diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 index 338dafd12..5d2707bfa 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 @@ -224,12 +224,12 @@ should contain one command line option/argument per line. In most modern terminals, you can navigate through the screens with a mouse or touchpad: .IP \[bu] 2 -Use mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll lists up and down +Use mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll up and down .IP \[bu] 2 -Left click on list items to go deeper (like the \f[C]RIGHT\f[R] key) +Click on list items to go deeper .IP \[bu] 2 -Left click on the left-most column go back (like the \f[C]LEFT\f[R] -key). +Click on the left margin (column 0), or the blank area at bottom of +screen, to go back. .SH KEYS .PP Keyboard gives more control. diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info index 230f321da..b43a22b6d 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info @@ -245,11 +245,12 @@ File: hledger-ui.info, Node: MOUSE, Next: KEYS, Prev: OPTIONS, Up: Top In most modern terminals, you can navigate through the screens with a mouse or touchpad: - * Use mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll lists up and down + * Use mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll up and down - * Left click on list items to go deeper (like the `RIGHT' key) + * Click on list items to go deeper - * Left click on the left-most column go back (like the `LEFT' key). + * Click on the left margin (column 0), or the blank area at bottom of + screen, to go back.  File: hledger-ui.info, Node: KEYS, Next: SCREENS, Prev: MOUSE, Up: Top @@ -630,29 +631,29 @@ Node: OPTIONS1647 Ref: #options1745 Node: MOUSE6617 Ref: #mouse6712 -Node: KEYS7003 -Ref: #keys7096 -Node: SCREENS11157 -Ref: #screens11255 -Node: Accounts screen11345 -Ref: #accounts-screen11473 -Node: Register screen13666 -Ref: #register-screen13821 -Node: Transaction screen15803 -Ref: #transaction-screen15961 -Node: Error screen16828 -Ref: #error-screen16950 -Node: TIPS17192 -Ref: #tips17291 -Node: Watch mode17343 -Ref: #watch-mode17460 -Node: Watch mode limitations18204 -Ref: #watch-mode-limitations18345 -Node: ENVIRONMENT19478 -Ref: #environment19589 -Node: FILES20394 -Ref: #files20493 -Node: BUGS20706 -Ref: #bugs20783 +Node: KEYS6996 +Ref: #keys7089 +Node: SCREENS11150 +Ref: #screens11248 +Node: Accounts screen11338 +Ref: #accounts-screen11466 +Node: Register screen13659 +Ref: #register-screen13814 +Node: Transaction screen15796 +Ref: #transaction-screen15954 +Node: Error screen16821 +Ref: #error-screen16943 +Node: TIPS17185 +Ref: #tips17284 +Node: Watch mode17336 +Ref: #watch-mode17453 +Node: Watch mode limitations18197 +Ref: #watch-mode-limitations18338 +Node: ENVIRONMENT19471 +Ref: #environment19582 +Node: FILES20387 +Ref: #files20486 +Node: BUGS20699 +Ref: #bugs20776  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt index f219e4df9..cbf0d87ba 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt @@ -215,91 +215,92 @@ MOUSE In most modern terminals, you can navigate through the screens with a mouse or touchpad: - o Use mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll lists up and down + o Use mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll up and down - o Left click on list items to go deeper (like the RIGHT key) + o Click on list items to go deeper - o Left click on the left-most column go back (like the LEFT key). + o Click on the left margin (column 0), or the blank area at bottom of + screen, to go back. KEYS Keyboard gives more control. - ? shows a help dialog listing all keys. (Some of these also appear in + ? shows a help dialog listing all keys. (Some of these also appear in the quick help at the bottom of each screen.) Press ? again (or ESCAPE, or LEFT, or q) to close it. The following keys work on most screens: The cursor keys navigate: RIGHT goes deeper, LEFT returns to the previ- - ous screen, UP/DOWN/PGUP/PGDN/HOME/END move up and down through lists. - Emacs-style (CTRL-p/CTRL-n/CTRL-f/CTRL-b) movement keys are also sup- - ported (but not vi-style keys, since hledger-1.19, sorry!). A tip: - movement speed is limited by your keyboard repeat rate, to move faster - you may want to adjust it. (If you're on a mac, the karabiner app is + ous screen, UP/DOWN/PGUP/PGDN/HOME/END move up and down through lists. + Emacs-style (CTRL-p/CTRL-n/CTRL-f/CTRL-b) movement keys are also sup- + ported (but not vi-style keys, since hledger-1.19, sorry!). A tip: + movement speed is limited by your keyboard repeat rate, to move faster + you may want to adjust it. (If you're on a mac, the karabiner app is one way to do that.) - With shift pressed, the cursor keys adjust the report period, limiting - the transactions to be shown (by default, all are shown). SHIFT- - DOWN/UP steps downward and upward through these standard report period - durations: year, quarter, month, week, day. Then, SHIFT-LEFT/RIGHT - moves to the previous/next period. T sets the report period to today. - With the --watch option, when viewing a "current" period (the current + With shift pressed, the cursor keys adjust the report period, limiting + the transactions to be shown (by default, all are shown). SHIFT- + DOWN/UP steps downward and upward through these standard report period + durations: year, quarter, month, week, day. Then, SHIFT-LEFT/RIGHT + moves to the previous/next period. T sets the report period to today. + With the --watch option, when viewing a "current" period (the current day, week, month, quarter, or year), the period will move automatically to track the current date. To set a non-standard period, you can use / and a date: query. - / lets you set a general filter query limiting the data shown, using - the same query terms as in hledger and hledger-web. While editing the - query, you can use CTRL-a/e/d/k, BS, cursor keys; press ENTER to set + / lets you set a general filter query limiting the data shown, using + the same query terms as in hledger and hledger-web. While editing the + query, you can use CTRL-a/e/d/k, BS, cursor keys; press ENTER to set it, or ESCAPEto cancel. There are also keys for quickly adjusting some - common filters like account depth and transaction status (see below). + common filters like account depth and transaction status (see below). BACKSPACE or DELETE removes all filters, showing all transactions. - As mentioned above, by default hledger-ui hides future transactions - + As mentioned above, by default hledger-ui hides future transactions - both ordinary transactions recorded in the journal, and periodic trans- - actions generated by rule. F toggles forecast mode, in which + actions generated by rule. F toggles forecast mode, in which future/forecasted transactions are shown. - ESCAPE resets the UI state and jumps back to the top screen, restoring - the app's initial state at startup. Or, it cancels minibuffer data + ESCAPE resets the UI state and jumps back to the top screen, restoring + the app's initial state at startup. Or, it cancels minibuffer data entry or the help dialog. CTRL-l redraws the screen and centers the selection if possible (selec- - tions near the top won't be centered, since we don't scroll above the + tions near the top won't be centered, since we don't scroll above the top). - g reloads from the data file(s) and updates the current screen and any - previous screens. (With large files, this could cause a noticeable + g reloads from the data file(s) and updates the current screen and any + previous screens. (With large files, this could cause a noticeable pause.) - I toggles balance assertion checking. Disabling balance assertions + I toggles balance assertion checking. Disabling balance assertions temporarily can be useful for troubleshooting. - a runs command-line hledger's add command, and reloads the updated + a runs command-line hledger's add command, and reloads the updated file. This allows some basic data entry. - A is like a, but runs the hledger-iadd tool, which provides a terminal - interface. This key will be available if hledger-iadd is installed in + A is like a, but runs the hledger-iadd tool, which provides a terminal + interface. This key will be available if hledger-iadd is installed in $path. - E runs $HLEDGER_UI_EDITOR, or $EDITOR, or a default (emacsclient -a "" - -nw) on the journal file. With some editors (emacs, vi), the cursor - will be positioned at the current transaction when invoked from the - register and transaction screens, and at the error location (if possi- + E runs $HLEDGER_UI_EDITOR, or $EDITOR, or a default (emacsclient -a "" + -nw) on the journal file. With some editors (emacs, vi), the cursor + will be positioned at the current transaction when invoked from the + register and transaction screens, and at the error location (if possi- ble) when invoked from the error screen. - B toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their transaction price's com- + B toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their transaction price's com- modity (like toggling the -B/--cost flag). - V toggles value mode, showing amounts' current market value in their - default valuation commodity (like toggling the -V/--market flag). - Note, "current market value" means the value on the report end date if - specified, otherwise today. To see the value on another date, you can - temporarily set that as the report end date. Eg: to see a transaction - as it was valued on july 30, go to the accounts or register screen, + V toggles value mode, showing amounts' current market value in their + default valuation commodity (like toggling the -V/--market flag). + Note, "current market value" means the value on the report end date if + specified, otherwise today. To see the value on another date, you can + temporarily set that as the report end date. Eg: to see a transaction + as it was valued on july 30, go to the accounts or register screen, press /, and add date:-7/30 to the query. At most one of cost or value mode can be active at once. - There's not yet any visual reminder when cost or value mode is active; + There's not yet any visual reminder when cost or value mode is active; for now pressing b b v should reliably reset to normal mode. q quits the application. @@ -308,44 +309,44 @@ KEYS SCREENS Accounts screen - This is normally the first screen displayed. It lists accounts and - their balances, like hledger's balance command. By default, it shows - all accounts and their latest ending balances (including the balances - of subaccounts). If you specify a query on the command line, it shows + This is normally the first screen displayed. It lists accounts and + their balances, like hledger's balance command. By default, it shows + all accounts and their latest ending balances (including the balances + of subaccounts). If you specify a query on the command line, it shows just the matched accounts and the balances from matched transactions. - Account names are shown as a flat list by default; press t to toggle - tree mode. In list mode, account balances are exclusive of subac- - counts, except where subaccounts are hidden by a depth limit (see - below). In tree mode, all account balances are inclusive of subac- + Account names are shown as a flat list by default; press t to toggle + tree mode. In list mode, account balances are exclusive of subac- + counts, except where subaccounts are hidden by a depth limit (see + below). In tree mode, all account balances are inclusive of subac- counts. - To see less detail, press a number key, 1 to 9, to set a depth limit. + To see less detail, press a number key, 1 to 9, to set a depth limit. Or use - to decrease and +/= to increase the depth limit. 0 shows even - less detail, collapsing all accounts to a single total. To remove the - depth limit, set it higher than the maximum account depth, or press + less detail, collapsing all accounts to a single total. To remove the + depth limit, set it higher than the maximum account depth, or press ESCAPE. H toggles between showing historical balances or period balances. His- - torical balances (the default) are ending balances at the end of the - report period, taking into account all transactions before that date - (filtered by the filter query if any), including transactions before - the start of the report period. In other words, historical balances - are what you would see on a bank statement for that account (unless - disturbed by a filter query). Period balances ignore transactions + torical balances (the default) are ending balances at the end of the + report period, taking into account all transactions before that date + (filtered by the filter query if any), including transactions before + the start of the report period. In other words, historical balances + are what you would see on a bank statement for that account (unless + disturbed by a filter query). Period balances ignore transactions before the report start date, so they show the change in balance during the report period. They are more useful eg when viewing a time log. U toggles filtering by unmarked status, including or excluding unmarked postings in the balances. Similarly, P toggles pending postings, and C - toggles cleared postings. (By default, balances include all postings; - if you activate one or two status filters, only those postings are + toggles cleared postings. (By default, balances include all postings; + if you activate one or two status filters, only those postings are included; and if you activate all three, the filter is removed.) R toggles real mode, in which virtual postings are ignored. - Z toggles nonzero mode, in which only accounts with nonzero balances - are shown (hledger-ui shows zero items by default, unlike command-line + Z toggles nonzero mode, in which only accounts with nonzero balances + are shown (hledger-ui shows zero items by default, unlike command-line hledger). Press RIGHT to view an account's transactions register. @@ -354,124 +355,124 @@ SCREENS This screen shows the transactions affecting a particular account, like a check register. Each line represents one transaction and shows: - o the other account(s) involved, in abbreviated form. (If there are - both real and virtual postings, it shows only the accounts affected + o the other account(s) involved, in abbreviated form. (If there are + both real and virtual postings, it shows only the accounts affected by real postings.) - o the overall change to the current account's balance; positive for an + o the overall change to the current account's balance; positive for an inflow to this account, negative for an outflow. o the running historical total or period total for the current account, - after the transaction. This can be toggled with H. Similar to the - accounts screen, the historical total is affected by transactions - (filtered by the filter query) before the report start date, while + after the transaction. This can be toggled with H. Similar to the + accounts screen, the historical total is affected by transactions + (filtered by the filter query) before the report start date, while the period total is not. If the historical total is not disturbed by - a filter query, it will be the running historical balance you would + a filter query, it will be the running historical balance you would see on a bank register for the current account. - Transactions affecting this account's subaccounts will be included in + Transactions affecting this account's subaccounts will be included in the register if the accounts screen is in tree mode, or if it's in list - mode but this account has subaccounts which are not shown due to a - depth limit. In other words, the register always shows the transac- - tions contributing to the balance shown on the accounts screen. Tree + mode but this account has subaccounts which are not shown due to a + depth limit. In other words, the register always shows the transac- + tions contributing to the balance shown on the accounts screen. Tree mode/list mode can be toggled with t here also. - U toggles filtering by unmarked status, showing or hiding unmarked + U toggles filtering by unmarked status, showing or hiding unmarked transactions. Similarly, P toggles pending transactions, and C toggles - cleared transactions. (By default, transactions with all statuses are - shown; if you activate one or two status filters, only those transac- + cleared transactions. (By default, transactions with all statuses are + shown; if you activate one or two status filters, only those transac- tions are shown; and if you activate all three, the filter is removed.) R toggles real mode, in which virtual postings are ignored. - Z toggles nonzero mode, in which only transactions posting a nonzero - change are shown (hledger-ui shows zero items by default, unlike com- + Z toggles nonzero mode, in which only transactions posting a nonzero + change are shown (hledger-ui shows zero items by default, unlike com- mand-line hledger). Press RIGHT to view the selected transaction in detail. Transaction screen - This screen shows a single transaction, as a general journal entry, - similar to hledger's print command and journal format (hledger_jour- + This screen shows a single transaction, as a general journal entry, + similar to hledger's print command and journal format (hledger_jour- nal(5)). - The transaction's date(s) and any cleared flag, transaction code, - description, comments, along with all of its account postings are - shown. Simple transactions have two postings, but there can be more + The transaction's date(s) and any cleared flag, transaction code, + description, comments, along with all of its account postings are + shown. Simple transactions have two postings, but there can be more (or in certain cases, fewer). - UP and DOWN will step through all transactions listed in the previous - account register screen. In the title bar, the numbers in parentheses - show your position within that account register. They will vary + UP and DOWN will step through all transactions listed in the previous + account register screen. In the title bar, the numbers in parentheses + show your position within that account register. They will vary depending on which account register you came from (remember most trans- actions appear in multiple account registers). The #N number preceding them is the transaction's position within the complete unfiltered jour- nal, which is a more stable id (at least until the next reload). Error screen - This screen will appear if there is a problem, such as a parse error, - when you press g to reload. Once you have fixed the problem, press g + This screen will appear if there is a problem, such as a parse error, + when you press g to reload. Once you have fixed the problem, press g again to reload and resume normal operation. (Or, you can press escape to cancel the reload attempt.) TIPS Watch mode - One of hledger-ui's best features is the auto-reloading --watch mode. - With this flag, it will update the display automatically whenever + One of hledger-ui's best features is the auto-reloading --watch mode. + With this flag, it will update the display automatically whenever changes are saved to the data files. - This is very useful when reconciling. A good workflow is to have your - bank's online register open in a browser window, for reference; the - journal file open in an editor window; and hledger-ui in watch mode in + This is very useful when reconciling. A good workflow is to have your + bank's online register open in a browser window, for reference; the + journal file open in an editor window; and hledger-ui in watch mode in a terminal window, eg: $ hledger-ui --watch --register checking -C - As you mark things cleared in the editor, you can see the effect imme- - diately without having to context switch. This leaves more mental - bandwidth for your accounting. Of course you can still interact with - hledger-ui when needed, eg to toggle cleared mode, or to explore the + As you mark things cleared in the editor, you can see the effect imme- + diately without having to context switch. This leaves more mental + bandwidth for your accounting. Of course you can still interact with + hledger-ui when needed, eg to toggle cleared mode, or to explore the history. Watch mode limitations - There are situations in which it won't work, ie the display will not - update when you save a change (because the underlying inotify library + There are situations in which it won't work, ie the display will not + update when you save a change (because the underlying inotify library does not support it). Here are some that we know of: - o Certain editors: saving with gedit, and perhaps any Gnome applica- - tion, won't be detected (#1617). Jetbrains IDEs, such as IDEA, also + o Certain editors: saving with gedit, and perhaps any Gnome applica- + tion, won't be detected (#1617). Jetbrains IDEs, such as IDEA, also may not work (#911). - o Certain unusual filesystems might not be supported. (All the usual + o Certain unusual filesystems might not be supported. (All the usual ones on unix, mac and windows are supported.) In such cases, the workaround is to switch to the hledger-ui window and - press g each time you want it to reload. (Actually, see #1617 for + press g each time you want it to reload. (Actually, see #1617 for another workaround, and let us know if it works for you.) - If you leave hledger-ui --watch running for days, on certain platforms - (?), perhaps with many transactions in your journal (?), perhaps with - large numbers of other files present (?), you may see it gradually - using more and more memory and CPU over time, as seen in top or Activ- + If you leave hledger-ui --watch running for days, on certain platforms + (?), perhaps with many transactions in your journal (?), perhaps with + large numbers of other files present (?), you may see it gradually + using more and more memory and CPU over time, as seen in top or Activ- ity Monitor or Task Manager. - A workaround is to quit and restart it, or to suspend it (CTRL-z) and + A workaround is to quit and restart it, or to suspend it (CTRL-z) and restart it (fg) if your shell supports that. ENVIRONMENT COLUMNS The screen width to use. Default: the full terminal width. LEDGER_FILE The journal file path when not specified with -f. Default: - ~/.hledger.journal (on windows, perhaps C:/Users/USER/.hledger.jour- + ~/.hledger.journal (on windows, perhaps C:/Users/USER/.hledger.jour- nal). - A typical value is ~/DIR/YYYY.journal, where DIR is a version-con- - trolled finance directory and YYYY is the current year. Or ~/DIR/cur- + A typical value is ~/DIR/YYYY.journal, where DIR is a version-con- + trolled finance directory and YYYY is the current year. Or ~/DIR/cur- rent.journal, where current.journal is a symbolic link to YYYY.journal. On Mac computers, you can set this and other environment variables in a - more thorough way that also affects applications started from the GUI - (say, an Emacs dock icon). Eg on MacOS Catalina I have a + more thorough way that also affects applications started from the GUI + (say, an Emacs dock icon). Eg on MacOS Catalina I have a ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist file containing { @@ -481,13 +482,13 @@ ENVIRONMENT To see the effect you may need to killall Dock, or reboot. FILES - Reads data from one or more files in hledger journal, timeclock, time- - dot, or CSV format specified with -f, or $LEDGER_FILE, or - $HOME/.hledger.journal (on windows, perhaps + Reads data from one or more files in hledger journal, timeclock, time- + dot, or CSV format specified with -f, or $LEDGER_FILE, or + $HOME/.hledger.journal (on windows, perhaps C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal). BUGS - The need to precede options with -- when invoked from hledger is awk- + The need to precede options with -- when invoked from hledger is awk- ward. -f- doesn't work (hledger-ui can't read from stdin). @@ -495,24 +496,24 @@ BUGS -V affects only the accounts screen. When you press g, the current and all previous screens are regenerated, - which may cause a noticeable pause with large files. Also there is no + which may cause a noticeable pause with large files. Also there is no visual indication that this is in progress. - --watch is not yet fully robust. It works well for normal usage, but - many file changes in a short time (eg saving the file thousands of - times with an editor macro) can cause problems at least on OSX. Symp- - toms include: unresponsive UI, periodic resetting of the cursor posi- + --watch is not yet fully robust. It works well for normal usage, but + many file changes in a short time (eg saving the file thousands of + times with an editor macro) can cause problems at least on OSX. Symp- + toms include: unresponsive UI, periodic resetting of the cursor posi- tion, momentary display of parse errors, high CPU usage eventually sub- siding, and possibly a small but persistent build-up of CPU usage until the program is restarted. - Also, if you are viewing files mounted from another machine, --watch + Also, if you are viewing files mounted from another machine, --watch requires that both machine clocks are roughly in step. REPORTING BUGS - Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel + Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list) diff --git a/hledger/hledger.1 b/hledger/hledger.1 index cd49a0a66..1febbe242 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.1 +++ b/hledger/hledger.1 @@ -5519,28 +5519,39 @@ stats .PD 0 .P .PD -Show some journal statistics. +Show journal and performance statistics. .PP The stats command displays summary information for the whole journal, or a matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report for each report period. .PP +At the end, it shows (in the terminal) the overall run time and number +of transactions processed per second. +Note these are approximate and will vary based on machine, current load, +data size, hledger version, haskell lib versions, GHC version.. +but they may be of interest. +The \f[C]stats\f[R] command\[aq]s run time is similar to that of a +single-column balance report. +.PP Example: .IP .nf \f[C] -$ hledger stats -Main journal file : /src/hledger/examples/sample.journal -Included journal files : -Transactions span : 2008-01-01 to 2009-01-01 (366 days) -Last transaction : 2008-12-31 (2333 days ago) -Transactions : 5 (0.0 per day) +$ hledger stats -f examples/1000x1000x10.journal +Main file : /Users/simon/src/hledger/examples/1000x1000x10.journal +Included files : +Transactions span : 2000-01-01 to 2002-09-27 (1000 days) +Last transaction : 2002-09-26 (6995 days ago) +Transactions : 1000 (1.0 per day) Transactions last 30 days: 0 (0.0 per day) Transactions last 7 days : 0 (0.0 per day) -Payees/descriptions : 5 -Accounts : 8 (depth 3) -Commodities : 1 ($) -Market prices : 12 ($) +Payees/descriptions : 1000 +Accounts : 1000 (depth 10) +Commodities : 26 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) +Market prices : 1000 (A) + +Run time : 0.12 s +Throughput : 8342 txns/s \f[R] .fi .PP diff --git a/hledger/hledger.info b/hledger/hledger.info index f48ce01c1..030450d78 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.info +++ b/hledger/hledger.info @@ -4976,27 +4976,37 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: stats, Next: tags, Prev: roi, Up: COMMANDS =========== stats -Show some journal statistics. +Show journal and performance statistics. The stats command displays summary information for the whole journal, or a matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report for each report period. + At the end, it shows (in the terminal) the overall run time and +number of transactions processed per second. Note these are approximate +and will vary based on machine, current load, data size, hledger +version, haskell lib versions, GHC version.. but they may be of +interest. The `stats' command's run time is similar to that of a +single-column balance report. + Example: -$ hledger stats -Main journal file : /src/hledger/examples/sample.journal -Included journal files : -Transactions span : 2008-01-01 to 2009-01-01 (366 days) -Last transaction : 2008-12-31 (2333 days ago) -Transactions : 5 (0.0 per day) +$ hledger stats -f examples/1000x1000x10.journal +Main file : /Users/simon/src/hledger/examples/1000x1000x10.journal +Included files : +Transactions span : 2000-01-01 to 2002-09-27 (1000 days) +Last transaction : 2002-09-26 (6995 days ago) +Transactions : 1000 (1.0 per day) Transactions last 30 days: 0 (0.0 per day) Transactions last 7 days : 0 (0.0 per day) -Payees/descriptions : 5 -Accounts : 8 (depth 3) -Commodities : 1 ($) -Market prices : 12 ($) +Payees/descriptions : 1000 +Accounts : 1000 (depth 10) +Commodities : 26 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) +Market prices : 1000 (A) + +Run time : 0.12 s +Throughput : 8342 txns/s This command also supports output destination and output format selection. @@ -9791,271 +9801,271 @@ Node: IRR and TWR explained169444 Ref: #irr-and-twr-explained169604 Node: stats172666 Ref: #stats172767 -Node: tags173554 -Ref: #tags173654 -Node: test174171 -Ref: #test174287 -Node: About add-on commands175032 -Ref: #about-add-on-commands175169 -Node: JOURNAL FORMAT176302 -Ref: #journal-format176430 -Node: Transactions178650 -Ref: #transactions178765 -Node: Dates179782 -Ref: #dates179898 -Node: Simple dates179963 -Ref: #simple-dates180083 -Node: Secondary dates180590 -Ref: #secondary-dates180738 -Node: Posting dates182072 -Ref: #posting-dates182195 -Node: Status183564 -Ref: #status183674 -Node: Code185379 -Ref: #code185491 -Node: Description185722 -Ref: #description185850 -Node: Payee and note186168 -Ref: #payee-and-note186276 -Node: Comments186610 -Ref: #comments186732 -Node: Tags187925 -Ref: #tags-1188036 -Node: Postings189434 -Ref: #postings189558 -Node: Virtual postings190582 -Ref: #virtual-postings190693 -Node: Account names191995 -Ref: #account-names192132 -Node: Amounts192618 -Ref: #amounts192755 -Node: Decimal marks digit group marks193742 -Ref: #decimal-marks-digit-group-marks193919 -Node: Commodity194940 -Ref: #commodity195129 -Node: Directives influencing number parsing and display196079 -Ref: #directives-influencing-number-parsing-and-display196340 -Node: Commodity display style196832 -Ref: #commodity-display-style197040 -Node: Rounding199235 -Ref: #rounding199355 -Node: Transaction prices199765 -Ref: #transaction-prices199931 -Node: Lot prices lot dates202361 -Ref: #lot-prices-lot-dates202544 -Node: Balance assertions203031 -Ref: #balance-assertions203209 -Node: Assertions and ordering204239 -Ref: #assertions-and-ordering204421 -Node: Assertions and included files205118 -Ref: #assertions-and-included-files205355 -Node: Assertions and multiple -f options205686 -Ref: #assertions-and-multiple--f-options205936 -Node: Assertions and commodities206067 -Ref: #assertions-and-commodities206293 -Node: Assertions and prices207448 -Ref: #assertions-and-prices207656 -Node: Assertions and subaccounts208097 -Ref: #assertions-and-subaccounts208320 -Node: Assertions and virtual postings208644 -Ref: #assertions-and-virtual-postings208880 -Node: Assertions and precision209021 -Ref: #assertions-and-precision209208 -Node: Balance assignments209473 -Ref: #balance-assignments209643 -Node: Balance assignments and prices210806 -Ref: #balance-assignments-and-prices210972 -Node: Directives211198 -Ref: #directives211361 -Node: Directives and multiple files217104 -Ref: #directives-and-multiple-files217300 -Node: Comment blocks217962 -Ref: #comment-blocks218139 -Node: Including other files218314 -Ref: #including-other-files218488 -Node: Default year219412 -Ref: #default-year219570 -Node: Declaring payees219977 -Ref: #declaring-payees220148 -Node: Declaring the decimal mark220393 -Ref: #declaring-the-decimal-mark220593 -Node: Declaring commodities220991 -Ref: #declaring-commodities221182 -Node: Commodity error checking223696 -Ref: #commodity-error-checking223846 -Node: Default commodity224102 -Ref: #default-commodity224282 -Node: Declaring market prices225156 -Ref: #declaring-market-prices225345 -Node: Declaring accounts226157 -Ref: #declaring-accounts226337 -Node: Account error checking227544 -Ref: #account-error-checking227710 -Node: Account comments228887 -Ref: #account-comments229071 -Node: Account subdirectives229497 -Ref: #account-subdirectives229682 -Node: Account types229997 -Ref: #account-types230171 -Node: Declaring account types230828 -Ref: #declaring-account-types231007 -Node: Auto-detected account types232059 -Ref: #auto-detected-account-types232246 -Node: Account display order234258 -Ref: #account-display-order234418 -Node: Rewriting accounts235569 -Ref: #rewriting-accounts235748 -Node: Basic aliases236507 -Ref: #basic-aliases236643 -Node: Regex aliases237385 -Ref: #regex-aliases237547 -Node: Combining aliases238267 -Ref: #combining-aliases238450 -Node: Aliases and multiple files239727 -Ref: #aliases-and-multiple-files239926 -Node: end aliases240507 -Ref: #end-aliases240654 -Node: Default parent account240756 -Ref: #default-parent-account240946 -Node: Periodic transactions241830 -Ref: #periodic-transactions242013 -Node: Periodic rule syntax243930 -Ref: #periodic-rule-syntax244130 -Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!244833 -Ref: #two-spaces-between-period-expression-and-description245146 -Node: Forecasting with periodic transactions245831 -Ref: #forecasting-with-periodic-transactions246130 -Node: Budgeting with periodic transactions248898 -Ref: #budgeting-with-periodic-transactions249131 -Node: Auto postings249538 -Ref: #auto-postings249674 -Node: Auto postings and multiple files251857 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-multiple-files252055 -Node: Auto postings and dates252263 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-dates252531 -Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions252706 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-transaction-balancing-inferred-amounts-balance-assertions253052 -Node: Auto posting tags253558 -Ref: #auto-posting-tags253767 -Node: CSV FORMAT254404 -Ref: #csv-format254532 -Node: Examples257156 -Ref: #examples257259 -Node: Basic257466 -Ref: #basic257568 -Node: Bank of Ireland258112 -Ref: #bank-of-ireland258249 -Node: Amazon259714 -Ref: #amazon259834 -Node: Paypal261555 -Ref: #paypal261651 -Node: CSV rules269299 -Ref: #csv-rules269417 -Node: skip269750 -Ref: #skip269850 -Node: fields list270222 -Ref: #fields-list270361 -Node: field assignment271866 -Ref: #field-assignment272018 -Node: Field names273050 -Ref: #field-names273190 -Node: date field273569 -Ref: #date-field273689 -Node: date2 field273737 -Ref: #date2-field273880 -Node: status field273936 -Ref: #status-field274081 -Node: code field274130 -Ref: #code-field274277 -Node: description field274322 -Ref: #description-field274484 -Node: comment field274543 -Ref: #comment-field274700 -Node: account field274999 -Ref: #account-field275151 -Node: amount field275725 -Ref: #amount-field275876 -Node: currency field277114 -Ref: #currency-field277269 -Node: balance field277525 -Ref: #balance-field277659 -Node: separator278031 -Ref: #separator278163 -Node: if block278705 -Ref: #if-block278832 -Node: Matching the whole record279230 -Ref: #matching-the-whole-record279407 -Node: Matching individual fields280210 -Ref: #matching-individual-fields280416 -Node: Combining matchers280640 -Ref: #combining-matchers280838 -Node: Rules applied on successful match281152 -Ref: #rules-applied-on-successful-match281345 -Node: if table282002 -Ref: #if-table282123 -Node: end283859 -Ref: #end283973 -Node: date-format284197 -Ref: #date-format284331 -Node: decimal-mark285328 -Ref: #decimal-mark285475 -Node: newest-first285812 -Ref: #newest-first285955 -Node: include286638 -Ref: #include286771 -Node: balance-type287213 -Ref: #balance-type287335 -Node: Tips288035 -Ref: #tips288126 -Node: Rapid feedback288425 -Ref: #rapid-feedback288544 -Node: Valid CSV288995 -Ref: #valid-csv289127 -Node: File Extension289319 -Ref: #file-extension289473 -Node: Reading multiple CSV files289902 -Ref: #reading-multiple-csv-files290089 -Node: Valid transactions290329 -Ref: #valid-transactions290509 -Node: Deduplicating importing291137 -Ref: #deduplicating-importing291318 -Node: Setting amounts292350 -Ref: #setting-amounts292507 -Node: Amount signs294948 -Ref: #amount-signs295102 -Node: Setting currency/commodity295789 -Ref: #setting-currencycommodity295977 -Node: Amount decimal places297157 -Ref: #amount-decimal-places297349 -Node: Referencing other fields297661 -Ref: #referencing-other-fields297860 -Node: How CSV rules are evaluated298758 -Ref: #how-csv-rules-are-evaluated298933 -Node: TIMECLOCK FORMAT300382 -Ref: #timeclock-format300522 -Node: TIMEDOT FORMAT302590 -Ref: #timedot-format302728 -Node: COMMON TASKS307287 -Ref: #common-tasks307416 -Node: Getting help307823 -Ref: #getting-help307957 -Node: Constructing command lines308508 -Ref: #constructing-command-lines308702 -Node: Starting a journal file309401 -Ref: #starting-a-journal-file309601 -Node: Setting opening balances310788 -Ref: #setting-opening-balances310986 -Node: Recording transactions314119 -Ref: #recording-transactions314301 -Node: Reconciling314858 -Ref: #reconciling315003 -Node: Reporting317248 -Ref: #reporting317390 -Node: Migrating to a new file321310 -Ref: #migrating-to-a-new-file321460 -Node: LIMITATIONS321758 -Ref: #limitations321886 -Node: TROUBLESHOOTING322627 -Ref: #troubleshooting322742 +Node: tags174143 +Ref: #tags174243 +Node: test174760 +Ref: #test174876 +Node: About add-on commands175621 +Ref: #about-add-on-commands175758 +Node: JOURNAL FORMAT176891 +Ref: #journal-format177019 +Node: Transactions179239 +Ref: #transactions179354 +Node: Dates180371 +Ref: #dates180487 +Node: Simple dates180552 +Ref: #simple-dates180672 +Node: Secondary dates181179 +Ref: #secondary-dates181327 +Node: Posting dates182661 +Ref: #posting-dates182784 +Node: Status184153 +Ref: #status184263 +Node: Code185968 +Ref: #code186080 +Node: Description186311 +Ref: #description186439 +Node: Payee and note186757 +Ref: #payee-and-note186865 +Node: Comments187199 +Ref: #comments187321 +Node: Tags188514 +Ref: #tags-1188625 +Node: Postings190023 +Ref: #postings190147 +Node: Virtual postings191171 +Ref: #virtual-postings191282 +Node: Account names192584 +Ref: #account-names192721 +Node: Amounts193207 +Ref: #amounts193344 +Node: Decimal marks digit group marks194331 +Ref: #decimal-marks-digit-group-marks194508 +Node: Commodity195529 +Ref: #commodity195718 +Node: Directives influencing number parsing and display196668 +Ref: #directives-influencing-number-parsing-and-display196929 +Node: Commodity display style197421 +Ref: #commodity-display-style197629 +Node: Rounding199824 +Ref: #rounding199944 +Node: Transaction prices200354 +Ref: #transaction-prices200520 +Node: Lot prices lot dates202950 +Ref: #lot-prices-lot-dates203133 +Node: Balance assertions203620 +Ref: #balance-assertions203798 +Node: Assertions and ordering204828 +Ref: #assertions-and-ordering205010 +Node: Assertions and included files205707 +Ref: #assertions-and-included-files205944 +Node: Assertions and multiple -f options206275 +Ref: #assertions-and-multiple--f-options206525 +Node: Assertions and commodities206656 +Ref: #assertions-and-commodities206882 +Node: Assertions and prices208037 +Ref: #assertions-and-prices208245 +Node: Assertions and subaccounts208686 +Ref: #assertions-and-subaccounts208909 +Node: Assertions and virtual postings209233 +Ref: #assertions-and-virtual-postings209469 +Node: Assertions and precision209610 +Ref: #assertions-and-precision209797 +Node: Balance assignments210062 +Ref: #balance-assignments210232 +Node: Balance assignments and prices211395 +Ref: #balance-assignments-and-prices211561 +Node: Directives211787 +Ref: #directives211950 +Node: Directives and multiple files217693 +Ref: #directives-and-multiple-files217889 +Node: Comment blocks218551 +Ref: #comment-blocks218728 +Node: Including other files218903 +Ref: #including-other-files219077 +Node: Default year220001 +Ref: #default-year220159 +Node: Declaring payees220566 +Ref: #declaring-payees220737 +Node: Declaring the decimal mark220982 +Ref: #declaring-the-decimal-mark221182 +Node: Declaring commodities221580 +Ref: #declaring-commodities221771 +Node: Commodity error checking224285 +Ref: #commodity-error-checking224435 +Node: Default commodity224691 +Ref: #default-commodity224871 +Node: Declaring market prices225745 +Ref: #declaring-market-prices225934 +Node: Declaring accounts226746 +Ref: #declaring-accounts226926 +Node: Account error checking228133 +Ref: #account-error-checking228299 +Node: Account comments229476 +Ref: #account-comments229660 +Node: Account subdirectives230086 +Ref: #account-subdirectives230271 +Node: Account types230586 +Ref: #account-types230760 +Node: Declaring account types231417 +Ref: #declaring-account-types231596 +Node: Auto-detected account types232648 +Ref: #auto-detected-account-types232835 +Node: Account display order234847 +Ref: #account-display-order235007 +Node: Rewriting accounts236158 +Ref: #rewriting-accounts236337 +Node: Basic aliases237096 +Ref: #basic-aliases237232 +Node: Regex aliases237974 +Ref: #regex-aliases238136 +Node: Combining aliases238856 +Ref: #combining-aliases239039 +Node: Aliases and multiple files240316 +Ref: #aliases-and-multiple-files240515 +Node: end aliases241096 +Ref: #end-aliases241243 +Node: Default parent account241345 +Ref: #default-parent-account241535 +Node: Periodic transactions242419 +Ref: #periodic-transactions242602 +Node: Periodic rule syntax244519 +Ref: #periodic-rule-syntax244719 +Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!245422 +Ref: #two-spaces-between-period-expression-and-description245735 +Node: Forecasting with periodic transactions246420 +Ref: #forecasting-with-periodic-transactions246719 +Node: Budgeting with periodic transactions249487 +Ref: #budgeting-with-periodic-transactions249720 +Node: Auto postings250127 +Ref: #auto-postings250263 +Node: Auto postings and multiple files252446 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-multiple-files252644 +Node: Auto postings and dates252852 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-dates253120 +Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions253295 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-transaction-balancing-inferred-amounts-balance-assertions253641 +Node: Auto posting tags254147 +Ref: #auto-posting-tags254356 +Node: CSV FORMAT254993 +Ref: #csv-format255121 +Node: Examples257745 +Ref: #examples257848 +Node: Basic258055 +Ref: #basic258157 +Node: Bank of Ireland258701 +Ref: #bank-of-ireland258838 +Node: Amazon260303 +Ref: #amazon260423 +Node: Paypal262144 +Ref: #paypal262240 +Node: CSV rules269888 +Ref: #csv-rules270006 +Node: skip270339 +Ref: #skip270439 +Node: fields list270811 +Ref: #fields-list270950 +Node: field assignment272455 +Ref: #field-assignment272607 +Node: Field names273639 +Ref: #field-names273779 +Node: date field274158 +Ref: #date-field274278 +Node: date2 field274326 +Ref: #date2-field274469 +Node: status field274525 +Ref: #status-field274670 +Node: code field274719 +Ref: #code-field274866 +Node: description field274911 +Ref: #description-field275073 +Node: comment field275132 +Ref: #comment-field275289 +Node: account field275588 +Ref: #account-field275740 +Node: amount field276314 +Ref: #amount-field276465 +Node: currency field277703 +Ref: #currency-field277858 +Node: balance field278114 +Ref: #balance-field278248 +Node: separator278620 +Ref: #separator278752 +Node: if block279294 +Ref: #if-block279421 +Node: Matching the whole record279819 +Ref: #matching-the-whole-record279996 +Node: Matching individual fields280799 +Ref: #matching-individual-fields281005 +Node: Combining matchers281229 +Ref: #combining-matchers281427 +Node: Rules applied on successful match281741 +Ref: #rules-applied-on-successful-match281934 +Node: if table282591 +Ref: #if-table282712 +Node: end284448 +Ref: #end284562 +Node: date-format284786 +Ref: #date-format284920 +Node: decimal-mark285917 +Ref: #decimal-mark286064 +Node: newest-first286401 +Ref: #newest-first286544 +Node: include287227 +Ref: #include287360 +Node: balance-type287802 +Ref: #balance-type287924 +Node: Tips288624 +Ref: #tips288715 +Node: Rapid feedback289014 +Ref: #rapid-feedback289133 +Node: Valid CSV289584 +Ref: #valid-csv289716 +Node: File Extension289908 +Ref: #file-extension290062 +Node: Reading multiple CSV files290491 +Ref: #reading-multiple-csv-files290678 +Node: Valid transactions290918 +Ref: #valid-transactions291098 +Node: Deduplicating importing291726 +Ref: #deduplicating-importing291907 +Node: Setting amounts292939 +Ref: #setting-amounts293096 +Node: Amount signs295537 +Ref: #amount-signs295691 +Node: Setting currency/commodity296378 +Ref: #setting-currencycommodity296566 +Node: Amount decimal places297746 +Ref: #amount-decimal-places297938 +Node: Referencing other fields298250 +Ref: #referencing-other-fields298449 +Node: How CSV rules are evaluated299347 +Ref: #how-csv-rules-are-evaluated299522 +Node: TIMECLOCK FORMAT300971 +Ref: #timeclock-format301111 +Node: TIMEDOT FORMAT303179 +Ref: #timedot-format303317 +Node: COMMON TASKS307876 +Ref: #common-tasks308005 +Node: Getting help308412 +Ref: #getting-help308546 +Node: Constructing command lines309097 +Ref: #constructing-command-lines309291 +Node: Starting a journal file309990 +Ref: #starting-a-journal-file310190 +Node: Setting opening balances311377 +Ref: #setting-opening-balances311575 +Node: Recording transactions314708 +Ref: #recording-transactions314890 +Node: Reconciling315447 +Ref: #reconciling315592 +Node: Reporting317837 +Ref: #reporting317979 +Node: Migrating to a new file321899 +Ref: #migrating-to-a-new-file322049 +Node: LIMITATIONS322347 +Ref: #limitations322475 +Node: TROUBLESHOOTING323216 +Ref: #troubleshooting323331  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger/hledger.txt b/hledger/hledger.txt index 27107a0fa..8b8259543 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.txt +++ b/hledger/hledger.txt @@ -4001,56 +4001,66 @@ COMMANDS stats stats - Show some journal statistics. + Show journal and performance statistics. The stats command displays summary information for the whole journal, or a matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report for each report period. + At the end, it shows (in the terminal) the overall run time and number + of transactions processed per second. Note these are approximate and + will vary based on machine, current load, data size, hledger version, + haskell lib versions, GHC version.. but they may be of interest. The + stats command's run time is similar to that of a single-column balance + report. + Example: - $ hledger stats - Main journal file : /src/hledger/examples/sample.journal - Included journal files : - Transactions span : 2008-01-01 to 2009-01-01 (366 days) - Last transaction : 2008-12-31 (2333 days ago) - Transactions : 5 (0.0 per day) + $ hledger stats -f examples/1000x1000x10.journal + Main file : /Users/simon/src/hledger/examples/1000x1000x10.journal + Included files : + Transactions span : 2000-01-01 to 2002-09-27 (1000 days) + Last transaction : 2002-09-26 (6995 days ago) + Transactions : 1000 (1.0 per day) Transactions last 30 days: 0 (0.0 per day) Transactions last 7 days : 0 (0.0 per day) - Payees/descriptions : 5 - Accounts : 8 (depth 3) - Commodities : 1 ($) - Market prices : 12 ($) + Payees/descriptions : 1000 + Accounts : 1000 (depth 10) + Commodities : 26 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) + Market prices : 1000 (A) - This command also supports output destination and output format selec- + Run time : 0.12 s + Throughput : 8342 txns/s + + This command also supports output destination and output format selec- tion. tags tags - List the unique tag names used in the journal. With a TAGREGEX argu- + List the unique tag names used in the journal. With a TAGREGEX argu- ment, only tag names matching the regular expression (case insensitive) - are shown. With QUERY arguments, only transactions matching the query + are shown. With QUERY arguments, only transactions matching the query are considered. With the --values flag, the tags' unique values are listed instead. - With --parsed flag, all tags or values are shown in the order they are + With --parsed flag, all tags or values are shown in the order they are parsed from the input data, including duplicates. - With -E/--empty, any blank/empty values will also be shown, otherwise + With -E/--empty, any blank/empty values will also be shown, otherwise they are omitted. test test Run built-in unit tests. - 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 -- @@ -4059,7 +4069,7 @@ 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). About add-on commands @@ -4067,16 +4077,16 @@ COMMANDS o whose name starts with hledger- - o whose name ends with a recognised file extension: .bat,.com,.exe, + o whose name ends with a recognised file extension: .bat,.com,.exe, .hs,.lhs,.pl,.py,.rb,.rkt,.sh or none o and (on unix, mac) which are executable by the current user. - Add-ons are a relatively easy way to add local features or experiment - with new ideas. They can be written in any language, but haskell - scripts have a big advantage: they can use the same hledger library - functions that built-in commands use for command-line options, parsing - and reporting. Some experimental/example add-on scripts can be found + Add-ons are a relatively easy way to add local features or experiment + with new ideas. They can be written in any language, but haskell + scripts have a big advantage: they can use the same hledger library + functions that built-in commands use for command-line options, parsing + and reporting. Some experimental/example add-on scripts can be found in the hledger repo's bin/ directory. Note in a hledger command line, add-on command flags must have a double @@ -4100,17 +4110,17 @@ COMMANDS JOURNAL FORMAT hledger's default file format, representing a General Journal. - hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal - entries in hledger journal format. This file represents a standard - accounting general journal. I use file names ending in .journal, but + hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal + entries in hledger journal format. This file represents a standard + accounting general journal. I use file names ending in .journal, but that's not required. The journal file contains a number of transaction entries, each describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more named accounts, in a simple format readable by both hledger and humans. - hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of ledger's - journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger journal - files as well. It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and + hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of ledger's + journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger journal + files as well. It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and ledger on the same journal file, eg to validate the results you're get- ting. @@ -4118,25 +4128,25 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT the add or web or import commands to create and update it. Many users, though, edit the journal file with a text editor, and track - changes with a version control system such as git. Editor addons such - as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger for Vim, and + changes with a version control system such as git. Editor addons such + 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. - Here's a description of each part of the file format (and hledger's - data model). These are mostly in the order you'll use them, but in - some cases related concepts have been grouped together for easy refer- - ence, or linked before they are introduced, so feel free to skip over + Here's a description of each part of the file format (and hledger's + data model). These are mostly in the order you'll use them, but in + some cases related concepts have been grouped together for easy refer- + ence, or linked before they are introduced, so feel free to skip over anything that looks unnecessary right now. 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- - ple date in column 0. This can be followed by any of the following + 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 optional fields, separated by spaces: o a status character (empty, !, or *) @@ -4145,11 +4155,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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: @@ -4160,35 +4170,35 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 default year directive, - or the current date when the command is run. Some examples: + omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the context: the cur- + rent transaction, the default year set with a default year directive, + or the current 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.) Secondary dates - Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the + Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the date you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank. When you - want to model this, for more accurate daily balances, you can specify + want to model this, for more accurate daily balances, you can specify individual posting dates. - Or, you can use the older secondary date feature (Ledger calls it aux- - iliary date or effective date). Note: we support this for compatibil- - ity, but I usually recommend avoiding this feature; posting dates are + Or, you can use the older secondary date feature (Ledger calls it aux- + iliary date or effective date). Note: we support this for compatibil- + ity, but I usually recommend avoiding this feature; posting dates are almost always clearer and simpler. A secondary date is written after the primary date, following an equals - sign. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is assumed. - When running reports, the primary (left) date is used by default, but - with the --date2 flag (or --aux-date or --effective), the secondary + sign. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is assumed. + When running reports, the primary (left) date is used by default, but + with the --date2 flag (or --aux-date or --effective), the secondary (right) date will be used instead. - The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it's best to follow a - consistent rule. Eg "primary = the bank's clearing date, secondary = + The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it's best to follow a + consistent rule. Eg "primary = the bank's clearing date, secondary = date the transaction was initiated, if different", as shown here: 2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket @@ -4202,11 +4212,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 2010-02-19 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 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 - reports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for + precisely. Eg in this example the expense should appear in May + reports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for easy bank reconciliation: 2015/5/30 @@ -4219,22 +4229,22 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT $ hledger -f t.j register checking 2015-06-01 assets:checking $-10 $-10 - DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use - the year of the transaction's date. You can set the secondary date - similarly, with date2:DATE2. The date: or date2: tags must have a - valid simple date value if they are present, eg a date: tag with no + DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use + the year of the transaction's date. You can set the secondary date + similarly, with date2:DATE2. The date: or date2: tags must have a + valid simple date value if they are present, eg a date: tag with no value is not allowed. Ledger's earlier, more compact bracketed date syntax is also supported: - [DATE], [DATE=DATE2] or [=DATE2]. hledger will attempt to parse any + [DATE], [DATE=DATE2] or [=DATE2]. hledger will attempt to parse any square-bracketed sequence of the 0123456789/-.= characters in this way. - With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 + With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 infers its year from DATE. Status - Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a - status mark, which is a single character before the transaction - description or posting account name, separated from it by a space, + Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a + status mark, which is a single character before the transaction + description or posting account name, separated from it by a space, indicating one of three statuses: @@ -4244,23 +4254,23 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT ! pending * cleared - When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, - -P/--pending, and -C/--cleared flags; or the status:, status:!, and + When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, + -P/--pending, and -C/--cleared flags; or the status:, status:!, and status:* queries; or the U, P, C keys in hledger-ui. - Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the "unmarked" state - is called "uncleared". As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to + Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the "unmarked" state + is called "uncleared". As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to unmarked for clarity. - To replicate Ledger and old hledger's behaviour of also matching pend- + To replicate Ledger and old hledger's behaviour of also matching pend- ing, combine -U and -P. - 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: @@ -4272,41 +4282,41 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 - bank, -U to see things which will probably hit your bank soon (like + With this scheme, you would use -PC to see the current balance at your + bank, -U to see things which will probably hit your bank soon (like uncashed checks), and no flags to see the most up-to-date state of your finances. 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 - A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date - and status mark (or until a comment begins). Sometimes called the + A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date + and status mark (or until a comment begins). Sometimes called the "narration" in traditional bookkeeping, it can be used for whatever you - wish, or left blank. Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike + wish, or left blank. Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike comments. Payee and note You can optionally include a | (pipe) character in descriptions to sub- divide the description into separate fields for payee/payer name on the - left (up to the first |) and an additional note field on the right - (after the first |). This may be worthwhile if you need to do more + left (up to the first |) and an additional note field on the right + (after the first |). This may be worthwhile if you need to do more precise querying and pivoting by payee or by note. Comments Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (;) or hash (#) or star - (*) are comments, and will be ignored. (Star comments cause org-mode - nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users to fold and navigate their + (*) are comments, and will be ignored. (Star comments cause org-mode + nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users to fold and navigate their journals with org-mode or orgstruct-mode.) - You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the - description and/or indented on the following lines (before the post- - ings). Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting by - writing them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines. + You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the + description and/or indented on the following lines (before the post- + ings). Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting by + writing them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines. Transaction and posting comments must begin with a semicolon (;). Some examples: @@ -4329,24 +4339,24 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT ; another comment line for posting 2 ; a file comment (because not indented) - You can also comment larger regions of a file using comment and end + You can also comment larger regions of a file using comment and end comment directives. Tags - Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to postings and + Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to postings and transactions, which you can then search or pivot on. - A simple tag is a word (which may contain hyphens) followed by a full + A simple tag is a word (which may contain hyphens) followed by a full colon, written inside a transaction or posting comment line: 2017/1/16 bought groceries ; sometag: - Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, up to the + Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, up to the next comma or end of line, with leading/trailing whitespace removed: expenses:food $10 ; a-posting-tag: the tag value - Note this means hledger's tag values can not contain commas or new- + Note this means hledger's tag values can not contain commas or new- lines. Ending at commas means you can write multiple short tags on one line, comma separated: @@ -4360,57 +4370,57 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o "tag2" is another tag, whose value is "some value ..." - Tags in a transaction comment affect the transaction and all of its - postings, while tags in a posting comment affect only that posting. - For example, the following transaction has three tags (A, TAG2, third- + Tags in a transaction comment affect the transaction and all of its + postings, while tags in a posting comment affect only that posting. + For example, the following transaction has three tags (A, TAG2, third- tag) and the posting has four (those plus posting-tag): 1/1 a transaction ; A:, TAG2: ; third-tag: a third transaction tag, <- with a value (a) $1 ; posting-tag: - Tags are like Ledger's metadata feature, except hledger's tag values + Tags are like Ledger's metadata feature, except hledger's tag values are simple strings. 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. - Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are + Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are being removed. The amounts within a transaction must always sum up to zero. As a con- - venience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so as to + venience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so as to balance the transaction. - Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name - and amount. This makes it easy to write account names containing spa- - ces. But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the + Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name + and amount. This makes it easy to write account names containing spa- + ces. But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the amount, the amount will be considered part of the account name. Virtual postings A posting with a parenthesised account name is called a virtual posting - or unbalanced posting, which means it is exempt from the usual rule + or unbalanced posting, which means it is exempt from the usual rule that a transaction's postings must balance add up to zero. - This is not part of double entry accounting, so you might choose to - avoid this feature. Or you can use it sparingly for certain special - cases where it can be convenient. Eg, you could set opening balances + This is not part of double entry accounting, so you might choose to + avoid this feature. Or you can use it sparingly for certain special + cases where it can be convenient. Eg, you could set opening balances without using a balancing equity account: 1/1 opening balances (assets:checking) $1000 (assets:savings) $2000 - A posting with a bracketed account name is called a balanced virtual + A posting with a bracketed account name is called a balanced virtual posting. The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must add up to zero (separately from other postings). Eg: @@ -4422,34 +4432,34 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- (something:else) $5 ; <- not required to balance - Ordinary non-parenthesised, non-bracketed postings are called real - postings. You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the + Ordinary non-parenthesised, non-bracketed postings are called real + postings. You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the -R/--real flag or real:1 query. Account names - Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, - from which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts. They can - be anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally five top- + Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon, + from which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts. They can + be anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally five top- level accounts: assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and equity. - Account names may contain single spaces, eg: assets:accounts receiv- - able. Because of this, they must always be followed by two or more + Account names may contain single spaces, eg: assets:accounts receiv- + able. Because of this, they must always be followed by two or more spaces (or newline). Account names can be aliased. Amounts - After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Important: + After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Important: 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 @@ -4457,13 +4467,13 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -4480,8 +4490,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 1.23 1,23456780000009 - In the integer part of the quantity (left of the decimal mark), groups - of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a space, + In the integer part of the quantity (left of the decimal mark), groups + of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a space, comma, or period (different from the decimal mark): $1,000,000.00 @@ -4495,41 +4505,41 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 1,000 1.000 - If you don't tell it otherwise, hledger will assume both of the above + If you don't tell it otherwise, hledger will assume both of the above are decimal marks, parsing both numbers as 1. - To prevent confusing parsing mistakes and undetected typos, especially - if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we + To prevent confusing parsing mistakes and undetected typos, especially + if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we recommend explicitly declaring the decimal mark character in each jour- - nal file, using a directive at the top of the file. The decimal-mark - directive is best, otherwise commodity directives will also work. + nal file, using a directive at the top of the file. The decimal-mark + directive is best, otherwise commodity directives will also work. These are described detail below. 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. - (If you are writing scripts or working with hledger's internals, these + (If you are writing scripts or working with hledger's internals, these are the Amount and MixedAmount types.) Directives influencing number parsing and display - You can add decimal-mark and commodity directives to the journal, to - declare and control these things more explicitly and precisely. These - are described below, in JOURNAL FORMAT -> Declaring commodities. + You can add decimal-mark and commodity directives to the journal, to + declare and control these things more explicitly and precisely. These + are described below, in JOURNAL FORMAT -> Declaring commodities. Here's a quick example: # the decimal mark character used by all amounts in this file (all commodities) @@ -4544,48 +4554,48 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT Commodity display style For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display - style to use in most reports. (Exceptions: price amounts, and all + style to use in most reports. (Exceptions: price amounts, and all amounts displayed by the print command, are displayed with all of their decimal digits visible.) A commodity's display style is inferred as follows. - First, if a default commodity is declared with D, this commodity and + First, if a default commodity is declared with D, this commodity and its style is applied to any no-symbol amounts in the journal. - Then each commodity's style is inferred from one of the following, in + Then each commodity's style is inferred from one of the following, in order of preference: - o The commodity directive for that commodity (including the no-symbol + o The commodity directive for that commodity (including the no-symbol commodity), if any. - o The amounts in that commodity seen in the journal's transactions. + o The amounts in that commodity seen in the journal's transactions. (Posting amounts only; prices and periodic or auto rules are ignored, currently.) - o The built-in fallback style, which looks like this: $1000.00. (Sym- + o The built-in fallback style, which looks like this: $1000.00. (Sym- bol on the left, period decimal mark, two decimal places.) A style is inferred from journal amounts as follows: - o Use the general style (decimal mark, symbol placement) of the first + o Use the general style (decimal mark, symbol placement) of the first amount - o Use the first-seen digit group style (digit group mark, digit group + o Use the first-seen digit group style (digit group mark, digit group sizes), if any o Use the maximum number of decimal places of all. - Transaction price amounts don't affect the commodity display style - directly, but occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a post- - ing's amount is inferred using a transaction price). If you find this + Transaction price amounts don't affect the commodity display style + directly, but occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a post- + ing's amount is inferred using a transaction price). If you find this causing problems, use a commodity directive to fix the display style. - To summarise: each commodity's amounts will be normalised to (a) the - style declared by a commodity directive, or (b) the style of the first - posting amount in the journal, with the first-seen digit group style - and the maximum-seen number of decimal places. So if your reports are - showing amounts in a way you don't like, eg with too many decimal + To summarise: each commodity's amounts will be normalised to (a) the + style declared by a commodity directive, or (b) the style of the first + posting amount in the journal, with the first-seen digit group style + and the maximum-seen number of decimal places. So if your reports are + showing amounts in a way you don't like, eg with too many decimal places, use a commodity directive. Some examples: # declare euro, dollar, bitcoin and no-symbol commodities and set their @@ -4595,22 +4605,22 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT commodity 1000.00000000 BTC commodity 1 000. - The inferred commodity style can be overridden by supplying a command + The inferred commodity style can be overridden by supplying a command line option. Rounding Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal - places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by - the commodity display style. Note, hledger uses banker's rounding: it - rounds to the nearest even number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal - places is "0"). (Guaranteed since hledger 1.17.1; in older versions + places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by + the commodity display style. Note, hledger uses banker's rounding: it + rounds to the nearest even number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal + places is "0"). (Guaranteed since hledger 1.17.1; in older versions this could vary if hledger was built with Decimal < 0.5.1.) Transaction prices Within a transaction, you can note an amount's price in another commod- - ity. This can be used to document the cost (in a purchase) or selling - price (in a sale). For example, transaction prices are useful to - record purchases of a foreign currency. Note transaction prices are + ity. This can be used to document the cost (in a purchase) or selling + price (in a sale). For example, transaction prices are useful to + record purchases of a foreign currency. Note transaction prices are fixed at the time of the transaction, and do not change over time. See also market prices, which represent prevailing exchange rates on a cer- tain date. @@ -4636,14 +4646,14 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT assets:euros EUR100 ; one hundred euros purchased assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 - 4. Like 1, but the @ is parenthesised, i.e. (@); this is for compati- - bility with Ledger journals (Virtual posting costs), and is equiva- + 4. Like 1, but the @ is parenthesised, i.e. (@); this is for compati- + bility with Ledger journals (Virtual posting costs), and is equiva- lent to 1 in hledger. 5. Like 2, but as in 4 the @@ is parenthesised, i.e. (@@); in hledger, this is equivalent to 2. - Use the -B/--cost flag to convert amounts to their transaction price's + Use the -B/--cost flag to convert amounts to their transaction price's commodity, if any. (mnemonic: "B" is from "cost Basis", as in Ledger). Eg here is how -B affects the balance report for the example above: @@ -4654,8 +4664,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT $-135 assets:dollars $135 assets:euros # <- the euros' cost - Note -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction price - is inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the last + Note -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction price + is inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the last amount. So if example 3's postings are reversed, while the transaction is equivalent, -B shows something different: @@ -4668,18 +4678,18 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT EUR100 assets:euros Lot prices, lot dates - Ledger allows another kind of price, lot price (four variants: {UNIT- + Ledger allows another kind of price, lot price (four variants: {UNIT- PRICE}, {{TOTALPRICE}}, {=FIXEDUNITPRICE}, {{=FIXEDTOTALPRICE}}), and/or a lot date ([DATE]) to be specified. These are normally used to - select a lot when selling investments. hledger will parse these, for - compatibility with Ledger journals, but currently ignores them. A - transaction price, lot price and/or lot date may appear in any order, + select a lot when selling investments. hledger will parse these, for + compatibility with Ledger journals, but currently ignores them. A + transaction price, lot price and/or lot date may appear in any order, after the posting amount and before the balance assertion if any. 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 @@ -4691,32 +4701,32 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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, below). Assertions and ordering - hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and - then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. Note this is dif- + hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and + then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. Note this is dif- ferent from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse order. (Also, - Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated post- + Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated post- ings to the same account within a transaction.) So, hledger balance assertions keep working if you reorder differently- - dated transactions within the journal. But if you reorder same-dated - transactions or postings, assertions might break and require updating. + dated transactions within the journal. But if you reorder same-dated + transactions or postings, assertions might break and require updating. This order dependence does bring an advantage: precise control over the order of postings and assertions within a day, so you can assert intra- day balances. Assertions and included files - With included files, things are a little more complicated. Including - preserves the ordering of postings and assertions. If you have multi- - ple postings to an account on the same day, split across different - files, and you also want to assert the account's balance on the same + With included files, things are a little more complicated. Including + preserves the ordering of postings and assertions. If you have multi- + ple postings to an account on the same day, split across different + files, and you also want to assert the account's balance on the same day, you'll have to put the assertion in the right file. Assertions and multiple -f options @@ -4724,15 +4734,15 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT -f options. Use include or concatenate the files instead. Assertions and commodities - The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in - fact the assertion checks only this commodity's balance within the - (possibly multi-commodity) account balance. This is how assertions + The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in + fact the assertion checks only this commodity's balance within the + (possibly multi-commodity) account balance. This is how assertions work in Ledger also. We could call this a "partial" balance assertion. To assert the balance of more than one commodity in an account, you can write multiple postings, each asserting one commodity's balance. - You can make a stronger "total" balance assertion by writing a double + You can make a stronger "total" balance assertion by writing a double equals sign (== EXPECTEDBALANCE). This asserts that there are no other unasserted commodities in the account (or, that their balance is 0). @@ -4752,7 +4762,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT a 0 == $1 It's not yet possible to make a complete assertion about a balance that - has multiple commodities. One workaround is to isolate each commodity + has multiple commodities. One workaround is to isolate each commodity into its own subaccount: 2013/1/1 @@ -4766,21 +4776,21 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT a:euro 0 == 1EUR Assertions and prices - Balance assertions ignore transaction prices, and should normally be + Balance assertions ignore transaction prices, and should normally be written without one: 2019/1/1 (a) $1 @ EUR1 = $1 - We do allow prices to be written there, however, and print shows them, - even though 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 prices), and because balance assign- + We do allow prices to be written there, however, and print shows them, + even though 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 prices), and because balance assign- ments do use them (see below). Assertions and subaccounts - The balance assertions above (= and ==) do not count the balance from - subaccounts; they check the account's exclusive balance only. You can + The balance assertions above (= and ==) do not count the balance from + subaccounts; they check the account's exclusive balance only. You can assert the balance including subaccounts by writing =* or ==*, eg: 2019/1/1 @@ -4794,16 +4804,16 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT tual. They are not affected by the --real/-R flag or real: query. 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. 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 @@ -4821,14 +4831,14 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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). Note that using balance assignments makes your journal a little less explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger or do the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it. Balance assignments and prices - A transaction price in a balance assignment will cause the calculated + A transaction price in a balance assignment will cause the calculated amount to have that price attached: 2019/1/1 @@ -4839,56 +4849,56 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT (a) $1 @ EUR2 = $1 @ EUR2 Directives - A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, + A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, that influences how the journal is processed. hledger's directives are based on a subset of Ledger's, but there are many differences (and also some differences between hledger versions). Directives' behaviour and interactions can get a little bit complex, so - here is a table summarising the directives and their effects, with + here is a table summarising the directives and their effects, with links to more detailed docs. - direc- end subdi- purpose can affect (as of + direc- end subdi- purpose can affect (as of tive directive rec- 2018/06) tives ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - account any document account names, all entries in all - text declare account types & dis- files, before or + account any document account names, all entries in all + text declare account types & dis- files, before or play order after alias end rewrite account names following entries - aliases until end of cur- + aliases until end of cur- rent file or end directive - apply end apply prepend a common parent to following entries - account account account names until end of cur- + apply end apply prepend a common parent to following entries + account account account names until end of cur- rent file or end directive comment end com- ignore part of journal following entries - ment until end of cur- + ment until end of cur- rent file or end directive - commod- format declare a commodity and its number notation: + commod- format declare a commodity and its number notation: ity number notation & display following entries - style until end of cur- - rent file; display + style until end of cur- + rent file; display style: amounts of that commodity in reports - decimal- declare the decimal mark following entries - mark character for parsing this until next decimal- + decimal- declare the decimal mark following entries + mark character for parsing this until next decimal- file mark or end of cur- rent file; included files can override - D declare a commodity to be default commodity: + D declare a commodity to be default commodity: used for commodityless following commod- - amounts, and its number ityless entries - notation & display style until end of cur- + amounts, and its number ityless entries + notation & display style until end of cur- rent file; number notation: following entries in that commodity until end - of current file; + of current file; display style: amounts of that commodity in @@ -4896,17 +4906,17 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT include include entries/directives what the included from another file directives affect payee declare a payee name following entries - until end of cur- + until end of cur- rent file P declare a market price for a amounts of that commodity commodity in reports, when -V is used - Y declare a year for yearless following entries - dates until end of cur- + Y declare a year for yearless following entries + dates until end of cur- rent file - = declare an auto posting all entries in par- - rule, adding postings to ent/current/child + = declare an auto posting all entries in par- + rule, adding postings to ent/current/child other transactions files (but not sib- ling files, see #1212) @@ -4914,54 +4924,56 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT And some definitions: - subdi- optional indented directive line immediately following a parent + subdi- optional indented directive line immediately following a parent rec- directive tive + + + number how to interpret numbers when parsing journal entries (the iden- - nota- tity of the decimal separator character). (Currently each com- + nota- tity of the decimal separator character). (Currently each com- tion modity can have its own notation, even in the same file.) - dis- how to display amounts of a commodity in reports (symbol side + dis- how to display amounts of a commodity in reports (symbol side play and spacing, digit groups, decimal separator, decimal places) style - - direc- which entries and (when there are multiple files) which files + direc- which entries and (when there are multiple files) which files tive are affected by a directive scope As you can see, directives vary in which journal entries and files they - affect, and whether they are focussed on input (parsing) or output + affect, and whether they are focussed on input (parsing) or output (reports). Some directives have multiple effects. Directives and multiple files - If you use multiple -f/--file options, or the include directive, - hledger will process multiple input files. But note that directives + If you use multiple -f/--file options, or the include directive, + hledger will process multiple input files. But note that directives which affect input (see above) typically last only until the end of the file in which they occur. This may seem inconvenient, but it's intentional; it makes reports sta- - ble and deterministic, independent of the order of input. Otherwise - you could see different numbers if you happened to write -f options in - a different order, or if you moved includes around while cleaning up + ble and deterministic, independent of the order of input. Otherwise + you could see different numbers if you happened to write -f options in + a different order, or if you moved includes around while cleaning up your files. - It can be surprising though; for example, it means that alias direc- + It can be surprising though; for example, it means that alias direc- tives do not affect parent or sibling files (see below). Comment blocks - A line containing just comment starts a commented region of the file, + A line containing just comment starts a commented region of the file, and a line containing just end comment (or the end of the current file) ends it. See also comments. Including other files - 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. @@ -4969,18 +4981,18 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT The path may contain glob patterns to match multiple files, eg: include *.journal. - There is limited support for recursive wildcards: **/ (the slash is - required) matches 0 or more subdirectories. It's not super convenient - since you have to avoid include cycles and including directories, but + There is limited support for recursive wildcards: **/ (the slash is + required) 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 hledger.1 -> Input files): + ing the file extension (as described in hledger.1 -> Input files): include timedot:~/notes/2020*.md. Default year - You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't - specify a year. This is a line beginning with Y followed by the year. + You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't + specify a year. This is a line beginning with Y followed by the year. Eg: Y2009 ; set default year to 2009 @@ -5000,9 +5012,9 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT assets Declaring payees - The payee 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 + The payee 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. Eg: payee Whole Foods @@ -5018,36 +5030,36 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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). Declaring commodities - You can use commodity directives to declare your commodities. In fact + You can use commodity directives to declare your commodities. In fact the commodity directive performs several functions at once: - 1. It declares commodities which may be used in the journal. This can - optionally be enforced, providing useful error checking. (Cf Com- + 1. It declares commodities which may be used in the journal. This can + optionally be enforced, providing useful error checking. (Cf Com- modity error checking) - 2. It declares which decimal mark character (period or comma), to - expect when parsing input - useful to disambiguate international - number formats in your data. Without this, hledger will parse both + 2. It declares which decimal mark character (period or comma), to + expect when parsing input - useful to disambiguate international + number formats in your data. Without this, hledger will parse both 1,000 and 1.000 as 1. (Cf Amounts) - 3. It declares how to render the commodity's amounts when displaying + 3. It declares how to render the commodity's amounts when displaying output - the decimal mark, any digit group marks, the number of dec- - imal places, symbol placement and so on. (Cf Commodity display + imal places, symbol placement and so on. (Cf Commodity display style) - You will run into one of the problems solved by commodity directives + You will run into one of the problems solved by commodity directives sooner or later, so we recommend using them, for robust and predictable parsing and display. - Generally you should put them at the top of your journal file (since + Generally you should put them at the top of your journal file (since for function 2, they affect only following amounts, cf #793). - A commodity directive is just the word commodity followed by a sample + A commodity directive is just the word commodity followed by a sample amount, like this: ;commodity SAMPLEAMOUNT @@ -5055,8 +5067,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT commodity $1000.00 commodity 1,000.0000 AAAA ; optional same-line comment - It may also be written on multiple lines, and use the format subdirec- - tive, as in Ledger. Note in this case the commodity symbol appears + It may also be written on multiple lines, and use the format subdirec- + tive, as in Ledger. Note in this case the commodity symbol appears twice; it must be the same in both places: ;commodity SYMBOL @@ -5068,11 +5080,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT commodity INR format INR 1,00,00,000.00 - Remember that if the commodity symbol contains spaces, numbers, or + Remember that if the commodity symbol contains spaces, numbers, or punctuation, it must be enclosed in double quotes (cf Commodity). - The amount's quantity does not matter; only the format is significant. - It must include a decimal mark - either a period or a comma - followed + The amount's quantity does not matter; only the format is significant. + It must include a decimal mark - either a period or a comma - followed by 0 or more decimal digits. A few more examples: @@ -5083,30 +5095,30 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT commodity INR 9,99,99,999.0 commodity 1 000 000. - Note hledger normally uses banker's rounding, so 0.5 displayed with + Note hledger normally uses banker's rounding, so 0.5 displayed with zero decimal digits is "0". (More at Commodity display style.) - Even in the presence of commodity directives, the commodity display + Even in the presence of commodity directives, the commodity display style can still be overridden by supplying a command line option. Commodity error checking - In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report - an error if a commodity symbol is used that has not been declared by a - commodity directive. This works similarly to account error checking, + In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report + an error if a commodity symbol is used that has not been declared by a + commodity directive. This works similarly to account error checking, see the notes there for more details. Default commodity The D 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 + commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing the jour- + nal. This effect lasts until the next D directive, or the end of the journal. - For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity + For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity directive (setting the commodity's decimal mark for parsing and display style for output). - As with commodity, the amount must include a decimal mark (either - period or comma). If both commodity and D directives are used for the + As with commodity, the amount must include a decimal mark (either + period or comma). If both commodity and D directives are used for the same commodity, the commodity style takes precedence. The syntax is D AMOUNT. Eg: @@ -5120,18 +5132,18 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT b Declaring market prices - The P directive declares a market price, which is an exchange rate + The P directive declares a market price, which is an exchange rate between two commodities on a certain date. (In Ledger, they are called - "historical prices".) These are often obtained from a stock exchange, + "historical prices".) These are often obtained from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, or the 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) - of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this date. + 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. Examples: # one euro was worth $1.35 from 2009-01-01 onward: @@ -5140,69 +5152,69 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT # and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: P 2010-01-01 EUR $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 Valuation. Declaring accounts 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- ence. - o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, - equity, revenue, expense), useful for reports like balancesheet and + o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, + equity, revenue, expense), useful for reports like balancesheet and incomestatement. - o They control account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- + o They control account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- betic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). - o They can store extra information about accounts (account numbers, + o They can store extra information about accounts (account numbers, notes, etc.) - o They help with account name completion in the add command, hledger- + o They help with account name completion in the add command, hledger- iadd, hledger-web, ledger-mode etc. - o In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by + o In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by transactions, which helps detect typos. - The simplest form is just the word account followed by a hledger-style + The simplest form is just the word account followed by a hledger-style account name, eg this account directive declares the assets:bank:check- ing account: account assets:bank:checking Account error checking - By default, accounts come into existence when a transaction references - them by name. This is convenient, but it means hledger can't warn you + By default, accounts come into existence when a transaction references + them by name. This is convenient, but it means hledger can't warn you when you mis-spell an account name in the journal. Usually you'll find - the error later, as an extra account in balance reports, or an incor- + the error later, as an extra account in balance reports, or an incor- rect balance when reconciling. - In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report - an error if any transaction uses an account name that has not been + In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report + an error if any transaction uses an account name that has not been declared by an account directive. 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 + it includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of account 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 + o Accounts can only be declared in journal files (but will affect included files in other formats). - 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. Account comments Comments, beginning with a semicolon, can be added: - o on the same line, after two or more spaces (because ; is allowed in + o on the same line, after two or more spaces (because ; is allowed in account names) o on the next lines, indented @@ -5216,7 +5228,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT Same-line comments are not supported by Ledger, or hledger <1.13. Account subdirectives - We also allow (and ignore) Ledger-style indented subdirectives, just + We also allow (and ignore) Ledger-style indented subdirectives, just for compatibility.: account assets:bank:checking @@ -5229,27 +5241,27 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT [LEDGER-STYLE SUBDIRECTIVES, IGNORED] Account types - hledger recognises five main types of account, corresponding to the + hledger recognises five main types of account, corresponding to the account classes in the accounting equation: Asset, Liability, Equity, Revenue, Expense. These account types are important for controlling which accounts appear - in the balancesheet, balancesheetequity, incomestatement reports (and + in the balancesheet, balancesheetequity, incomestatement reports (and probably for other things in future). - Additionally, we recognise the Cash type, which is also an Asset, and - which causes accounts to appear in the cashflow report. ("Cash" here - means liquid assets, eg bank balances but typically not investments or + Additionally, we recognise the Cash type, which is also an Asset, and + which causes accounts to appear in the cashflow report. ("Cash" here + means liquid assets, eg bank balances but typically not investments or receivables.) Declaring account types To make the balancesheet/balancesheetequity/cashflow/incomestatement reports work, generally you should declare your top-level accounts, and - their types. For each top-level account, write an account directive, - with a type: tag. The tag's value can be any of Asset, Liability, - Equity, Revenue, Expense, Cash, or (for short) A, L, E, R, X, C (case - insensitive). An account's type is inherited by its subaccounts, + their types. For each top-level account, write an account directive, + with a type: tag. The tag's value can be any of Asset, Liability, + Equity, Revenue, Expense, Cash, or (for short) A, L, E, R, X, C (case + insensitive). An account's type is inherited by its subaccounts, unless they declare a different type. Here's an example, declaring all six account types: @@ -5261,8 +5273,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT account revenues ; type: Revenue account expenses ; type: Expense - There is also an older syntax, which is deprecated and will be dropped - soon (A, L, E, R or X separated from the account name by two or more + There is also an older syntax, which is deprecated and will be dropped + soon (A, L, E, R or X separated from the account name by two or more spaces): account assets A @@ -5274,7 +5286,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT Auto-detected account types hledger tries to find at least one top level account in each of the six account types (Asset, Liability, Equity, Revenue, Expense, Cash). When - no accounts have been declared for a particular type, hledger tries to + no accounts have been declared for a particular type, hledger tries to auto-detect some accounts by name, using regular expressions: If account's name matches this case insensitive regular expression:| its type is: @@ -5287,25 +5299,25 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT ^(income|revenue)s?(:|$) | Revenue ^expenses?(:|$) | Expense - For people using standard english account names, this feature helps - hledger's high-level reports work out of the box with minimal configu- + For people using standard english account names, this feature helps + hledger's high-level reports work out of the box with minimal configu- ration. - If you use non-english account names, you should declare account types + If you use non-english account names, you should declare account types to make these reports work. And more generally, declaring accounts and - types is usually a good idea, for increased clarity and predictability + types is usually a good idea, for increased clarity and predictability (and for the other benefits of account directives: error checking, dis- play order, etc). Notes: - o When any account is declared as some type, this disables auto-detec- + o When any account is declared as some type, this disables auto-detec- tion for that particular type. - o If you declare any account's type, it's a good idea to declare an - account for all six types, since a mix of declared and auto-detected + o If you declare any account's type, it's a good idea to declare an + account for all six types, since a mix of declared and auto-detected types can cause confusion. For example, here liabilities is declared - to be Equity, but would also be auto-detected as Liability, since no + to be Equity, but would also be auto-detected as Liability, since no Liability account is declared: account liabilities ; type:Equity @@ -5316,8 +5328,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT equity -2 Account display order - Account directives also set the order in which accounts are displayed, - eg in reports, the hledger-ui accounts screen, and the hledger-web + Account directives also set the order in which accounts are displayed, + eg in reports, the hledger-ui accounts screen, and the hledger-web sidebar. By default accounts are listed in alphabetical order. But if you have these account directives in the journal: @@ -5339,20 +5351,20 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT Undeclared accounts, if any, are displayed last, in alphabetical order. - Note that sorting is done at each level of the account tree (within - each group of sibling accounts under the same parent). And currently, + Note that sorting is done at each level of the account tree (within + each group of sibling accounts under the same parent). And currently, this directive: account other:zoo - would influence the position of zoo among other's subaccounts, but not + would influence the position of zoo among other's subaccounts, but not the position of other among the top-level accounts. This means: - o you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg account other above) - that you don't intend to post to, just to customize their display + o you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg account other above) + that you don't intend to post to, just to customize their display order - o sibling accounts stay together (you couldn't display x:y in between + o sibling accounts stay together (you couldn't display x:y in between a:b and a:c). Rewriting accounts @@ -5370,15 +5382,15 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o customising reports Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives. They - do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger- + do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger- web. 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 @@ -5386,49 +5398,49 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 - replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Sub- + OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. hledger will + replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Sub- accounts 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, + There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, indicated by the forward slashes: alias /REGEX/ = REPLACEMENT or --alias '/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT'. - REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression. Anywhere it matches - inside an account name, the matched part will be replaced by REPLACE- - MENT. If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be ref- + REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression. Anywhere it matches + inside an account name, the matched part will be replaced by REPLACE- + MENT. If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be ref- erenced by the usual numeric backreferences in REPLACEMENT. Eg: alias /^(.+):bank:([^:]+):(.*)/ = \1:\2 \3 ; rewrites "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking" to "assets:wells fargo checking" - Also note that REPLACEMENT continues to the end of line (or on command - line, to end of option argument), so it can contain trailing white- + Also note that REPLACEMENT continues to the end of line (or on command + line, to end of option argument), so it can contain trailing white- space. 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: @@ -5439,15 +5451,15 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -5474,14 +5486,14 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT include c.journal ; also affected end aliases - You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases with the end + You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases with the end aliases directive: end aliases Default parent account - You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all - accounts within a section of the journal. Use the apply account and + You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all + accounts within a section of the journal. Use the apply account and end apply account directives like so: apply account home @@ -5498,7 +5510,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT home:food $10 home:cash $-10 - If end apply account is omitted, the effect lasts to the end of the + If end apply account is omitted, the effect lasts to the end of the file. Included files are also affected, eg: apply account business @@ -5507,49 +5519,49 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT apply account personal include personal.journal - Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy account and end spellings were also sup- + Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy account and end spellings were also sup- ported. - A default parent account also affects account directives. It does not - affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger-web. If - account aliases are present, they are applied after the default parent + A default parent account also affects account directives. It does not + affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger-web. If + account aliases are present, they are applied after the default parent account. Periodic transactions - Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. They - allow hledger to generate temporary future transactions to help with - forecasting, so you don't have to write out each one in the journal, + Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. They + allow hledger to generate temporary future transactions to help with + forecasting, so you don't have to write out each one in the journal, and it's easy to try out different forecasts. - Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, + Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, read this whole section - or at least these 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 + 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs improvement, 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 - 2020/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from + inconsistent with the above.) Eg: ~ every 10th day of month from + 2020/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from 2020/01/01, will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. Periodic transaction rules also have a second meaning: they are used to @@ -5564,17 +5576,17 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT expenses:rent $2000 assets:bank:checking - There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start - date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. Eg monthly from + There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start + date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. Eg monthly from 2018/1/1 is valid, but monthly from 2018/1/15 is not. - Partial or relative dates (M/D, D, tomorrow, last week) in the period - expression can work (useful or not). They will be relative to today's - date, unless a Y default year directive is in effect, in which case + Partial or relative dates (M/D, D, tomorrow, last week) in the period + expression can work (useful or not). They will be relative to today's + date, unless a Y default year directive is in effect, in which case they will be relative to Y/1/1. 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: @@ -5588,34 +5600,34 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 + o Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period expression. Forecasting with periodic transactions - The --forecast flag activates any periodic transaction rules in the - journal. These will generate temporary additional transactions, usu- - ally recurring and in the future, which will appear in all reports. + The --forecast flag activates any periodic transaction rules in the + journal. These will generate temporary additional transactions, usu- + ally recurring and in the future, which will appear in all reports. hledger print --forecast is a good way to see them. - This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps + This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps experimenting with different scenarios. - It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe - recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of print + It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe + recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of print --forecast into the journal. - The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like generated- - transaction:~ PERIODICEXPR, indicating which periodic rule generated - them. There is also a similar, hidden tag, named _generated-transac- + The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like generated- + transaction:~ PERIODICEXPR, indicating which periodic rule generated + them. There is also a similar, hidden tag, named _generated-transac- tion:, which you can use to reliably match transactions generated "just now" (rather than printed in the past). The forecast transactions are generated within a forecast period, which - is independent of the report period. (Forecast period sets the bounds - for generated transactions, report period controls which transactions + is independent of the report period. (Forecast period sets the bounds + for generated transactions, report period controls which transactions are reported.) The forecast period begins on: o the start date provided within --forecast's argument, if any @@ -5624,7 +5636,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o the report start date, if specified (with -b/-p/date:) - o the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, if + o the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, if any o otherwise today. @@ -5637,17 +5649,17 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o otherwise 180 days (6 months) from today. - Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic - transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start + Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic + transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start until after the last ordinary transaction. This is usually convenient, but you can get around it in two ways: - o If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them - periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: ~ YYYY-MM-DD) - rather than ordinary transactions. That way they won't suppress + o If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them + periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: ~ YYYY-MM-DD) + rather than ordinary transactions. That way they won't suppress other periodic transactions. - o Or give --forecast a period expression argument. A forecast period + o Or give --forecast a period expression argument. A forecast period specified this way can overlap ordinary transactions, and need not be in the future. Some things to note: @@ -5656,25 +5668,25 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o The period expression can specify the forecast period's start date, end date, or both. See also Report start & end date. - o The period expression should not specify a report interval. (Each + o The period expression should not specify a report interval. (Each periodic transaction rule specifies its own interval.) - Some examples: --forecast=202001-202004, --forecast=jan-, --fore- + Some examples: --forecast=202001-202004, --forecast=jan-, --fore- cast=2021. Budgeting with periodic transactions - With the --budget flag, currently supported by the balance command, - each periodic transaction rule declares recurring budget goals for the - specified accounts. Eg the first example above declares a goal of - spending $2000 on rent (and also, a goal of depositing $2000 into - checking) every month. Goals and actual performance can then be com- + With the --budget flag, currently supported by the balance command, + each periodic transaction rule declares recurring budget goals for the + specified accounts. Eg the first example above declares a goal of + spending $2000 on rent (and also, a goal of depositing $2000 into + checking) every month. Goals and actual performance can then be com- pared in budget reports. See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. Auto postings - "Automated postings" or "auto postings" are extra postings which get + "Automated postings" or "auto postings" are extra postings which get added automatically to transactions which match certain queries, defined by "auto posting rules", when you use the --auto flag. @@ -5685,27 +5697,27 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT ... ACCOUNT [AMOUNT] - except the first line is an equals sign (mnemonic: = suggests match- - ing), followed by a query (which matches existing postings), and each - "posting" line describes a posting to be generated, and the posting + except the first line is an equals sign (mnemonic: = suggests match- + ing), followed by a query (which matches existing postings), and each + "posting" line describes a posting to be generated, and the posting amounts can be: - o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg $2. This will be used + o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg $2. This will be used as-is. o a number, eg 2. The commodity symbol (if any) from the matched post- ing will be added to this. - o a numeric multiplier, eg *2 (a star followed by a number N). The + o a numeric multiplier, eg *2 (a star followed by a number N). The matched posting's amount (and total price, if any) will be multiplied by N. - o a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg *$2 (a star, number N, and + o a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg *$2 (a star, number N, and symbol S). The matched posting's amount will be multiplied by N, and its commodity symbol will be replaced with S. - Any query term containing spaces must be enclosed in single or double - quotes, as on the command line. Eg, note the quotes around the second + Any query term containing spaces must be enclosed in single or double + quotes, as on the command line. Eg, note the quotes around the second query term below: = expenses:groceries 'expenses:dining out' @@ -5744,29 +5756,29 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -5775,11 +5787,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -5790,63 +5802,63 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT CSV FORMAT How hledger reads CSV data, and the CSV rules file format. - hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, - semicolon, or tab) containing dated records as if they were journal + hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, + semicolon, or tab) containing dated records as if they were journal files, automatically converting each CSV record into a transaction. (To learn about writing CSV, see CSV output.) We describe each CSV file's format with a corresponding rules file. By - default this is named like the CSV file with a .rules extension added. - Eg when reading FILE.csv, hledger also looks for FILE.csv.rules in the - same directory as FILE.csv. You can specify a different rules file - with the --rules-file option. If a rules file is not found, hledger + default this is named like the CSV file with a .rules extension added. + Eg when reading FILE.csv, hledger also looks for FILE.csv.rules in the + same directory as FILE.csv. You can specify a different rules file + with the --rules-file option. If a rules file is not found, hledger will create a sample rules file, which you'll need to adjust. - This file contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields + This file contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields layout, date format etc.), and how to construct hledger journal entries (transactions) from it. Often there will also be a list of conditional rules for categorising transactions based on their descriptions. - Here's an overview of the CSV rules; these are described more fully + Here's an overview of the CSV rules; these are described more fully below, after the examples: skip skip one or more header lines or matched CSV records - fields list name CSV fields, assign them to hledger + fields list name CSV fields, assign them to hledger fields - field assignment assign a value to one hledger field, with + field assignment assign a value to one hledger field, with interpolation Field names hledger field names, used in the fields list and field assignments separator a custom field separator - if block apply some rules to CSV records matched by + if block apply some rules to CSV records matched by patterns - if table apply some rules to CSV records matched by + if table apply some rules to CSV records matched by patterns, alternate syntax end skip the remaining CSV records date-format how to parse dates in CSV records - decimal-mark the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if + decimal-mark the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if ambiguous - newest-first disambiguate record order when there's only + newest-first disambiguate record order when there's only one date include inline another CSV rules file - balance-type choose which type of balance assignments to + balance-type choose which type of balance assignments to use - Note, for best error messages when reading CSV files, use a .csv, .tsv + Note, for best error messages when reading CSV files, use a .csv, .tsv or .ssv file extension or file prefix - see File Extension below. There's an introductory Convert CSV files tutorial on hledger.org. Examples - Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. See also the full col- + Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. See also the full col- lection at: https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv Basic - 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 @@ -5865,8 +5877,8 @@ CSV FORMAT Default account names are chosen, since we didn't set them. 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 @@ -5908,13 +5920,13 @@ CSV FORMAT 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. 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" @@ -5966,7 +5978,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 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" @@ -6121,9 +6133,9 @@ CSV FORMAT skip skip N - The word "skip" followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells - hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data. - (Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this when- + The word "skip" followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells + hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data. + (Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this when- ever your CSV data contains header lines. It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks to ignore @@ -6132,19 +6144,19 @@ CSV FORMAT fields list fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ... - A fields list (the word "fields" followed by comma-separated field - names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger fields. - (The other way is field assignments, see below.) A fields list does + A fields list (the word "fields" followed by comma-separated field + names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger fields. + (The other way is field assignments, see below.) A fields list does does two things: - 1. It names the CSV fields. This is optional, but can be convenient + 1. It names the CSV fields. This is optional, but can be convenient later for interpolating them. - 2. Whenever you use a standard hledger field name (defined below), the + 2. Whenever you use a standard hledger field name (defined below), the CSV value is assigned to that part of the hledger 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 @@ -6154,18 +6166,18 @@ CSV FORMAT o The fields list always use commas, even if your CSV data uses another separator character. - o Currently there must be least two items in the list (at least one + o Currently 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 If the CSV contains column headings, it's a good idea to use these, + o If the CSV contains column headings, it's a good idea to use these, suitably modified, as the basis for your field names (eg lower-cased, with underscores instead of spaces). - o If some heading names match standard hledger fields, but you don't - want to set the hledger fields directly, alter those names, eg by + o If some heading names match standard hledger fields, but you don't + want to set the hledger fields directly, alter those names, eg by appending an underscore. o Fields you don't care about can be given a dummy name (eg: _ ), or no @@ -6174,15 +6186,15 @@ CSV FORMAT field assignment HLEDGERFIELDNAME 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 by their 1-based position in the CSV - record (%N), or by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSV- + 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 by their 1-based position in the CSV + record (%N), or by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSV- FIELDNAME). Some examples: @@ -6195,15 +6207,15 @@ CSV FORMAT Tips: - o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " + o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " becomes 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 Here are the standard hledger field (and pseudo-field) names, which you - can use in a fields list and in field assignments. For more about the + can use in a fields list and in field assignments. For more about the transaction parts they refer to, see Transactions. date field @@ -6234,63 +6246,63 @@ CSV FORMAT 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, and in conditional blocks. - 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 - amountN sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to - be generated. By assigning to amount1, amount2, ... etc. you can + amountN sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to + be generated. By assigning to amount1, amount2, ... etc. you can generate up to 99 postings. - amountN-in and amountN-out can be used instead, if the CSV uses sepa- - rate fields for debits and credits (inflows and outflows). hledger - assumes both of these CSV fields are unsigned, and will automatically - negate the "-out" value. If they are signed, see "Setting amounts" + amountN-in and amountN-out can be used instead, if the CSV uses sepa- + rate fields for debits and credits (inflows and outflows). hledger + assumes both of these CSV fields are unsigned, and will automatically + negate the "-out" value. If they are signed, see "Setting amounts" below. - amount, or amount-in and amount-out are a legacy mode, to keep pre- - hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for occasional convenience). - They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both - posting 1's and posting 2's amount. Posting 2's amount will be + amount, or amount-in and amount-out are a legacy mode, to keep pre- + hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for occasional convenience). + They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both + posting 1's and posting 2's amount. Posting 2's amount will be negated, and also converted to cost if there's a transaction price. If you have an existing rules file using the unnumbered form, you might - want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, without - having to update and retest all the old rules. To facilitate this, - posting 1 ignores amount/amount-in/amount-out if any of + want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, without + having to update and retest all the old rules. To facilitate this, + posting 1 ignores amount/amount-in/amount-out if any of amount1/amount1-in/amount1-out are assigned, and posting 2 ignores them - if any of amount2/amount2-in/amount2-out are assigned, avoiding con- + if any of amount2/amount2-in/amount2-out are assigned, avoiding con- flicts. 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. + 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 Tips below for more about setting amounts and currency. 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 , @@ -6303,7 +6315,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 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. @@ -6318,8 +6330,8 @@ CSV FORMAT RULE RULE - Conditional blocks ("if blocks") are a block of rules that are applied - only to CSV records which match certain patterns. They are often used + Conditional blocks ("if blocks") are a block of rules that are applied + only to CSV records which match certain patterns. They are often used for customising account names based on transaction descriptions. Matching the whole record @@ -6328,16 +6340,16 @@ CSV FORMAT REGEX REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression that tries to match any- - where within the CSV record. It is a POSIX ERE (extended regular - expression) that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>), - and nothing else. If you have trouble, be sure to check our doc: + where within the CSV record. It is a POSIX ERE (extended regular + expression) that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>), + and nothing else. If you have trouble, be sure to check our doc: https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expressions - Important note: the record that is matched is not the original record, - but a synthetic one, with any enclosing double quotes (but not enclos- + Important note: the record that is matched is not the original record, + but a synthetic one, with any enclosing double quotes (but not enclos- ing whitespace) removed, and always comma-separated (which means that a - field containing a comma will appear like two fields). Eg, if the - original record is 2020-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000, the REGEX will + field containing a comma will appear like two fields). Eg, if the + original record is 2020-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000, the REGEX will actually see 2020-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000). Matching individual fields @@ -6345,14 +6357,14 @@ CSV FORMAT %CSVFIELD REGEX - which matches just the content of a particular CSV field. CSVFIELD is - a percent sign followed by the field's name or column number, like + which matches just the content of a particular CSV field. CSVFIELD is + a percent sign followed by the field's name or column number, like %date or %1. Combining matchers A single matcher can be written on the same line as the "if"; or multi- ple matchers can be written on the following lines, non-indented. Mul- - tiple matchers are OR'd (any one of them can match), unless one begins + tiple matchers are OR'd (any one of them can match), unless one begins with an & symbol, in which case it is AND'ed with the previous matcher. if @@ -6361,8 +6373,8 @@ CSV FORMAT RULE Rules applied on successful match - After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all - indented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in + After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all + indented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in conditional blocks: o field assignments (to set a hledger field) @@ -6392,11 +6404,11 @@ CSV FORMAT MATCHER3,VALUE31,VALUE32,...,VALUE3n - Conditional tables ("if tables") are a different syntax to specify - field assignments that will be applied only to CSV records which match + Conditional tables ("if tables") are a different syntax to specify + field assignments that will be applied only to CSV records which match certain patterns. - MATCHER could be either field or record matcher, as described above. + MATCHER could be either field or record matcher, as described above. When MATCHER matches, values from that row would be assigned to the CSV fields named on the if line, in the same order. @@ -6420,17 +6432,17 @@ CSV FORMAT ... CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE3n - Each line starting with MATCHER should contain enough (possibly empty) + Each line starting with MATCHER should contain enough (possibly empty) values for all the listed fields. - Rules would be checked and applied in the order they are listed in the + Rules would be checked and applied in the order they are listed in the table and, like with if blocks, later rules (in the same or another ta- ble) or if blocks could override the effect of any rule. - Instead of ',' you can use a variety of other non-alphanumeric charac- + Instead of ',' you can use a variety of other non-alphanumeric charac- ters as a separator. First character after if is taken to be the sepa- - rator for the rest of the table. It is the responsibility of the user - to ensure that separator does not occur inside MATCHERs and values - + rator for the rest of the table. It is the responsibility of the user + to ensure that separator does not occur inside MATCHERs and values - there is no way to escape separator. Example: @@ -6441,7 +6453,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 2020/01/12.*Plumbing LLC,expenses:house:upkeep,emergency plumbing call-out end - This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop + This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop reading this CSV file and move on to the next input file, or to command execution. Eg: @@ -6452,10 +6464,10 @@ CSV FORMAT 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 date - parsing pattern, which must parse the CSV date value completely. Some + 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 date + parsing pattern, which must parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples: # MM/DD/YY @@ -6476,9 +6488,9 @@ CSV FORMAT https://hackage.haskell.org/package/time/docs/Data-Time-For- mat.html#v:formatTime - Note that although you can parse date-times which include a time zone, - that time zone is ignored; it will not change the date that is parsed. - This means when reading CSV data with times not in your local time + Note that although you can parse date-times which include a time zone, + that time zone is ignored; it will not change the date that is parsed. + This means when reading CSV data with times not in your local time zone, dates can be "off by one". decimal-mark @@ -6488,22 +6500,22 @@ CSV FORMAT 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. newest-first - hledger always sorts the generated transactions by date. Transactions - on the same date should appear in the same order as their CSV records, - as hledger can usually auto-detect whether the CSV's normal order is + hledger always sorts the generated transactions by date. Transactions + on the same date should appear in the same order as their CSV records, + as hledger can usually auto-detect whether the CSV's normal order is oldest first or newest first. But if all of the following are true: - o the CSV might sometimes contain just one day of data (all records + o the CSV might sometimes contain just one day of data (all records having the same date) - o the CSV records are normally in reverse chronological order (newest + o the CSV records are normally in reverse chronological order (newest at the top) o and you care about preserving the order of same-day transactions @@ -6516,9 +6528,9 @@ CSV FORMAT 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 @@ -6533,10 +6545,10 @@ CSV FORMAT 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 @@ -6551,18 +6563,18 @@ CSV FORMAT 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 - hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. When CSV values are + hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. When CSV values are enclosed in quotes, note: o they must be double quotes (not single quotes) @@ -6570,9 +6582,9 @@ CSV FORMAT o spaces outside the quotes are not allowed File Extension - To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, - CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a .csv, .ssv or .tsv - filename extension. Or, the file path should be prefixed with csv:, + To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, + CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a .csv, .ssv or .tsv + filename extension. Or, the file path should be prefixed with csv:, ssv: or tsv:. Eg: $ hledger -f foo.ssv print @@ -6581,48 +6593,48 @@ CSV FORMAT $ cat foo | hledger -f ssv:- foo - You can override the file extension with a separator rule if needed. + You can override the file extension with a separator rule if needed. See also: Input files in the hledger manual. 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 use the --rules-file option, that rules file will be + 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 use the --rules-file option, that rules file will be used for all the CSV files. 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 + 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 assertions 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: @@ -6643,13 +6655,13 @@ CSV FORMAT a. If both fields are unsigned: Assign to amountN-in and amountN-out. This sets posting N's amount - to whichever of these has a non-zero value, and negates the "-out" + to whichever of these has a non-zero value, and negates the "-out" value. b. If either field is signed (can contain a minus sign): - Use a conditional rule to flip the sign (of non-empty values). - Since hledger always negates amountN-out, if it was already nega- - tive, we must undo that by negating once more (but only if the + Use a conditional rule to flip the sign (of non-empty values). + Since hledger always negates amountN-out, if it was already nega- + tive, we must undo that by negating once more (but only if the field is non-empty): fields date, description, amount1-in, amount1-out @@ -6657,8 +6669,8 @@ CSV FORMAT amount1-out -%amount1-out c. If both fields, or neither field, can contain a non-zero value: - hledger normally expects exactly one of the fields to have a non- - zero value. Eg, the amountN-in/amountN-out rules would reject + hledger normally expects exactly one of the fields to have a non- + zero value. Eg, the amountN-in/amountN-out rules would reject value pairs like these: "", "" @@ -6666,7 +6678,7 @@ CSV FORMAT "1", "none" So, use smarter conditional rules to set the amount from the appro- - priate field. Eg, these rules would make it use only the value + priate field. Eg, these rules would make it use only the value containing non-zero digits, handling the above: fields date, description, in, out @@ -6675,7 +6687,7 @@ CSV FORMAT if %out [1-9] amount1 %out - 3. If you are stuck with hledger <1.17, or you want posting 2's amount + 3. If you are stuck with hledger <1.17, or you want posting 2's amount converted to cost: Assign to amount (or to amount-in and amount-out). (The old numberless syntax, which sets amount1 and amount2.) @@ -6685,15 +6697,15 @@ CSV FORMAT ance assignment. (Old syntax: balance, equivalent to balance1.) o If hledger guesses the wrong default account name: - When setting the amount via balance assertion, hledger may guess - the wrong default account name. So, set the account name explic- + When setting the amount via balance assertion, hledger may guess + the wrong default account name. So, set the account name explic- itly, eg: fields date, description, balance1 account1 assets:checking Amount signs - There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing + There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing and sign-flipping: o If an amount value begins with a plus sign: @@ -6702,17 +6714,17 @@ CSV FORMAT 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 "". 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): 2020-01-01,foo,$123.00 @@ -6731,7 +6743,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 2020-01-01,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 @@ -6740,7 +6752,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 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: @@ -6751,7 +6763,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 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 @@ -6759,13 +6771,13 @@ CSV FORMAT amount1 influence commodity display styles, such as the number of deci- mal places displayed in reports. - The original amounts as written in the CSV file do not affect display + The original amounts as written in the CSV file do not affect display style (because we don't yet reliably know their commodity). 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" @@ -6777,7 +6789,7 @@ CSV FORMAT # 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 @@ -6785,7 +6797,7 @@ CSV FORMAT # 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: @@ -6795,14 +6807,14 @@ CSV FORMAT 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 + Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is repeated, the last one wins: o skip (at top level) @@ -6816,33 +6828,33 @@ CSV FORMAT Then for each CSV record in turn: - o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all + o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all remaining CSV records. Otherwise if any of them contain a skip rule, - skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip + 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 - assigned to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a + o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was + assigned to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a default o generate a synthetic hledger transaction 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. TIMECLOCK FORMAT The time logging format of timeclock.el, as read by hledger. - hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. As with Ledger, these + 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 optional. + 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 optional. The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored (currently the time is always interpreted as a local time). @@ -6851,9 +6863,9 @@ TIMECLOCK FORMAT 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 @@ -6874,26 +6886,26 @@ TIMECLOCK FORMAT To generate time logs, ie to clock in and clock out, you could: - o use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or the extended timeclock- + o use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or the extended timeclock- x.el and perhaps the extras in ledgerutils.el o at the command line, use these bash aliases: shell alias ti="echo - i `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` \$* >>$TIMELOG" alias to="echo o + i `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` \$* >>$TIMELOG" alias to="echo o `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` >>$TIMELOG" 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 FORMAT - timedot format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Com- + timedot format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Com- pared to timeclock format, it is o convenient for quick, approximate, and retroactive time logging o readable: you can see at a glance where time was spent. - A timedot file contains a series of day entries, which might look like + A timedot file contains a series of day entries, which might look like this: 2021-08-04 @@ -6901,7 +6913,7 @@ TIMEDOT FORMAT fos:hledger:timedot .. ; docs per:admin:finance - hledger reads this as three time transactions on this day, with each + hledger reads this as three time transactions on this day, with each dot representing a quarter-hour spent: $ hledger -f a.timedot print # .timedot file extension activates the timedot reader @@ -6924,45 +6936,45 @@ TIMEDOT FORMAT o a common transaction comment for this day, after a semicolon (;). - After the date line are zero or more optionally-indented time transac- + After the date line are zero or more optionally-indented time transac- tion lines, consisting of: o an account name - any word or phrase, usually a hledger-style account name. - o two or more spaces - a field separator, required if there is an + o two or more spaces - a field separator, required if there is an amount (as in journal format). - o a timedot amount - dots representing quarter hours, or a number rep- + o a timedot amount - dots representing quarter hours, or a number rep- resenting hours. o an optional comment beginning with semicolon. This is ignored. In more detail, timedot amounts can be: - o dots: zero or more period characters, each representing one quarter- - hour. Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping. Eg: .... .. + o dots: zero or more period characters, each representing one quarter- + hour. Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping. Eg: .... .. o a number, representing hours. Eg: 1.5 - o a number immediately followed by a unit symbol s, m, h, d, w, mo, or + o a number immediately followed by a unit symbol s, m, h, d, w, mo, or y, representing seconds, minutes, hours, days weeks, months or years. Eg 1.5h or 90m. The following equivalencies are assumed: - 60s = 1m, 60m = 1h, 24h = 1d, 7d = 1w, 30d = 1mo, 365d = 1y. (This - unit will not be visible in the generated transaction amount, which is + 60s = 1m, 60m = 1h, 24h = 1d, 7d = 1w, 30d = 1mo, 365d = 1y. (This + unit will not be visible in the generated transaction amount, which is always in hours.) - There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in + There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in the same file as your notes, todo lists, etc.: o Lines beginning with # or ;, and blank lines, are ignored. - o Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as trans- - actions with zero amount. (Most hledger reports hide these by + o Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as trans- + actions with zero amount. (Most hledger reports hide these by default; add -E to see them.) o One or more stars (*) followed by a space, at the start of a line, is - ignored. So date lines or time transaction lines can also be Org- + ignored. So date lines or time transaction lines can also be Org- mode headlines. o All Org-mode headlines before the first date line are ignored. @@ -7045,9 +7057,9 @@ TIMEDOT FORMAT A sample.timedot file. COMMON TASKS - Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with - hledger. For more details, see the reference section below, the - hledger_journal(5) manual, or the more extensive docs at + Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with + hledger. For more details, see the reference section below, the + hledger_journal(5) manual, or the more extensive docs at https://hledger.org. Getting help @@ -7063,26 +7075,26 @@ COMMON TASKS https://hledger.org#help-feedback Constructing command lines - hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. We + hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. We strive to keep it simple and ergonomic, but you may run into one of the confusing real world details described in OPTIONS, below. If that hap- pens, here are some tips that may 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 all options there) (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 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 @@ -7090,9 +7102,9 @@ COMMON TASKS 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. + You can override this by setting the LEDGER_FILE environment variable. 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 + and to start a new file each year. So you could do something like this: $ mkdir ~/finance @@ -7116,20 +7128,20 @@ COMMON TASKS Market prices : 0 () 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 - two accounts, like your checking account or cash wallet; and pick a - recent starting date, like today or the start of the week. You can + 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 + recent starting date, like today or the start of the week. You can always 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: 2020-01-01 * opening balances @@ -7139,19 +7151,19 @@ COMMON TASKS 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 @@ -7188,18 +7200,18 @@ COMMON TASKS Starting the next transaction (. or ctrl-D/ctrl-C to quit) Date [2020-01-01]: . - 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' 2020.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: 2020/1/10 * gift received @@ -7215,22 +7227,22 @@ COMMON TASKS 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 - already-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 + already-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: @@ -7240,26 +7252,26 @@ COMMON TASKS 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 - reported by hledger reg checking -C. This will be easier if you - generally record transaction dates quite similar to your bank's + action history and running balance from your bank with the one + reported by hledger reg checking -C. This will be easier if you + generally record transaction dates quite similar to your bank's clearing dates. 3. Repeat for other asset/liability accounts. - Tip: instead of the register command, use hledger-ui to see a live- + Tip: instead of the register command, use hledger-ui to see a live- updating register while you edit the journal: hledger-ui --watch --reg- ister 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 2020-01-15 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' 2020.journal @@ -7331,7 +7343,7 @@ COMMON TASKS -------------------- 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 --flat -2 @@ -7341,7 +7353,7 @@ COMMON TASKS -------------------- $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 --flat -2 @@ -7408,15 +7420,15 @@ COMMON TASKS 2020-01-13 **** 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. 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. When input data contains non-ascii characters, a suitable system locale @@ -7432,36 +7444,36 @@ LIMITATIONS In a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window, the tab key is not supported in hledger add. - Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax is supported. See file format + Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax is supported. See file format differences. - On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than + On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than Ledger. TROUBLESHOOTING - Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and - remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug + Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and + remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug tracker): Successfully installed, but "No command 'hledger' found" stack and cabal install binaries into a special directory, which should - be added to your PATH environment variable. Eg on unix-like systems, + be added to your PATH environment variable. Eg on unix-like systems, that is ~/.local/bin and ~/.cabal/bin respectively. I set a custom LEDGER_FILE, but hledger is still using the default file - LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell - variable. The command env | grep LEDGER_FILE should show it. You may + LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell + variable. The command env | grep LEDGER_FILE should show it. You may need to use export. Here's an explanation. - Getting errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or incomplete - multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: invalid argu- + Getting errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or incomplete + multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: invalid argu- ment (invalid character)" Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) need to have a UTF-8-aware locale configured in the environment, otherwise they - will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter non-ascii + will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter non-ascii characters. - To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which sup- + To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which sup- ports UTF-8. The locale you choose must be installed on your system. Here's an example of setting LANG temporarily, on Ubuntu GNU/Linux: @@ -7476,8 +7488,8 @@ TROUBLESHOOTING POSIX $ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # ensure it is used for this command - If available, C.UTF-8 will also work. If your preferred locale isn't - listed by locale -a, you might need to install it. Eg on + If available, C.UTF-8 will also work. If your preferred locale isn't + listed by locale -a, you might need to install it. Eg on Ubuntu/Debian: $ apt-get install language-pack-fr @@ -7497,8 +7509,8 @@ TROUBLESHOOTING $ echo "export LANG=en_US.utf8" >>~/.bash_profile $ bash --login - Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. Note the differ- - ence on MacOS (UTF-8, not utf8). Some platforms (eg ubuntu) allow + Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. Note the differ- + ence on MacOS (UTF-8, not utf8). Some platforms (eg ubuntu) allow variant spellings, but others (eg macos) require it to be exact: $ locale -a | grep -iE en_us.*utf @@ -7508,7 +7520,7 @@ TROUBLESHOOTING REPORTING BUGS - Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel + Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list)