. - o The second way: run hledger add and follow the prompts to record a + o The second way: run hledger add and follow the prompts to record a similar transaction: $ hledger add @@ -10014,18 +10031,18 @@ Setting opening balances Starting the next transaction (. or ctrl-D/ctrl-C to quit) Date [2023-01-01]: . - If you're using version control, this could be a good time to commit + If you're using version control, this could be a good time to commit the journal. Eg: $ git commit -m 'initial balances' 2023.journal Recording transactions - As you spend or receive money, you can record these transactions using - one of the methods above (text editor, hledger add) or by using the - hledger-iadd or hledger-web add-ons, or by using the import command to + As you spend or receive money, you can record these transactions using + one of the methods above (text editor, hledger add) or by using the + hledger-iadd or hledger-web add-ons, or by using the import command to convert CSV data downloaded from your bank. - Here are some simple transactions, see the hledger_journal(5) manual + Here are some simple transactions, see the hledger_journal(5) manual and hledger.org for more ideas: 2023/1/10 * gift received @@ -10041,22 +10058,22 @@ Recording transactions assets:bank:checking $1000 Reconciling - Periodically you should reconcile - compare your hledger-reported bal- - ances against external sources of truth, like bank statements or your - bank's website - to be sure that your ledger accurately represents the - real-world balances (and, that the real-world institutions have not - made a mistake!). This gets easy and fast with (1) practice and (2) - frequency. If you do it daily, it can take 2-10 minutes. If you let - it pile up, expect it to take longer as you hunt down errors and dis- + Periodically you should reconcile - compare your hledger-reported bal- + ances against external sources of truth, like bank statements or your + bank's website - to be sure that your ledger accurately represents the + real-world balances (and, that the real-world institutions have not + made a mistake!). This gets easy and fast with (1) practice and (2) + frequency. If you do it daily, it can take 2-10 minutes. If you let + it pile up, expect it to take longer as you hunt down errors and dis- crepancies. A typical workflow: - 1. Reconcile cash. Count what's in your wallet. Compare with what - hledger reports (hledger bal cash). If they are different, try to - remember the missing transaction, or look for the error in the al- - ready-recorded transactions. A register report can be helpful - (hledger reg cash). If you can't find the error, add an adjustment + 1. Reconcile cash. Count what's in your wallet. Compare with what + hledger reports (hledger bal cash). If they are different, try to + remember the missing transaction, or look for the error in the al- + ready-recorded transactions. A register report can be helpful + (hledger reg cash). If you can't find the error, add an adjustment transaction. Eg if you have $105 after the above, and can't explain the missing $2, it could be: @@ -10066,26 +10083,26 @@ Reconciling 2. Reconcile checking. Log in to your bank's website. Compare today's (cleared) balance with hledger's cleared balance (hledger bal check- - ing -C). If they are different, track down the error or record the - missing transaction(s) or add an adjustment transaction, similar to + ing -C). If they are different, track down the error or record the + missing transaction(s) or add an adjustment transaction, similar to the above. Unlike the cash case, you can usually compare the trans- - action history and running balance from your bank with the one re- - ported by hledger reg checking -C. This will be easier if you gen- - erally record transaction dates quite similar to your bank's clear- + action history and running balance from your bank with the one re- + ported by hledger reg checking -C. This will be easier if you gen- + erally record transaction dates quite similar to your bank's clear- ing dates. 3. Repeat for other asset/liability accounts. - Tip: instead of the register command, use hledger-ui to see a live-up- + Tip: instead of the register command, use hledger-ui to see a live-up- dating register while you edit the journal: hledger-ui --watch --regis- ter checking -C - After reconciling, it could be a good time to mark the reconciled - transactions' status as "cleared and confirmed", if you want to track - that, by adding the * marker. Eg in the paycheck transaction above, + After reconciling, it could be a good time to mark the reconciled + transactions' status as "cleared and confirmed", if you want to track + that, by adding the * marker. Eg in the paycheck transaction above, insert * between 2023-01-15 and paycheck - If you're using version control, this can be another good time to com- + If you're using version control, this can be another good time to com- mit: $ git commit -m 'txns' 2023.journal @@ -10157,7 +10174,7 @@ Reporting -------------------- 0 - Show only asset and liability balances, as a flat list, limited to + Show only asset and liability balances, as a flat list, limited to depth 2: $ hledger bal assets liabilities -2 @@ -10167,7 +10184,7 @@ Reporting -------------------- $4055 - Show the same thing without negative numbers, formatted as a simple + Show the same thing without negative numbers, formatted as a simple balance sheet: $ hledger bs -2 @@ -10234,70 +10251,70 @@ Reporting 2023-01-13 **** Migrating to a new file - At the end of the year, you may want to continue your journal in a new + At the end of the year, you may want to continue your journal in a new file, so that old transactions don't slow down or clutter your reports, - and to help ensure the integrity of your accounting history. See the + and to help ensure the integrity of your accounting history. See the close command. If using version control, don't forget to git add the new file. BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: - https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list + https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). Some known issues and limitations: - The need to precede add-on command options with -- when invoked from + The need to precede add-on command options with -- when invoked from hledger is awkward. (See Command options, Constructing command lines.) - A UTF-8-aware system locale must be configured to work with non-ascii + A UTF-8-aware system locale must be configured to work with non-ascii data. (See Unicode characters, Troubleshooting.) On Microsoft Windows, depending whether you are running in a CMD window or a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window and how you installed hledger, non-ascii characters and colours may not be supported, and the tab key may not be - supported by hledger add. (Running in a WSL window should resolve + supported by hledger add. (Running in a WSL window should resolve these.) When processing large data files, hledger uses more memory than Ledger. Troubleshooting - Here are some common issues you might encounter when you run hledger, - and how to resolve them (and remember also you can usually get quick + Here are some common issues you might encounter when you run hledger, + and how to resolve them (and remember also you can usually get quick Support): PATH issues: I get an error like "No command 'hledger' found" Depending how you installed hledger, the executables may not be in your - shell's PATH. Eg on unix systems, stack installs hledger in ~/.lo- + shell's PATH. Eg on unix systems, stack installs hledger in ~/.lo- cal/bin and cabal installs it in ~/.cabal/bin. You may need to add one - of these directories to your shell's PATH, and/or open a new terminal + of these directories to your shell's PATH, and/or open a new terminal window. - LEDGER_FILE issues: I configured LEDGER_FILE but hledger is not using + LEDGER_FILE issues: I configured LEDGER_FILE but hledger is not using it - o LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell + o LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell variable. Eg on unix, the command env | grep LEDGER_FILE should show - it. You may need to use export (see https://stackover- + it. You may need to use export (see https://stackover- flow.com/a/7411509). On Windows, $env:LEDGER_FILE should show it. - o You may need to force your shell to see the new configuration. A + o You may need to force your shell to see the new configuration. A simple way is to close your terminal window and open a new one. - LANG issues: I get errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or + LANG issues: I get errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or incomplete multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: in- valid argument (invalid character)" - Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) need - the system locale to be UTF-8-aware, or they will fail when they en- - counter non-ascii characters. To fix it, set the LANG environment - variable to a locale which supports UTF-8 and which is installed on + Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) need + the system locale to be UTF-8-aware, or they will fail when they en- + counter non-ascii characters. To fix it, set the LANG environment + variable to a locale which supports UTF-8 and which is installed on your system. - On unix, locale -a lists the installed locales. Look for one which - mentions utf8, UTF-8 or similar. Some examples: C.UTF-8, en_US.utf-8, - fr_FR.utf8. If necessary, use your system package manager to install - one. Then select it by setting the LANG environment variable. Note, - exact spelling and capitalisation of the locale name may be important: + On unix, locale -a lists the installed locales. Look for one which + mentions utf8, UTF-8 or similar. Some examples: C.UTF-8, en_US.utf-8, + fr_FR.utf8. If necessary, use your system package manager to install + one. Then select it by setting the LANG environment variable. Note, + exact spelling and capitalisation of the locale name may be important: Here's one common way to configure this permanently for your shell: $ echo "export LANG=en_US.utf8" >>~/.profile @@ -10310,7 +10327,7 @@ BUGS # close and re-open terminal window COMPATIBILITY ISSUES: hledger gives an error with my Ledger file - Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax or feature set is supported. + Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax or feature set is supported. See hledger and Ledger for full details.