From fb521e248bc61839c95ed699e85f4944c1a1f793 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Simon Michael Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2019 08:02:22 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] ;doc: journal: periodic transactions: more tweaks [ci skip] --- hledger-lib/hledger_journal.m4.md | 20 +++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-) diff --git a/hledger-lib/hledger_journal.m4.md b/hledger-lib/hledger_journal.m4.md index 4cf72b1c8..22fb2c9b1 100644 --- a/hledger-lib/hledger_journal.m4.md +++ b/hledger-lib/hledger_journal.m4.md @@ -1159,11 +1159,13 @@ If account aliases are present, they are applied after the default parent accoun ## Periodic transactions Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. -They allow you to generate future transactions for forecasting, -without having to write them out explicitly in the journal (with `--forecast`). -Secondly, they also can be used to define budget goals (with `--budget`). +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. +Secondly, they are also used to define the budgets shown in budget reports. -These can be a little tricky, so before you use them, read this whole section - or at least these tips: +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 - read about this below. 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with `hledger print --forecast tag:generated` or `hledger register --forecast tag:generated`. @@ -1171,12 +1173,12 @@ These can be a little tricky, so before you use them, read this whole section - 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. See below for the exact start/end rules. 5. [period expressions](hledger.html#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 error. + 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 for reporting purposes, but also affects periodic transactions. Yes, this is a bit inconsistent with the above, currently.) - Eg `~ every 10th day of month from 2020/01/10` starts on 2020/01/10, - but `~ 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. + (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 2020/01/01`, will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. ### Periodic rule syntax