diff --git a/hledger-lib/.date.m4 b/hledger-lib/.date.m4 index a1b31d7e3..466686f62 100644 --- a/hledger-lib/.date.m4 +++ b/hledger-lib/.date.m4 @@ -1,2 +1,2 @@ m4_dnl Date to show in man pages. Updated by "Shake manuals" -m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{October 2024}})m4_dnl +m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{December 2024}})m4_dnl diff --git a/hledger-ui/.date.m4 b/hledger-ui/.date.m4 index a1b31d7e3..466686f62 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/.date.m4 +++ b/hledger-ui/.date.m4 @@ -1,2 +1,2 @@ m4_dnl Date to show in man pages. Updated by "Shake manuals" -m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{October 2024}})m4_dnl +m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{December 2024}})m4_dnl diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 index 073bd23ea..9ea6d72e7 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ -.TH "HLEDGER\-UI" "1" "October 2024" "hledger-ui-1.40.99 " "hledger User Manuals" +.TH "HLEDGER\-UI" "1" "December 2024" "hledger-ui-1.41.99 " "hledger User Manuals" @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ or .PD \f[CR]hledger ui \-\- [OPTS] [QUERYARGS]\f[R] .SH DESCRIPTION -This manual is for hledger\[aq]s terminal interface, version 1.40.99. +This manual is for hledger\[aq]s terminal interface, version 1.41.99. See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. .PP hledger is a robust, user\-friendly, cross\-platform set of programs for @@ -115,9 +115,11 @@ General output/reporting flags (supported by some commands): \-C \-\-cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (\-U/\-P/\-C can be combined) \-R \-\-real include only non\-virtual postings - \-\-depth=NUM or \-NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts \-E \-\-empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger\-ui & hledger\-web, do the opposite. + \-\-depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or \-NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. \-B \-\-cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount \-V \-\-market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -211,6 +213,9 @@ period to \[dq]today\[dq]. If you are using \f[CR]\-w/\-\-watch\f[R] and viewing a narrowed period containing today, the view will follow any changes in system date (moving to the period containing the new date). +(These keys work only with the standard Julian calendar +year/quarter/month/week/day periods; they are not affected by a custom +report interval specified at the command line.) .PP You can also specify a non\-standard period with \f[CR]/\f[R] and a \f[CR]date:\f[R] query; in this case, the period is not movable with the @@ -461,7 +466,7 @@ with \f[CR]\-f/\-\-file\f[R]. Default: \f[CR]$HOME/.hledger.journal\f[R]. .SH BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: -http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list +https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). .PP Some known issues: diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info index d391fafe9..80bc3df32 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.info @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ plain text accounting app. or 'hledger ui -- [OPTS] [QUERYARGS]' - This manual is for hledger's terminal interface, version 1.40.99. + This manual is for hledger's terminal interface, version 1.41.99. See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. hledger is a robust, user-friendly, cross-platform set of programs @@ -126,9 +126,11 @@ General output/reporting flags (supported by some commands): -C --cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (-U/-P/-C can be combined) -R --real include only non-virtual postings - --depth=NUM or -NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts -E --empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger-ui & hledger-web, do the opposite. + --depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or -NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. -B --cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount -V --market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -221,7 +223,10 @@ is displayed in the header line, pressing 'SHIFT-LEFT' or 'SHIFT-RIGHT' moves to the previous or next period, and pressing 'T' sets the period to "today". If you are using '-w/--watch' and viewing a narrowed period containing today, the view will follow any changes in system date -(moving to the period containing the new date). +(moving to the period containing the new date). (These keys work only +with the standard Julian calendar year/quarter/month/week/day periods; +they are not affected by a custom report interval specified at the +command line.) You can also specify a non-standard period with '/' and a 'date:' query; in this case, the period is not movable with the arrow keys. @@ -521,7 +526,7 @@ File: hledger-ui.info, Node: BUGS, Prev: ENVIRONMENT, Up: Top ****** We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: -http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list +https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). Some known issues: @@ -540,20 +545,20 @@ above). Tag Table: Node: Top223 Node: OPTIONS1874 -Node: MOUSE8397 -Node: KEYS8729 -Node: SCREENS13557 -Node: Menu screen14297 -Node: Cash accounts screen14613 -Node: Balance sheet accounts screen14974 -Node: Income statement accounts screen15310 -Node: All accounts screen15695 -Node: Register screen16058 -Node: Transaction screen18501 -Node: Error screen20076 -Node: WATCH MODE20442 -Node: ENVIRONMENT22018 -Node: BUGS22325 +Node: MOUSE8548 +Node: KEYS8880 +Node: SCREENS13884 +Node: Menu screen14624 +Node: Cash accounts screen14940 +Node: Balance sheet accounts screen15301 +Node: Income statement accounts screen15637 +Node: All accounts screen16022 +Node: Register screen16385 +Node: Transaction screen18828 +Node: Error screen20403 +Node: WATCH MODE20769 +Node: ENVIRONMENT22345 +Node: BUGS22652  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt index 14a926035..a99d94fbe 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ SYNOPSIS hledger ui -- [OPTS] [QUERYARGS] DESCRIPTION - This manual is for hledger's terminal interface, version 1.40.99. See + This manual is for hledger's terminal interface, version 1.41.99. See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. hledger is a robust, user-friendly, cross-platform set of programs for @@ -104,9 +104,11 @@ OPTIONS -C --cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (-U/-P/-C can be combined) -R --real include only non-virtual postings - --depth=NUM or -NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts -E --empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger-ui & hledger-web, do the opposite. + --depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or -NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. -B --cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount -V --market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -189,7 +191,9 @@ KEYS the previous or next period, and pressing T sets the period to "today". If you are using -w/--watch and viewing a narrowed period containing today, the view will follow any changes in system date (moving to the - period containing the new date). + period containing the new date). (These keys work only with the stan- + dard Julian calendar year/quarter/month/week/day periods; they are not + affected by a custom report interval specified at the command line.) You can also specify a non-standard period with / and a date: query; in this case, the period is not movable with the arrow keys. @@ -415,7 +419,7 @@ ENVIRONMENT BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: - http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list + https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). Some known issues: @@ -448,4 +452,4 @@ LICENSE SEE ALSO hledger(1), hledger-ui(1), hledger-web(1), ledger(1) -hledger-ui-1.40.99 October 2024 HLEDGER-UI(1) +hledger-ui-1.41.99 December 2024 HLEDGER-UI(1) diff --git a/hledger-web/.date.m4 b/hledger-web/.date.m4 index a1b31d7e3..466686f62 100644 --- a/hledger-web/.date.m4 +++ b/hledger-web/.date.m4 @@ -1,2 +1,2 @@ m4_dnl Date to show in man pages. Updated by "Shake manuals" -m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{October 2024}})m4_dnl +m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{December 2024}})m4_dnl diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 b/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 index e95416894..175a44768 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ -.TH "HLEDGER\-WEB" "1" "October 2024" "hledger-web-1.40.99 " "hledger User Manuals" +.TH "HLEDGER\-WEB" "1" "December 2024" "hledger-web-1.41.99 " "hledger User Manuals" @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ or .PD \f[CR]hledger web \-\- [OPTS] [QUERY]\f[R] .SH DESCRIPTION -This manual is for hledger\[aq]s web interface, version 1.40.99. +This manual is for hledger\[aq]s web interface, version 1.41.99. See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. .PP hledger is a robust, user\-friendly, cross\-platform set of programs for @@ -166,9 +166,11 @@ General output/reporting flags (supported by some commands): \-C \-\-cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (\-U/\-P/\-C can be combined) \-R \-\-real include only non\-virtual postings - \-\-depth=NUM or \-NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts \-E \-\-empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger\-ui & hledger\-web, do the opposite. + \-\-depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or \-NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. \-B \-\-cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount \-V \-\-market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -500,7 +502,7 @@ with \f[CR]\-f/\-\-file\f[R]. Default: \f[CR]$HOME/.hledger.journal\f[R]. .SH BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: -http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list +https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). .PP Some known issues: diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.info b/hledger-web/hledger-web.info index 13751e9f9..717b8ad92 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.info +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.info @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ plain text accounting app. or 'hledger web -- [OPTS] [QUERY]' - This manual is for hledger's web interface, version 1.40.99. See + This manual is for hledger's web interface, version 1.41.99. See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. hledger is a robust, user-friendly, cross-platform set of programs @@ -171,9 +171,11 @@ General output/reporting flags (supported by some commands): -C --cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (-U/-P/-C can be combined) -R --real include only non-virtual postings - --depth=NUM or -NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts -E --empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger-ui & hledger-web, do the opposite. + --depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or -NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. -B --cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount -V --market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -517,7 +519,7 @@ File: hledger-web.info, Node: BUGS, Prev: ENVIRONMENT, Up: Top ****** We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: -http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list +https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). Some known issues: @@ -528,14 +530,14 @@ http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list Tag Table: Node: Top225 Node: OPTIONS2571 -Node: PERMISSIONS11109 -Node: EDITING UPLOADING DOWNLOADING12460 -Node: RELOADING13475 -Node: JSON API14042 -Node: DEBUG OUTPUT19691 -Node: Debug output19843 -Node: ENVIRONMENT20361 -Node: BUGS20597 +Node: PERMISSIONS11260 +Node: EDITING UPLOADING DOWNLOADING12611 +Node: RELOADING13626 +Node: JSON API14193 +Node: DEBUG OUTPUT19842 +Node: Debug output19994 +Node: ENVIRONMENT20512 +Node: BUGS20748  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt b/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt index 876e13531..c946186cb 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ SYNOPSIS hledger web -- [OPTS] [QUERY] DESCRIPTION - This manual is for hledger's web interface, version 1.40.99. See also + This manual is for hledger's web interface, version 1.41.99. See also the hledger manual for common concepts and file formats. hledger is a robust, user-friendly, cross-platform set of programs for @@ -148,9 +148,11 @@ OPTIONS -C --cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (-U/-P/-C can be combined) -R --real include only non-virtual postings - --depth=NUM or -NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts -E --empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger-ui & hledger-web, do the opposite. + --depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or -NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. -B --cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount -V --market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -453,7 +455,7 @@ ENVIRONMENT BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: - http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list + https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). Some known issues: @@ -478,4 +480,4 @@ LICENSE SEE ALSO hledger(1), hledger-ui(1), hledger-web(1), ledger(1) -hledger-web-1.40.99 October 2024 HLEDGER-WEB(1) +hledger-web-1.41.99 December 2024 HLEDGER-WEB(1) diff --git a/hledger/.date.m4 b/hledger/.date.m4 index a1b31d7e3..466686f62 100644 --- a/hledger/.date.m4 +++ b/hledger/.date.m4 @@ -1,2 +1,2 @@ m4_dnl Date to show in man pages. Updated by "Shake manuals" -m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{October 2024}})m4_dnl +m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{December 2024}})m4_dnl diff --git a/hledger/hledger.1 b/hledger/hledger.1 index 8c9c777d7..0dcef6bc4 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.1 +++ b/hledger/hledger.1 @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ .\"t -.TH "HLEDGER" "1" "October 2024" "hledger-1.40.99 " "hledger User Manuals" +.TH "HLEDGER" "1" "December 2024" "hledger-1.41.99 " "hledger User Manuals" @@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ hledger is inspired by and largely compatible with ledger(1), and largely interconvertible with beancount(1). .PP This manual is for hledger\[aq]s command line interface, version -1.40.99. +1.41.99. It also describes the common options, file formats and concepts used by all hledger programs. It might accidentally teach you some bookkeeping/accounting as well! @@ -401,9 +401,11 @@ General output/reporting flags (supported by some commands): \-C \-\-cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (\-U/\-P/\-C can be combined) \-R \-\-real include only non\-virtual postings - \-\-depth=NUM or \-NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts \-E \-\-empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger\-ui & hledger\-web, do the opposite. + \-\-depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or \-NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. \-B \-\-cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount \-V \-\-market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -782,6 +784,9 @@ Otherwise, if you write \f[CR]\[rs]1\f[R], it will match the digit they do not support mode modifiers (\f[CR](?s)\f[R]), character classes (\f[CR]\[rs]w\f[R], \f[CR]\[rs]d\f[R]), or anything else not mentioned above. +.IP "7." 3 +they may not (I\[aq]m guessing not) properly support right\-to\-left or +bidirectional text. .PP Some things to note: .IP \[bu] 2 @@ -1145,32 +1150,36 @@ variable to disable it, or by using the \f[CR]\-\-color/\-\-colour\f[R] option, perhaps in your config file, with a \f[CR]y\f[R]/\f[CR]yes\f[R] or \f[CR]n\f[R]/\f[CR]no\f[R] value to force it on or off. .SS Paging -In unix\-like environments, when displaying large output in the -terminal, hledger tries to use a pager when appropriate. -(Actually it does this for any output format displayed in the terminal, -not just text.) -You can prevent this with the \f[CR]\-\-pager=no\f[R] option, perhaps in -your config file. -.PP -It will use the pager specified by the \f[CR]PAGER\f[R] environment -variable, otherwise \f[CR]less\f[R] if available, otherwise -\f[CR]more\f[R] if available. -.PP +In unix\-like environments, when displaying large output (in any output +format) in the terminal, hledger tries to use a pager when appropriate. The pager shows one page of text at a time, and lets you scroll around to see more. While it is active, usually \f[CR]SPACE\f[R] shows the next page, -\f[CR]q\f[R] quits, and \f[CR]?\f[R] shows more features. -(And in \f[CR]less\f[R], \f[CR]G\f[R] jumps to the end, which is useful -when you are viewing register output.) +\f[CR]h\f[R] shows help, and \f[CR]q\f[R] quits. +The home/end/page up/page down/cursor keys, and mouse scrolling, may +also work. +.PP +hledger will use the pager specified by the \f[CR]PAGER\f[R] environment +variable, otherwise \f[CR]less\f[R] if available, otherwise +\f[CR]more\f[R] if available. +(With one exception: \f[CR]hledger help \-p TOPIC\f[R] will always use +\f[CR]less\f[R], so that it can scroll to the topic.) .PP The pager is expected to display hledger\[aq]s ANSI colour and text styling. -hledger adds \f[CR]R\f[R] to the \f[CR]LESS\f[R] and \f[CR]MORE\f[R] -environment variables to enable this for \f[CR]less\f[R] and its -\f[CR]more\f[R] compatibility mode. -If you use a different pager, you might need to configure it similarly, -to avoid seeing junk on screen. -(Or you can disable colour, as described above.) +If you see junk characters, you might need to configure your pager to +handle ANSI codes. +Or you could disable colour as described above. +.PP +If you are using the \f[CR]less\f[R] pager, hledger automatically +appends a number of options to the \f[CR]LESS\f[R] variable to enable +ANSI colour and a number of other conveniences. +(At the time of writing: \-\-chop\-long\-lines \-\-hilite\-unread +\-\-ignore\-case \-\-mouse \-\-no\-init \-\-quit\-at\-eof +\-\-quit\-if\-one\-screen \-\-RAW\-CONTROL\-CHARS \-\-shift=8 +\-\-squeeze\-blank\-lines \-\-use\-backslash \-\-use\-color ). +If these don\[aq]t work well, you can set your preferred options in the +\f[CR]HLEDGER_LESS\f[R] variable, which will be used instead. .SS HTML output HTML output can be styled by an optional \f[CR]hledger.css\f[R] file in the same directory. @@ -1200,59 +1209,73 @@ you can still extract CSV from FODS/ODS using various utilities like \f[CR]libreoffice \-\-headless\f[R] or ods2csv. .SS Beancount output This is Beancount\[aq]s journal format. -You can use this to export your hledger data to Beancount, perhaps to -query it with Beancount Query Language or with the Fava web app. -hledger will try to adjust your data to suit Beancount. -If you plan to export often, you may want to follow Beancount\[aq]s -conventions in your hledger data, to ease conversion. -Eg use Beancount\-friendly account names, currency codes instead of -currency symbols, and avoid virtual postings, redundant cost notation, -etc. +You can use this to export your hledger data to Beancount, eg to use the +Fava web app. .PP -Here are more details, included here for now (see also \[dq]hledger and -Beancount\[dq] https://hledger.org/beancount.html). +hledger will try to adjust your data to suit Beancount, automatically. +Be cautious and check the conversion until you are confident it is good. +If you plan to export to Beancount often, you may want to follow its +conventions, for a cleaner conversion: +.IP \[bu] 2 +use Beancount\-friendly account names +.IP \[bu] 2 +use currency codes instead of currency symbols +.IP \[bu] 2 +use cost notation instead of equity conversion postings +.IP \[bu] 2 +avoid virtual postings +.PP +There is one big adjustment you must handle yourself: for Beancount, the +top level account names must be \f[CR]Assets\f[R], +\f[CR]Liabilities\f[R], \f[CR]Equity\f[R], \f[CR]Income\f[R], and/or +\f[CR]Expenses\f[R]. +You can use account aliases to rewrite your account names temporarily, +if needed, as in this hledger2beancount.conf config file. .SS Beancount account names -hledger will try adjust your account names, if needed, to Beancount -account names, by capitalising, replacing unsupported characters with -\f[CR]\-\f[R], and prepending \f[CR]B\f[R] to parts which don\[aq]t -begin with a letter or digit. -(It\[aq]s possible for this to convert distinct hledger account names to -the same beancount name. -Eg, hledger\[aq]s automatic equity conversion accounts can have currency -symbols in their name, so \f[CR]equity:conversion:$\-€\f[R] becomes -\f[CR]equity:conversion:B\-\-\-\f[R].) -.PP -In addition, you must ensure that the top level account names are -\f[CR]Assets\f[R], \f[CR]Liabilities\f[R], \f[CR]Equity\f[R], -\f[CR]Income\f[R], and \f[CR]Expenses\f[R], which Beancount requires. -If yours are named differently, you can use account aliases, usually in -the form of \f[CR]\-\-alias\f[R] options, possibly stored in a config -file. -(An example: hledger2beancount.conf) +Aside from the top\-level names, hledger will adjust your account names +to make valid Beancount account names, by capitalising each part, +replacing spaces with \f[CR]\-\f[R], replacing other unsupported +characters with \f[CR]C\f[R], prepending \f[CR]A\f[R] to +account name parts which don\[aq]t begin with a letter or digit, and +appending \f[CR]:A\f[R] to account names which have only one part. .SS Beancount commodity names -hledger will adjust your commodity names, if needed, to Beancount +hledger will adjust your commodity names to make valid Beancount commodity/currency names, which must be 2\-24 uppercase letters, digits, or \f[CR]\[aq]\f[R], \f[CR].\f[R], \f[CR]_\f[R], \f[CR]\-\f[R], beginning with a letter and ending with a letter or digit. -hledger will convert known currency symbols to ISO 4217 currency codes. -Otherwise, it will capitalise letters, replace unsupported characters -with a dash (\-), and prepend/append a \[dq]B\[dq] when needed. -(It\[aq]s possible for this to generate unreadable commodity names, or -to convert distinct hledger commodity names to the same beancount name.) +hledger will convert known currency symbols to ISO 4217 currency codes, +capitalise letters, replace spaces with \f[CR]\-\f[R], replace other +unsupported characters with \f[CR]C\f[R], and prepend or +append \f[CR]C\f[R] if needed. .SS Beancount virtual postings -Beancount doesn\[aq]t allow unbalanced/virtual postings, so you will -need to comment those, or use \f[CR]\-\-real\f[R] to exclude -transactions that use them. -(If you have transactions which are a mixture of balanced and unbalanced -postings, you\[aq]ll have to do something more.) +Beancount doesn\[aq]t allow virtual postings; if you have any, they will +be omitted from beancount output. +.SS Beancount metadata +hledger tags will be converted to Beancount metadata (except for tags +whose name begins with \f[CR]_\f[R]). +Metadata names will be adjusted to be Beancount\-compatible: beginning +with a lowercase letter, at least two characters long, and with +unsupported characters encoded. +Metadata values will use Beancount\[aq]s string type. +.PP +In hledger, objects can have the same tag repeated with multiple values. +Eg an \f[CR]assets:cash\f[R] account might have both +\f[CR]type:Asset\f[R] and \f[CR]type:Cash\f[R] tags. +For Beancount these will be combined into one, with the values combined, +comma separated. +Eg: \f[CR]type: \[dq]Asset, Cash\[dq]\f[R]. .SS Beancount costs -Beancount doesn\[aq]t allow redundant cost notation as hledger does. -If you have entries like this, you will need to comment out either the -costs or the equity postings. +Beancount doesn\[aq]t allow redundant costs and conversion postings as +hledger does. +If you have any of these, the conversion postings will be omitted. +Currently we support at most one cost + conversion postings group per +transaction. .SS Beancount operating currency -Declaring an operating currency improves Beancount and Fava reports. -You can do this manually by adding a line like this to the beancount -journal: +Declaring an operating currency (or several) improves Beancount and Fava +reports. +Currently hledger will declare each currency used in cost amounts as an +operating currency. +If needed, replace these with your own declaration, like .IP .EX option \[dq]operating_currency\[dq] \[dq]USD\[dq] @@ -1340,6 +1363,10 @@ These environment variables affect hledger: commands (\f[CR]register\f[R]) will format their output to this width. If not set, they will try to use the available terminal width. .PP +\f[B]HLEDGER_LESS\f[R] If \f[CR]less\f[R] is your pager, this variable +specifies the \f[CR]less\f[R] options hledger should use. +(Otherwise, \f[CR]LESS\f[R] + custom options are used.) +.PP \f[B]LEDGER_FILE\f[R] The main journal file to use when not specified with \f[CR]\-f/\-\-file\f[R]. Default: \f[CR]$HOME/.hledger.journal\f[R]. @@ -2197,6 +2224,13 @@ assertions\f[R]\[dq] by adding a star after the equals (\f[CR]=*\f[R] or assets:savings $10 assets $0 ==* $20 ; assets + subaccounts contains $20 and nothing else .EE +.SS Assertions and status +Balance assertions always consider postings of all statuses (unmarked, +pending, or cleared); they are not affected by the +\f[CR]\-U\f[R]/\f[CR]\-\-unmarked\f[R] / +\f[CR]\-P\f[R]/\f[CR]\-\-pending\f[R] / +\f[CR]\-C\f[R]/\f[CR]\-\-cleared\f[R] flags or the \f[CR]status:\f[R] +query. .SS Assertions and virtual postings Balance assertions always consider both real and virtual postings; they are not affected by the \f[CR]\-\-real/\-R\f[R] flag or \f[CR]real:\f[R] @@ -2278,134 +2312,106 @@ directives\[aq] placement might be important \- see \f[CR]commodity\f[R] directive. .SS Tags Tags are a way to add extra labels or data fields to transactions, -postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. +postings, or accounts. +They are usually a word or hyphenated word, immediately followed by a +full colon, written within the comment of a transaction, a posting, or +an \f[CR]account\f[R] directive. +(Yes, storing data in comments is slightly weird!) .PP -A tag is a word, optionally hyphenated, immediately followed by a full -colon, in the comment of a transaction, a posting, or an account -directive. -Eg: \f[CR]2024\-01\-01 a transaction ; foo:\f[R] Note this is an -exception to the usual rule that things in comments are ignored. +You can write each tag on its own comment line, or multiple tags on one +line, separated by commas. +Tags can also have a value, which is any text after the colon until the +next comma or end of line, excluding surrounding whitespace. +(hledger tag values can\[aq]t contain commas.) +If the same tag name appears multiple times in a comment, each +name:value pair is preserved. .PP -You can write multiple tags on one line, separated by comma. -Or you can write each tag on its own comment line (no comma needed in -this case). -.PP -For example, here are five different tags: one on the -\f[CR]assets:checking\f[R] account, two on the transaction, and two on -the \f[CR]expenses:food\f[R] posting: +An example: in this journal there are six tags, one of them with a +value: .IP .EX account assets:checking ; accounttag: +account expenses:food -2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag\-1: - ; transactiontag\-2: +2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag: + ; transactiontag2: assets:checking $\-1 - expenses:food $1 ; postingtag:, another\-posting\-tag: + ; posting\-tag\-1:, (belongs to the posting above) + expenses:food $1 ; posting\-tag\-2:, posting\-tag\-3: with a value .EE +.SS Querying with tags +Tags are most often used to select a subset of data; you can match +tagged things by tag name and or tag value with a \f[CR]tag:\f[R] query. +(See queries below.) .PP -Postings also inherit tags from their transaction and their account. -And transactions also acquire tags from their postings (and -postings\[aq] accounts). -So in the example above, the expenses posting effectively has all five -tags (by inheriting from the account and transaction), and the -transaction also has all five tags (by acquiring from the expenses -posting). +When querying for tag names or values, note that postings inherit tags +from their transaction and from their account, and transactions acquire +tags from their postings. +So in the example above, \- the assets:checking posting effectively has +four tags (one of its own, one from the account, two from the +transaction) \- the expenses:food posting effectively has four tags (two +of its own, two from the transaction) \- the transaction effectively has +all six tags (two of its own, and two from each posting) +.SS Displaying tags +You can use the \f[CR]tags\f[R] command to list tag names or values. +.PP +The \f[CR]print\f[R] command also shows tags. +.PP +You can use \-\-pivot to display tag values in other reports, in various +ways (eg appended to account names, like pseudo subaccounts). +.SS When to use tags ? +Tags provide more dimensions of categorisation, complementing accounts +and transaction descriptions. +When to use each of these is somewhat a matter of taste. +Accounts have the most built\-in support, and regex queries on +descriptions are also quite powerful. +So you may not need tags at all. +But if you want to track multiple cross\-cutting categories, they can be +a good fit. +For example, you could tag trip\-related transactions with +\f[CR]trip: YEAR:PLACE\f[R], without disturbing your usual account +categories. .SS Tag names -Most non\-whitespace characters are allowed in tag names. +What is allowed in a tag name ? +Currently, most non\-whitespace characters. Eg \f[CR]😀:\f[R] is a valid tag. .PP -You can list the tag names used in your journal with the tags command: -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -\f[CR]hledger tags [NAMEREGEX]\f[R] +For extra error checking, you can declare valid tag names with the +\f[CR]tag\f[R] directive, and then enforce these with the +\f[CR]check\f[R] command. .PP -In commands which use a query, you can match by tag name. -Eg: -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -\f[CR]hledger print tag:NAMEREGEX\f[R] -.PP -You can declare valid tag names with the tag directive and then check -them with the check command. +But note that tags are detected quite loosely at present, sometimes +where you didn\[aq]t intend them. +Eg \f[CR]; see https://foo.com\f[R] contains a \f[CR]https\f[R] tag with +value \f[CR]//foo.com\f[R]. .SS Special tags Some tag names have special significance to hledger. -There\[aq]s not much harm in using them yourself, but some could produce -an error message, particularly the \f[CR]date:\f[R] and \f[CR]type:\f[R] -tags. -They are explained elsewhere, but here is a quick list for reference: -.PP -Tags you can set to influence hledger\[aq]s behaviour: +They are explained elsewhere, but here\[aq]s a quick reference: .IP .EX + type \-\- declares an account\[aq]s type date \-\- overrides a posting\[aq]s date date2 \-\- overrides a posting\[aq]s secondary date - type \-\- declares an account\[aq]s type -.EE -.PP -Tags hledger adds to indicate generated data: -.IP -.EX - t \-\- appears on postings generated by timedot letters assert \-\- appears on txns generated by close \-\-assert retain \-\- appears on txns generated by close \-\-retain start \-\- appears on txns generated by close \-\-migrate/\-\-close/\-\-open/\-\-assign - generated\-transaction \-\- appears on generated periodic txns (with \-\-verbose\-tags) - generated\-posting \-\- appears on generated auto postings (with \-\-verbose\-tags) - modified \-\- appears on txns which have had auto postings added (with \-\-verbose\-tags) + t \-\- appears on postings generated from timedot letters + + generated\-transaction \-\- appears on txns generated by a periodic rule + modified\-transaction \-\- appears on txns which have had auto postings added + generated\-posting \-\- appears on generated postings + cost\-posting \-\- appears on postings which have (or could have) a cost, + and which have equivalent conversion postings in the transaction + conversion\-posting \-\- appears on postings which are to a V/Conversion account + and which have an equivalent cost posting in the transaction .EE .PP -These similar tags are also provided; they are not displayed, but can be -relied on for querying: -.IP -.EX - _generated\-transaction \-\- exists on generated periodic txns (always) - _generated\-posting \-\- exists on generated auto postings (always) - _modified \-\- exists on txns which have had auto postings added (always) -.EE -.PP -The following non\-displayed tags are used internally by hledger, (1) to -ignore redundant costs when balancing transactions, (2) when using -\-\-infer\-costs, and (3) when using \-\-infer\-equity. -Essentially they mark postings with costs which have corresponding -equity conversion postings, and vice\-versa. -They are queryable, but you should not rely on them for your reports: -.IP -.EX - _conversion\-matched \-\- marks \[dq]matched conversion postings\[dq], which are to a V/Conversion account - and have a nearby equivalent costful or potentially costful posting - _cost\-matched \-\- marks \[dq]matched cost postings\[dq], which have or could have a cost - that\[aq]s equivalent to nearby conversion postings -.EE -.SS Tag values -Tags can have a value, which is any text after the colon up until a -comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace removed. -Ending at comma allows us to write multiple tags on one line, but also -means that tag values can not contain commas. -.PP -Eg in the following posting, the three tags\[aq] values are \[dq]value -1\[dq], \[dq]value 2\[dq], and \[dq]\[dq] (empty) respectively: -.IP -.EX - expenses:food $10 ; foo, tag1: value 1 , tag2:value 2, bar tag3: , baz -.EE -.PP -Multiple tags with the same name are additive rather than overriding: -when the same tag name is seen again with a new value, the new -name:value pair is added to the tags. -It is not possible to override a previous tag\[aq]s value or remove a -tag. -.PP -You can list all the values used for a particular tag in the journal -with -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -\f[CR]hledger tags TAGNAME \-\-values\f[R] -.PP -You can match on tag values with a query like -\f[CR]tag:NAMEREGEX=VALUEREGEX\f[R] +The second group above (generated\-transaction, etc.) +are normally hidden, with a \f[CR]_\f[R] prefix added. +This means \f[CR]print\f[R] doesn\[aq]t show them by default; but you +can still use them in queries. +You can add the \f[CR]\-\-verbose\-tags\f[R] flag to make them visible, +which can be useful for troubleshooting. .SS Directives Besides transactions, there is something else you can put in a \f[CR]journal\f[R] file: directives. @@ -4621,61 +4627,75 @@ if ,,,, end .EE .SS Matchers -There are two kinds: +There are two kinds of matcher: .IP "1." 3 -A record matcher is a word or single\-line text fragment or regular -expression (\f[CR]REGEX\f[R]), which hledger will try to match +A whole record matcher is simplest: it is just a word, single\-line text +fragment, or other regular expression, which hledger will try to match case\-insensitively anywhere within the CSV record. .PD 0 .P .PD -Eg: \f[CR]whole foods\f[R] +Eg: \f[CR]whole foods\f[R]. .IP "2." 3 -A field matcher is preceded with a percent sign and CSV field name -(\f[CR]%CSVFIELD REGEX\f[R]). -hledger will try to match these just within the named CSV field. +A field matcher has a percent\-prefixed CSV field number or name before +the pattern. .PD 0 .P .PD -Eg: \f[CR]%date 2023\f[R] +Eg: \f[CR]%3 whole foods\f[R] or \f[CR]%description whole foods\f[R]. +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +hledger will try to match the pattern just within the named CSV field. .PP -The regular expression is (as usual in hledger) a POSIX extended regular -expression, that also supports GNU word boundaries (\f[CR]\[rs]b\f[R], -\f[CR]\[rs]B\f[R], \f[CR]\[rs]<\f[R], \f[CR]\[rs]>\f[R]), and nothing +When using these, there\[aq]s two things to be aware of: +.IP "1." 3 +Whole record matchers don\[aq]t see the exact original record; they see +a reconstruction of it, in which values are comma\-separated, and quotes +enclosing values and whitespace outside those quotes are removed. +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Eg when reading an SSV record like: +\f[CR]2023\-01\-01 ; \[dq]Acme, Inc. \[dq] ; 1,000\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +the whole record matcher sees instead: +\f[CR]2023\-01\-01,Acme, Inc. ,1,000\f[R] +.IP "2." 3 +Field matchers expect either a CSV field number, or a CSV field name +declared with \f[CR]fields\f[R]. +(Don\[aq]t use a hledger field name here, unless it is also a CSV field +name.) +A non\-CSV field name will cause the matcher to match against +\f[CR]\[dq]\[dq]\f[R] (the empty string), and does not raise an error, +allowing easier reuse of common rules with different CSV files. +.PP +You can also prefix a matcher with \f[CR]!\f[R] (and optional space) to +negate it. +Eg \f[CR]! whole foods\f[R], \f[CR]! %3 whole foods\f[R], +\f[CR]!%description whole foods\f[R] will match if \[dq]whole foods\[dq] +is NOT present. +\f[I]Added in 1.32.\f[R] +.PP +The pattern is, as usual in hledger, a POSIX extended regular expression +that also supports GNU word boundaries (\f[CR]\[rs]b\f[R], +\f[CR]\[rs]B\f[R], \f[CR]\[rs]<\f[R], \f[CR]\[rs]>\f[R]) and nothing else. -If you have trouble, see \[dq]Regular expressions\[dq] in the hledger -manual (https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular\-expressions). -.SS What matchers match -With record matchers, it\[aq]s important to know that the record matched -is not the original CSV record, but a modified one: separators will be -converted to commas, and enclosing double quotes (but not enclosing -whitespace) are removed. -So for example, when reading an SSV file, if the original record was: -.IP -.EX -2023\-01\-01; \[dq]Acme, Inc.\[dq]; 1,000 -.EE +If you have trouble with it, see \[dq]Regular expressions\[dq] in the +hledger manual (https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular\-expressions). +.SS Multiple matchers +When an if block has multiple matchers, each on its own line, +.IP \[bu] 2 +By default they are OR\[aq]d (any of them can match). +.IP \[bu] 2 +Matcher lines beginning with \f[CR]&\f[R] (and optional space) are +AND\[aq]ed with the matcher above (all in the AND\[aq]ed group must +match). .PP -the regex would see, and try to match, this modified record text: -.IP -.EX -2023\-01\-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000 -.EE -.SS Combining matchers -When an if block has multiple matchers, they are combined as follows: -.IP \[bu] 2 -By default they are OR\[aq]d (any of them can match) -.IP \[bu] 2 -When a matcher is preceded by ampersand (\f[CR]&\f[R], at the start of -the line) it will be AND\[aq]ed with the previous matcher (all in the -AND\[aq]ed group must match) -.IP \[bu] 2 -\f[I]Added in 1.32\f[R] When a matcher is preceded by an exclamation -mark (\f[CR]!\f[R]), it is negated (it must not match). -.PP -Note currently there is a limitation: you can\[aq]t use both -\f[CR]&\f[R] and \f[CR]!\f[R] on the same line (you can\[aq]t AND a -negated matcher). +\f[I](Since 1.41:)\f[R] You can use a negated \f[CR]!\f[R] matcher on a +\f[CR]&\f[R] line, meaning AND NOT. .SS Match groups \f[I]Added in 1.32\f[R] .PP @@ -6335,6 +6355,43 @@ Use this when you want a summary with less detail. This flag has the same effect as a \f[CR]depth:\f[R] query argument: \f[CR]depth:2\f[R], \f[CR]\-\-depth=2\f[R] or \f[CR]\-2\f[R] are equivalent. +.PP +In place of a single number which limits the depth for all accounts, you +can also provide separate depth limits for different accounts using +regular expressions \f[I](since 1.41)\f[R]. +.PP +For example, \f[CR]\-\-depth assets=2\f[R] (or, equivalently: +\f[CR]depth:assets=2\f[R]) will collapse accounts matching the regular +expression \f[CR]assets\f[R] to depth 2. +So \f[CR]assets:bank:savings\f[R] would be collapsed to +\f[CR]assets:bank\f[R], while \f[CR]liabilities:bank:credit card\f[R] +would not be affected. +This can be combined with a flat depth to collapse other accounts not +matching the regular expression, so +\f[CR]\-\-depth assets=2 \-\-depth 1\f[R] would collapse +\f[CR]assets:bank:savings\f[R] to \f[CR]assets:bank\f[R] and +\f[CR]liabilities:bank:credit card\f[R] to \f[CR]liabilities\f[R]. +.PP +You can supply multiple depth arguments and they will all be applied, so +\f[CR]\-\-depth assets=2 \-\-depth liabilities=3 \-\-depth 1\f[R] would +collapse: +.IP \[bu] 2 +accounts matching \f[CR]assets\f[R] to depth 2, +.IP \[bu] 2 +accounts matching \f[CR]liabilities\f[R] to depth 3, +.IP \[bu] 2 +all other accounts to depth 1. +.PP +If an account is matched by more than one regular expression depth +argument then the more specific one will used. +For example, if +\f[CR]\-\-depth assets=1 \-\-depth assets:bank:savings=2\f[R] is +provided, then \f[CR]assets:bank:savings\f[R] will be collapsed to depth +2 rather than depth 1. +This is because \f[CR]assets:bank:savings\f[R] matches at level 3 in the +account name, while \f[CR]assets\f[R] matches at level 1. +The same would be true with the argument +\f[CR]\-\-depth assets=1 \-\-depth savings=2\f[R]. .SH Queries One of hledger\[aq]s strengths is being able to quickly report on a precise subset of your data. @@ -6449,18 +6506,19 @@ is interpreted as: .RE .SS Query types Here are the types of query term available. -Remember these can also be prefixed with \f[B]\f[CB]not:\f[B]\f[R] to -convert them into a negative match. -.PP -\f[B]\f[CB]acct:REGEX\f[B]\f[R] or \f[B]\f[CB]REGEX\f[B]\f[R] +.SS acct: query +\f[B]\f[CB]acct:REGEX\f[B]\f[R], or just \f[B]\f[CB]REGEX\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match account names containing this case insensitive regular expression. +.PD 0 +.P +.PD This is the default query type, so we usually don\[aq]t bother writing the \[dq]acct:\[dq] prefix. -.PP -\f[B]\f[CB]amt:N, amt:N, amt:>=N\f[B]\f[R] +.SS amt: query +\f[B]\f[CB]amt:N, amt:\[aq]N\[aq], amt:\[aq]>=N\[aq]\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD @@ -6470,36 +6528,36 @@ and will always match.) The comparison has two modes: if N is preceded by a + or \- sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. Otherwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. -.PP +\f[CR]amt:\f[R] needs quotes to hide the less than/greater than sign +from the command line shell. +.SS code: query \f[B]\f[CB]code:REGEX\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match by transaction code (eg check number). -.PP +.SS cur: query \f[B]\f[CB]cur:REGEX\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match postings or transactions including any amounts whose currency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. -(For a partial match, use \f[CR].*REGEX.*\f[R]). +(Contrary to hledger\[aq]s usual infix matching. +To do infix matching, write \f[CR].*REGEX.*\f[R].) Note, to match special characters which are regex\-significant, you need to escape them with \f[CR]\[rs]\f[R]. -And for characters which are significant to your shell you may need one -more level of escaping. -So eg to match the dollar sign: -.PD 0 -.P -.PD -\f[CR]hledger print cur:\[rs]\[rs]$\f[R]. -.PP +And for characters which are significant to your shell you will usually +need one more level of escaping. +Eg to match the dollar sign: \f[CR]cur:\[rs]\[rs]$\f[R] or +\f[CR]cur:\[aq]\[rs]$\[aq]\f[R] +.SS desc: query \f[B]\f[CB]desc:REGEX\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match transaction descriptions. -.PP +.SS date: query \f[B]\f[CB]date:PERIODEXPR\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P @@ -6513,55 +6571,82 @@ Examples: .PD \f[CR]date:2016\f[R], \f[CR]date:thismonth\f[R], \f[CR]date:2/1\-2/15\f[R], \f[CR]date:2021\-07\-27..nextquarter\f[R]. -.PP +.SS date2: query \f[B]\f[CB]date2:PERIODEXPR\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD -Match secondary dates within the specified period (independent of the -\f[CR]\-\-date2\f[R] flag). -.PP -\f[B]\f[CB]depth:N\f[B]\f[R] +If you use secondary dates: this matches secondary dates within the +specified period. +It is not affected by the \f[CR]\-\-date2\f[R] flag. +.SS depth: query +\f[B]\f[CB]depth:[REGEXP=]N\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this -depth. -.PP -\f[B]\f[CB]expr:\[dq]TERM AND NOT (TERM OR TERM)\[dq]\f[B]\f[R] (eg) +depth, optionally only for accounts matching a provided regular +expression. +See Depth for detailed rules. +.SS expr: query +\f[B]\f[CB]expr:\[aq]QUERYEXPR\[aq]\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD -Match with a boolean combination of queries (which must be enclosed in -quotes). +\f[CR]expr\f[R] lets you write more complicated query expressions with +AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses. +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Eg: \f[CR]expr:\[aq]date:lastmonth and not (food or rent)\[aq]\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +The expression should be enclosed in quotes. See Combining query terms below. -.PP +.SS not: query +\f[B]\f[CB]not:QUERYTERM\f[B]\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +You can prepend \f[B]\f[CB]not:\f[B]\f[R] to any other query term to +negate the match. +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +Eg: \f[CR]not:equity\f[R], \f[CR]not:desc:apple\f[R] +.PD 0 +.P +.PD +(Also, a trick: \f[CR]not:not:...\f[R] can sometimes solve query +problems conveniently..) +.SS note: query \f[B]\f[CB]note:REGEX\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match transaction notes (the part of the description right of \f[CR]|\f[R], or the whole description if there\[aq]s no \f[CR]|\f[R]). -.PP +.SS payee: query \f[B]\f[CB]payee:REGEX\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left of \f[CR]|\f[R], or the whole description if there\[aq]s no \f[CR]|\f[R]). -.PP +.SS real: query \f[B]\f[CB]real:, real:0\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match real or virtual postings respectively. -.PP +.SS status: query \f[B]\f[CB]status:, status:!, status:*\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match unmarked, pending, or cleared transactions respectively. -.PP +.SS type: query \f[B]\f[CB]type:TYPECODES\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P @@ -6573,28 +6658,29 @@ Note \f[CR]type:A\f[R] and \f[CR]type:E\f[R] will also match their respective subtypes \f[CR]C\f[R] (Cash) and \f[CR]V\f[R] (Conversion). Certain kinds of account alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. -.PP -\f[B]\f[CB]tag:REGEX[=REGEX]\f[B]\f[R] +.SS tag: query +\f[B]\f[CB]tag:NAMEREGEX[=VALREGEX]\f[B]\f[R] .PD 0 .P .PD Match by tag name, and optionally also by tag value. -(To match only by value, use \f[CR]tag:.=REGEX\f[R].) -.PP -When querying by tag, note that: +Note: .IP \[bu] 2 -Accounts also inherit the tags of their parent accounts -.IP \[bu] 2 -Postings also inherit the tags of their account and their transaction -.IP \[bu] 2 -Transactions also acquire the tags of their postings. -.PP -(\f[B]\f[CB]inacct:ACCTNAME\f[B]\f[R] +Both regular expressions do infix matching. +If you need a complete match, use \f[CR]\[ha]\f[R] and \f[CR]$\f[R]. .PD 0 .P .PD -A special query term used automatically in hledger\-web only: tells -hledger\-web to show the transaction register for an account.) +Eg: \f[CR]tag:\[aq]\[ha]fullname$\[aq]\f[R], +\f[CR]tag:\[aq]\[ha]fullname$=\[ha]fullvalue$\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +To match values, ignoring names, do \f[CR]tag:.=VALREGEX\f[R] +.IP \[bu] 2 +Accounts also inherit the tags of their parent accounts. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Postings also inherit the tags of their account and their transaction . +.IP \[bu] 2 +Transactions also acquire the tags of their postings. .SS Combining query terms When given multiple space\-separated query terms, most commands select things which match: @@ -8360,139 +8446,192 @@ Flags: \-\-dry\-run just show the transactions to be imported .EE .PP -This command detects new transactions in each FILE argument since it was -last run, and appends them to the main journal. +This command detects new transactions in one or more data files +specified as arguments, and appends them to the main journal. .PP -Or with \f[CR]\-\-dry\-run\f[R], it just print the transactions that -would be added. +You can import from any input file format hledger supports, but +CSV/SSV/TSV files, downloaded from financial institutions, are the most +common import source. .PP -Or with \f[CR]\-\-catchup\f[R], it just marks all of the FILEs\[aq] -current transactions as already imported. +The import destination is the default journal file, or another specified +in the usual way with \f[CR]$LEDGER_FILE\f[R] or +\f[CR]\-f/\-\-file\f[R]. +It should be in journal format. .PP -This is one of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file -(see also \f[CR]add\f[R]). -It only appends; existing data will not be changed. +Examples: +.IP +.EX +$ hledger import bank1\-checking.csv bank1\-savings.csv +.EE +.IP +.EX +$ hledger import *.csv +.EE +.SS Import preview +It\[aq]s useful to preview the import by running first with +\f[CR]\-\-dry\-run\f[R], to sanity check the range of dates being +imported, and to check the effect of your conversion rules if converting +from CSV. +Eg: +.IP +.EX +$ hledger import bank.csv \-\-dry\-run +.EE .PP -The input files are specified as arguments, so to import one or more CSV -files to your main journal, you will run -\f[CR]hledger import bank.csv\f[R] or perhaps -\f[CR]hledger import *.csv\f[R]. +The dry run output is valid journal format, so hledger can re\-parse it. +If the output is large, you could show just the uncategorised +transactions like so: +.IP +.EX +$ hledger import \-\-dry\-run bank.csv | hledger \-f\- \-I print unknown +.EE .PP -Note you can import from any file format, though CSV files are the most -common import source, and these docs focus on that case. -The target file (main journal) should be in journal format. -.SS Date skipping -\f[CR]import\f[R] tries to import only the transactions which are new -since the last import, ignoring any that it has seen in previous runs. -So if your bank\[aq]s CSV includes the last three months of data, you -can download and \f[CR]import\f[R] it every month (or week, or day) and -only the new transactions will be imported each time. +You could also run this repeatedly to see the effect of edits to your +conversion rules: +.IP +.EX +$ watchexec \-\- \[aq]hledger import \-\-dry\-run bank.csv | hledger \-f\- \-I print unknown\[aq] +.EE .PP -It works as follows: for each imported \f[CR]FILE\f[R], -.IP \[bu] 2 -It tries to read the latest date previously seen, from -\f[CR].latest.FILE\f[R] in the same directory -.IP \[bu] 2 -Then it processes \f[CR]FILE\f[R], ignoring transactions on or before -that date +Once the conversion and dates look good enough to import to your +journal, perhaps with some manual fixups to follow, you would do the +actual import: +.IP +.EX +$ hledger import bank.csv +.EE +.SS Overlap detection +Reading CSV files is built in to hledger, and not specific to +\f[CR]import\f[R]; so you could also import by doing +\f[CR]hledger \-f bank.csv print >>$LEDGER_FILE\f[R]. .PP -And after a successful import, unless \f[CR]\-\-dry\-run\f[R] was used, -it updates the \f[CR].latest.FILE\f[R](s) for next time. -This is a simple system that works for most real\-world CSV files; it -assumes the following are true, or true enough: +But \f[CR]import\f[R] is easier and provides some advantages. +The main one is that it avoids re\-importing transactions it has seen on +previous runs. +This means you don\[aq]t have to worry about overlapping data in +successive downloads of your bank CSV; just download and +\f[CR]import\f[R] as often as you like, and only the new transactions +will be imported each time. +.PP +We don\[aq]t call this \[dq]deduplication\[dq], as it\[aq]s generally +not possible to reliably detect duplicates in bank CSV. +Instead, \f[CR]import\f[R] remembers the latest date processed +previously in each CSV file (saving it in a hidden file), and skips any +records prior to that date. +This works well for most real\-world CSV, where: .IP "1." 3 -the name of the input file is stable across successive downloads +the data file name is stable (does not change) across imports .IP "2." 3 -new items always have the newest dates +the item dates are stable across imports .IP "3." 3 -item dates are stable across downloads +the order of same\-date items is stable across imports .IP "4." 3 -the order of same\-date items is stable across downloads. +the newest items have the newest dates .PP -Tips: +(Occasional violations of 2\-4 are often harmless; you can reduce the +chance of disruption by downloading and importing more often.) +.PP +Overlap detection is automatic, and shouldn\[aq]t require much attention +from you, except perhaps at first import (see below). +But here\[aq]s how it works: .IP \[bu] 2 -To help ensure a stable file name, remember you can use a CSV rules file -as an input file. +For each \f[CR]FILE\f[R] being imported from: +.RS 2 +.IP "1." 3 +hledger reads a file named \f[CR].latest.FILE\f[R] file in the same +directory, if any. +This file contains the latest record date previously imported from FILE, +in YYYY\-MM\-DD format. +If multiple records with that date were imported, the date is repeated +on N lines. +.IP "2." 3 +hledger reads records from FILE. +If a latest date was found in step 1, any records before that date, and +the first N records on that date, are skipped. +.RE .IP \[bu] 2 -If you have a bank whose CSV dates or ordering occasionally change, you -can reduce the chance of this happening in new transactions by importing -more often. -(If it happens in old transactions, that\[aq]s harmless.) +After a successful import from all FILEs, without error and without +\f[CR]\-\-dry\-run\f[R], hledger updates each FILE\[aq]s +\f[CR].latest.FILE\f[R] for next time. .PP -Note this is just one kind of \[dq]deduplication\[dq]: not reprocessing -the same dates across successive runs. -\f[CR]import\f[R] doesn\[aq]t detect other kinds of duplication, such as -the same transaction appearing multiple times within a single run, or a -new transaction that looks identical to a transaction already in the -journal. -(Because these can happen legitimately in real\-world data.) +If this goes wrong, it\[aq]s relatively easy to repair: +.IP \[bu] 2 +You\[aq]ll notice it before import when you preview with +\f[CR]import \-\-dry\-run\f[R]. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Or after import when you try to reconcile your hledger account balances +with your bank. +.IP \[bu] 2 +\f[CR]hledger print \-f FILE.csv\f[R] will show all recently downloaded +transactions. +Compare these with your journal. +Copy/paste if needed. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Update your conversion rules and print again, if needed. +.IP \[bu] 2 +You can manually update or remove the .latest file, or use +\f[CR]import \-\-catchup FILE\f[R]. +.IP \[bu] 2 +Download and import more often, eg twice a week, at least while you are +learning. +It\[aq]s easier to review and troubleshoot when there are fewer +transactions. +.SS First import +The first time you import from a file, when no corresponding .latest +file has been created yet, all of the records will be imported. .PP -Here\[aq]s a situation where you need to run \f[CR]import\f[R] with -care: say you download but forget to import \f[CR]bank.1.csv\f[R], and a -week later you download \f[CR]bank.2.csv\f[R] with some overlapping -data. -You should not process both of these as a single import -(\f[CR]hledger import bank.1.csv bank.2.csv\f[R]), because the -overlapping transactions would not be deduplicated. -Instead, import one file at a time, using the same filename each time: +But perhaps you have been entering the data manually, so you know that +all of these transactions are already recorded in the journal. +In this case you can run \f[CR]hledger import \-\-catchup\f[R] once. +This will create a .latest file containing the latest CSV record date, +so that none of those records will be re\-imported. +.PP +Or, if you know that some but not all of the transactions are in the +journal, you can create the .latest file yourself. +Eg, let\[aq]s say you previously recorded foobank transactions up to +2024\-10\-31 in the journal. +Then in the directory where you\[aq]ll be saving \f[CR]foobank.csv\f[R], +you would create a \f[CR].latest.foobank.csv\f[R] file containing .IP .EX -$ mv bank.1.csv bank.csv; hledger import bank.csv -$ mv bank.2.csv bank.csv; hledger import bank.csv +2024\-10\-31 .EE .PP -Normally you don\[aq]t need to think about \f[CR].latest.*\f[R] files, -but you can create or modify them to catch up to a certain date, or -delete them to mark all transactions as new. -Their format is a single ISO\-format \f[CR]YYYY\-MM\-DD\f[R] date, -optionally repeated on multiple lines, meaning \[dq]I have seen the -transactions before this date, and this many of them on this date\[dq]. -.PP -\f[CR]hledger print \-\-new\f[R] also uses and updates these -\f[CR].latest.*\f[R] files, but it is less often used. -.PP -Related: CSV > Working with CSV > Deduplicating, importing. -.SS Import testing -With \f[CR]\-\-dry\-run\f[R], the transactions that will be imported are -printed to the terminal, without updating your journal or state files. -The output is valid journal format, like the print command, so you can -re\-parse it. -Eg, to see any importable transactions which CSV rules have not -categorised: +Or if you had three foobank transactions recorded with that date, you +would repeat the date that many times: .IP .EX -$ hledger import \-\-dry bank.csv | hledger \-f\- \-I print unknown +2024\-10\-31 +2024\-10\-31 +2024\-10\-31 .EE .PP -or (live updating): -.IP -.EX -$ ls bank.csv* | entr bash \-c \[aq]echo ====; hledger import \-\-dry bank.csv | hledger \-f\- \-I print unknown\[aq] -.EE -.PP -Note: when importing from multiple files at once, it\[aq]s currently -possible for some .latest files to be updated successfully, while the -actual import fails because of a problem in one of the files, leaving -them out of sync (and causing some transactions to be missed). -To prevent this, do a \-\-dry\-run first and fix any problems before the -real import. +Then \f[CR]hledger import foobank.csv [\-\-dry\-run]\f[R] will import +only the newer records. .SS Importing balance assignments -Entries added by import will have their posting amounts made explicit -(like \f[CR]hledger print \-x\f[R]). -This means that any balance assignments in imported files must be -evaluated; but, imported files don\[aq]t get to see the main file\[aq]s -account balances. -As a result, importing entries with balance assignments (eg from an -institution that provides only balances and not posting amounts) will -probably generate incorrect posting amounts. -To avoid this problem, use print instead of import: +Journal entries added by import will have all posting amounts made +explicit (like \f[CR]print \-x\f[R]). +.PP +This means that any balance assignments in the imported entries would +need to be evaluated. +But this generally isn\[aq]t possible, as the main file\[aq]s account +balances are not visible during import. +So try to avoid generating balance assignments with your CSV rules, or +importing from a journal that contains balance assignments. +(Balance assignments are best avoided anyway.) +.PP +But if you must use them, eg because your CSV includes only balances: +you can import with \f[CR]print\f[R], which leaves implicit amounts +implicit. +(\f[CR]print\f[R] can also do overlap detection like import, with the +\f[CR]\-\-new\f[R] flag): .IP .EX -$ hledger print IMPORTFILE [\-\-new] >> $LEDGER_FILE +$ hledger print \-\-new \-f bank.csv >> $LEDGER_FILE .EE .PP -(If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, -please test it and send a pull request.) +(If you think \f[CR]import\f[R] should preserve implicit balances, +please test that and send a pull request.) .SS Import and commodity styles Amounts in entries added by import will be formatted according to the journal\[aq]s canonical commodity styles, as declared by @@ -8500,6 +8639,38 @@ journal\[aq]s canonical commodity styles, as declared by amounts. .PP Related: CSV > Amount decimal places. +.SS Import special cases +If you have a download whose file name varies, you could rename it to a +fixed name after each download. +Or you could use a CSV \f[CR]source\f[R] rule with a suitable glob +pattern, and import from the .rules file instead of the data file. +.PP +Here\[aq]s a situation where you would need to run \f[CR]import\f[R] +with care: say you download \f[CR]bank.csv\f[R], but forget to import it +or delete it. +And next month you download it again. +This time your web browser may save it as \f[CR]bank (2).csv\f[R]. +So now each of these may have data not included in the other. +And a \f[CR]source\f[R] rule with a glob pattern would match only the +most recent file. +So in this case you should import from each one in turn, in the correct +order, taking care to use the same filename each time: +.IP +.EX +$ hledger import bank.csv +$ mv \[aq]bank (2).csv\[aq] bank.csv +$ hledger import bank.csv +.EE +.PP +Here are two kinds of \[dq]deduplication\[dq] which \f[CR]import\f[R] +does not handle (and generally should not, since these can happen +legitimately in financial data): +.IP \[bu] 2 +Two or more of the new CSV records are identical, and generate identical +new journal entries. +.IP \[bu] 2 +A new CSV record generates a journal entry identical to one(s) already +in the journal. .SH Basic report commands .SS accounts List account names. @@ -9060,6 +9231,9 @@ Flags: date. Warning: this can show a wrong running balance. \-\-no\-elide don\[aq]t show only 2 commodities per amount + \-\-cumulative show running total from report start date + \-\-invert display all amounts with reversed sign + \-\-heading=YN show heading row above table: yes (default) or no \-w \-\-width=N set output width (default: terminal width or $COLUMNS). \-wN,M sets description width as well. \-\-align\-all guarantee alignment across all lines (slower) @@ -9072,8 +9246,10 @@ Flags: \f[CR]aregister\f[R] shows the overall transactions affecting a particular account (and any subaccounts). Each report line represents one transaction in this account. -Transactions before the report start date are always included in the -running balance (\f[CR]\-\-historical\f[R] mode is always on). +Transactions before the report start date are included in the running +balance (\f[CR]\-\-historical\f[R] mode is the default). +You can suppress this behaviour using the \f[CR]\-\-cumulative\f[R] +option. .PP This is a more \[dq]real world\[dq], bank\-like view than the \f[CR]register\f[R] command (which shows individual postings, possibly @@ -9133,10 +9309,16 @@ visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the \f[CR]\-\-align\-all\f[R] flag. .PP +By default, \f[CR]aregister\f[R] shows a heading above the data. +However, when reporting in a language different from English, it is +easier to omit this heading and prepend your own one. +For this purpose, use the \f[CR]\-\-heading=no\f[R] option. +.PP This command also supports the output destination and output format options. The output formats supported are \f[CR]txt\f[R], \f[CR]csv\f[R], -\f[CR]tsv\f[R] (\f[I]Added in 1.32\f[R]), and \f[CR]json\f[R]. +\f[CR]tsv\f[R] (\f[I]Added in 1.32\f[R]), \f[CR]html\f[R], +\f[CR]fods\f[R] (\f[I]Added in 1.41\f[R]) and \f[CR]json\f[R]. .SS aregister and posting dates aregister always shows one line (and date and amount) per transaction. But sometimes transactions have postings with different dates. @@ -11882,6 +12064,10 @@ persists across a reboot, and if you need to be an Administrator): > MKDIR finance > SETX LEDGER_FILE \[dq]C:\[rs]Users\[rs]USERNAME\[rs]finance\[rs]2023.journal\[dq] .EE +.PP +When correctly configured, in a new terminal window +\f[CR]$env:LEDGER_FILE\f[R] will show the file path, and so will +\f[CR]hledger files\f[R]. .SH Setting opening balances Pick a starting date for which you can look up the balances of some real\-world assets (bank accounts, wallet..) @@ -12222,7 +12408,7 @@ If using version control, don\[aq]t forget to \f[CR]git add\f[R] the new file. .SH BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: -http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list +https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). .PP Some known issues and limitations: @@ -12272,6 +12458,7 @@ Eg on unix, the command \f[CR]env | grep LEDGER_FILE\f[R] should show it. You may need to use \f[CR]export\f[R] (see https://stackoverflow.com/a/7411509). +On Windows, \f[CR]$env:LEDGER_FILE\f[R] should show it. .IP \[bu] 2 You may need to force your shell to see the new configuration. A simple way is to close your terminal window and open a new one. diff --git a/hledger/hledger.info b/hledger/hledger.info index 7b808a977..751768fdb 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.info +++ b/hledger/hledger.info @@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ accounting and a simple, editable file format. hledger is inspired by and largely compatible with ledger(1), and largely interconvertible with beancount(1). - This manual is for hledger's command line interface, version 1.40.99. + This manual is for hledger's command line interface, version 1.41.99. It also describes the common options, file formats and concepts used by all hledger programs. It might accidentally teach you some bookkeeping/accounting as well! You don't need to know everything in @@ -417,9 +417,11 @@ General output/reporting flags (supported by some commands): -C --cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (-U/-P/-C can be combined) -R --real include only non-virtual postings - --depth=NUM or -NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts -E --empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger-ui & hledger-web, do the opposite. + --depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or -NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. -B --cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount -V --market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -785,6 +787,8 @@ they support: regexp. Otherwise, if you write '\1', it will match the digit '1'. 6. they do not support mode modifiers ('(?s)'), character classes ('\w', '\d'), or anything else not mentioned above. + 7. they may not (I'm guessing not) properly support right-to-left or + bidirectional text. Some things to note: @@ -1058,26 +1062,31 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Paging, Prev: Colour, Up: Text output 5.2.1.3 Paging .............. -In unix-like environments, when displaying large output in the terminal, -hledger tries to use a pager when appropriate. (Actually it does this -for any output format displayed in the terminal, not just text.) You -can prevent this with the '--pager=no' option, perhaps in your config -file. +In unix-like environments, when displaying large output (in any output +format) in the terminal, hledger tries to use a pager when appropriate. +The pager shows one page of text at a time, and lets you scroll around +to see more. While it is active, usually 'SPACE' shows the next page, +'h' shows help, and 'q' quits. The home/end/page up/page down/cursor +keys, and mouse scrolling, may also work. - It will use the pager specified by the 'PAGER' environment variable, -otherwise 'less' if available, otherwise 'more' if available. - - The pager shows one page of text at a time, and lets you scroll -around to see more. While it is active, usually 'SPACE' shows the next -page, 'q' quits, and '?' shows more features. (And in 'less', 'G' jumps -to the end, which is useful when you are viewing register output.) + hledger will use the pager specified by the 'PAGER' environment +variable, otherwise 'less' if available, otherwise 'more' if available. +(With one exception: 'hledger help -p TOPIC' will always use 'less', so +that it can scroll to the topic.) The pager is expected to display hledger's ANSI colour and text -styling. hledger adds 'R' to the 'LESS' and 'MORE' environment -variables to enable this for 'less' and its 'more' compatibility mode. -If you use a different pager, you might need to configure it similarly, -to avoid seeing junk on screen. (Or you can disable colour, as -described above.) +styling. If you see junk characters, you might need to configure your +pager to handle ANSI codes. Or you could disable colour as described +above. + + If you are using the 'less' pager, hledger automatically appends a +number of options to the 'LESS' variable to enable ANSI colour and a +number of other conveniences. (At the time of writing: -chop-long-lines +-hilite-unread -ignore-case -mouse -no-init -quit-at-eof +-quit-if-one-screen -RAW-CONTROL-CHARS -shift=8 -squeeze-blank-lines +-use-backslash -use-color ). If these don't work well, you can set your +preferred options in the 'HLEDGER_LESS' variable, which will be used +instead.  File: hledger.info, Node: HTML output, Next: CSV / TSV output, Prev: Text output, Up: Output format @@ -1126,21 +1135,30 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount output, Next: SQL output, Prev: FODS outp ---------------------- This is Beancount's journal format. You can use this to export your -hledger data to Beancount, perhaps to query it with Beancount Query -Language or with the Fava web app. hledger will try to adjust your data -to suit Beancount. If you plan to export often, you may want to follow -Beancount's conventions in your hledger data, to ease conversion. Eg -use Beancount-friendly account names, currency codes instead of currency -symbols, and avoid virtual postings, redundant cost notation, etc. +hledger data to Beancount, eg to use the Fava web app. - Here are more details, included here for now (see also "hledger and -Beancount" https://hledger.org/beancount.html). + hledger will try to adjust your data to suit Beancount, +automatically. Be cautious and check the conversion until you are +confident it is good. If you plan to export to Beancount often, you may +want to follow its conventions, for a cleaner conversion: + + * use Beancount-friendly account names + * use currency codes instead of currency symbols + * use cost notation instead of equity conversion postings + * avoid virtual postings + + There is one big adjustment you must handle yourself: for Beancount, +the top level account names must be 'Assets', 'Liabilities', 'Equity', +'Income', and/or 'Expenses'. You can use account aliases to rewrite +your account names temporarily, if needed, as in this +hledger2beancount.conf config file. * Menu: * Beancount account names:: * Beancount commodity names:: * Beancount virtual postings:: +* Beancount metadata:: * Beancount costs:: * Beancount operating currency:: @@ -1150,19 +1168,12 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount account names, Next: Beancount commodity n 5.2.5.1 Beancount account names ............................... -hledger will try adjust your account names, if needed, to Beancount -account names, by capitalising, replacing unsupported characters with -'-', and prepending 'B' to parts which don't begin with a letter or -digit. (It's possible for this to convert distinct hledger account -names to the same beancount name. Eg, hledger's automatic equity -conversion accounts can have currency symbols in their name, so -'equity:conversion:$-€' becomes 'equity:conversion:B---'.) - - In addition, you must ensure that the top level account names are -'Assets', 'Liabilities', 'Equity', 'Income', and 'Expenses', which -Beancount requires. If yours are named differently, you can use account -aliases, usually in the form of '--alias' options, possibly stored in a -config file. (An example: hledger2beancount.conf) +Aside from the top-level names, hledger will adjust your account names +to make valid Beancount account names, by capitalising each part, +replacing spaces with '-', replacing other unsupported characters with +'C', prepending 'A' to account name parts which don't begin +with a letter or digit, and appending ':A' to account names which have +only one part.  File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount commodity names, Next: Beancount virtual postings, Prev: Beancount account names, Up: Beancount output @@ -1170,46 +1181,61 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount commodity names, Next: Beancount virtual p 5.2.5.2 Beancount commodity names ................................. -hledger will adjust your commodity names, if needed, to Beancount +hledger will adjust your commodity names to make valid Beancount commodity/currency names, which must be 2-24 uppercase letters, digits, or ''', '.', '_', '-', beginning with a letter and ending with a letter or digit. hledger will convert known currency symbols to ISO 4217 -currency codes. Otherwise, it will capitalise letters, replace -unsupported characters with a dash (-), and prepend/append a "B" when -needed. (It's possible for this to generate unreadable commodity names, -or to convert distinct hledger commodity names to the same beancount -name.) +currency codes, capitalise letters, replace spaces with '-', replace +other unsupported characters with 'C', and prepend or append +'C' if needed.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount virtual postings, Next: Beancount costs, Prev: Beancount commodity names, Up: Beancount output +File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount virtual postings, Next: Beancount metadata, Prev: Beancount commodity names, Up: Beancount output 5.2.5.3 Beancount virtual postings .................................. -Beancount doesn't allow unbalanced/virtual postings, so you will need to -comment those, or use '--real' to exclude transactions that use them. -(If you have transactions which are a mixture of balanced and unbalanced -postings, you'll have to do something more.) +Beancount doesn't allow virtual postings; if you have any, they will be +omitted from beancount output.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount costs, Next: Beancount operating currency, Prev: Beancount virtual postings, Up: Beancount output +File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount metadata, Next: Beancount costs, Prev: Beancount virtual postings, Up: Beancount output -5.2.5.4 Beancount costs +5.2.5.4 Beancount metadata +.......................... + +hledger tags will be converted to Beancount metadata (except for tags +whose name begins with '_'). Metadata names will be adjusted to be +Beancount-compatible: beginning with a lowercase letter, at least two +characters long, and with unsupported characters encoded. Metadata +values will use Beancount's string type. + + In hledger, objects can have the same tag repeated with multiple +values. Eg an 'assets:cash' account might have both 'type:Asset' and +'type:Cash' tags. For Beancount these will be combined into one, with +the values combined, comma separated. Eg: 'type: "Asset, Cash"'. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount costs, Next: Beancount operating currency, Prev: Beancount metadata, Up: Beancount output + +5.2.5.5 Beancount costs ....................... -Beancount doesn't allow redundant cost notation as hledger does. If you -have entries like this, you will need to comment out either the costs or -the equity postings. +Beancount doesn't allow redundant costs and conversion postings as +hledger does. If you have any of these, the conversion postings will be +omitted. Currently we support at most one cost + conversion postings +group per transaction.  File: hledger.info, Node: Beancount operating currency, Prev: Beancount costs, Up: Beancount output -5.2.5.5 Beancount operating currency +5.2.5.6 Beancount operating currency .................................... -Declaring an operating currency improves Beancount and Fava reports. -You can do this manually by adding a line like this to the beancount -journal: +Declaring an operating currency (or several) improves Beancount and Fava +reports. Currently hledger will declare each currency used in cost +amounts as an operating currency. If needed, replace these with your +own declaration, like option "operating_currency" "USD" @@ -1309,6 +1335,10 @@ These environment variables affect hledger: commands ('register') will format their output to this width. If not set, they will try to use the available terminal width. + *HLEDGER_LESS* If 'less' is your pager, this variable specifies the +'less' options hledger should use. (Otherwise, 'LESS' + custom options +are used.) + *LEDGER_FILE* The main journal file to use when not specified with '-f/--file'. Default: '$HOME/.hledger.journal'. @@ -2093,6 +2123,7 @@ does not disable balance assignments, described below). * Assertions and costs:: * Assertions and commodities:: * Assertions and subaccounts:: +* Assertions and status:: * Assertions and virtual postings:: * Assertions and auto postings:: * Assertions and precision:: @@ -2212,7 +2243,7 @@ specified commodities and no others. It can be done by both:eur €1 == €1 ; a euro there  -File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and subaccounts, Next: Assertions and virtual postings, Prev: Assertions and commodities, Up: Balance assertions +File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and subaccounts, Next: Assertions and status, Prev: Assertions and commodities, Up: Balance assertions 8.12.6 Assertions and subaccounts --------------------------------- @@ -2231,9 +2262,19 @@ by adding a star after the equals ('=*' or '==*'): assets $0 ==* $20 ; assets + subaccounts contains $20 and nothing else  -File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and virtual postings, Next: Assertions and auto postings, Prev: Assertions and subaccounts, Up: Balance assertions +File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and status, Next: Assertions and virtual postings, Prev: Assertions and subaccounts, Up: Balance assertions -8.12.7 Assertions and virtual postings +8.12.7 Assertions and status +---------------------------- + +Balance assertions always consider postings of all statuses (unmarked, +pending, or cleared); they are not affected by the '-U'/'--unmarked' / +'-P'/'--pending' / '-C'/'--cleared' flags or the 'status:' query. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and virtual postings, Next: Assertions and auto postings, Prev: Assertions and status, Up: Balance assertions + +8.12.8 Assertions and virtual postings -------------------------------------- Balance assertions always consider both real and virtual postings; they @@ -2242,7 +2283,7 @@ are not affected by the '--real/-R' flag or 'real:' query.  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and auto postings, Next: Assertions and precision, Prev: Assertions and virtual postings, Up: Balance assertions -8.12.8 Assertions and auto postings +8.12.9 Assertions and auto postings ----------------------------------- Balance assertions _are_ affected by the '--auto' flag, which generates @@ -2261,8 +2302,8 @@ these. So to avoid making fragile assertions, either:  File: hledger.info, Node: Assertions and precision, Prev: Assertions and auto postings, Up: Balance assertions -8.12.9 Assertions and precision -------------------------------- +8.12.10 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 @@ -2335,133 +2376,131 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Tags, Next: Directives, Prev: Transaction balancing ========= Tags are a way to add extra labels or data fields to transactions, -postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. +postings, or accounts. They are usually a word or hyphenated word, +immediately followed by a full colon, written within the comment of a +transaction, a posting, or an 'account' directive. (Yes, storing data +in comments is slightly weird!) - A tag is a word, optionally hyphenated, immediately followed by a -full colon, in the comment of a transaction, a posting, or an account -directive. Eg: '2024-01-01 a transaction ; foo:' Note this is an -exception to the usual rule that things in comments are ignored. + You can write each tag on its own comment line, or multiple tags on +one line, separated by commas. Tags can also have a value, which is any +text after the colon until the next comma or end of line, excluding +surrounding whitespace. (hledger tag values can't contain commas.) If +the same tag name appears multiple times in a comment, each name:value +pair is preserved. - You can write multiple tags on one line, separated by comma. Or you -can write each tag on its own comment line (no comma needed in this -case). - - For example, here are five different tags: one on the -'assets:checking' account, two on the transaction, and two on the -'expenses:food' posting: + An example: in this journal there are six tags, one of them with a +value: account assets:checking ; accounttag: +account expenses:food -2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag-1: - ; transactiontag-2: +2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag: + ; transactiontag2: assets:checking $-1 - expenses:food $1 ; postingtag:, another-posting-tag: - - Postings also inherit tags from their transaction and their account. -And transactions also acquire tags from their postings (and postings' -accounts). So in the example above, the expenses posting effectively -has all five tags (by inheriting from the account and transaction), and -the transaction also has all five tags (by acquiring from the expenses -posting). + ; posting-tag-1:, (belongs to the posting above) + expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag-2:, posting-tag-3: with a value * Menu: +* Querying with tags:: +* Displaying tags:: +* When to use tags ?:: * Tag names:: * Special tags:: -* Tag values::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Tag names, Next: Special tags, Up: Tags +File: hledger.info, Node: Querying with tags, Next: Displaying tags, Up: Tags -8.15.1 Tag names +8.15.1 Querying with tags +------------------------- + +Tags are most often used to select a subset of data; you can match +tagged things by tag name and or tag value with a 'tag:' query. (See +queries below.) + + When querying for tag names or values, note that postings inherit +tags from their transaction and from their account, and transactions +acquire tags from their postings. So in the example above, - the +assets:checking posting effectively has four tags (one of its own, one +from the account, two from the transaction) - the expenses:food posting +effectively has four tags (two of its own, two from the transaction) - +the transaction effectively has all six tags (two of its own, and two +from each posting) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Displaying tags, Next: When to use tags ?, Prev: Querying with tags, Up: Tags + +8.15.2 Displaying tags +---------------------- + +You can use the 'tags' command to list tag names or values. + + The 'print' command also shows tags. + + You can use -pivot to display tag values in other reports, in various +ways (eg appended to account names, like pseudo subaccounts). + + +File: hledger.info, Node: When to use tags ?, Next: Tag names, Prev: Displaying tags, Up: Tags + +8.15.3 When to use tags ? +------------------------- + +Tags provide more dimensions of categorisation, complementing accounts +and transaction descriptions. When to use each of these is somewhat a +matter of taste. Accounts have the most built-in support, and regex +queries on descriptions are also quite powerful. So you may not need +tags at all. But if you want to track multiple cross-cutting +categories, they can be a good fit. For example, you could tag +trip-related transactions with 'trip: YEAR:PLACE', without disturbing +your usual account categories. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Tag names, Next: Special tags, Prev: When to use tags ?, Up: Tags + +8.15.4 Tag names ---------------- -Most non-whitespace characters are allowed in tag names. Eg '😀:' is a -valid tag. +What is allowed in a tag name ? Currently, most non-whitespace +characters. Eg '😀:' is a valid tag. - You can list the tag names used in your journal with the tags -command: -'hledger tags [NAMEREGEX]' + For extra error checking, you can declare valid tag names with the +'tag' directive, and then enforce these with the 'check' command. - In commands which use a query, you can match by tag name. Eg: -'hledger print tag:NAMEREGEX' - - You can declare valid tag names with the tag directive and then check -them with the check command. + But note that tags are detected quite loosely at present, sometimes +where you didn't intend them. Eg '; see https://foo.com' contains a +'https' tag with value '//foo.com'.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Special tags, Next: Tag values, Prev: Tag names, Up: Tags +File: hledger.info, Node: Special tags, Prev: Tag names, Up: Tags -8.15.2 Special tags +8.15.5 Special tags ------------------- -Some tag names have special significance to hledger. There's not much -harm in using them yourself, but some could produce an error message, -particularly the 'date:' and 'type:' tags. They are explained -elsewhere, but here is a quick list for reference: - - Tags you can set to influence hledger's behaviour: +Some tag names have special significance to hledger. They are explained +elsewhere, but here's a quick reference: + type -- declares an account's type date -- overrides a posting's date date2 -- overrides a posting's secondary date - type -- declares an account's type - - Tags hledger adds to indicate generated data: - - t -- appears on postings generated by timedot letters assert -- appears on txns generated by close --assert retain -- appears on txns generated by close --retain start -- appears on txns generated by close --migrate/--close/--open/--assign - generated-transaction -- appears on generated periodic txns (with --verbose-tags) - generated-posting -- appears on generated auto postings (with --verbose-tags) - modified -- appears on txns which have had auto postings added (with --verbose-tags) + t -- appears on postings generated from timedot letters - These similar tags are also provided; they are not displayed, but can -be relied on for querying: + generated-transaction -- appears on txns generated by a periodic rule + modified-transaction -- appears on txns which have had auto postings added + generated-posting -- appears on generated postings + cost-posting -- appears on postings which have (or could have) a cost, + and which have equivalent conversion postings in the transaction + conversion-posting -- appears on postings which are to a V/Conversion account + and which have an equivalent cost posting in the transaction - _generated-transaction -- exists on generated periodic txns (always) - _generated-posting -- exists on generated auto postings (always) - _modified -- exists on txns which have had auto postings added (always) - - The following non-displayed tags are used internally by hledger, (1) -to ignore redundant costs when balancing transactions, (2) when using --infer-costs, and (3) when using -infer-equity. Essentially they mark -postings with costs which have corresponding equity conversion postings, -and vice-versa. They are queryable, but you should not rely on them for -your reports: - - _conversion-matched -- marks "matched conversion postings", which are to a V/Conversion account - and have a nearby equivalent costful or potentially costful posting - _cost-matched -- marks "matched cost postings", which have or could have a cost - that's equivalent to nearby conversion postings - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Tag values, Prev: Special tags, Up: Tags - -8.15.3 Tag values ------------------ - -Tags can have a value, which is any text after the colon up until a -comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace removed. Ending at -comma allows us to write multiple tags on one line, but also means that -tag values can not contain commas. - - Eg in the following posting, the three tags' values are "value 1", -"value 2", and "" (empty) respectively: - - expenses:food $10 ; foo, tag1: value 1 , tag2:value 2, bar tag3: , baz - - Multiple tags with the same name are additive rather than overriding: -when the same tag name is seen again with a new value, the new -name:value pair is added to the tags. It is not possible to override a -previous tag's value or remove a tag. - - You can list all the values used for a particular tag in the journal -with -'hledger tags TAGNAME --values' - - You can match on tag values with a query like -'tag:NAMEREGEX=VALUEREGEX' + The second group above (generated-transaction, etc.) are normally +hidden, with a '_' prefix added. This means 'print' doesn't show them +by default; but you can still use them in queries. You can add the +'--verbose-tags' flag to make them visible, which can be useful for +troubleshooting.  File: hledger.info, Node: Directives, Next: account directive, Prev: Tags, Up: Journal @@ -4625,70 +4664,71 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Matchers, Next: if table, Prev: if block, Up: CSV 9.14 Matchers ============= -There are two kinds: +There are two kinds of matcher: - 1. A record matcher is a word or single-line text fragment or regular - expression ('REGEX'), which hledger will try to match - case-insensitively anywhere within the CSV record. - Eg: 'whole foods' + 1. A whole record matcher is simplest: it is just a word, single-line + text fragment, or other regular expression, which hledger will try + to match case-insensitively anywhere within the CSV record. + Eg: 'whole foods'. - 2. A field matcher is preceded with a percent sign and CSV field name - ('%CSVFIELD REGEX'). hledger will try to match these just within - the named CSV field. - Eg: '%date 2023' + 2. A field matcher has a percent-prefixed CSV field number or name + before the pattern. + Eg: '%3 whole foods' or '%description whole foods'. + hledger will try to match the pattern just within the named CSV + field. - The regular expression is (as usual in hledger) a POSIX extended -regular expression, that also supports GNU word boundaries ('\b', '\B', -'\<', '\>'), and nothing else. If you have trouble, see "Regular + When using these, there's two things to be aware of: + + 1. Whole record matchers don't see the exact original record; they see + a reconstruction of it, in which values are comma-separated, and + quotes enclosing values and whitespace outside those quotes are + removed. + Eg when reading an SSV record like: '2023-01-01 ; "Acme, Inc. " ; + 1,000' + the whole record matcher sees instead: '2023-01-01,Acme, Inc. + ,1,000' + + 2. Field matchers expect either a CSV field number, or a CSV field + name declared with 'fields'. (Don't use a hledger field name here, + unless it is also a CSV field name.) A non-CSV field name will + cause the matcher to match against '""' (the empty string), and + does not raise an error, allowing easier reuse of common rules with + different CSV files. + + You can also prefix a matcher with '!' (and optional space) to negate +it. Eg '! whole foods', '! %3 whole foods', '!%description whole foods' +will match if "whole foods" is NOT present. _Added in 1.32._ + + The pattern is, as usual in hledger, a POSIX extended regular +expression that also supports GNU word boundaries ('\b', '\B', '\<', +'\>') and nothing else. If you have trouble with it, see "Regular expressions" in the hledger manual (https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expressions). * Menu: -* What matchers match:: -* Combining matchers:: +* Multiple matchers:: * Match groups::  -File: hledger.info, Node: What matchers match, Next: Combining matchers, Up: Matchers +File: hledger.info, Node: Multiple matchers, Next: Match groups, Up: Matchers -9.14.1 What matchers match --------------------------- +9.14.1 Multiple matchers +------------------------ -With record matchers, it's important to know that the record matched is -not the original CSV record, but a modified one: separators will be -converted to commas, and enclosing double quotes (but not enclosing -whitespace) are removed. So for example, when reading an SSV file, if -the original record was: +When an if block has multiple matchers, each on its own line, -2023-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000 + * By default they are OR'd (any of them can match). + * Matcher lines beginning with '&' (and optional space) are AND'ed + with the matcher above (all in the AND'ed group must match). - the regex would see, and try to match, this modified record text: - -2023-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000 + _(Since 1.41:)_ You can use a negated '!' matcher on a '&' line, +meaning AND NOT.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Combining matchers, Next: Match groups, Prev: What matchers match, Up: Matchers +File: hledger.info, Node: Match groups, Prev: Multiple matchers, Up: Matchers -9.14.2 Combining matchers -------------------------- - -When an if block has multiple matchers, they are combined as follows: - - * By default they are OR'd (any of them can match) - * When a matcher is preceded by ampersand ('&', at the start of the - line) it will be AND'ed with the previous matcher (all in the - AND'ed group must match) - * _Added in 1.32_ When a matcher is preceded by an exclamation mark - ('!'), it is negated (it must not match). - - Note currently there is a limitation: you can't use both '&' and '!' -on the same line (you can't AND a negated matcher). - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Match groups, Prev: Combining matchers, Up: Matchers - -9.14.3 Match groups +9.14.2 Match groups ------------------- _Added in 1.32_ @@ -6238,6 +6278,34 @@ this when you want a summary with less detail. This flag has the same effect as a 'depth:' query argument: 'depth:2', '--depth=2' or '-2' are equivalent. + In place of a single number which limits the depth for all accounts, +you can also provide separate depth limits for different accounts using +regular expressions _(since 1.41)_. + + For example, '--depth assets=2' (or, equivalently: 'depth:assets=2') +will collapse accounts matching the regular expression 'assets' to depth +2. So 'assets:bank:savings' would be collapsed to 'assets:bank', while +'liabilities:bank:credit card' would not be affected. This can be +combined with a flat depth to collapse other accounts not matching the +regular expression, so '--depth assets=2 --depth 1' would collapse +'assets:bank:savings' to 'assets:bank' and 'liabilities:bank:credit +card' to 'liabilities'. + + You can supply multiple depth arguments and they will all be applied, +so '--depth assets=2 --depth liabilities=3 --depth 1' would collapse: + + * accounts matching 'assets' to depth 2, + * accounts matching 'liabilities' to depth 3, + * all other accounts to depth 1. + + If an account is matched by more than one regular expression depth +argument then the more specific one will used. For example, if '--depth +assets=1 --depth assets:bank:savings=2' is provided, then +'assets:bank:savings' will be collapsed to depth 2 rather than depth 1. +This is because 'assets:bank:savings' matches at level 3 in the account +name, while 'assets' matches at level 1. The same would be true with +the argument '--depth assets=1 --depth savings=2'. +  File: hledger.info, Node: Queries, Next: Pivoting, Prev: Depth, Up: Top @@ -6310,70 +6378,190 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Query types, Next: Combining query terms, Up: Queri 15.1 Query types ================ -Here are the types of query term available. Remember these can also be -prefixed with *'not:'* to convert them into a negative match. +Here are the types of query term available. - *'acct:REGEX'* or *'REGEX'* +* Menu: + +* acct query:: +* amt query:: +* code query:: +* cur query:: +* desc query:: +* date query:: +* date2 query:: +* depth query:: +* expr query:: +* not query:: +* note query:: +* payee query:: +* real query:: +* status query:: +* type query:: +* tag query:: + + +File: hledger.info, Node: acct query, Next: amt query, Up: Query types + +15.1.1 acct: query +------------------ + +*'acct:REGEX'*, or just *'REGEX'* Match account names containing this case insensitive regular expression. This is the default query type, so we usually don't bother writing the "acct:" prefix. - *'amt:N, amt:N, amt:>=N'* + +File: hledger.info, Node: amt query, Next: code query, Prev: acct query, Up: Query types + +15.1.2 amt: query +----------------- + +*'amt:N, amt:'N', amt:'>=N''* Match postings with a single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or greater than N. (Postings with multi-commodity amounts are not tested and will always match.) The comparison has two modes: if N is preceded by a + or - sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. -Otherwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. +Otherwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. 'amt:' +needs quotes to hide the less than/greater than sign from the command +line shell. - *'code:REGEX'* + +File: hledger.info, Node: code query, Next: cur query, Prev: amt query, Up: Query types + +15.1.3 code: query +------------------ + +*'code:REGEX'* Match by transaction code (eg check number). - *'cur:REGEX'* -Match postings or transactions including any amounts whose -currency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (For a partial -match, use '.*REGEX.*'). Note, to match special characters which are -regex-significant, you need to escape them with '\'. And for characters -which are significant to your shell you may need one more level of -escaping. So eg to match the dollar sign: -'hledger print cur:\\$'. + +File: hledger.info, Node: cur query, Next: desc query, Prev: code query, Up: Query types - *'desc:REGEX'* +15.1.4 cur: query +----------------- + +*'cur:REGEX'* +Match postings or transactions including any amounts whose +currency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (Contrary to +hledger's usual infix matching. To do infix matching, write +'.*REGEX.*'.) Note, to match special characters which are +regex-significant, you need to escape them with '\'. And for characters +which are significant to your shell you will usually need one more level +of escaping. Eg to match the dollar sign: 'cur:\\$' or 'cur:'\$'' + + +File: hledger.info, Node: desc query, Next: date query, Prev: cur query, Up: Query types + +15.1.5 desc: query +------------------ + +*'desc:REGEX'* Match transaction descriptions. - *'date:PERIODEXPR'* + +File: hledger.info, Node: date query, Next: date2 query, Prev: desc query, Up: Query types + +15.1.6 date: query +------------------ + +*'date:PERIODEXPR'* Match dates (or with the '--date2' flag, secondary dates) within the specified period. PERIODEXPR is a period expression with no report interval. Examples: 'date:2016', 'date:thismonth', 'date:2/1-2/15', 'date:2021-07-27..nextquarter'. - *'date2:PERIODEXPR'* -Match secondary dates within the specified period (independent of the -'--date2' flag). + +File: hledger.info, Node: date2 query, Next: depth query, Prev: date query, Up: Query types - *'depth:N'* +15.1.7 date2: query +------------------- + +*'date2:PERIODEXPR'* +If you use secondary dates: this matches secondary dates within the +specified period. It is not affected by the '--date2' flag. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: depth query, Next: expr query, Prev: date2 query, Up: Query types + +15.1.8 depth: query +------------------- + +*'depth:[REGEXP=]N'* Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this -depth. +depth, optionally only for accounts matching a provided regular +expression. See Depth for detailed rules. - *'expr:"TERM AND NOT (TERM OR TERM)"'* (eg) -Match with a boolean combination of queries (which must be enclosed in -quotes). See Combining query terms below. + +File: hledger.info, Node: expr query, Next: not query, Prev: depth query, Up: Query types - *'note:REGEX'* +15.1.9 expr: query +------------------ + +*'expr:'QUERYEXPR''* +'expr' lets you write more complicated query expressions with AND, OR, +NOT, and parentheses. +Eg: 'expr:'date:lastmonth and not (food or rent)'' +The expression should be enclosed in quotes. See Combining query terms +below. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: not query, Next: note query, Prev: expr query, Up: Query types + +15.1.10 not: query +------------------ + +*'not:QUERYTERM'* +You can prepend *'not:'* to any other query term to negate the match. +Eg: 'not:equity', 'not:desc:apple' +(Also, a trick: 'not:not:...' can sometimes solve query problems +conveniently..) + + +File: hledger.info, Node: note query, Next: payee query, Prev: not query, Up: Query types + +15.1.11 note: query +------------------- + +*'note:REGEX'* Match transaction notes (the part of the description right of '|', or the whole description if there's no '|'). - *'payee:REGEX'* + +File: hledger.info, Node: payee query, Next: real query, Prev: note query, Up: Query types + +15.1.12 payee: query +-------------------- + +*'payee:REGEX'* Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left of '|', or the whole description if there's no '|'). - *'real:, real:0'* + +File: hledger.info, Node: real query, Next: status query, Prev: payee query, Up: Query types + +15.1.13 real: query +------------------- + +*'real:, real:0'* Match real or virtual postings respectively. - *'status:, status:!, status:*'* + +File: hledger.info, Node: status query, Next: type query, Prev: real query, Up: Query types + +15.1.14 status: query +--------------------- + +*'status:, status:!, status:*'* Match unmarked, pending, or cleared transactions respectively. - *'type:TYPECODES'* + +File: hledger.info, Node: type query, Next: tag query, Prev: status query, Up: Query types + +15.1.15 type: query +------------------- + +*'type:TYPECODES'* Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). 'TYPECODES' is one or more of the single-letter account type codes 'ALERXCV', case insensitive. Note 'type:A' and 'type:E' will also match @@ -6381,21 +6569,24 @@ their respective subtypes 'C' (Cash) and 'V' (Conversion). Certain kinds of account alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. - *'tag:REGEX[=REGEX]'* -Match by tag name, and optionally also by tag value. (To match only by -value, use 'tag:.=REGEX'.) + +File: hledger.info, Node: tag query, Prev: type query, Up: Query types - When querying by tag, note that: +15.1.16 tag: query +------------------ - * Accounts also inherit the tags of their parent accounts +*'tag:NAMEREGEX[=VALREGEX]'* +Match by tag name, and optionally also by tag value. Note: + + * Both regular expressions do infix matching. If you need a complete + match, use '^' and '$'. + Eg: 'tag:'^fullname$'', 'tag:'^fullname$=^fullvalue$' + * To match values, ignoring names, do 'tag:.=VALREGEX' + * Accounts also inherit the tags of their parent accounts. * Postings also inherit the tags of their account and their - transaction + transaction . * Transactions also acquire the tags of their postings. - (*'inacct:ACCTNAME'* -A special query term used automatically in hledger-web only: tells -hledger-web to show the transaction register for an account.) -  File: hledger.info, Node: Combining query terms, Next: Queries and command options, Prev: Query types, Up: Queries @@ -8012,151 +8203,190 @@ Flags: --catchup just mark all transactions as already imported --dry-run just show the transactions to be imported - This command detects new transactions in each FILE argument since it -was last run, and appends them to the main journal. + This command detects new transactions in one or more data files +specified as arguments, and appends them to the main journal. - Or with '--dry-run', it just print the transactions that would be -added. + You can import from any input file format hledger supports, but +CSV/SSV/TSV files, downloaded from financial institutions, are the most +common import source. - Or with '--catchup', it just marks all of the FILEs' current -transactions as already imported. + The import destination is the default journal file, or another +specified in the usual way with '$LEDGER_FILE' or '-f/--file'. It +should be in journal format. - This is one of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal -file (see also 'add'). It only appends; existing data will not be -changed. + Examples: - The input files are specified as arguments, so to import one or more -CSV files to your main journal, you will run 'hledger import bank.csv' -or perhaps 'hledger import *.csv'. +$ hledger import bank1-checking.csv bank1-savings.csv - Note you can import from any file format, though CSV files are the -most common import source, and these docs focus on that case. The -target file (main journal) should be in journal format. +$ hledger import *.csv * Menu: -* Date skipping:: -* Import testing:: +* Import preview:: +* Overlap detection:: +* First import:: * Importing balance assignments:: * Import and commodity styles:: +* Import special cases::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Date skipping, Next: Import testing, Up: import +File: hledger.info, Node: Import preview, Next: Overlap detection, Up: import -26.2.1 Date skipping --------------------- - -'import' tries to import only the transactions which are new since the -last import, ignoring any that it has seen in previous runs. So if your -bank's CSV includes the last three months of data, you can download and -'import' it every month (or week, or day) and only the new transactions -will be imported each time. - - It works as follows: for each imported 'FILE', - - * It tries to read the latest date previously seen, from - '.latest.FILE' in the same directory - * Then it processes 'FILE', ignoring transactions on or before that - date - - And after a successful import, unless '--dry-run' was used, it -updates the '.latest.FILE'(s) for next time. This is a simple system -that works for most real-world CSV files; it assumes the following are -true, or true enough: - - 1. the name of the input file is stable across successive downloads - 2. new items always have the newest dates - 3. item dates are stable across downloads - 4. the order of same-date items is stable across downloads. - - Tips: - - * To help ensure a stable file name, remember you can use a CSV rules - file as an input file. - - * If you have a bank whose CSV dates or ordering occasionally change, - you can reduce the chance of this happening in new transactions by - importing more often. (If it happens in old transactions, that's - harmless.) - - Note this is just one kind of "deduplication": not reprocessing the -same dates across successive runs. 'import' doesn't detect other kinds -of duplication, such as the same transaction appearing multiple times -within a single run, or a new transaction that looks identical to a -transaction already in the journal. (Because these can happen -legitimately in real-world data.) - - Here's a situation where you need to run 'import' with care: say you -download but forget to import 'bank.1.csv', and a week later you -download 'bank.2.csv' with some overlapping data. You should not -process both of these as a single import ('hledger import bank.1.csv -bank.2.csv'), because the overlapping transactions would not be -deduplicated. Instead, import one file at a time, using the same -filename each time: - -$ mv bank.1.csv bank.csv; hledger import bank.csv -$ mv bank.2.csv bank.csv; hledger import bank.csv - - Normally you don't need to think about '.latest.*' files, but you can -create or modify them to catch up to a certain date, or delete them to -mark all transactions as new. Their format is a single ISO-format -'YYYY-MM-DD' date, optionally repeated on multiple lines, meaning "I -have seen the transactions before this date, and this many of them on -this date". - - 'hledger print --new' also uses and updates these '.latest.*' files, -but it is less often used. - - Related: CSV > Working with CSV > Deduplicating, importing. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Import testing, Next: Importing balance assignments, Prev: Date skipping, Up: import - -26.2.2 Import testing +26.2.1 Import preview --------------------- -With '--dry-run', the transactions that will be imported are printed to -the terminal, without updating your journal or state files. The output -is valid journal format, like the print command, so you can re-parse it. -Eg, to see any importable transactions which CSV rules have not -categorised: +It's useful to preview the import by running first with '--dry-run', to +sanity check the range of dates being imported, and to check the effect +of your conversion rules if converting from CSV. Eg: -$ hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown +$ hledger import bank.csv --dry-run - or (live updating): + The dry run output is valid journal format, so hledger can re-parse +it. If the output is large, you could show just the uncategorised +transactions like so: -$ ls bank.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ====; hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' +$ hledger import --dry-run bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown - Note: when importing from multiple files at once, it's currently -possible for some .latest files to be updated successfully, while the -actual import fails because of a problem in one of the files, leaving -them out of sync (and causing some transactions to be missed). To -prevent this, do a -dry-run first and fix any problems before the real -import. + You could also run this repeatedly to see the effect of edits to your +conversion rules: + +$ watchexec -- 'hledger import --dry-run bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' + + Once the conversion and dates look good enough to import to your +journal, perhaps with some manual fixups to follow, you would do the +actual import: + +$ hledger import bank.csv  -File: hledger.info, Node: Importing balance assignments, Next: Import and commodity styles, Prev: Import testing, Up: import +File: hledger.info, Node: Overlap detection, Next: First import, Prev: Import preview, Up: import -26.2.3 Importing balance assignments +26.2.2 Overlap detection +------------------------ + +Reading CSV files is built in to hledger, and not specific to 'import'; +so you could also import by doing 'hledger -f bank.csv print +>>$LEDGER_FILE'. + + But 'import' is easier and provides some advantages. The main one is +that it avoids re-importing transactions it has seen on previous runs. +This means you don't have to worry about overlapping data in successive +downloads of your bank CSV; just download and 'import' as often as you +like, and only the new transactions will be imported each time. + + We don't call this "deduplication", as it's generally not possible to +reliably detect duplicates in bank CSV. Instead, 'import' remembers the +latest date processed previously in each CSV file (saving it in a hidden +file), and skips any records prior to that date. This works well for +most real-world CSV, where: + + 1. the data file name is stable (does not change) across imports + 2. the item dates are stable across imports + 3. the order of same-date items is stable across imports + 4. the newest items have the newest dates + + (Occasional violations of 2-4 are often harmless; you can reduce the +chance of disruption by downloading and importing more often.) + + Overlap detection is automatic, and shouldn't require much attention +from you, except perhaps at first import (see below). But here's how it +works: + + * For each 'FILE' being imported from: + + 1. hledger reads a file named '.latest.FILE' file in the same + directory, if any. This file contains the latest record date + previously imported from FILE, in YYYY-MM-DD format. If + multiple records with that date were imported, the date is + repeated on N lines. + + 2. hledger reads records from FILE. If a latest date was found in + step 1, any records before that date, and the first N records + on that date, are skipped. + + * After a successful import from all FILEs, without error and without + '--dry-run', hledger updates each FILE's '.latest.FILE' for next + time. + + If this goes wrong, it's relatively easy to repair: + + * You'll notice it before import when you preview with 'import + --dry-run'. + * Or after import when you try to reconcile your hledger account + balances with your bank. + * 'hledger print -f FILE.csv' will show all recently downloaded + transactions. Compare these with your journal. Copy/paste if + needed. + * Update your conversion rules and print again, if needed. + * You can manually update or remove the .latest file, or use 'import + --catchup FILE'. + * Download and import more often, eg twice a week, at least while you + are learning. It's easier to review and troubleshoot when there + are fewer transactions. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: First import, Next: Importing balance assignments, Prev: Overlap detection, Up: import + +26.2.3 First import +------------------- + +The first time you import from a file, when no corresponding .latest +file has been created yet, all of the records will be imported. + + But perhaps you have been entering the data manually, so you know +that all of these transactions are already recorded in the journal. In +this case you can run 'hledger import --catchup' once. This will create +a .latest file containing the latest CSV record date, so that none of +those records will be re-imported. + + Or, if you know that some but not all of the transactions are in the +journal, you can create the .latest file yourself. Eg, let's say you +previously recorded foobank transactions up to 2024-10-31 in the +journal. Then in the directory where you'll be saving 'foobank.csv', +you would create a '.latest.foobank.csv' file containing + +2024-10-31 + + Or if you had three foobank transactions recorded with that date, you +would repeat the date that many times: + +2024-10-31 +2024-10-31 +2024-10-31 + + Then 'hledger import foobank.csv [--dry-run]' will import only the +newer records. + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Importing balance assignments, Next: Import and commodity styles, Prev: First import, Up: import + +26.2.4 Importing balance assignments ------------------------------------ -Entries added by import will have their posting amounts made explicit -(like 'hledger print -x'). This means that any balance assignments in -imported files must be evaluated; but, imported files don't get to see -the main file's account balances. As a result, importing entries with -balance assignments (eg from an institution that provides only balances -and not posting amounts) will probably generate incorrect posting -amounts. To avoid this problem, use print instead of import: +Journal entries added by import will have all posting amounts made +explicit (like 'print -x'). -$ hledger print IMPORTFILE [--new] >> $LEDGER_FILE + This means that any balance assignments in the imported entries would +need to be evaluated. But this generally isn't possible, as the main +file's account balances are not visible during import. So try to avoid +generating balance assignments with your CSV rules, or importing from a +journal that contains balance assignments. (Balance assignments are +best avoided anyway.) - (If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, -please test it and send a pull request.) + But if you must use them, eg because your CSV includes only balances: +you can import with 'print', which leaves implicit amounts implicit. +('print' can also do overlap detection like import, with the '--new' +flag): + +$ hledger print --new -f bank.csv >> $LEDGER_FILE + + (If you think 'import' should preserve implicit balances, please test +that and send a pull request.)  -File: hledger.info, Node: Import and commodity styles, Prev: Importing balance assignments, Up: import +File: hledger.info, Node: Import and commodity styles, Next: Import special cases, Prev: Importing balance assignments, Up: import -26.2.4 Import and commodity styles +26.2.5 Import and commodity styles ---------------------------------- Amounts in entries added by import will be formatted according to the @@ -8165,6 +8395,39 @@ directives or inferred from the journal's amounts. Related: CSV > Amount decimal places. + +File: hledger.info, Node: Import special cases, Prev: Import and commodity styles, Up: import + +26.2.6 Import special cases +--------------------------- + +If you have a download whose file name varies, you could rename it to a +fixed name after each download. Or you could use a CSV 'source' rule +with a suitable glob pattern, and import from the .rules file instead of +the data file. + + Here's a situation where you would need to run 'import' with care: +say you download 'bank.csv', but forget to import it or delete it. And +next month you download it again. This time your web browser may save +it as 'bank (2).csv'. So now each of these may have data not included +in the other. And a 'source' rule with a glob pattern would match only +the most recent file. So in this case you should import from each one +in turn, in the correct order, taking care to use the same filename each +time: + +$ hledger import bank.csv +$ mv 'bank (2).csv' bank.csv +$ hledger import bank.csv + + Here are two kinds of "deduplication" which 'import' does not handle +(and generally should not, since these can happen legitimately in +financial data): + + * Two or more of the new CSV records are identical, and generate + identical new journal entries. + * A new CSV record generates a journal entry identical to one(s) + already in the journal. +  File: hledger.info, Node: Basic report commands, Next: Standard report commands, Prev: Data entry commands, Up: Top @@ -8770,6 +9033,9 @@ Flags: date. Warning: this can show a wrong running balance. --no-elide don't show only 2 commodities per amount + --cumulative show running total from report start date + --invert display all amounts with reversed sign + --heading=YN show heading row above table: yes (default) or no -w --width=N set output width (default: terminal width or $COLUMNS). -wN,M sets description width as well. --align-all guarantee alignment across all lines (slower) @@ -8781,8 +9047,9 @@ Flags: 'aregister' shows the overall transactions affecting a particular account (and any subaccounts). Each report line represents one transaction in this account. Transactions before the report start date -are always included in the running balance ('--historical' mode is -always on). +are included in the running balance ('--historical' mode is the +default). You can suppress this behaviour using the '--cumulative' +option. This is a more "real world", bank-like view than the 'register' command (which shows individual postings, possibly from multiple @@ -8835,9 +9102,14 @@ visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the '--align-all' flag. + By default, 'aregister' shows a heading above the data. However, +when reporting in a language different from English, it is easier to +omit this heading and prepend your own one. For this purpose, use the +'--heading=no' option. + This command also supports the output destination and output format options. The output formats supported are 'txt', 'csv', 'tsv' (_Added -in 1.32_), and 'json'. +in 1.32_), 'html', 'fods' (_Added in 1.41_) and 'json'. * Menu: @@ -11627,6 +11899,9 @@ persists across a reboot, and if you need to be an Administrator): > MKDIR finance > SETX LEDGER_FILE "C:\Users\USERNAME\finance\2023.journal" + When correctly configured, in a new terminal window +'$env:LEDGER_FILE' will show the file path, and so will 'hledger files'. +  File: hledger.info, Node: Setting opening balances, Next: Recording transactions, Prev: Setting LEDGER_FILE, Up: Top @@ -11959,7 +12234,7 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: BUGS, Prev: Migrating to a new file, Up: Top ******* We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: -http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list +https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). Some known issues and limitations: @@ -12007,7 +12282,8 @@ using it* * 'LEDGER_FILE' should be a real environment variable, not just a shell variable. Eg on unix, the command 'env | grep LEDGER_FILE' should show it. You may need to use 'export' (see - https://stackoverflow.com/a/7411509). + https://stackoverflow.com/a/7411509). On Windows, + '$env:LEDGER_FILE' should show it. * You may need to force your shell to see the new configuration. A simple way is to close your terminal window and open a new one. @@ -12054,350 +12330,371 @@ Node: Strict mode9126 Node: Commands9960 Node: Add-on commands11146 Node: Options12364 -Node: Special characters18787 -Node: Escaping shell special characters19737 -Node: Escaping on Windows20981 -Node: Escaping regular expression special characters21714 -Node: Escaping add-on arguments22701 -Node: Escaping in other situations23730 -Node: Using a wild card24689 -Node: Unicode characters25068 -Node: Regular expressions26732 -Node: hledger's regular expressions29991 -Node: Argument files31536 -Node: Config files32239 -Node: Shell completions35392 -Node: Output35917 -Node: Output destination36108 -Node: Output format36666 -Node: Text output38452 -Node: Box-drawing characters39649 -Node: Colour40149 -Node: Paging40735 -Node: HTML output41899 -Node: CSV / TSV output42353 -Node: FODS output42607 -Node: Beancount output43411 -Node: Beancount account names44329 -Node: Beancount commodity names45304 -Node: Beancount virtual postings46080 -Node: Beancount costs46551 -Node: Beancount operating currency46909 -Node: SQL output47273 -Node: JSON output48064 -Node: Commodity styles48881 -Node: Debug output49765 -Node: Environment50597 -Node: PART 2 DATA FORMATS51291 -Node: Journal51434 -Node: Journal cheatsheet53912 -Node: Comments60126 -Node: Transactions61070 -Node: Dates62207 -Node: Simple dates62359 -Node: Posting dates62975 -Node: Status64062 -Node: Code65828 -Node: Description66163 -Node: Payee and note66850 -Node: Transaction comments67941 -Node: Postings68457 -Node: Debits and credits69620 -Node: The two space delimiter70230 -Node: Account names70795 -Node: Amounts72599 -Node: Decimal marks73628 -Node: Digit group marks74732 -Node: Commodity75367 -Node: Costs76484 -Node: Balance assertions78736 -Node: Assertions and ordering79973 -Node: Assertions and multiple included files80701 -Node: Assertions and multiple -f files81461 -Node: Assertions and costs82103 -Node: Assertions and commodities82753 -Node: Assertions and subaccounts84412 -Node: Assertions and virtual postings85082 -Node: Assertions and auto postings85452 -Node: Assertions and precision86327 -Node: Posting comments86776 -Node: Transaction balancing87316 -Node: Tags89318 -Node: Tag names90780 -Node: Special tags91275 -Node: Tag values93587 -Node: Directives94569 -Node: Directives and multiple files96026 -Node: Directive effects96971 -Node: account directive100127 -Node: Account comments101577 -Node: Account error checking102236 -Node: Account display order103773 -Node: Account types104971 -Node: alias directive108745 -Node: Basic aliases109956 -Node: Regex aliases110831 -Node: Combining aliases111878 -Node: Aliases and multiple files113332 -Node: end aliases directive114115 -Node: Aliases can generate bad account names114483 -Node: Aliases and account types115316 -Node: commodity directive116204 -Node: Commodity directive syntax117791 -Node: Commodity error checking119427 -Node: decimal-mark directive119902 -Node: include directive120481 -Node: P directive121557 -Node: payee directive122591 -Node: tag directive123213 -Node: Periodic transactions123825 -Node: Periodic rule syntax125979 -Node: Periodic rules and relative dates126802 -Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!127579 -Node: Auto postings128540 -Node: Auto postings and multiple files131700 -Node: Auto postings and dates132105 -Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions132546 -Node: Auto posting tags133392 -Node: Auto postings on forecast transactions only134287 -Node: Other syntax134757 -Node: Balance assignments135529 -Node: Balance assignments and costs137057 -Node: Balance assignments and multiple files137479 -Node: Bracketed posting dates137902 -Node: D directive138600 -Node: apply account directive140373 -Node: Y directive141240 -Node: Secondary dates142228 -Node: Star comments143713 -Node: Valuation expressions144405 -Node: Virtual postings144704 -Node: Other Ledger directives146328 -Node: Other cost/lot notations147090 -Node: CSV149852 -Node: CSV rules cheatsheet151935 -Node: source153860 -Node: separator154861 -Node: skip155512 -Node: date-format156162 -Node: timezone157005 -Node: newest-first158131 -Node: intra-day-reversed158844 -Node: decimal-mark159444 -Node: fields list159922 -Node: Field assignment161730 -Node: Field names162949 -Node: date field164281 -Node: date2 field164445 -Node: status field164640 -Node: code field164830 -Node: description field165018 -Node: comment field165235 -Node: account field165792 -Node: amount field166510 -Node: currency field169349 -Node: balance field169757 -Node: if block170280 -Node: Matchers171807 -Node: What matchers match172716 -Node: Combining matchers173303 -Node: Match groups174006 -Node: if table174900 -Node: balance-type176901 -Node: include177728 -Node: Working with CSV178297 -Node: Rapid feedback178849 -Node: Valid CSV179432 -Node: File Extension180308 -Node: Reading CSV from standard input181043 -Node: Reading multiple CSV files181429 -Node: Reading files specified by rule181905 -Node: Valid transactions183302 -Node: Deduplicating importing184127 -Node: Setting amounts185356 -Node: Amount signs187883 -Node: Setting currency/commodity188948 -Node: Amount decimal places190324 -Node: Referencing other fields191581 -Node: How CSV rules are evaluated192689 -Node: Well factored rules194357 -Node: CSV rules examples194847 -Node: Bank of Ireland195045 -Node: Coinbase196642 -Node: Amazon197825 -Node: Paypal199667 -Node: Timeclock207417 -Node: Timedot209686 -Node: Timedot examples213163 -Node: PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS215440 -Node: Time periods215604 -Node: Report start & end date215877 -Node: Smart dates217353 -Node: Report intervals219296 -Node: Date adjustments219870 -Node: Start date adjustment220090 -Node: End date adjustment220993 -Node: Period headings221738 -Node: Period expressions222671 -Node: Period expressions with a report interval224576 -Node: More complex report intervals225024 -Node: Multiple weekday intervals227140 -Node: Depth228151 -Node: Queries228549 -Node: Query types230247 -Node: Combining query terms233602 -Node: Queries and command options235342 -Node: Queries and account aliases235796 -Node: Queries and valuation236121 -Node: Pivoting236483 -Node: Generating data238374 -Node: Forecasting240174 -Node: --forecast240830 -Node: Inspecting forecast transactions241931 -Node: Forecast reports243264 -Node: Forecast tags244373 -Node: Forecast period in detail244993 -Node: Forecast troubleshooting246081 -Node: Budgeting247152 -Node: Amount formatting247712 -Node: Commodity display style247956 -Node: Rounding249797 -Node: Trailing decimal marks250402 -Node: Amount parseability251335 -Node: Cost reporting252916 -Node: Recording costs253719 -Node: Reporting at cost255446 -Node: Equity conversion postings256211 -Node: Inferring equity conversion postings258856 -Node: Combining costs and equity conversion postings259998 -Node: Requirements for detecting equity conversion postings261223 -Node: Infer cost and equity by default ?262745 -Node: Value reporting263182 -Node: -V Value264063 -Node: -X Value in specified commodity264390 -Node: Valuation date264740 -Node: Finding market price265700 -Node: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions267080 -Node: Valuation commodity270124 -Node: --value Flexible valuation271557 -Node: Valuation examples273400 -Node: Interaction of valuation and queries275532 -Node: Effect of valuation on reports276249 -Node: PART 4 COMMANDS284147 -Node: Help commands286363 -Node: help286536 -Node: demo288241 -Node: User interface commands289388 -Node: ui289582 -Node: web289707 -Node: Data entry commands289835 -Node: add290033 -Node: import292488 -Node: Date skipping293749 -Node: Import testing296650 -Node: Importing balance assignments297656 -Node: Import and commodity styles298512 -Node: Basic report commands298921 -Node: accounts299222 -Node: codes302095 -Node: commodities303117 -Node: descriptions303361 -Node: files303828 -Node: notes304125 -Node: payees304637 -Node: prices305421 -Node: stats306313 -Node: tags308054 -Node: Standard report commands309361 -Node: print309666 -Node: print explicitness312340 -Node: print amount style313260 -Node: print parseability314498 -Node: print other features315417 -Node: print output format316115 -Node: aregister319400 -Node: aregister and posting dates323180 -Node: register324081 -Node: Custom register output331268 -Node: balancesheet332744 -Node: balancesheetequity337656 -Node: cashflow342938 -Node: incomestatement347642 -Node: Advanced report commands352382 -Node: balance352590 -Node: balance features357760 -Node: Simple balance report359836 -Node: Balance report line format361646 -Node: Filtered balance report364006 -Node: List or tree mode364525 -Node: Depth limiting366038 -Node: Dropping top-level accounts366805 -Node: Showing declared accounts367315 -Node: Sorting by amount368045 -Node: Percentages368882 -Node: Multi-period balance report369589 -Node: Balance change end balance372341 -Node: Balance report types373978 -Node: Calculation type374657 -Node: Accumulation type375361 -Node: Valuation type376462 -Node: Combining balance report types377651 -Node: Budget report379683 -Node: Using the budget report381988 -Node: Budget date surprises384264 -Node: Selecting budget goals385628 -Node: Budgeting vs forecasting386576 -Node: Balance report layout388253 -Node: Wide layout389458 -Node: Tall layout391863 -Node: Bare layout393169 -Node: Tidy layout395233 -Node: Balance report output396777 -Node: Some useful balance reports397763 -Node: roi399023 -Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl401270 -Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl401996 -Node: IRR and TWR explained404083 -Node: Chart commands407494 -Node: activity407675 -Node: Data generation commands408172 -Node: close408378 -Node: close --migrate410970 -Node: close --close412734 -Node: close --open413112 -Node: close --assert413361 -Node: close --assign413726 -Node: close --retain414398 -Node: close customisation415294 -Node: close and balance assertions416938 -Node: close examples418460 -Node: Retain earnings418697 -Node: Migrate balances to a new file419200 -Node: More detailed close examples420552 -Node: rewrite420774 -Node: Re-write rules in a file423346 -Node: Diff output format424656 -Node: rewrite vs print --auto425929 -Node: Maintenance commands426643 -Node: check426852 -Node: Basic checks427934 -Node: Strict checks428887 -Node: Other checks429762 -Node: Custom checks431617 -Node: diff432072 -Node: test433279 -Node: PART 5 COMMON TASKS434151 -Node: Getting help434384 -Node: Constructing command lines435293 -Node: Starting a journal file436131 -Node: Setting LEDGER_FILE437515 -Node: Setting opening balances438644 -Node: Recording transactions441966 -Node: Reconciling442691 -Node: Reporting445080 -Node: Migrating to a new file449194 -Node: BUGS449643 -Node: Troubleshooting450616 +Node: Special characters18938 +Node: Escaping shell special characters19888 +Node: Escaping on Windows21132 +Node: Escaping regular expression special characters21865 +Node: Escaping add-on arguments22852 +Node: Escaping in other situations23881 +Node: Using a wild card24840 +Node: Unicode characters25219 +Node: Regular expressions26883 +Node: hledger's regular expressions30142 +Node: Argument files31783 +Node: Config files32486 +Node: Shell completions35639 +Node: Output36164 +Node: Output destination36355 +Node: Output format36913 +Node: Text output38699 +Node: Box-drawing characters39896 +Node: Colour40396 +Node: Paging40982 +Node: HTML output42433 +Node: CSV / TSV output42887 +Node: FODS output43141 +Node: Beancount output43945 +Node: Beancount account names45143 +Node: Beancount commodity names45684 +Node: Beancount virtual postings46331 +Node: Beancount metadata46647 +Node: Beancount costs47427 +Node: Beancount operating currency47843 +Node: SQL output48293 +Node: JSON output49084 +Node: Commodity styles49901 +Node: Debug output50785 +Node: Environment51617 +Node: PART 2 DATA FORMATS52466 +Node: Journal52609 +Node: Journal cheatsheet55087 +Node: Comments61301 +Node: Transactions62245 +Node: Dates63382 +Node: Simple dates63534 +Node: Posting dates64150 +Node: Status65237 +Node: Code67003 +Node: Description67338 +Node: Payee and note68025 +Node: Transaction comments69116 +Node: Postings69632 +Node: Debits and credits70795 +Node: The two space delimiter71405 +Node: Account names71970 +Node: Amounts73774 +Node: Decimal marks74803 +Node: Digit group marks75907 +Node: Commodity76542 +Node: Costs77659 +Node: Balance assertions79911 +Node: Assertions and ordering81174 +Node: Assertions and multiple included files81902 +Node: Assertions and multiple -f files82662 +Node: Assertions and costs83304 +Node: Assertions and commodities83954 +Node: Assertions and subaccounts85613 +Node: Assertions and status86273 +Node: Assertions and virtual postings86693 +Node: Assertions and auto postings87058 +Node: Assertions and precision87933 +Node: Posting comments88384 +Node: Transaction balancing88924 +Node: Tags90926 +Node: Querying with tags92220 +Node: Displaying tags93019 +Node: When to use tags ?93415 +Node: Tag names94079 +Node: Special tags94632 +Node: Directives96197 +Node: Directives and multiple files97654 +Node: Directive effects98599 +Node: account directive101755 +Node: Account comments103205 +Node: Account error checking103864 +Node: Account display order105401 +Node: Account types106599 +Node: alias directive110373 +Node: Basic aliases111584 +Node: Regex aliases112459 +Node: Combining aliases113506 +Node: Aliases and multiple files114960 +Node: end aliases directive115743 +Node: Aliases can generate bad account names116111 +Node: Aliases and account types116944 +Node: commodity directive117832 +Node: Commodity directive syntax119419 +Node: Commodity error checking121055 +Node: decimal-mark directive121530 +Node: include directive122109 +Node: P directive123185 +Node: payee directive124219 +Node: tag directive124841 +Node: Periodic transactions125453 +Node: Periodic rule syntax127607 +Node: Periodic rules and relative dates128430 +Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!129207 +Node: Auto postings130168 +Node: Auto postings and multiple files133328 +Node: Auto postings and dates133733 +Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions134174 +Node: Auto posting tags135020 +Node: Auto postings on forecast transactions only135915 +Node: Other syntax136385 +Node: Balance assignments137157 +Node: Balance assignments and costs138685 +Node: Balance assignments and multiple files139107 +Node: Bracketed posting dates139530 +Node: D directive140228 +Node: apply account directive142001 +Node: Y directive142868 +Node: Secondary dates143856 +Node: Star comments145341 +Node: Valuation expressions146033 +Node: Virtual postings146332 +Node: Other Ledger directives147956 +Node: Other cost/lot notations148718 +Node: CSV151480 +Node: CSV rules cheatsheet153563 +Node: source155488 +Node: separator156489 +Node: skip157140 +Node: date-format157790 +Node: timezone158633 +Node: newest-first159759 +Node: intra-day-reversed160472 +Node: decimal-mark161072 +Node: fields list161550 +Node: Field assignment163358 +Node: Field names164577 +Node: date field165909 +Node: date2 field166073 +Node: status field166268 +Node: code field166458 +Node: description field166646 +Node: comment field166863 +Node: account field167420 +Node: amount field168138 +Node: currency field170977 +Node: balance field171385 +Node: if block171908 +Node: Matchers173435 +Node: Multiple matchers175425 +Node: Match groups175901 +Node: if table176794 +Node: balance-type178795 +Node: include179622 +Node: Working with CSV180191 +Node: Rapid feedback180743 +Node: Valid CSV181326 +Node: File Extension182202 +Node: Reading CSV from standard input182937 +Node: Reading multiple CSV files183323 +Node: Reading files specified by rule183799 +Node: Valid transactions185196 +Node: Deduplicating importing186021 +Node: Setting amounts187250 +Node: Amount signs189777 +Node: Setting currency/commodity190842 +Node: Amount decimal places192218 +Node: Referencing other fields193475 +Node: How CSV rules are evaluated194583 +Node: Well factored rules196251 +Node: CSV rules examples196741 +Node: Bank of Ireland196939 +Node: Coinbase198536 +Node: Amazon199719 +Node: Paypal201561 +Node: Timeclock209311 +Node: Timedot211580 +Node: Timedot examples215057 +Node: PART 3 REPORTING CONCEPTS217334 +Node: Time periods217498 +Node: Report start & end date217771 +Node: Smart dates219247 +Node: Report intervals221190 +Node: Date adjustments221764 +Node: Start date adjustment221984 +Node: End date adjustment222887 +Node: Period headings223632 +Node: Period expressions224565 +Node: Period expressions with a report interval226470 +Node: More complex report intervals226918 +Node: Multiple weekday intervals229034 +Node: Depth230045 +Node: Queries231880 +Node: Query types233578 +Node: acct query233995 +Node: amt query234306 +Node: code query234923 +Node: cur query235118 +Node: desc query235724 +Node: date query235907 +Node: date2 query236303 +Node: depth query236594 +Node: expr query236930 +Node: not query237311 +Node: note query237651 +Node: payee query237917 +Node: real query238198 +Node: status query238403 +Node: type query238643 +Node: tag query239176 +Node: Combining query terms239805 +Node: Queries and command options241545 +Node: Queries and account aliases241999 +Node: Queries and valuation242324 +Node: Pivoting242686 +Node: Generating data244577 +Node: Forecasting246377 +Node: --forecast247033 +Node: Inspecting forecast transactions248134 +Node: Forecast reports249467 +Node: Forecast tags250576 +Node: Forecast period in detail251196 +Node: Forecast troubleshooting252284 +Node: Budgeting253355 +Node: Amount formatting253915 +Node: Commodity display style254159 +Node: Rounding256000 +Node: Trailing decimal marks256605 +Node: Amount parseability257538 +Node: Cost reporting259119 +Node: Recording costs259922 +Node: Reporting at cost261649 +Node: Equity conversion postings262414 +Node: Inferring equity conversion postings265059 +Node: Combining costs and equity conversion postings266201 +Node: Requirements for detecting equity conversion postings267426 +Node: Infer cost and equity by default ?268948 +Node: Value reporting269385 +Node: -V Value270266 +Node: -X Value in specified commodity270593 +Node: Valuation date270943 +Node: Finding market price271903 +Node: --infer-market-prices market prices from transactions273283 +Node: Valuation commodity276327 +Node: --value Flexible valuation277760 +Node: Valuation examples279603 +Node: Interaction of valuation and queries281735 +Node: Effect of valuation on reports282452 +Node: PART 4 COMMANDS290350 +Node: Help commands292566 +Node: help292739 +Node: demo294444 +Node: User interface commands295591 +Node: ui295785 +Node: web295910 +Node: Data entry commands296038 +Node: add296236 +Node: import298691 +Node: Import preview299725 +Node: Overlap detection300673 +Node: First import303559 +Node: Importing balance assignments304754 +Node: Import and commodity styles305809 +Node: Import special cases306247 +Node: Basic report commands307582 +Node: accounts307883 +Node: codes310756 +Node: commodities311778 +Node: descriptions312022 +Node: files312489 +Node: notes312786 +Node: payees313298 +Node: prices314082 +Node: stats314974 +Node: tags316715 +Node: Standard report commands318022 +Node: print318327 +Node: print explicitness321001 +Node: print amount style321921 +Node: print parseability323159 +Node: print other features324078 +Node: print output format324776 +Node: aregister328061 +Node: aregister and posting dates332383 +Node: register333284 +Node: Custom register output340471 +Node: balancesheet341947 +Node: balancesheetequity346859 +Node: cashflow352141 +Node: incomestatement356845 +Node: Advanced report commands361585 +Node: balance361793 +Node: balance features366963 +Node: Simple balance report369039 +Node: Balance report line format370849 +Node: Filtered balance report373209 +Node: List or tree mode373728 +Node: Depth limiting375241 +Node: Dropping top-level accounts376008 +Node: Showing declared accounts376518 +Node: Sorting by amount377248 +Node: Percentages378085 +Node: Multi-period balance report378792 +Node: Balance change end balance381544 +Node: Balance report types383181 +Node: Calculation type383860 +Node: Accumulation type384564 +Node: Valuation type385665 +Node: Combining balance report types386854 +Node: Budget report388886 +Node: Using the budget report391191 +Node: Budget date surprises393467 +Node: Selecting budget goals394831 +Node: Budgeting vs forecasting395779 +Node: Balance report layout397456 +Node: Wide layout398661 +Node: Tall layout401066 +Node: Bare layout402372 +Node: Tidy layout404436 +Node: Balance report output405980 +Node: Some useful balance reports406966 +Node: roi408226 +Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl410473 +Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl411199 +Node: IRR and TWR explained413286 +Node: Chart commands416697 +Node: activity416878 +Node: Data generation commands417375 +Node: close417581 +Node: close --migrate420173 +Node: close --close421937 +Node: close --open422315 +Node: close --assert422564 +Node: close --assign422929 +Node: close --retain423601 +Node: close customisation424497 +Node: close and balance assertions426141 +Node: close examples427663 +Node: Retain earnings427900 +Node: Migrate balances to a new file428403 +Node: More detailed close examples429755 +Node: rewrite429977 +Node: Re-write rules in a file432549 +Node: Diff output format433859 +Node: rewrite vs print --auto435132 +Node: Maintenance commands435846 +Node: check436055 +Node: Basic checks437137 +Node: Strict checks438090 +Node: Other checks438965 +Node: Custom checks440820 +Node: diff441275 +Node: test442482 +Node: PART 5 COMMON TASKS443354 +Node: Getting help443587 +Node: Constructing command lines444496 +Node: Starting a journal file445334 +Node: Setting LEDGER_FILE446718 +Node: Setting opening balances447976 +Node: Recording transactions451298 +Node: Reconciling452023 +Node: Reporting454412 +Node: Migrating to a new file458526 +Node: BUGS458975 +Node: Troubleshooting459940  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger/hledger.txt b/hledger/hledger.txt index 0a01159fb..3b0d1334b 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.txt +++ b/hledger/hledger.txt @@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ DESCRIPTION and largely compatible with ledger(1), and largely interconvertible with beancount(1). - This manual is for hledger's command line interface, version 1.40.99. + This manual is for hledger's command line interface, version 1.41.99. It also describes the common options, file formats and concepts used by all hledger programs. It might accidentally teach you some bookkeep- ing/accounting as well! You don't need to know everything in here to @@ -301,9 +301,11 @@ Options -C --cleared include only cleared postings/transactions (-U/-P/-C can be combined) -R --real include only non-virtual postings - --depth=NUM or -NUM: show only top NUM levels of accounts -E --empty Show zero items, which are normally hidden. In hledger-ui & hledger-web, do the opposite. + --depth=DEPTHEXP if a number (or -NUM): show only top NUM levels + of accounts. If REGEXP=NUM, only apply limiting to + accounts matching the regular expression. -B --cost show amounts converted to their cost/sale amount -V --market Show amounts converted to their value at period end(s) in their default valuation commodity. @@ -602,35 +604,38 @@ Options 6. they do not support mode modifiers ((?s)), character classes (\w, \d), or anything else not mentioned above. + 7. they may not (I'm guessing not) properly support right-to-left or + bidirectional text. + Some things to note: - o In the alias directive and --alias option, regular expressions must - be enclosed in forward slashes (/REGEX/). Elsewhere in hledger, + o In the alias directive and --alias option, regular expressions must + be enclosed in forward slashes (/REGEX/). Elsewhere in hledger, these are not required. - o In queries, to match a regular expression metacharacter like $ as a - literal character, prepend a backslash. Eg to search for amounts + o In queries, to match a regular expression metacharacter like $ as a + literal character, prepend a backslash. Eg to search for amounts with the dollar sign in hledger-web, write cur:\$. - o On the command line, some metacharacters like $ have a special mean- + o On the command line, some metacharacters like $ have a special mean- ing to the shell and so must be escaped at least once more. See Spe- cial characters. Argument files You can save a set of command line options and arguments in a file, and - then reuse them by writing @FILENAME as a command line argument. Eg: + then reuse them by writing @FILENAME as a command line argument. Eg: hledger bal @foo.args. - An argument file's format is more restrictive than the command line. + An argument file's format is more restrictive than the command line. Each line should contain just one option or argument. Don't use spaces - except inside quotes; write = or nothing between a flag and its argu- - ment. If you use quotes, they must enclose the whole line. For the - special characters mentioned above, use one less level of quoting than + except inside quotes; write = or nothing between a flag and its argu- + ment. If you use quotes, they must enclose the whole line. For the + special characters mentioned above, use one less level of quoting than you would at the command line. Config files - With hledger 1.40+, you can save extra command line options and argu- - ments in a more featureful hledger config file. Here's a small exam- + With hledger 1.40+, you can save extra command line options and argu- + ments in a more featureful hledger config file. Here's a small exam- ple: # General options are listed first, and used with hledger commands that support them. @@ -640,45 +645,45 @@ Options [print] --explicit --show-costs - To use a config file, specify it with the --conf option. Its options - will be inserted near the start of your command line, so you can over- + To use a config file, specify it with the --conf option. Its options + will be inserted near the start of your command line, so you can over- ride them with command line options if needed. - Or, you can set up an automatic config file that is used whenever you - run hledger, by creating hledger.conf in the current directory or - above, or .hledger.conf in your home directory (~/.hledger.conf), or - hledger.conf in your XDG config directory (~/.con- + Or, you can set up an automatic config file that is used whenever you + run hledger, by creating hledger.conf in the current directory or + above, or .hledger.conf in your home directory (~/.hledger.conf), or + hledger.conf in your XDG config directory (~/.con- fig/hledger/hledger.conf). - Here is another example config you could start with: + Here is another example config you could start with: https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/master/hledger.conf.sample - You can put not only options, but also arguments in a config file. If - the first word in a config file's top (general) section does not begin - with a dash (eg: print), it is treated as the command argument (over- + You can put not only options, but also arguments in a config file. If + the first word in a config file's top (general) section does not begin + with a dash (eg: print), it is treated as the command argument (over- riding any argument on the command line). - On unix machines, you can add a shebang line at the top of a config - file, set executable permission on the file, and use it like a script. + On unix machines, you can add a shebang line at the top of a config + file, set executable permission on the file, and use it like a script. Eg (the -S is needed on some operating systems): #!/usr/bin/env -S hledger --conf You can ignore config files by adding the -n/--no-conf flag to the com- mand line. This is useful when using hledger in scripts, or when trou- - bleshooting. When both --conf and --no-conf options are used, the + bleshooting. When both --conf and --no-conf options are used, the right-most wins. To inspect the processing of config files, use --debug or --debug=8. Warning! - There aren't many hledger features that need a warning, but this is + There aren't many hledger features that need a warning, but this is one! - Automatic config files, while convenient, also make hledger less pre- - dictable and dependable. It's easy to make a config file that changes - a report's behaviour, or breaks your hledger-using scripts/applica- + Automatic config files, while convenient, also make hledger less pre- + dictable and dependable. It's easy to make a config file that changes + a report's behaviour, or breaks your hledger-using scripts/applica- tions, in ways that will surprise you later. If you don't want this, @@ -688,32 +693,32 @@ Options 2. Also be alert to downloaded directories which may contain a hledger.conf file. - 3. Also if you are sharing scripts or examples or support, consider + 3. Also if you are sharing scripts or examples or support, consider that others may have a hledger.conf file. Conversely, once you decide to use this feature, try to remember: - 1. Whenever a hledger command does not work as expected, try it again + 1. Whenever a hledger command does not work as expected, try it again with -n (--no-conf) to see if a config file was to blame. - 2. Whenever you call hledger from a script, consider whether that call + 2. Whenever you call hledger from a script, consider whether that call should use -n or not. - 3. Be conservative about what you put in your config file; try to con- + 3. Be conservative about what you put in your config file; try to con- sider the effect on all your reports. - 4. To troubleshoot the effect of config files, run with --debug or + 4. To troubleshoot the effect of config files, run with --debug or --debug 8. The config file feature was added in hledger 1.40 and is considered ex- perimental. Shell completions - If you use the bash shell, you can optionally set up context-sensitive - autocompletions when you press TAB in a hledger command line. At a - bash shell prompt, try pressing hledger (should list - all hledger commands) or hledger reg acct: (should list your - top-level account names). If completions aren't working, or for more + If you use the bash shell, you can optionally set up context-sensitive + autocompletions when you press TAB in a hledger command line. At a + bash shell prompt, try pressing hledger (should list + all hledger commands) or hledger reg acct: (should list your + top-level account names). If completions aren't working, or for more details, see Install > Shell completions. Output @@ -723,15 +728,15 @@ Output $ hledger print > foo.txt - Some commands (print, register, stats, the balance commands) also pro- - vide the -o/--output-file option, which does the same thing without + Some commands (print, register, stats, the balance commands) also pro- + vide the -o/--output-file option, which does the same thing without needing the shell. Eg: $ hledger print -o foo.txt $ hledger print -o - # write to stdout (the default) Output format - Some commands offer other kinds of output, not just text on the termi- + Some commands offer other kinds of output, not just text on the termi- nal. Here are those commands and the formats currently supported: command txt html csv/tsv fods beancount sql json @@ -745,14 +750,14 @@ Output print Y Y Y Y Y Y Y register Y Y Y Y Y - You can also see which output formats a command supports by running + You can also see which output formats a command supports by running hledger CMD -h and looking for the -O/--output-format=FMT option, You can select the output format by using that option: $ hledger print -O csv # print CSV to standard output - or by choosing a suitable filename extension with the -o/--out- + or by choosing a suitable filename extension with the -o/--out- put-file=FILE.FMT option: $ hledger balancesheet -o foo.csv # write CSV to foo.csv @@ -770,59 +775,64 @@ Output unicode or wide characters, you'll need a terminal and font that render those correctly. (This can be challenging on MS Windows.) - Some reports (register, aregister) will use the width indicated by the - COLUMNS environment variable. If your shell and terminal are working + Some reports (register, aregister) will use the width indicated by the + COLUMNS environment variable. If your shell and terminal are working well, they will keep COLUMNS updated as you resize the window. So reg- ister reports normally will use the full window width. When this isn't - working or you want to override it, you can manually set COLUMNS, or + working or you want to override it, you can manually set COLUMNS, or use the -w/--width option. - Balance reports (balance, balancesheet, incomestatement...) use what- + Balance reports (balance, balancesheet, incomestatement...) use what- ever width they need. Multi-period multi-currency reports can often be - wider than the window. Besides using a pager, helpful techniques for - this situation include --layout=bare, -V, cur:, --transpose, --tree, + wider than the window. Besides using a pager, helpful techniques for + this situation include --layout=bare, -V, cur:, --transpose, --tree, --depth, --drop, switching to html output, etc. Box-drawing characters - hledger draws simple table borders by default, to minimise the risk of - display problems caused by a terminal/font not supporting box-drawing + hledger draws simple table borders by default, to minimise the risk of + display problems caused by a terminal/font not supporting box-drawing characters. - But your terminal and font probably do support them, so we recommend - using the --pretty flag to show prettier tables in the terminal. This + But your terminal and font probably do support them, so we recommend + using the --pretty flag to show prettier tables in the terminal. This is a good flag to add to your hledger config file. Colour hledger tries to automatically detect ANSI colour and text styling sup- - port and use it when appropriate. (Currently, it is used rather mini- - mally: some reports show negative numbers in red, and help output uses + port and use it when appropriate. (Currently, it is used rather mini- + mally: some reports show negative numbers in red, and help output uses bold text for emphasis.) - You can override this by setting the NO_COLOR environment variable to - disable it, or by using the --color/--colour option, perhaps in your + You can override this by setting the NO_COLOR environment variable to + disable it, or by using the --color/--colour option, perhaps in your config file, with a y/yes or n/no value to force it on or off. Paging - In unix-like environments, when displaying large output in the termi- - nal, hledger tries to use a pager when appropriate. (Actually it does - this for any output format displayed in the terminal, not just text.) - You can prevent this with the --pager=no option, perhaps in your config - file. + In unix-like environments, when displaying large output (in any output + format) in the terminal, hledger tries to use a pager when appropriate. + The pager shows one page of text at a time, and lets you scroll around + to see more. While it is active, usually SPACE shows the next page, h + shows help, and q quits. The home/end/page up/page down/cursor keys, + and mouse scrolling, may also work. - It will use the pager specified by the PAGER environment variable, oth- - erwise less if available, otherwise more if available. + hledger will use the pager specified by the PAGER environment variable, + otherwise less if available, otherwise more if available. (With one + exception: hledger help -p TOPIC will always use less, so that it can + scroll to the topic.) - The pager shows one page of text at a time, and lets you scroll around - to see more. While it is active, usually SPACE shows the next page, q - quits, and ? shows more features. (And in less, G jumps to the end, - which is useful when you are viewing register output.) + The pager is expected to display hledger's ANSI colour and text + styling. If you see junk characters, you might need to configure your + pager to handle ANSI codes. Or you could disable colour as described + above. - The pager is expected to display hledger's ANSI colour and text - styling. hledger adds R to the LESS and MORE environment variables to - enable this for less and its more compatibility mode. If you use a - different pager, you might need to configure it similarly, to avoid - seeing junk on screen. (Or you can disable colour, as described - above.) + If you are using the less pager, hledger automatically appends a number + of options to the LESS variable to enable ANSI colour and a number of + other conveniences. (At the time of writing: --chop-long-lines + --hilite-unread --ignore-case --mouse --no-init --quit-at-eof + --quit-if-one-screen --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS --shift=8 + --squeeze-blank-lines --use-backslash --use-color ). If these don't + work well, you can set your preferred options in the HLEDGER_LESS vari- + able, which will be used instead. HTML output HTML output can be styled by an optional hledger.css file in the same @@ -851,71 +861,84 @@ Output Beancount output This is Beancount's journal format. You can use this to export your - hledger data to Beancount, perhaps to query it with Beancount Query - Language or with the Fava web app. hledger will try to adjust your - data to suit Beancount. If you plan to export often, you may want to - follow Beancount's conventions in your hledger data, to ease conver- - sion. Eg use Beancount-friendly account names, currency codes instead - of currency symbols, and avoid virtual postings, redundant cost nota- - tion, etc. + hledger data to Beancount, eg to use the Fava web app. - Here are more details, included here for now (see also "hledger and - Beancount" https://hledger.org/beancount.html). + hledger will try to adjust your data to suit Beancount, automatically. + Be cautious and check the conversion until you are confident it is + good. If you plan to export to Beancount often, you may want to follow + its conventions, for a cleaner conversion: + + o use Beancount-friendly account names + + o use currency codes instead of currency symbols + + o use cost notation instead of equity conversion postings + + o avoid virtual postings + + There is one big adjustment you must handle yourself: for Beancount, + the top level account names must be Assets, Liabilities, Equity, In- + come, and/or Expenses. You can use account aliases to rewrite your ac- + count names temporarily, if needed, as in this hledger2beancount.conf + config file. Beancount account names - hledger will try adjust your account names, if needed, to Beancount ac- - count names, by capitalising, replacing unsupported characters with -, - and prepending B to parts which don't begin with a letter or digit. - (It's possible for this to convert distinct hledger account names to - the same beancount name. Eg, hledger's automatic equity conversion ac- - counts can have currency symbols in their name, so equity:conversion:$- - becomes equity:conversion:B---.) - - In addition, you must ensure that the top level account names are As- - sets, Liabilities, Equity, Income, and Expenses, which Beancount re- - quires. If yours are named differently, you can use account aliases, - usually in the form of --alias options, possibly stored in a config - file. (An example: hledger2beancount.conf) + Aside from the top-level names, hledger will adjust your account names + to make valid Beancount account names, by capitalising each part, re- + placing spaces with -, replacing other unsupported characters with + C, prepending A to account name parts which don't begin with + a letter or digit, and appending :A to account names which have only + one part. Beancount commodity names - hledger will adjust your commodity names, if needed, to Beancount com- + hledger will adjust your commodity names to make valid Beancount com- modity/currency names, which must be 2-24 uppercase letters, digits, or ', ., _, -, beginning with a letter and ending with a letter or digit. - hledger will convert known currency symbols to ISO 4217 currency codes. - Otherwise, it will capitalise letters, replace unsupported characters - with a dash (-), and prepend/append a "B" when needed. (It's possible - for this to generate unreadable commodity names, or to convert distinct - hledger commodity names to the same beancount name.) + hledger will convert known currency symbols to ISO 4217 currency codes, + capitalise letters, replace spaces with -, replace other unsupported + characters with C, and prepend or append C if needed. Beancount virtual postings - Beancount doesn't allow unbalanced/virtual postings, so you will need - to comment those, or use --real to exclude transactions that use them. - (If you have transactions which are a mixture of balanced and unbal- - anced postings, you'll have to do something more.) + Beancount doesn't allow virtual postings; if you have any, they will be + omitted from beancount output. + + Beancount metadata + hledger tags will be converted to Beancount metadata (except for tags + whose name begins with _). Metadata names will be adjusted to be Bean- + count-compatible: beginning with a lowercase letter, at least two char- + acters long, and with unsupported characters encoded. Metadata values + will use Beancount's string type. + + In hledger, objects can have the same tag repeated with multiple val- + ues. Eg an assets:cash account might have both type:Asset and + type:Cash tags. For Beancount these will be combined into one, with + the values combined, comma separated. Eg: type: "Asset, Cash". Beancount costs - Beancount doesn't allow redundant cost notation as hledger does. If - you have entries like this, you will need to comment out either the - costs or the equity postings. + Beancount doesn't allow redundant costs and conversion postings as + hledger does. If you have any of these, the conversion postings will + be omitted. Currently we support at most one cost + conversion post- + ings group per transaction. Beancount operating currency - Declaring an operating currency improves Beancount and Fava reports. - You can do this manually by adding a line like this to the beancount - journal: + Declaring an operating currency (or several) improves Beancount and + Fava reports. Currently hledger will declare each currency used in + cost amounts as an operating currency. If needed, replace these with + your own declaration, like option "operating_currency" "USD" SQL output - SQL output is expected to work at least with SQLite, MySQL and Post- + SQL output is expected to work at least with SQLite, MySQL and Post- gres. - The SQL statements are expected to be executed in the empty database. + The SQL statements are expected to be executed in the empty database. If you already have tables created via SQL output of hledger, you would - probably want to either clear data from these (via delete or truncate - SQL statements) or drop the tables completely before import; otherwise + probably want to either clear data from these (via delete or truncate + SQL statements) or drop the tables completely before import; otherwise your postings would be duplicated. - For SQLite, it is more useful if you modify the generated id field to + For SQLite, it is more useful if you modify the generated id field to be a PRIMARY KEY. Eg: $ hledger print -O sql | sed 's/id serial/id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL/g' | ... @@ -923,48 +946,48 @@ Output This is not yet much used; feedback is welcome. JSON output - Our JSON is rather large and verbose, since it is a faithful represen- - tation of hledger's internal data types. To understand its structure, - read the Haskell type definitions, which are mostly in + Our JSON is rather large and verbose, since it is a faithful represen- + tation of hledger's internal data types. To understand its structure, + read the Haskell type definitions, which are mostly in https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/mas- - ter/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs. hledger-web's OpenAPI specifi- + ter/hledger-lib/Hledger/Data/Types.hs. hledger-web's OpenAPI specifi- cation may also be relevant. - hledger stores numbers with sometimes up to 255 significant digits. - This is too many digits for most JSON consumers, so in JSON output we + hledger stores numbers with sometimes up to 255 significant digits. + This is too many digits for most JSON consumers, so in JSON output we round numbers to at most 10 decimal places. (We don't limit the number - of integer digits.) If you find this causing problems, please let us + of integer digits.) If you find this causing problems, please let us know. Related: #1195 This is not yet much used; feedback is welcome. Commodity styles - When displaying amounts, hledger infers a standard display style for + When displaying amounts, hledger infers a standard display style for each commodity/currency, as described below in Commodity display style. If needed, this can be overridden by a -c/--commodity-style option (ex- cept for cost amounts and amounts displayed by the print command, which - are always displayed with all decimal digits). For example, the fol- + are always displayed with all decimal digits). For example, the fol- lowing will force dollar amounts to be displayed as shown: $ hledger print -c '$1.000,0' This option can repeated to set the display style for multiple commodi- - ties/currencies. Its argument is as described in the commodity direc- + ties/currencies. Its argument is as described in the commodity direc- tive. - In some cases hledger will adjust number formatting to improve their + In some cases hledger will adjust number formatting to improve their parseability (such as adding trailing decimal marks when needed). Debug output We intend hledger to be relatively easy to troubleshoot, introspect and - develop. You can add --debug[=N] to any hledger command line to see - additional debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the default) - to 9 (maximum output). Typically you would start with 1 and increase - until you are seeing enough. Debug output goes to stderr, and is not + develop. You can add --debug[=N] to any hledger command line to see + additional debug output. N ranges from 1 (least output, the default) + to 9 (maximum output). Typically you would start with 1 and increase + until you are seeing enough. Debug output goes to stderr, and is not affected by -o/--output-file (unless you redirect stderr to stdout, eg: - 2>&1). It will be interleaved with normal output, which can help re- - veal when parts of the code are evaluated. To capture debug output in + 2>&1). It will be interleaved with normal output, which can help re- + veal when parts of the code are evaluated. To capture debug output in a log file instead, you can usually redirect stderr, eg: hledger bal --debug=3 2>hledger.log @@ -974,35 +997,39 @@ Output Environment These environment variables affect hledger: - COLUMNS This is normally set by your terminal; some hledger commands - (register) will format their output to this width. If not set, they + COLUMNS This is normally set by your terminal; some hledger commands + (register) will format their output to this width. If not set, they will try to use the available terminal width. - LEDGER_FILE The main journal file to use when not specified with + HLEDGER_LESS If less is your pager, this variable specifies the less + options hledger should use. (Otherwise, LESS + custom options are + used.) + + LEDGER_FILE The main journal file to use when not specified with -f/--file. Default: $HOME/.hledger.journal. NO_COLOR If this environment variable exists (with any value, including - empty), hledger will not use ANSI color codes in terminal output, un- + empty), hledger will not use ANSI color codes in terminal output, un- less overridden by an explicit --color=y or --colour=y option. PART 2: DATA FORMATS Journal hledger's usual data source is a plain text file containing journal en- - tries in hledger journal format. If you're looking for a quick refer- - ence, jump ahead to the journal cheatsheet (or use the table of con- + tries in hledger journal format. If you're looking for a quick refer- + ence, jump ahead to the journal cheatsheet (or use the table of con- tents at https://hledger.org/hledger.html). - This file represents an accounting General Journal. The .journal file - extension is most often used, though not strictly required. The jour- - nal file contains a number of transaction entries, each describing a - transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more named ac- + This file represents an accounting General Journal. The .journal file + extension is most often used, though not strictly required. The jour- + nal file contains a number of transaction entries, each describing a + transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more named ac- counts, in a simple format readable by both hledger and humans. - hledger's journal format is compatible with most of Ledger's journal + hledger's journal format is compatible with most of Ledger's journal format, but not all of it. The differences and interoperation tips are - described at hledger and Ledger. With some care, and by avoiding in- - compatible features, you can keep your hledger journal readable by - Ledger and vice versa. This can useful eg for comparing the behaviour + described at hledger and Ledger. With some care, and by avoiding in- + compatible features, you can keep your hledger journal readable by + Ledger and vice versa. This can useful eg for comparing the behaviour of one app against the other. You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just use @@ -1010,16 +1037,16 @@ Journal Many users, though, edit the journal file with a text editor, and track changes with a version control system such as git. Editor add-ons such - as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger for Vim, and + as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger for Vim, and hledger-vscode for Visual Studio Code, make this easier, adding colour, formatting, tab completion, and useful commands. See Editor configura- tion at hledger.org for the full list. A hledger journal file can contain three kinds of thing: comment lines, - transactions, and/or directives (including periodic transaction rules - and auto posting rules). Understanding the journal file format will - also give you a good understanding of hledger's data model. Here's a - quick cheatsheet/overview, followed by detailed descriptions of each + transactions, and/or directives (including periodic transaction rules + and auto posting rules). Understanding the journal file format will + also give you a good understanding of hledger's data model. Here's a + quick cheatsheet/overview, followed by detailed descriptions of each part. Journal cheatsheet @@ -1153,7 +1180,7 @@ Journal Comments Lines in the journal will be ignored if they begin with a hash (#) or a - semicolon (;). (See also Other syntax.) hledger will also ignore re- + semicolon (;). (See also Other syntax.) hledger will also ignore re- gions beginning with a comment line and ending with an end comment line (or file end). Here's a suggestion for choosing between them: @@ -1175,15 +1202,15 @@ Journal end comment Some hledger entries can have same-line comments attached to them, from - ; (semicolon) to end of line. See Transaction comments, Posting com- + ; (semicolon) to end of line. See Transaction comments, Posting com- ments, and Account comments below. Transactions - Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. They - represent events, typically a movement of some quantity of commodities + Transactions are the main unit of information in a journal file. They + represent events, typically a movement of some quantity of commodities between two or more named accounts. - Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, beginning with a sim- + Each transaction is recorded as a journal entry, beginning with a sim- ple date in column 0. This can be followed by any of the following op- tional fields, separated by spaces: @@ -1193,11 +1220,11 @@ Journal o a description (any remaining text until end of line or a semicolon) - o a comment (any remaining text following a semicolon until end of + o a comment (any remaining text following a semicolon until end of line, and any following indented lines beginning with a semicolon) o 0 or more indented posting lines, describing what was transferred and - the accounts involved (indented comment lines are also allowed, but + the accounts involved (indented comment lines are also allowed, but not blank lines or non-indented lines). Here's a simple journal file containing one transaction: @@ -1208,22 +1235,22 @@ Journal Dates Simple dates - Dates in the journal file use simple dates format: YYYY-MM-DD or + Dates in the journal file use simple dates format: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, with leading zeros optional. The year may be - omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the context: the cur- - rent transaction, the default year set with a Y directive, or the cur- + omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the context: the cur- + rent transaction, the default year set with a Y directive, or the cur- rent date when the command is run. Some examples: 2010-01-31, 2010/01/31, 2010.1.31, 1/31. - (The UI also accepts simple dates, as well as the more flexible smart + (The UI also accepts simple dates, as well as the more flexible smart dates documented in the hledger manual.) Posting dates - You can give individual postings a different date from their parent - transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below) + You can give individual postings a different date from their parent + transaction, by adding a posting comment containing a tag (see below) like date:DATE. This is probably the best way to control posting dates - precisely. Eg in this example the expense should appear in May re- - ports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for + precisely. Eg in this example the expense should appear in May re- + ports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for easy bank reconciliation: 2015/5/30 @@ -1236,15 +1263,15 @@ Journal $ hledger -f t.j register checking 2015-06-01 assets:checking $-10 $-10 - DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use + DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use the year of the transaction's date. - The date: tag must have a valid simple date value if it is present, eg + The date: tag must have a valid simple date value if it is present, eg a date: tag with no value is not allowed. Status - Transactions (or individual postings within a transaction) can have a - status mark, which is a single character before the transaction de- - scription (or posting account name), separated from it by a space, in- + Transactions (or individual postings within a transaction) can have a + status mark, which is a single character before the transaction de- + scription (or posting account name), separated from it by a space, in- dicating one of three statuses: mark status @@ -1253,20 +1280,20 @@ Journal ! pending * cleared - When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, + When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, -P/--pending, and -C/--cleared flags (and you can combine these, eg -UP - to match all except cleared things). Or you can use the status:, sta- + to match all except cleared things). Or you can use the status:, sta- tus:!, and status:* queries, or the U, P, C keys in hledger-ui. (Note: in Ledger the "unmarked" state is called "uncleared"; in hledger we renamed it to "unmarked" for semantic clarity.) - Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with + Status marks are optional, but can be helpful eg for reconciling with real-world accounts. Some editor modes provide highlighting and short- - cuts for working with status. Eg in Emacs ledger-mode, you can toggle + cuts for working with status. Eg in Emacs ledger-mode, you can toggle transaction status with C-c C-e, or posting status with C-c C-c. - What "uncleared", "pending", and "cleared" actually mean is up to you. + What "uncleared", "pending", and "cleared" actually mean is up to you. Here's one suggestion: status meaning @@ -1277,55 +1304,55 @@ Journal cleared complete, reconciled as far as possible, and considered cor- rect - With this scheme, you would use -PC to see the current balance at your + With this scheme, you would use -PC to see the current balance at your bank, -U to see things which will probably hit your bank soon (like un- - cashed checks), and no flags to see the most up-to-date state of your + cashed checks), and no flags to see the most up-to-date state of your finances. Code - After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally - write a transaction "code", enclosed in parentheses. This is a good - place to record a check number, or some other important transaction id + After the status mark, but before the description, you can optionally + write a transaction "code", enclosed in parentheses. This is a good + place to record a check number, or some other important transaction id or reference number. Description - After the date, status mark and/or code fields, the rest of the line - (or until a comment is begun with ;) is the transaction's description. + After the date, status mark and/or code fields, the rest of the line + (or until a comment is begun with ;) is the transaction's description. Here you can describe the transaction (called the "narration" in tradi- - tional bookkeeping), or you can record a payee/payer name, or you can + tional bookkeeping), or you can record a payee/payer name, or you can leave it empty. - Transaction descriptions show up in print output and in register re- + Transaction descriptions show up in print output and in register re- ports, and can be listed with the descriptions command. - You can query by description with desc:DESCREGEX, or pivot on descrip- + You can query by description with desc:DESCREGEX, or pivot on descrip- tion with --pivot desc. Payee and note Sometimes people want a dedicated payee/payer field that can be queried - and checked more strictly. If you want that, you can write a | (pipe) - character in the description. This divides it into a "payee" field on + and checked more strictly. If you want that, you can write a | (pipe) + character in the description. This divides it into a "payee" field on the left, and a "note" field on the right. (Either can be empty.) - You can query these with payee:PAYEEREGEX and note:NOTEREGEX, list - their values with the payees and notes commands, or pivot on payee or + You can query these with payee:PAYEEREGEX and note:NOTEREGEX, list + their values with the payees and notes commands, or pivot on payee or note. Note: in transactions with no | character, description, payee, and note all have the same value. Once a | is added, they become distinct. (If - you'd like to change this behaviour, please propose it on the mail + you'd like to change this behaviour, please propose it on the mail list.) If you want more strict error checking, you can declare the valid payee - names with payee directives, and then enforce these with hledger check - payees. (Note: because of the above, for this you'll need to ensure - every transaction description contains a | and therefore a checkable + names with payee directives, and then enforce these with hledger check + payees. (Note: because of the above, for this you'll need to ensure + every transaction description contains a | and therefore a checkable payee name, even if it's empty.) Transaction comments - Text following ;, after a transaction description, and/or on indented - lines immediately below it, form comments for that transaction. They - are reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain + Text following ;, after a transaction description, and/or on indented + lines immediately below it, form comments for that transaction. They + are reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain tags, which are not ignored. 2012-01-01 something ; a transaction comment @@ -1334,63 +1361,63 @@ Journal assets Postings - A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount - from, an account. Each posting line begins with at least one space or + A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount + from, an account. Each posting line begins with at least one space or tab (2 or 4 spaces is common), followed by: o (optional) a status character (empty, !, or *), followed by a space - o (required) an account name (any text, optionally containing single + o (required) an account name (any text, optionally containing single spaces, until end of line or a double space) o (optional) two or more spaces (or tabs) followed by an amount. - If the amount is positive, it is being added to the account; if nega- + If the amount is positive, it is being added to the account; if nega- tive, it is being removed from the account. - The posting amounts in a transaction must sum up to zero, indicating - that the inflows and outflows are equal. We call this a balanced + The posting amounts in a transaction must sum up to zero, indicating + that the inflows and outflows are equal. We call this a balanced transaction. (You can read more about the nitty-gritty details of "sum up to zero" in Transaction balancing below.) - As a convenience, you can optionally leave one amount blank; hledger + As a convenience, you can optionally leave one amount blank; hledger will infer what it should be so as to balance the transaction. Debits and credits The traditional accounting concepts of debit and credit of course exist - in hledger, but we represent them with numeric sign, as described - above. Positive and negative posting amounts represent debits and + in hledger, but we represent them with numeric sign, as described + above. Positive and negative posting amounts represent debits and credits respectively. - You don't need to remember that, but if you would like to - eg for - helping newcomers or for talking with your accountant - here's a handy + You don't need to remember that, but if you would like to - eg for + helping newcomers or for talking with your accountant - here's a handy mnemonic: debit / plus / left / short words credit / minus / right / longer words The two space delimiter - Be sure to notice the unusual separator between the account name and + Be sure to notice the unusual separator between the account name and the following amount. Because hledger allows account names with spaces - in them, you must separate the account name and amount (if any) by two - or more spaces (or tabs). It's easy to forget at first. If you ever - see the amount being treated as part of the account name, you'll know + in them, you must separate the account name and amount (if any) by two + or more spaces (or tabs). It's easy to forget at first. If you ever + see the amount being treated as part of the account name, you'll know you probably need to add another space between them. Account names - Accounts are the main way of categorising things in hledger. As in - Double Entry Bookkeeping, they can represent real world accounts (such + Accounts are the main way of categorising things in hledger. As in + Double Entry Bookkeeping, they can represent real world accounts (such as a bank account), or more abstract categories such as "money borrowed from Frank" or "money spent on electricity". - You can use any account names you like, but we usually start with the + You can use any account names you like, but we usually start with the traditional accounting categories, which in english are assets, liabil- ities, equity, revenues, expenses. (You might see these referred to as A, L, E, R, X for short.) - For more precise reporting, we usually divide the top level accounts + For more precise reporting, we usually divide the top level accounts into more detailed subaccounts, by writing a full colon between account - name parts. For example, from the account names assets:bank:checking + name parts. For example, from the account names assets:bank:checking and expenses:food, hledger will infer this hierarchy of five accounts: assets @@ -1408,33 +1435,33 @@ Journal food hledger reports can summarise the account tree to any depth, so you can - go as deep as you like with subcategories, but keeping your account + go as deep as you like with subcategories, but keeping your account names relatively simple may be best when starting out. Account names may be capitalised or not; they may contain letters, num- - bers, symbols, or single spaces. Note, when an account name and an - amount are written on the same line, they must be separated by two or + bers, symbols, or single spaces. Note, when an account name and an + amount are written on the same line, they must be separated by two or more spaces (or tabs). - Parentheses or brackets enclosing the full account name indicate vir- - tual postings, described below. Parentheses or brackets internal to + Parentheses or brackets enclosing the full account name indicate vir- + tual postings, described below. Parentheses or brackets internal to the account name have no special meaning. - Account names can be altered temporarily or permanently by account + Account names can be altered temporarily or permanently by account aliases. Amounts After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Remember: between account name and amount, there must be two or more spaces.) - hledger's amount format is flexible, supporting several international - formats. Here are some examples. Amounts have a number (the "quan- + hledger's amount format is flexible, supporting several international + formats. Here are some examples. Amounts have a number (the "quan- tity"): 1 ..and usually a currency symbol or commodity name (more on this below), - to the left or right of the quantity, with or without a separating + to the left or right of the quantity, with or without a separating space: $1 @@ -1442,13 +1469,13 @@ Journal 3 "green apples" Amounts can be preceded by a minus sign (or a plus sign, though plus is - the default), The sign can be written before or after a left-side com- + the default), The sign can be written before or after a left-side com- modity symbol: -$1 $-1 - One or more spaces between the sign and the number are acceptable when + One or more spaces between the sign and the number are acceptable when parsing (but they won't be displayed in output): + $1 @@ -1466,31 +1493,31 @@ Journal 1,23 Both of these are common in international number formats, so hledger is - not biased towards one or the other. Because hledger also supports - digit group marks (eg thousands separators), this means that a number - like 1,000 or 1.000 containing just one period or comma is ambiguous. - In such cases, hledger by default assumes it is a decimal mark, and + not biased towards one or the other. Because hledger also supports + digit group marks (eg thousands separators), this means that a number + like 1,000 or 1.000 containing just one period or comma is ambiguous. + In such cases, hledger by default assumes it is a decimal mark, and will parse both of those as 1. - To help hledger parse such ambiguous numbers more accurately, if you - use digit group marks, we recommend declaring the decimal mark explic- - itly. The best way is to add a decimal-mark directive at the top of + To help hledger parse such ambiguous numbers more accurately, if you + use digit group marks, we recommend declaring the decimal mark explic- + itly. The best way is to add a decimal-mark directive at the top of each data file, like this: decimal-mark . - Or you can declare it per commodity with commodity directives, de- + Or you can declare it per commodity with commodity directives, de- scribed below. - hledger also accepts numbers like 10. with no digits after the decimal - mark (and will sometimes display numbers that way to disambiguate them + hledger also accepts numbers like 10. with no digits after the decimal + mark (and will sometimes display numbers that way to disambiguate them - see Trailing decimal marks). Digit group marks - In the integer part of the amount quantity (left of the decimal mark), - groups of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a - comma or period (whichever is not used as decimal mark), or a space - (several Unicode space variants, like no-break space, are also ac- + In the integer part of the amount quantity (left of the decimal mark), + groups of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a + comma or period (whichever is not used as decimal mark), or a space + (several Unicode space variants, like no-break space, are also ac- cepted). So these are all valid amounts in a journal file: $1,000,000.00 @@ -1500,46 +1527,46 @@ Journal 1 000 000.00 ; <- no-break space Commodity - Amounts in hledger have both a "quantity", which is a signed decimal + Amounts in hledger have both a "quantity", which is a signed decimal number, and a "commodity", which is a currency symbol, stock ticker, or any word or phrase describing something you are tracking. If the commodity name contains non-letters (spaces, numbers, or punctu- - ation), you must always write it inside double quotes ("green apples", + ation), you must always write it inside double quotes ("green apples", "ABC123"). - If you write just a bare number, that too will have a commodity, with + If you write just a bare number, that too will have a commodity, with name ""; we call that the "no-symbol commodity". - Actually, hledger combines these single-commodity amounts into more - powerful multi-commodity amounts, which are what it works with most of - the time. A multi-commodity amount could be, eg: 1 USD, 2 EUR, 3.456 - TSLA. In practice, you will only see multi-commodity amounts in + Actually, hledger combines these single-commodity amounts into more + powerful multi-commodity amounts, which are what it works with most of + the time. A multi-commodity amount could be, eg: 1 USD, 2 EUR, 3.456 + TSLA. In practice, you will only see multi-commodity amounts in hledger's output; you can't write them directly in the journal file. By default, the format of amounts in the journal influences how hledger - displays them in output. This is explained in Commodity display style + displays them in output. This is explained in Commodity display style below. Costs - After a posting amount, you can note its cost (when buying) or selling - price (when selling) in another commodity, by writing either @ UNIT- - PRICE or @@ TOTALPRICE after it. This indicates a conversion transac- + After a posting amount, you can note its cost (when buying) or selling + price (when selling) in another commodity, by writing either @ UNIT- + PRICE or @@ TOTALPRICE after it. This indicates a conversion transac- tion, where one commodity is exchanged for another. - (You might also see this called "transaction price" in hledger docs, - discussions, or code; that term was directionally neutral and reminded - that it is a price specific to a transaction, but we now just call it + (You might also see this called "transaction price" in hledger docs, + discussions, or code; that term was directionally neutral and reminded + that it is a price specific to a transaction, but we now just call it "cost", with the understanding that the transaction could be a purchase or a sale.) - Costs are usually written explicitly with @ or @@, but can also be in- + Costs are usually written explicitly with @ or @@, but can also be in- ferred automatically for simple multi-commodity transactions. Note, if - costs are inferred, the order of postings is significant; the first + costs are inferred, the order of postings is significant; the first posting will have a cost attached, in the commodity of the second. - As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign - currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or im- + As an example, here are several ways to record purchases of a foreign + currency in hledger, using the cost notation either explicitly or im- plicitly: 1. Write the price per unit, as @ UNITPRICE after the amount: @@ -1563,17 +1590,17 @@ Journal assets:euros 100 ; one hundred euros purchased assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 - Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the -B/--cost + Amounts can be converted to cost at report time using the -B/--cost flag; this is discussed more in the Cost reporting section. - Note that the cost normally should be a positive amount, though it's - not required to be. This can be a little confusing, see discussion at + Note that the cost normally should be a positive amount, though it's + not required to be. This can be a little confusing, see discussion at --infer-market-prices: market prices from transactions. Balance assertions - hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. - These look like, for example, = EXPECTEDBALANCE following a posting's - amount. Eg here we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a + hledger supports Ledger-style balance assertions in journal files. + These look like, for example, = EXPECTEDBALANCE following a posting's + amount. Eg here we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a and b after each posting: 2013/1/1 @@ -1585,42 +1612,42 @@ Journal b $-1 = $-2 After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance assertions - and report an error if any of them fail. Balance assertions can pro- - tect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances while - cleaning up old entries. You can disable them temporarily with the + and report an error if any of them fail. Balance assertions can pro- + tect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting reconciled balances while + cleaning up old entries. You can disable them temporarily with the -I/--ignore-assertions flag, which can be useful for troubleshooting or - for reading Ledger files. (Note: this flag currently does not disable + for reading Ledger files. (Note: this flag currently does not disable balance assignments, described below). Assertions and ordering - hledger calculates and checks an account's balance assertions in date + hledger calculates and checks an account's balance assertions in date order (and when there are multiple assertions on the same day, in parse - order). Note this is different from Ledger, which checks assertions + order). Note this is different from Ledger, which checks assertions always in parse order, ignoring dates. This means in hledger you can freely reorder transactions, postings, or files, and balance assertions will usually keep working. The exception - is when you reorder multiple postings on the same day, to the same ac- + is when you reorder multiple postings on the same day, to the same ac- count, which have balance assertions; those will likely need updating. Assertions and multiple included files - Multiple files included with the include directive are processed as if - concatenated into one file, preserving their order and the posting or- - der within each file. It means that balance assertions in later files + Multiple files included with the include directive are processed as if + concatenated into one file, preserving their order and the posting or- + der within each file. It means that balance assertions in later files will see balance from earlier files. - And if you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split - across multiple files, and you want to assert the account's balance on + And if you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split + across multiple files, and you want to assert the account's balance on that day, you'll need to put the assertion in the right file - the last one in the sequence, probably. Assertions and multiple -f files - Unlike include, when multiple files are specified on the command line - with multiple -f/--file options, balance assertions will not see bal- + Unlike include, when multiple files are specified on the command line + with multiple -f/--file options, balance assertions will not see bal- ance from earlier files. This can be useful when you do not want prob- lems in earlier files to disrupt valid assertions in later files. - If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use in- + If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use in- clude, or concatenate the files temporarily. Assertions and costs @@ -1630,20 +1657,20 @@ Journal 2019/1/1 (a) $1 @ 1 = $1 - We do allow costs to be written in balance assertion amounts, however, - and print shows them, but they don't affect whether the assertion - passes or fails. This is for backward compatibility (hledger's close - command used to generate balance assertions with costs), and because + We do allow costs to be written in balance assertion amounts, however, + and print shows them, but they don't affect whether the assertion + passes or fails. This is for backward compatibility (hledger's close + command used to generate balance assertions with costs), and because balance assignments do use costs (see below). Assertions and commodities - The balance assertions described so far are "single commodity balance + The balance assertions described so far are "single commodity balance assertions": they assert and check the balance in one commodity, ignor- - ing any others that may be present. This is how balance assertions + ing any others that may be present. This is how balance assertions work in Ledger also. - If an account contains multiple commodities, you can assert their bal- - ances by writing multiple postings with balance assertions, one for + If an account contains multiple commodities, you can assert their bal- + ances by writing multiple postings with balance assertions, one for each commodity: 2013/1/1 @@ -1655,8 +1682,8 @@ Journal both 0 = $1 both 0 = 1 - In hledger you can make a stronger "sole commodity balance assertion" - by writing two equals signs (== EXPECTEDBALANCE). This also asserts + In hledger you can make a stronger "sole commodity balance assertion" + by writing two equals signs (== EXPECTEDBALANCE). This also asserts that there are no other commodities in the account besides the asserted one (or at least, that their current balance is zero): @@ -1666,12 +1693,12 @@ Journal both ;== $1 ; this one would fail because 'both' contains $ and It's less easy to make a "sole commodities balance assertion" (note the - plural) - ie, asserting that an account contains two or more specified + plural) - ie, asserting that an account contains two or more specified commodities and no others. It can be done by 1. isolating each commodity in a subaccount, and asserting those - 2. and also asserting there are no commodities in the parent account + 2. and also asserting there are no commodities in the parent account itself: 2013/1/1 @@ -1683,10 +1710,10 @@ Journal Assertions and subaccounts All of the balance assertions above (both = and ==) are "subaccount-ex- - clusive balance assertions"; they ignore any balances that exist in + clusive balance assertions"; they ignore any balances that exist in deeper subaccounts. - In hledger you can make "subaccount-inclusive balance assertions" by + In hledger you can make "subaccount-inclusive balance assertions" by adding a star after the equals (=* or ==*): 2019/1/1 @@ -1695,15 +1722,20 @@ Journal assets:savings $10 assets $0 ==* $20 ; assets + subaccounts contains $20 and nothing else + Assertions and status + Balance assertions always consider postings of all statuses (unmarked, + pending, or cleared); they are not affected by the -U/--unmarked / + -P/--pending / -C/--cleared flags or the status: query. + Assertions and virtual postings Balance assertions always consider both real and virtual postings; they are not affected by the --real/-R flag or real: query. Assertions and auto postings - Balance assertions are affected by the --auto flag, which generates + Balance assertions are affected by the --auto flag, which generates auto postings, which can alter account balances. Because auto postings are optional in hledger, accounts affected by them effectively have two - balances. But balance assertions can only test one or the other of + balances. But balance assertions can only test one or the other of these. So to avoid making fragile assertions, either: o assert the balance calculated with --auto, and always use --auto with @@ -1716,15 +1748,15 @@ Journal avoid auto postings entirely). Assertions and precision - Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are - not always what is shown by reports. Eg a commodity directive may - limit the display precision, but this will not affect balance asser- + Balance assertions compare the exactly calculated amounts, which are + not always what is shown by reports. Eg a commodity directive may + limit the display precision, but this will not affect balance asser- tions. Balance assertion failure messages show exact amounts. Posting comments - Text following ;, at the end of a posting line, and/or on indented - lines immediately below it, form comments for that posting. They are - reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain + Text following ;, at the end of a posting line, and/or on indented + lines immediately below it, form comments for that posting. They are + reproduced by print but otherwise ignored, except they may contain tags, which are not ignored. 2012-01-01 @@ -1734,154 +1766,143 @@ Journal ; a second comment line for posting 2 Transaction balancing - How exactly does hledger decide when a transaction is balanced ? The + How exactly does hledger decide when a transaction is balanced ? The general goal is that if you look at the journal entry and calculate the amounts' sum perfectly with pencil and paper, hledger should agree with you. - Real world transactions, especially for investments or cryptocurren- - cies, often involve imprecise costs, complex decimals, and/or infi- - nitely-recurring decimals, which are difficult or inconvenient to han- + Real world transactions, especially for investments or cryptocurren- + cies, often involve imprecise costs, complex decimals, and/or infi- + nitely-recurring decimals, which are difficult or inconvenient to han- dle on a computer. So to be a practical accounting system, hledger al- - lows some imprecision when checking transaction balancedness. The + lows some imprecision when checking transaction balancedness. The question is, how much imprecision should be allowed ? - hledger currently decides it based on the commodity display styles: if + hledger currently decides it based on the commodity display styles: if the postings' sum would appear to be zero when displayed with the stan- dard display precisions, the transaction is considered balanced. Or equivalently: if the journal entry is displayed with amounts rounded - to the standard display precisions (with hledger print --round=hard), - and a human with pencil and paper would agree that those displayed + to the standard display precisions (with hledger print --round=hard), + and a human with pencil and paper would agree that those displayed amounts add up to zero, the transaction is considered balanced. - This has some advantages: it is fairly intuitive, general not - hard-coded, yet configurable when needed. On the downside it means - that transaction balancedness is related to commodity display preci- - sions, so eg when using -c/--commodity-style to display things with - more than usual precision, you might need to fix some of your journal + This has some advantages: it is fairly intuitive, general not + hard-coded, yet configurable when needed. On the downside it means + that transaction balancedness is related to commodity display preci- + sions, so eg when using -c/--commodity-style to display things with + more than usual precision, you might need to fix some of your journal entries (ie, add decimal digits to make them balance more precisely). Other PTA tools (Ledger, Beancount..) have their own ways of doing it. Possible improvements are discussed at #1964. - Note: if you have multiple journal files, and are relying on commodity - directives to make imprecise journal entries balance, the directives' + Note: if you have multiple journal files, and are relying on commodity + directives to make imprecise journal entries balance, the directives' placement might be important - see commodity directive. Tags - Tags are a way to add extra labels or data fields to transactions, - postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. + Tags are a way to add extra labels or data fields to transactions, + postings, or accounts. They are usually a word or hyphenated word, im- + mediately followed by a full colon, written within the comment of a + transaction, a posting, or an account directive. (Yes, storing data in + comments is slightly weird!) - A tag is a word, optionally hyphenated, immediately followed by a full - colon, in the comment of a transaction, a posting, or an account direc- - tive. Eg: 2024-01-01 a transaction ; foo: Note this is an exception - to the usual rule that things in comments are ignored. + You can write each tag on its own comment line, or multiple tags on one + line, separated by commas. Tags can also have a value, which is any + text after the colon until the next comma or end of line, excluding + surrounding whitespace. (hledger tag values can't contain commas.) If + the same tag name appears multiple times in a comment, each name:value + pair is preserved. - You can write multiple tags on one line, separated by comma. Or you - can write each tag on its own comment line (no comma needed in this - case). - - For example, here are five different tags: one on the assets:checking - account, two on the transaction, and two on the expenses:food posting: + An example: in this journal there are six tags, one of them with a + value: account assets:checking ; accounttag: + account expenses:food - 2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag-1: - ; transactiontag-2: + 2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transactiontag: + ; transactiontag2: assets:checking $-1 - expenses:food $1 ; postingtag:, another-posting-tag: + ; posting-tag-1:, (belongs to the posting above) + expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag-2:, posting-tag-3: with a value - Postings also inherit tags from their transaction and their account. - And transactions also acquire tags from their postings (and postings' - accounts). So in the example above, the expenses posting effectively - has all five tags (by inheriting from the account and transaction), and - the transaction also has all five tags (by acquiring from the expenses - posting). + Querying with tags + Tags are most often used to select a subset of data; you can match + tagged things by tag name and or tag value with a tag: query. (See + queries below.) + + When querying for tag names or values, note that postings inherit tags + from their transaction and from their account, and transactions acquire + tags from their postings. So in the example above, - the assets:check- + ing posting effectively has four tags (one of its own, one from the ac- + count, two from the transaction) - the expenses:food posting effec- + tively has four tags (two of its own, two from the transaction) - the + transaction effectively has all six tags (two of its own, and two from + each posting) + + Displaying tags + You can use the tags command to list tag names or values. + + The print command also shows tags. + + You can use --pivot to display tag values in other reports, in various + ways (eg appended to account names, like pseudo subaccounts). + + When to use tags ? + Tags provide more dimensions of categorisation, complementing accounts + and transaction descriptions. When to use each of these is somewhat a + matter of taste. Accounts have the most built-in support, and regex + queries on descriptions are also quite powerful. So you may not need + tags at all. But if you want to track multiple cross-cutting cate- + gories, they can be a good fit. For example, you could tag trip-re- + lated transactions with trip: YEAR:PLACE, without disturbing your usual + account categories. Tag names - Most non-whitespace characters are allowed in tag names. Eg : is a - valid tag. + What is allowed in a tag name ? Currently, most non-whitespace charac- + ters. Eg : is a valid tag. - You can list the tag names used in your journal with the tags command: - hledger tags [NAMEREGEX] + For extra error checking, you can declare valid tag names with the tag + directive, and then enforce these with the check command. - In commands which use a query, you can match by tag name. Eg: - hledger print tag:NAMEREGEX - - You can declare valid tag names with the tag directive and then check - them with the check command. + But note that tags are detected quite loosely at present, sometimes + where you didn't intend them. Eg ; see https://foo.com contains a + https tag with value //foo.com. Special tags - Some tag names have special significance to hledger. There's not much - harm in using them yourself, but some could produce an error message, - particularly the date: and type: tags. They are explained elsewhere, - but here is a quick list for reference: - - Tags you can set to influence hledger's behaviour: + Some tag names have special significance to hledger. They are ex- + plained elsewhere, but here's a quick reference: + type -- declares an account's type date -- overrides a posting's date date2 -- overrides a posting's secondary date - type -- declares an account's type - - Tags hledger adds to indicate generated data: - - t -- appears on postings generated by timedot letters assert -- appears on txns generated by close --assert retain -- appears on txns generated by close --retain start -- appears on txns generated by close --migrate/--close/--open/--assign - generated-transaction -- appears on generated periodic txns (with --verbose-tags) - generated-posting -- appears on generated auto postings (with --verbose-tags) - modified -- appears on txns which have had auto postings added (with --verbose-tags) + t -- appears on postings generated from timedot letters - These similar tags are also provided; they are not displayed, but can - be relied on for querying: + generated-transaction -- appears on txns generated by a periodic rule + modified-transaction -- appears on txns which have had auto postings added + generated-posting -- appears on generated postings + cost-posting -- appears on postings which have (or could have) a cost, + and which have equivalent conversion postings in the transaction + conversion-posting -- appears on postings which are to a V/Conversion account + and which have an equivalent cost posting in the transaction - _generated-transaction -- exists on generated periodic txns (always) - _generated-posting -- exists on generated auto postings (always) - _modified -- exists on txns which have had auto postings added (always) - - The following non-displayed tags are used internally by hledger, (1) to - ignore redundant costs when balancing transactions, (2) when using - --infer-costs, and (3) when using --infer-equity. Essentially they - mark postings with costs which have corresponding equity conversion - postings, and vice-versa. They are queryable, but you should not rely - on them for your reports: - - _conversion-matched -- marks "matched conversion postings", which are to a V/Conversion account - and have a nearby equivalent costful or potentially costful posting - _cost-matched -- marks "matched cost postings", which have or could have a cost - that's equivalent to nearby conversion postings - - Tag values - Tags can have a value, which is any text after the colon up until a - comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace removed. Ending at - comma allows us to write multiple tags on one line, but also means that - tag values can not contain commas. - - Eg in the following posting, the three tags' values are "value 1", - "value 2", and "" (empty) respectively: - - expenses:food $10 ; foo, tag1: value 1 , tag2:value 2, bar tag3: , baz - - Multiple tags with the same name are additive rather than overriding: - when the same tag name is seen again with a new value, the new - name:value pair is added to the tags. It is not possible to override a - previous tag's value or remove a tag. - - You can list all the values used for a particular tag in the journal - with - hledger tags TAGNAME --values - - You can match on tag values with a query like tag:NAMEREGEX=VALUEREGEX + The second group above (generated-transaction, etc.) are normally hid- + den, with a _ prefix added. This means print doesn't show them by de- + fault; but you can still use them in queries. You can add the --ver- + bose-tags flag to make them visible, which can be useful for trou- + bleshooting. Directives - Besides transactions, there is something else you can put in a journal - file: directives. These are declarations, beginning with a keyword, - that modify hledger's behaviour. Some directives can have more spe- - cific subdirectives, indented below them. hledger's directives are + Besides transactions, there is something else you can put in a journal + file: directives. These are declarations, beginning with a keyword, + that modify hledger's behaviour. Some directives can have more spe- + cific subdirectives, indented below them. hledger's directives are similar to Ledger's in many cases, but there are also many differences. - Directives are not required, but can be useful. Here are the main di- + Directives are not required, but can be useful. Here are the main di- rectives: purpose directive @@ -1889,16 +1910,16 @@ Journal READING DATA: Rewrite account names alias Comment out sections of the file comment - Declare file's decimal mark, to help decimal-mark + Declare file's decimal mark, to help decimal-mark parse amounts accurately Include other data files include GENERATING DATA: - Generate recurring transactions or bud- ~ + Generate recurring transactions or bud- ~ get goals - Generate extra postings on existing = + Generate extra postings on existing = transactions CHECKING FOR ERRORS: - Define valid entities to provide more account, commodity, payee, tag + Define valid entities to provide more account, commodity, payee, tag error checking REPORTING: Declare accounts' type and display order account @@ -1906,23 +1927,23 @@ Journal Declare market prices P Directives and multiple files - Directives vary in their scope, ie which journal entries and which in- + Directives vary in their scope, ie which journal entries and which in- put files they affect. Most often, a directive will affect the follow- - ing entries and included files if any, until the end of the current + ing entries and included files if any, until the end of the current file - and no further. You might find this inconvenient! For example, - alias directives do not affect parent or sibling files. But there are + alias directives do not affect parent or sibling files. But there are usually workarounds; for example, put alias directives in your top-most file, before including other files. - The restriction, though it may be annoying at first, is in a good + The restriction, though it may be annoying at first, is in a good cause; it allows reports to be stable and deterministic, independent of - the order of input. Without it, reports could show different numbers - depending on the order of -f options, or the positions of include di- + the order of input. Without it, reports could show different numbers + depending on the order of -f options, or the positions of include di- rectives in your files. Directive effects - Here are all hledger's directives, with their effects and scope sum- - marised - nine main directives, plus four others which we consider + Here are all hledger's directives, with their effects and scope sum- + marised - nine main directives, plus four others which we consider non-essential: di- what it does ends @@ -1930,53 +1951,53 @@ Journal tive file end? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ac- Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; and N + ac- Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; and N count its display order and type. Subdirectives: any text, ignored. - alias Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of cur- Y + alias Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of cur- Y rent file or end aliases. Command line equivalent: --alias - com- Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file or Y + com- Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file or Y ment end comment. com- Declares up to four things: 1. a commodity symbol, for checking N,N,Y,Y - mod- all amounts in all files 2. the display style for all amounts - ity of this commodity 3. the decimal mark for parsing amounts of - this commodity, in the rest of this file and its children, if - there is no decimal-mark directive 4. the precision to use for - balanced-transaction checking in this commodity, in this file - and its children. Takes precedence over D. Subdirectives: + mod- all amounts in all files 2. the display style for all amounts + ity of this commodity 3. the decimal mark for parsing amounts of + this commodity, in the rest of this file and its children, if + there is no decimal-mark directive 4. the precision to use for + balanced-transaction checking in this commodity, in this file + and its children. Takes precedence over D. Subdirectives: format (ignored). Command line equivalent: -c/--commodity-style - deci- Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all commodi- Y + deci- Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all commodi- Y mal-mark ties in following entries until next decimal-mark or end of cur- - rent file. Included files can override. Takes precedence over + rent file. Included files can override. Takes precedence over commodity and D. - include Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they N - were written inline. Command line alternative: multiple + include Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they N + were written inline. Command line alternative: multiple -f/--file payee Declares a payee name, for checking all entries in all files. N P Declares the market price of a commodity on some date, for value N reports. - ~ Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future N - (tilde) transactions with --forecast and budget goals with balance + ~ Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future N + (tilde) transactions with --forecast and budget goals with balance --budget. Other syntax: - apply Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in fol- Y + apply Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in fol- Y account lowing entries until end of current file or end apply account. - D Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts;and, if Y,Y,N,N - there is no commodity directive for this commodity: its decimal + D Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts;and, if Y,Y,N,N + there is no commodity directive for this commodity: its decimal mark, balancing precision, and display style, as above. - Y Sets a default year to use for any yearless dates, in following Y + Y Sets a default year to use for any yearless dates, in following Y entries until end of current file. - = Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings on partly - (equals) matched transactions with --auto, in current, parent, and child + = Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings on partly + (equals) matched transactions with --auto, in current, parent, and child files (but not sibling files, see #1212). - Other Other directives from Ledger's file format are accepted but ig- + Other Other directives from Ledger's file format are accepted but ig- Ledger nored. direc- tives account directive account directives can be used to declare accounts (ie, the places that - amounts are transferred from and to). Though not required, these dec- + amounts are transferred from and to). Though not required, these dec- larations can provide several benefits: o They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a refer- @@ -1988,17 +2009,17 @@ Journal o They can restrict which accounts may be posted to by transactions, eg in strict mode, which helps prevent errors. - o They influence account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- + o They influence account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- betic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). - o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, + o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, equity, revenue, expense), enabling reports like balancesheet and in- comestatement. - o They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, + o They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) - They are written as the word account followed by a hledger-style ac- + They are written as the word account followed by a hledger-style ac- count name. Eg: account assets:bank:checking @@ -2010,11 +2031,11 @@ Journal Account comments Text following two or more spaces and ; at the end of an account direc- - tive line, and/or following ; on indented lines immediately below it, - form comments for that account. They are ignored except they may con- + tive line, and/or following ; on indented lines immediately below it, + form comments for that account. They are ignored except they may con- tain tags, which are not ignored. - The two-space requirement for same-line account comments is because ; + The two-space requirement for same-line account comments is because ; is allowed in account names. account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon @@ -2022,38 +2043,38 @@ Journal ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 Account error checking - By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence - when a posting references them. This is convenient, but it means - hledger can't warn you when you mis-spell an account name in the jour- + By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence + when a posting references them. This is convenient, but it means + hledger can't warn you when you mis-spell an account name in the jour- nal. Usually you'll find that error later, as an extra account in bal- ance reports, or an incorrect balance when reconciling. - In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, or when you run + In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, or when you run hledger check accounts, hledger will report an error if any transaction - uses an account name that has not been declared by an account direc- + uses an account name that has not been declared by an account direc- tive. Some notes: - o The declaration is case-sensitive; transactions must use the correct + o The declaration is case-sensitive; transactions must use the correct account name capitalisation. - o The account directive's scope is "whole file and below" (see direc- + o The account directive's scope is "whole file and below" (see direc- tives). This means it affects all of the current file, and any files - it includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of ac- - count directives within the file does not matter, though it's usual + it includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of ac- + count directives within the file does not matter, though it's usual to put them at the top. - o Accounts can only be declared in journal files, but will affect in- + o Accounts can only be declared in journal files, but will affect in- cluded files of all types. - o It's currently not possible to declare "all possible subaccounts" + o It's currently not possible to declare "all possible subaccounts" with a wildcard; every account posted to must be declared. - o If you use the --infer-equity flag, you will also need declarations + o If you use the --infer-equity flag, you will also need declarations for the account names it generates. Account display order Account directives also cause hledger to display accounts in a particu- - lar order, not just alphabetically. Eg, here is a conventional order- + lar order, not just alphabetically. Eg, here is a conventional order- ing for the top-level accounts: account assets @@ -2071,42 +2092,42 @@ Journal revenues expenses - If there are undeclared accounts, those will be displayed last, in al- + If there are undeclared accounts, those will be displayed last, in al- phabetical order. Sorting is done within each group of sibling accounts, at each level of - the account tree. Eg, a declaration like account parent:child influ- + the account tree. Eg, a declaration like account parent:child influ- ences child's position among its siblings. - Note, it does not affect parent's position; for that, you need an ac- + Note, it does not affect parent's position; for that, you need an ac- count parent declaration. - Sibling accounts are always displayed together; hledger won't display + Sibling accounts are always displayed together; hledger won't display x:y in between a:b and a:c. - An account directive both declares an account as a valid posting tar- - get, and declares its display order; you can't easily do one without + An account directive both declares an account as a valid posting tar- + get, and declares its display order; you can't easily do one without the other. Account types hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, - expenses and so on. This enables easy reports like balancesheet and + expenses and so on. This enables easy reports like balancesheet and incomestatement, and filtering by account type with the type: query. As a convenience, hledger will detect these account types automatically - if you are using common english-language top-level account names (de- - scribed below). But it's more robust to declare accounts' types ex- - plicitly, by adding type: tags to their account directives. The tag's + if you are using common english-language top-level account names (de- + scribed below). But it's more robust to declare accounts' types ex- + plicitly, by adding type: tags to their account directives. The tag's value should be one of the five main account types: o A or Asset (things you own) o L or Liability (things you owe) - o E or Equity (investment/ownership; balanced counterpart of assets & + o E or Equity (investment/ownership; balanced counterpart of assets & liabilities) - o R or Revenue (what you received money from, AKA income; technically + o R or Revenue (what you received money from, AKA income; technically part of Equity) o X or Expense (what you spend money on; technically part of Equity) @@ -2116,7 +2137,7 @@ Journal o C or Cash (a subtype of Asset, indicating liquid assets for the cash- flow report) - o V or Conversion (a subtype of Equity, for conversions (see Cost re- + o V or Conversion (a subtype of Equity, for conversions (see Cost re- porting).) Subaccounts inherit their parent's type, or they can override it. Here @@ -2135,7 +2156,7 @@ Journal Here are some tips for working with account types. - o The rules for inferring types from account names are as follows. + o The rules for inferring types from account names are as follows. These are just a convenience that sometimes help new users get going; if they don't work for you, just ignore them and declare your account types. See also Regular expressions. @@ -2150,25 +2171,25 @@ Journal ^(income|revenue)s?(:|$) | Revenue ^expenses?(:|$) | Expense - o If you declare any account types, it's a good idea to declare an ac- + o If you declare any account types, it's a good idea to declare an ac- count for all of the account types, because a mixture of declared and name-inferred types can disrupt certain reports. - o Certain uses of account aliases can disrupt account types. See + o Certain uses of account aliases can disrupt account types. See Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. o As mentioned above, subaccounts will inherit a type from their parent - account. More precisely, an account's type is decided by the first + account. More precisely, an account's type is decided by the first of these that exists: 1. A type: declaration for this account. - 2. A type: declaration in the parent accounts above it, preferring + 2. A type: declaration in the parent accounts above it, preferring the nearest. 3. An account type inferred from this account's name. - 4. An account type inferred from a parent account's name, preferring + 4. An account type inferred from a parent account's name, preferring the nearest parent. 5. Otherwise, it will have no type. @@ -2194,7 +2215,7 @@ Journal o customising reports Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives. They - do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or + do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger-web. Account aliases are very powerful. They are generally easy to use cor- @@ -2204,9 +2225,9 @@ Journal See also Rewrite account names. Basic aliases - To set an account alias, use the alias directive in your journal file. - This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its - included files (but note: not sibling or parent files). The spaces + To set an account alias, use the alias directive in your journal file. + This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its + included files (but note: not sibling or parent files). The spaces around the = are optional: alias OLD = NEW @@ -2214,17 +2235,17 @@ Journal Or, you can use the --alias 'OLD=NEW' option on the command line. This affects all entries. It's useful for trying out aliases interactively. - OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. hledger will re- - place any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Subac- + OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. hledger will re- + place any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Subac- counts are also affected. Eg: alias checking = assets:bank:wells fargo:checking ; rewrites "checking" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking", or "checking:a" to "assets:bank:wells fargo:checking:a" Regex aliases - There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, - indicated by wrapping the pattern in forward slashes. (This is the - only place where hledger requires forward slashes around a regular ex- + There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression, + indicated by wrapping the pattern in forward slashes. (This is the + only place where hledger requires forward slashes around a regular ex- pression.) Eg: @@ -2235,13 +2256,13 @@ Journal $ hledger --alias '/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT' ... - Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by RE- + Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by RE- PLACEMENT. REGEX is case-insensitive as usual. - If you need to match a forward slash, escape it with a backslash, eg + If you need to match a forward slash, escape it with a backslash, eg /\/=:. - If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced + If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced by the usual backslash and number in REPLACEMENT: alias /^(.+):bank:([^:]+):(.*)/ = \1:\2 \3 @@ -2251,21 +2272,21 @@ Journal option argument), so it can contain trailing whitespace. Combining aliases - You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives + You can define as many aliases as you like, using journal directives and/or command line options. - Recursive aliases - where an account name is rewritten by one alias, - then by another alias, and so on - are allowed. Each alias sees the + Recursive aliases - where an account name is rewritten by one alias, + then by another alias, and so on - are allowed. Each alias sees the effect of previously applied aliases. - In such cases it can be important to understand which aliases will be - applied and in which order. For (each account name in) each journal + In such cases it can be important to understand which aliases will be + applied and in which order. For (each account name in) each journal entry, we apply: - 1. alias directives preceding the journal entry, most recently parsed + 1. alias directives preceding the journal entry, most recently parsed first (ie, reading upward from the journal entry, bottom to top) - 2. --alias options, in the order they appeared on the command line + 2. --alias options, in the order they appeared on the command line (left to right). In other words, for (an account name in) a given journal entry: @@ -2276,20 +2297,20 @@ Journal o aliases defined after/below the entry do not affect it. - This gives nearby aliases precedence over distant ones, and helps pro- - vide semantic stability - aliases will keep working the same way inde- + This gives nearby aliases precedence over distant ones, and helps pro- + vide semantic stability - aliases will keep working the same way inde- pendent of which files are being read and in which order. - In case of trouble, adding --debug=6 to the command line will show + In case of trouble, adding --debug=6 to the command line will show which aliases are being applied when. Aliases and multiple files - As explained at Directives and multiple files, alias directives do not + As explained at Directives and multiple files, alias directives do not affect parent or sibling files. Eg in this command, hledger -f a.aliases -f b.journal - account aliases defined in a.aliases will not affect b.journal. In- + account aliases defined in a.aliases will not affect b.journal. In- cluding the aliases doesn't work either: include a.aliases @@ -2317,7 +2338,7 @@ Journal end aliases Aliases can generate bad account names - Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, + Be aware that account aliases can produce malformed account names, which could cause confusing reports or invalid print output. For exam- ple, you could erase all account names: @@ -2329,8 +2350,8 @@ Journal 2021-01-01 1 - The above print output is not a valid journal. Or you could insert an - illegal double space, causing print output that would give a different + The above print output is not a valid journal. Or you could insert an + illegal double space, causing print output that would give a different journal when reparsed: 2021-01-01 @@ -2347,15 +2368,15 @@ Journal types) is renamed by an alias, normally the account type remains in ef- fect. - However, renaming in a way that reshapes the account tree (eg renaming - parent accounts but not their children, or vice versa) could prevent + However, renaming in a way that reshapes the account tree (eg renaming + parent accounts but not their children, or vice versa) could prevent child accounts from inheriting the account type of their parents. - Secondly, if an account's type is being inferred from its name, renam- + Secondly, if an account's type is being inferred from its name, renam- ing it by an alias could prevent or alter that. - If you are using account aliases and the type: query is not matching - accounts as you expect, try troubleshooting with the accounts command, + If you are using account aliases and the type: query is not matching + accounts as you expect, try troubleshooting with the accounts command, eg something like: $ hledger accounts --alias assets=bassetts type:a @@ -2363,37 +2384,37 @@ Journal commodity directive The commodity directive performs several functions: - 1. It declares which commodity symbols may be used in the journal, en- - abling useful error checking with strict mode or the check command. + 1. It declares which commodity symbols may be used in the journal, en- + abling useful error checking with strict mode or the check command. See Commodity error checking below. - 2. It declares how all amounts in this commodity should be displayed, + 2. It declares how all amounts in this commodity should be displayed, eg how many decimals to show. See Commodity display style above. - 3. (If no decimal-mark directive is in effect:) It sets the decimal - mark to expect (period or comma) when parsing amounts in this com- + 3. (If no decimal-mark directive is in effect:) It sets the decimal + mark to expect (period or comma) when parsing amounts in this com- modity, in this file and files it includes, from the directive until end of current file. See Decimal marks above. 4. It declares the precision with which this commodity's amounts should - be compared when checking for balanced transactions, anywhere in + be compared when checking for balanced transactions, anywhere in this file and files it includes, until end of current file. - Declaring commodities solves several common parsing/display problems, + Declaring commodities solves several common parsing/display problems, so we recommend it. Note that effects 3 and 4 above end at the end of the directive's file, - and will not affect sibling or parent files. So if you are relying on - them (especially 4) and using multiple files, placing your commodity - directives in a top-level parent file might be important. Or, keep - your decimal marks unambiguous and your entries well balanced and pre- + and will not affect sibling or parent files. So if you are relying on + them (especially 4) and using multiple files, placing your commodity + directives in a top-level parent file might be important. Or, keep + your decimal marks unambiguous and your entries well balanced and pre- cise. (Related: #793) Commodity directive syntax A commodity directive is normally the word commodity followed by a sam- - ple amount (and optionally a comment). Only the amount's symbol and + ple amount (and optionally a comment). Only the amount's symbol and format is significant. Eg: commodity $1000.00 @@ -2402,19 +2423,19 @@ Journal Commodities do not have tags (tags in the comment will be ignored). - A commodity directive's sample amount must always include a period or - comma decimal mark (this rule helps disambiguate decimal marks and - digit group marks). If you don't want to show any decimal digits, + A commodity directive's sample amount must always include a period or + comma decimal mark (this rule helps disambiguate decimal marks and + digit group marks). If you don't want to show any decimal digits, write the decimal mark at the end: commodity 1000. AAAA ; show AAAA with no decimals - Commodity symbols containing spaces, numbers, or punctuation must be + Commodity symbols containing spaces, numbers, or punctuation must be enclosed in double quotes, as usual: commodity 1.0000 "AAAA 2023" - Commodity directives normally include a sample amount, but can declare + Commodity directives normally include a sample amount, but can declare only a symbol (ie, just function 1 above): commodity $ @@ -2423,7 +2444,7 @@ Journal commodity "" ; the no-symbol commodity Commodity directives may also be written with an indented format subdi- - rective, as in Ledger. The symbol is repeated and must be the same in + rective, as in Ledger. The symbol is repeated and must be the same in both places. Other subdirectives are currently ignored: ; display indian rupees with currency name on the left, @@ -2434,10 +2455,10 @@ Journal an unsupported subdirective ; ignored by hledger Commodity error checking - In strict mode (-s/--strict) (or when you run hledger check commodi- - ties), hledger will report an error if an undeclared commodity symbol - is used. (With one exception: zero amounts are always allowed to have - no commodity symbol.) It works like account error checking (described + In strict mode (-s/--strict) (or when you run hledger check commodi- + ties), hledger will report an error if an undeclared commodity symbol + is used. (With one exception: zero amounts are always allowed to have + no commodity symbol.) It works like account error checking (described above). decimal-mark directive @@ -2451,20 +2472,20 @@ Journal decimal-mark , - This prevents any ambiguity when parsing numbers in the file, so we - recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg + This prevents any ambiguity when parsing numbers in the file, so we + recommend it, especially if the file contains digit group marks (eg thousands separators). include directive - You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include + You can pull in the content of additional files by writing an include directive, like this: include FILEPATH - Only journal files can include, and only journal, timeclock or timedot + Only journal files can include, and only journal, timeclock or timedot files can be included (not CSV files, currently). - If the file path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the + If the file path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the current file's folder. A tilde means home directory, eg: include ~/main.journal. @@ -2473,27 +2494,27 @@ Journal *.journal. There is limited support for recursive wildcards: **/ (the slash is re- - quired) matches 0 or more subdirectories. It's not super convenient - since you have to avoid include cycles and including directories, but + quired) matches 0 or more subdirectories. It's not super convenient + since you have to avoid include cycles and including directories, but this can be done, eg: include */**/*.journal. The path may also be prefixed to force a specific file format, overrid- - ing the file extension (as described in Data formats): include time- + ing the file extension (as described in Data formats): include time- dot:~/notes/2023*.md. P directive The P directive declares a market price, which is a conversion rate be- - tween two commodities on a certain date. This allows value reports to + tween two commodities on a certain date. This allows value reports to convert amounts of one commodity to their value in another, on or after - that date. These prices are often obtained from a stock exchange, + that date. These prices are often obtained from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, the or foreign exchange market. The format is: P DATE COMMODITY1SYMBOL COMMODITY2AMOUNT - DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the commodity - being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and quantity) + DATE is a simple date, COMMODITY1SYMBOL is the symbol of the commodity + being priced, and COMMODITY2AMOUNT is the amount (symbol and quantity) of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this date. Ex- amples: @@ -2503,15 +2524,15 @@ Journal # and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: P 2010-01-01 $1.40 - The -V, -X and --value flags use these market prices to show amount + The -V, -X and --value flags use these market prices to show amount values in another commodity. See Value reporting. payee directive payee PAYEE NAME This directive can be used to declare a limited set of payees which may - appear in transaction descriptions. The "payees" check will report an - error if any transaction refers to a payee that has not been declared. + appear in transaction descriptions. The "payees" check will report an + error if any transaction refers to a payee that has not been declared. Eg: payee Whole Foods ; a comment @@ -2527,58 +2548,58 @@ Journal tag directive tag TAGNAME - This directive can be used to declare a limited set of tag names al- + This directive can be used to declare a limited set of tag names al- lowed in tags. TAGNAME should be a valid tag name (no spaces). Eg: tag item-id Any indented subdirectives are currently ignored. - The "tags" check will report an error if any undeclared tag name is + The "tags" check will report an error if any undeclared tag name is used. It is quite easy to accidentally create a tag through normal use of colons in comments; if you want to prevent this, you can declare and check your tags . Periodic transactions - The ~ directive declares a "periodic rule" which generates temporary + The ~ directive declares a "periodic rule" which generates temporary extra transactions, usually recurring at some interval, when hledger is run with the --forecast flag. These "forecast transactions" are useful - for forecasting future activity. They exist only for the duration of + for forecasting future activity. They exist only for the duration of the report, and only when --forecast is used; they are not saved in the journal file by hledger. - Periodic rules also have a second use: with the --budget flag they set + Periodic rules also have a second use: with the --budget flag they set budget goals for budgeting. - Periodic rules can be a little tricky, so before you use them, read + Periodic rules can be a little tricky, so before you use them, read this whole section, or at least the following tips: - 1. Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - + 1. Two spaces accidentally added or omitted will cause you trouble - read about this below. - 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with hledger - print --forecast tag:generated or hledger register --forecast + 2. For troubleshooting, show the generated transactions with hledger + print --forecast tag:generated or hledger register --forecast tag:generated. - 3. Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last non-fore- + 3. Forecasted transactions will begin only after the last non-fore- casted transaction's date. - 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. + 4. Forecasted transactions will end 6 months from today, by default. See below for the exact start/end rules. - 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs im- + 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs im- provement, but is worth studying. - 6. Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a - natural boundary of that interval. Eg in weekly from DATE, DATE - must be a monday. ~ weekly from 2019/10/1 (a tuesday) will give an + 6. Some period expressions with a repeating interval must begin on a + natural boundary of that interval. Eg in weekly from DATE, DATE + must be a monday. ~ weekly from 2019/10/1 (a tuesday) will give an error. 7. Other period expressions with an interval are automatically expanded - to cover a whole number of that interval. (This is done to improve + to cover a whole number of that interval. (This is done to improve reports, but it also affects periodic transactions. Yes, it's a bit - inconsistent with the above.) Eg: ~ every 10th day of month from - 2023/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from + inconsistent with the above.) Eg: ~ every 10th day of month from + 2023/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from 2023/01/01, will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. Periodic rule syntax @@ -2596,14 +2617,14 @@ Journal expenses:utilities $400 assets:bank:checking - The period expression is the same syntax used for specifying multi-pe- - riod reports, just interpreted differently; there, it specifies report + The period expression is the same syntax used for specifying multi-pe- + riod reports, just interpreted differently; there, it specifies report periods; here it specifies recurrence dates (the periods' start dates). Periodic rules and relative dates - Partial or relative dates (like 12/31, 25, tomorrow, last week, next - quarter) are usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the re- - sults will change as time passes. If used, they will be interpreted + Partial or relative dates (like 12/31, 25, tomorrow, last week, next + quarter) are usually not recommended in periodic rules, since the re- + sults will change as time passes. If used, they will be interpreted relative to, in order of preference: 1. the first day of the default year specified by a recent Y directive @@ -2612,11 +2633,11 @@ Journal 3. or the date on which you are running the report. - They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period + They will not be affected at all by report period or forecast period dates. Two spaces between period expression and description! - If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, + If the period expression is followed by a transaction description, these must be separated by two or more spaces. This helps hledger know where the period expression ends, so that descriptions can not acciden- tally alter their meaning, as in this example: @@ -2630,51 +2651,51 @@ Journal So, - o Do write two spaces between your period expression and your transac- + o Do write two spaces between your period expression and your transac- tion description, if any. - o Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period ex- + o Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period ex- pression. Auto postings The = directive declares an "auto posting rule", which adds extra post- - ings to existing transactions. (Remember, postings are the account + ings to existing transactions. (Remember, postings are the account name & amount lines below a transaction's date & description.) - In the journal, an auto posting rule looks quite like a transaction, - but instead of date and description it has = (mnemonic: "match") and a + In the journal, an auto posting rule looks quite like a transaction, + but instead of date and description it has = (mnemonic: "match") and a query, like this: = QUERY ACCOUNT AMOUNT ... - Queries are just like command line queries; an account name substring - is most common. Query terms containing spaces should be enclosed in + Queries are just like command line queries; an account name substring + is most common. Query terms containing spaces should be enclosed in single or double quotes. - Each = rule works like this: when hledger is run with the --auto flag, - wherever the QUERY matches a posting in the journal, the rule's post- + Each = rule works like this: when hledger is run with the --auto flag, + wherever the QUERY matches a posting in the journal, the rule's post- ings are added to that transaction, immediately below the matched post- - ing. Note these generated postings are temporary, existing only for - the duration of the report, and only when --auto is used; they are not + ing. Note these generated postings are temporary, existing only for + the duration of the report, and only when --auto is used; they are not saved in the journal file by hledger. Generated postings' amounts can depend on the matched posting's amount. - So auto postings can be useful for, eg, adding tax postings with a + So auto postings can be useful for, eg, adding tax postings with a standard percentage. AMOUNT can be: - o a number with no commodity symbol, like 2. The matched posting's + o a number with no commodity symbol, like 2. The matched posting's commodity symbol will be added to this. - o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, like $2. This will be used + o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, like $2. This will be used as-is. - o an asterisk followed by a number, like *2. This will multiply the + o an asterisk followed by a number, like *2. This will multiply the matched posting's amount (and total price, if any) by the number. - o an asterisk followed by an amount with commodity symbol, like *$2. - This multiplies and also replaces the commodity symbol with this new + o an asterisk followed by an amount with commodity symbol, like *$2. + This multiplies and also replaces the commodity symbol with this new one. Some examples: @@ -2709,38 +2730,38 @@ Journal assets:checking $20 Note that depending fully on generated data such as this has some draw- - backs - it's less portable, less future-proof, less auditable by oth- + backs - it's less portable, less future-proof, less auditable by oth- ers, and less robust (eg your balance assertions will depend on whether - you use or don't use --auto). An alternative is to use auto postings + you use or don't use --auto). An alternative is to use auto postings in "one time" fashion - use them to help build a complex journal entry, - view it with hledger print --auto, and then copy that output into the + view it with hledger print --auto, and then copy that output into the journal file to make it permanent. Auto postings and multiple files An auto posting rule can affect any transaction in the current file, or - in any parent file or child file. Note, currently it will not affect + in any parent file or child file. Note, currently it will not affect sibling files (when multiple -f/--file are used - see #1212). Auto postings and dates - A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking - precedence) a posting date in the auto posting rule itself, will also + A posting date (or secondary date) in the matched posting, or (taking + precedence) a posting date in the auto posting rule itself, will also be used in the generated posting. Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance asser- tions Currently, auto postings are added: - o after missing amounts are inferred, and transactions are checked for + o after missing amounts are inferred, and transactions are checked for balancedness, o but before balance assertions are checked. - Note this means that journal entries must be balanced both before and + Note this means that journal entries must be balanced both before and after auto postings are added. This changed in hledger 1.12+; see #893 for background. - This also means that you cannot have more than one auto-posting with a - missing amount applied to a given transaction, as it will be unable to + This also means that you cannot have more than one auto-posting with a + missing amount applied to a given transaction, as it will be unable to infer amounts. Auto posting tags @@ -2749,11 +2770,11 @@ Journal o generated-posting:= QUERY - shows this was generated by an auto post- ing rule, and the query - o _generated-posting:= QUERY - a hidden tag, which does not appear in + o _generated-posting:= QUERY - a hidden tag, which does not appear in hledger's output. This can be used to match postings generated "just now", rather than generated in the past and saved to the journal. - Also, any transaction that has been changed by auto posting rules will + Also, any transaction that has been changed by auto posting rules will have these tags added: o modified: - this transaction was modified @@ -2762,24 +2783,24 @@ Journal tion was modified "just now". Auto postings on forecast transactions only - Tip: you can can make auto postings that will apply to forecast trans- - actions but not recorded transactions, by adding tag:_generated-trans- - action to their QUERY. This can be useful when generating new journal + Tip: you can can make auto postings that will apply to forecast trans- + actions but not recorded transactions, by adding tag:_generated-trans- + action to their QUERY. This can be useful when generating new journal entries to be saved in the journal. Other syntax - hledger journal format supports quite a few other features, mainly to - make interoperating with or converting from Ledger easier. Note some - of the features below are powerful and can be useful in special cases, - but in general, features in this section are considered less important - or even not recommended for most users. Downsides are mentioned to + hledger journal format supports quite a few other features, mainly to + make interoperating with or converting from Ledger easier. Note some + of the features below are powerful and can be useful in special cases, + but in general, features in this section are considered less important + or even not recommended for most users. Downsides are mentioned to help you decide if you want to use them. Balance assignments - Ledger-style balance assignments are also supported. These are like - balance assertions, but with no posting amount on the left side of the - equals sign; instead it is calculated automatically so as to satisfy - the assertion. This can be a convenience during data entry, eg when + Ledger-style balance assignments are also supported. These are like + balance assertions, but with no posting amount on the left side of the + equals sign; instead it is calculated automatically so as to satisfy + the assertion. This can be a convenience during data entry, eg when setting opening balances: ; starting a new journal, set asset account balances @@ -2797,15 +2818,15 @@ Journal expenses:misc The calculated amount depends on the account's balance in the commodity - at that point (which depends on the previously-dated postings of the - commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or assign- + at that point (which depends on the previously-dated postings of the + commodity to that account since the last balance assertion or assign- ment). - Downsides: using balance assignments makes your journal less explicit; + Downsides: using balance assignments makes your journal less explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger or do the cal- - culations yourself, instead of just reading it. Also balance assign- + culations yourself, instead of just reading it. Also balance assign- ments' forcing of balances can hide errors. These things make your fi- - nancial data less portable, less future-proof, and less trustworthy in + nancial data less portable, less future-proof, and less trustworthy in an audit. Balance assignments and costs @@ -2820,31 +2841,31 @@ Journal (a) $1 @ 2 = $1 @ 2 Balance assignments and multiple files - Balance assignments handle multiple files like balance assertions. - They see balance from other files previously included from the current + Balance assignments handle multiple files like balance assertions. + They see balance from other files previously included from the current file, but not from previous sibling or parent files. Bracketed posting dates - For setting posting dates and secondary posting dates, Ledger's brack- + For setting posting dates and secondary posting dates, Ledger's brack- eted date syntax is also supported: [DATE], [DATE=DATE2] or [=DATE2] in - posting comments. hledger will attempt to parse any square-bracketed - sequence of the 0123456789/-.= characters in this way. With this syn- - tax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 infers its + posting comments. hledger will attempt to parse any square-bracketed + sequence of the 0123456789/-.= characters in this way. With this syn- + tax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 infers its year from DATE. - Downsides: another syntax to learn, redundant with hledger's + Downsides: another syntax to learn, redundant with hledger's date:/date2: tags, and confusingly similar to Ledger's lot date syntax. D directive D AMOUNT - This directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any subsequent - commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing the jour- - nal. This effect lasts until the next D directive, or the end of the + This directive sets a default commodity, to be used for any subsequent + commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing the jour- + nal. This effect lasts until the next D directive, or the end of the current file. - For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity di- - rective (setting the commodity's decimal mark for parsing and display + For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity di- + rective (setting the commodity's decimal mark for parsing and display style for output). So its argument is not just a commodity symbol, but a full amount demonstrating the style. The amount must include a deci- mal mark (either period or comma). Eg: @@ -2859,23 +2880,23 @@ Journal Interactions with other directives: - For setting a commodity's display style, a commodity directive has + For setting a commodity's display style, a commodity directive has highest priority, then a D directive. - For detecting a commodity's decimal mark during parsing, decimal-mark + For detecting a commodity's decimal mark during parsing, decimal-mark has highest priority, then commodity, then D. - For checking commodity symbols with the check command, a commodity di- + For checking commodity symbols with the check command, a commodity di- rective is required (hledger check commodities ignores D directives). - Downsides: omitting commodity symbols makes your financial data less - explicit, less portable, and less trustworthy in an audit. It is usu- - ally an unsustainable shortcut; sooner or later you will want to track - multiple commodities. D is overloaded with functions redundant with + Downsides: omitting commodity symbols makes your financial data less + explicit, less portable, and less trustworthy in an audit. It is usu- + ally an unsustainable shortcut; sooner or later you will want to track + multiple commodities. D is overloaded with functions redundant with commodity and decimal-mark. And it works differently from Ledger's D. apply account directive - This directive sets a default parent account, which will be prepended + This directive sets a default parent account, which will be prepended to all accounts in following entries, until an end apply account direc- tive or end of current file. Eg: @@ -2897,10 +2918,10 @@ Journal Account names entered via hledger add or hledger-web are not affected. - Account aliases, if any, are applied after the parent account is + Account aliases, if any, are applied after the parent account is prepended. - Downsides: this can make your financial data less explicit, less + Downsides: this can make your financial data less explicit, less portable, and less trustworthy in an audit. Y directive @@ -2910,7 +2931,7 @@ Journal year YEAR apply year YEAR - The space is optional. This sets a default year to be used for subse- + The space is optional. This sets a default year to be used for subse- quent dates which don't specify a year. Eg: Y2009 ; set default year to 2009 @@ -2931,38 +2952,38 @@ Journal Downsides: omitting the year (from primary transaction dates, at least) makes your financial data less explicit, less portable, and less trust- - worthy in an audit. Such dates can get separated from their corre- - sponding Y directive, eg when evaluating a region of the journal in - your editor. A missing Y directive makes reports dependent on today's + worthy in an audit. Such dates can get separated from their corre- + sponding Y directive, eg when evaluating a region of the journal in + your editor. A missing Y directive makes reports dependent on today's date. Secondary dates A secondary date is written after the primary date, following an equals - sign: DATE1=DATE2. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is + sign: DATE1=DATE2. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is assumed. When running reports, the primary (left side) date is used by default, but with the --date2 flag (--aux-date or--effective also work, - for Ledger users), the secondary (right side) date will be used in- + for Ledger users), the secondary (right side) date will be used in- stead. - The meaning of secondary dates is up to you. Eg it could be "primary - is the bank's clearing date, secondary is the date the transaction was + The meaning of secondary dates is up to you. Eg it could be "primary + is the bank's clearing date, secondary is the date the transaction was initiated, if different". In practice, this feature usually adds confusion: - o You have to remember the primary and secondary dates' meaning, and + o You have to remember the primary and secondary dates' meaning, and follow that consistently. - o It splits your bookkeeping into two modes, and you have to remember + o It splits your bookkeeping into two modes, and you have to remember which mode is appropriate for a given report. - o Usually your balance assertions will work with only one of these + o Usually your balance assertions will work with only one of these modes. - o It makes your financial data more complicated, less portable, and + o It makes your financial data more complicated, less portable, and less clear in an audit. - o It interacts with every feature, creating an ongoing cost for imple- + o It interacts with every feature, creating an ongoing cost for imple- mentors. o It distracts new users and supporters. @@ -2970,38 +2991,38 @@ Journal o Posting dates are simpler and work better. So secondary dates are officially deprecated in hledger, remaining only - as a Ledger compatibility aid; we recommend using posting dates in- + as a Ledger compatibility aid; we recommend using posting dates in- stead. Star comments - Lines beginning with * (star/asterisk) are also comment lines. This + Lines beginning with * (star/asterisk) are also comment lines. This feature allows Emacs users to insert org headings in their journal, al- lowing them to fold/unfold/navigate it like an outline when viewed with org mode. - Downsides: another, unconventional comment syntax to learn. Decreases - your journal's portability. And switching to Emacs org mode just for - folding/unfolding meant losing the benefits of ledger mode; nowadays - you can add outshine mode to ledger mode to get folding without losing + Downsides: another, unconventional comment syntax to learn. Decreases + your journal's portability. And switching to Emacs org mode just for + folding/unfolding meant losing the benefits of ledger mode; nowadays + you can add outshine mode to ledger mode to get folding without losing ledger mode's features. Valuation expressions - Ledger allows a valuation function or value to be written in double + Ledger allows a valuation function or value to be written in double parentheses after an amount. hledger ignores these. Virtual postings A posting with parentheses around the account name, like (some:account) - 10, is called an unbalanced virtual posting. These postings do not - participate in transaction balancing. (And if you write them without - an amount, a zero amount is always inferred.) These can occasionally - be convenient for special circumstances, but they violate double entry - bookkeeping and make your data less portable across applications, so + 10, is called an unbalanced virtual posting. These postings do not + participate in transaction balancing. (And if you write them without + an amount, a zero amount is always inferred.) These can occasionally + be convenient for special circumstances, but they violate double entry + bookkeeping and make your data less portable across applications, so many people avoid using them at all. - A posting with brackets around the account name ([some:account]) is - called a balanced virtual posting. The balanced virtual postings in a + A posting with brackets around the account name ([some:account]) is + called a balanced virtual posting. The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must add up to zero, just like ordinary postings, but sepa- - rately from them. These are not part of double entry bookkeeping ei- + rately from them. These are not part of double entry bookkeeping ei- ther, but they are at least balanced. An example: 2022-01-01 buy food with cash, update budget envelope subaccounts, & something else @@ -3012,13 +3033,13 @@ Journal [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- (something:else) $5 ; <- this is not required to balance - Ordinary postings, whose account names are neither parenthesised nor - bracketed, are called real postings. You can exclude virtual postings + Ordinary postings, whose account names are neither parenthesised nor + bracketed, are called real postings. You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the -R/--real flag or a real:1 query. Other Ledger directives These other Ledger directives are currently accepted but ignored. This - allows hledger to read more Ledger files, but be aware that hledger's + allows hledger to read more Ledger files, but be aware that hledger's reports may differ from Ledger's if you use these. apply fixed COMM AMT @@ -3039,26 +3060,26 @@ Journal value EXPR --command-line-flags - See also https://hledger.org/ledger.html for a detailed hledger/Ledger + See also https://hledger.org/ledger.html for a detailed hledger/Ledger syntax comparison. Other cost/lot notations - A slight digression for Ledger and Beancount users. Ledger has a num- + A slight digression for Ledger and Beancount users. Ledger has a num- ber of cost/lot-related notations: o @ UNITCOST and @@ TOTALCOST o expresses a conversion rate, as in hledger - o when buying, also creates a lot than can be selected at selling + o when buying, also creates a lot than can be selected at selling time o (@) UNITCOST and (@@) TOTALCOST (virtual cost) - o like the above, but also means "this cost was exceptional, don't + o like the above, but also means "this cost was exceptional, don't use it when inferring market prices". - Currently, hledger treats the above like @ and @@; the parentheses are + Currently, hledger treats the above like @ and @@; the parentheses are ignored. o {=FIXEDUNITCOST} and {{=FIXEDTOTALCOST}} (fixed price) @@ -3068,10 +3089,10 @@ Journal o {UNITCOST} and {{TOTALCOST}} (lot price) - o can be used identically to @ UNITCOST and @@ TOTALCOST, also cre- + o can be used identically to @ UNITCOST and @@ TOTALCOST, also cre- ates a lot - o when selling, combined with @ ..., specifies an investment lot by + o when selling, combined with @ ..., specifies an investment lot by its cost basis; does not check if that lot is present o and related: [YYYY/MM/DD] (lot date) @@ -3086,7 +3107,7 @@ Journal o when selling, selects a lot by its note - Currently, hledger accepts any or all of the above in any order after + Currently, hledger accepts any or all of the above in any order after the posting amount, but ignores them. (This can break transaction bal- ancing.) @@ -3097,12 +3118,12 @@ Journal o expresses a cost without creating a lot, as in hledger o when buying (augmenting) or selling (reducing) a lot, combined with - {...}: documents the cost/selling price (not used for transaction + {...}: documents the cost/selling price (not used for transaction balancing) o {UNITCOST} and {{TOTALCOST}} - o when buying (augmenting), expresses the cost for transaction bal- + o when buying (augmenting), expresses the cost for transaction bal- ancing, and also creates a lot with this cost basis attached o when selling (reducing), @@ -3114,38 +3135,38 @@ Journal o expresses the selling price for transaction balancing - Currently, hledger accepts the {UNITCOST}/{{TOTALCOST}} notation but + Currently, hledger accepts the {UNITCOST}/{{TOTALCOST}} notation but ignores it. - o variations: {}, {YYYY-MM-DD}, {"LABEL"}, {UNITCOST, "LABEL"}, {UNIT- + o variations: {}, {YYYY-MM-DD}, {"LABEL"}, {UNITCOST, "LABEL"}, {UNIT- COST, YYYY-MM-DD, "LABEL"} etc. Currently, hledger rejects these. CSV - hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, - semicolon, or tab) containing dated records, automatically converting + hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, + semicolon, or tab) containing dated records, automatically converting each record into a transaction. (To learn about writing CSV, see CSV output.) - For best error messages when reading CSV/TSV/SSV files, make sure they + For best error messages when reading CSV/TSV/SSV files, make sure they have a corresponding .csv, .tsv or .ssv file extension or use a hledger file prefix (see File Extension below). Each CSV file must be described by a corresponding rules file. - This contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields lay- - out, date format etc.), how to construct hledger transactions from it, - and how to categorise transactions based on description or other at- + This contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields lay- + out, date format etc.), how to construct hledger transactions from it, + and how to categorise transactions based on description or other at- tributes. - By default, hledger expects this rules file to be named like the CSV - file, with an extra .rules extension added, in the same directory. Eg - when asked to read foo/FILE.csv, hledger looks for foo/FILE.csv.rules. + By default, hledger expects this rules file to be named like the CSV + file, with an extra .rules extension added, in the same directory. Eg + when asked to read foo/FILE.csv, hledger looks for foo/FILE.csv.rules. You can specify a different rules file with the --rules option. - At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, - and often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines + At minimum, the rules file must identify the date and amount fields, + and often it also specifies the date format and how many header lines there are. Here's a simple CSV file and a rules file for it: Date, Description, Id, Amount @@ -3162,56 +3183,56 @@ CSV income:unknown -10.23 There's an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org, and - more CSV rules examples below, and a larger collection at + more CSV rules examples below, and a larger collection at https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv. CSV rules cheatsheet The following kinds of rule can appear in the rules file, in any order. (Blank lines and lines beginning with # or ; or * are ignored.) - source optionally declare which file to read data + source optionally declare which file to read data from - separator declare the field separator, instead of rely- + separator declare the field separator, instead of rely- ing on file extension skip skip one or more header lines at start of file date-format declare how to parse CSV dates/date-times - timezone declare the time zone of ambiguous CSV + timezone declare the time zone of ambiguous CSV date-times - newest-first improve txn order when: there are multiple + newest-first improve txn order when: there are multiple records, newest first, all with the same date - intra-day-reversed improve txn order when: same-day txns are in + intra-day-reversed improve txn order when: same-day txns are in opposite order to the overall file - decimal-mark declare the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, + decimal-mark declare the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, when ambiguous - fields list name CSV fields for easy reference, and op- + fields list name CSV fields for easy reference, and op- tionally assign their values to hledger fields - Field assignment assign a CSV value or interpolated text value + Field assignment assign a CSV value or interpolated text value to a hledger field if block conditionally assign values to hledger fields, or skip a record or end (skip rest of file) if table conditionally assign values to hledger fields, using compact syntax - balance-type select which type of balance assertions/as- + balance-type select which type of balance assertions/as- signments to generate include inline another CSV rules file - Working with CSV tips can be found below, including How CSV rules are + Working with CSV tips can be found below, including How CSV rules are evaluated. source - If you tell hledger to read a csv file with -f foo.csv, it will look - for rules in foo.csv.rules. Or, you can tell it to read the rules - file, with -f foo.csv.rules, and it will look for data in foo.csv + If you tell hledger to read a csv file with -f foo.csv, it will look + for rules in foo.csv.rules. Or, you can tell it to read the rules + file, with -f foo.csv.rules, and it will look for data in foo.csv (since 1.30). - These are mostly equivalent, but the second method provides some extra - features. For one, the data file can be missing, without causing an - error; it is just considered empty. And, you can specify a different + These are mostly equivalent, but the second method provides some extra + features. For one, the data file can be missing, without causing an + error; it is just considered empty. And, you can specify a different data file by adding a "source" rule: source ./Checking1.csv - If you specify just a file name with no path, hledger will look for it + If you specify just a file name with no path, hledger will look for it in your system's downloads directory (~/Downloads, currently): source Checking1.csv @@ -3224,9 +3245,9 @@ CSV See also "Working with CSV > Reading files specified by rule". 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 , @@ -3239,32 +3260,32 @@ CSV separator TAB - If the input file has a .csv, .ssv or .tsv file extension (or a csv:, + If the input file has a .csv, .ssv or .tsv file extension (or a csv:, ssv:, tsv: prefix), the appropriate separator will be inferred automat- ically, and you won't need this rule. skip skip N - The word skip followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells - hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines at the start of the input - data. You'll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. - Note, empty and blank lines are skipped automatically, so you don't + The word skip followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells + hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines at the start of the input + data. You'll need this whenever your CSV data contains header lines. + Note, empty and blank lines are skipped automatically, so you don't need to count those. - skip has a second meaning: it can be used inside if blocks (described - below), to skip one or more records whenever the condition is true. + skip has a second meaning: it can be used inside if blocks (described + below), to skip one or more records whenever the condition is true. Records skipped in this way are ignored, except they are still required to be valid CSV. date-format date-format DATEFMT - This is a helper for the date (and date2) fields. If your CSV dates - are not formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, you'll - need to add a date-format rule describing them with a strptime-style - date parsing pattern - see https://hackage.haskell.org/pack- - age/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. The pattern must + This is a helper for the date (and date2) fields. If your CSV dates + are not formatted like YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.MM.DD, you'll + need to add a date-format rule describing them with a strptime-style + date parsing pattern - see https://hackage.haskell.org/pack- + age/time/docs/Data-Time-Format.html#v:formatTime. The pattern must parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples: # MM/DD/YY @@ -3284,33 +3305,33 @@ CSV timezone timezone TIMEZONE - When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone + When CSV contains date-times that are implicitly in some time zone other than yours, but containing no explicit time zone information, you - can use this rule to declare the CSV's native time zone, which helps + can use this rule to declare the CSV's native time zone, which helps prevent off-by-one dates. - When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don't - need this rule; instead, use %Z in date-format (or %z, %EZ, %Ez; see + When the CSV date-times do contain time zone information, you don't + need this rule; instead, use %Z in date-format (or %z, %EZ, %Ez; see the formatTime link above). In either of these cases, hledger will do a time-zone-aware conversion, localising the CSV date-times to your current system time zone. If you prefer to localise to some other time zone, eg for reproducibility, you - can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with the TZ environment + can (on unix at least) set the output timezone with the TZ environment variable, eg: $ TZ=-1000 hledger print -f foo.csv # or TZ=-1000 hledger import foo.csv - timezone currently does not understand timezone names, except "UTC", - "GMT", "EST", "EDT", "CST", "CDT", "MST", "MDT", "PST", or "PDT". For + timezone currently does not understand timezone names, except "UTC", + "GMT", "EST", "EDT", "CST", "CDT", "MST", "MDT", "PST", or "PDT". For others, use numeric format: +HHMM or -HHMM. newest-first hledger tries to ensure that the generated transactions will be ordered chronologically, including same-day transactions. Usually it can - auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. But if it encounters CSV + auto-detect how the CSV records are ordered. But if it encounters CSV where all records are on the same date, it assumes that the records are - oldest first. If in fact the CSV's records are normally newest first, + oldest first. If in fact the CSV's records are normally newest first, like: 2022-10-01, txn 3... @@ -3324,9 +3345,9 @@ CSV newest-first intra-day-reversed - If CSV records within a single day are ordered opposite to the overall - record order, you can add the intra-day-reversed rule to improve the - order of journal entries. Eg, here the overall record order is newest + If CSV records within a single day are ordered opposite to the overall + record order, you can add the intra-day-reversed rule to improve the + order of journal entries. Eg, here the overall record order is newest first, but same-day records are oldest first: 2022-10-02, txn 3... @@ -3344,10 +3365,10 @@ CSV decimal-mark , - hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal mark - when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). However if any numbers in the CSV - contain digit group marks, such as thousand-separating commas, you - should declare the decimal mark explicitly with this rule, to avoid + hledger automatically accepts either period or comma as a decimal mark + when parsing numbers (cf Amounts). However if any numbers in the CSV + contain digit group marks, such as thousand-separating commas, you + should declare the decimal mark explicitly with this rule, to avoid misparsed numbers. fields list @@ -3356,17 +3377,17 @@ CSV A fields list (the word fields followed by comma-separated field names) is optional, but convenient. It does two things: - 1. It names the CSV field in each column. This can be convenient if - you are referencing them in other rules, so you can say %SomeField + 1. It names the CSV field in each column. This can be convenient if + you are referencing them in other rules, so you can say %SomeField instead of remembering %13. - 2. Whenever you use one of the special hledger field names (described - below), it assigns the CSV value in this position to that hledger - field. This is the quickest way to populate hledger's fields and + 2. Whenever you use one of the special hledger field names (described + below), it assigns the CSV value in this position to that hledger + field. This is the quickest way to populate hledger's fields and build a transaction. - Here's an example that says "use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as the - transaction's date, description and amount; name the last two fields + Here's an example that says "use the 1st, 2nd and 4th fields as the + transaction's date, description and amount; name the last two fields for later reference; and ignore the others": fields date, description, , amount, , , somefield, anotherfield @@ -3376,35 +3397,35 @@ CSV o There must be least two items in the list (at least one comma). - o Field names may not contain spaces. Spaces before/after field names + o Field names may not contain spaces. Spaces before/after field names are optional. o Field names may contain _ (underscore) or - (hyphen). - o Fields you don't care about can be given a dummy name or an empty + o Fields you don't care about can be given a dummy name or an empty name. - If the CSV contains column headings, it's convenient to use these for - your field names, suitably modified (eg lower-cased with spaces re- + If the CSV contains column headings, it's convenient to use these for + your field names, suitably modified (eg lower-cased with spaces re- placed by underscores). - Sometimes you may want to alter a CSV field name to avoid assigning to - a hledger field with the same name. Eg you could call the CSV's "bal- - ance" field balance_ to avoid directly setting hledger's balance field + Sometimes you may want to alter a CSV field name to avoid assigning to + a hledger field with the same name. Eg you could call the CSV's "bal- + ance" field balance_ to avoid directly setting hledger's balance field (and generating a balance assertion). Field assignment HLEDGERFIELD FIELDVALUE - Field assignments are the more flexible way to assign CSV values to + Field assignments are the more flexible way to assign CSV values to hledger fields. They can be used instead of or in addition to a fields list (see above). - To assign a value to a hledger field, write the field name (any of the - standard hledger field/pseudo-field names, defined below), a space, - followed by a text value on the same line. This text value may inter- - polate CSV fields, referenced either by their 1-based position in the - CSV record (%N) or by the name they were given in the fields list + To assign a value to a hledger field, write the field name (any of the + standard hledger field/pseudo-field names, defined below), a space, + followed by a text value on the same line. This text value may inter- + polate CSV fields, referenced either by their 1-based position in the + CSV record (%N) or by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSVFIELD), and regular expression match groups (\N). Some examples: @@ -3417,26 +3438,26 @@ CSV Tips: - o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " be- + o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " be- comes 1 when interpolated) (#1051). - o Interpolations always refer to a CSV field - you can't interpolate a + o Interpolations always refer to a CSV field - you can't interpolate a hledger field. (See Referencing other fields below). Field names - Note the two kinds of field names mentioned here, and used only in + Note the two kinds of field names mentioned here, and used only in hledger CSV rules files: - 1. CSV field names (CSVFIELD in these docs): you can optionally name - the CSV columns for easy reference (since hledger doesn't yet auto- + 1. CSV field names (CSVFIELD in these docs): you can optionally name + the CSV columns for easy reference (since hledger doesn't yet auto- matically recognise column headings in a CSV file), by writing arbi- trary names in a fields list, eg: fields When, What, Some_Id, Net, Total, Foo, Bar - 2. Special hledger field names (HLEDGERFIELD in these docs): you must - set at least some of these to generate the hledger transaction from - a CSV record, by writing them as the left hand side of a field as- + 2. Special hledger field names (HLEDGERFIELD in these docs): you must + set at least some of these to generate the hledger transaction from + a CSV record, by writing them as the left hand side of a field as- signment, eg: date %When @@ -3451,7 +3472,7 @@ CSV currency $ comment %Foo %Bar - Here are all the special hledger field names available, and what hap- + Here are all the special hledger field names available, and what hap- pens when you assign values to them: date field @@ -3474,7 +3495,7 @@ CSV commentN, where N is a number, sets the Nth posting's comment. - You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal \n in the code. + You can assign multi-line comments by writing literal \n in the code. A comment starting with \n will begin on a new line. Comments can contain tags, as usual. @@ -3486,99 +3507,99 @@ CSV Assigning to accountN, where N is 1 to 99, sets the account name of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to be generated. - Most often there are two postings, so you'll want to set account1 and - account2. Typically account1 is associated with the CSV file, and is - set once with a top-level assignment, while account2 is set based on + Most often there are two postings, so you'll want to set account1 and + account2. Typically account1 is associated with the CSV file, and is + set once with a top-level assignment, while account2 is set based on each transaction's description, in conditional rules. - If a posting's account name is left unset but its amount is set (see - below), a default account name will be chosen (like "expenses:unknown" + If a posting's account name is left unset but its amount is set (see + below), a default account name will be chosen (like "expenses:unknown" or "income:unknown"). amount field - There are several ways to set posting amounts from CSV, useful in dif- + There are several ways to set posting amounts from CSV, useful in dif- ferent situations. - 1. amount is the oldest and simplest. Assigning to this sets the + 1. amount is the oldest and simplest. Assigning to this sets the amount of the first and second postings. In the second posting, the - amount will be negated; also, if it has a cost attached, it will be + amount will be negated; also, if it has a cost attached, it will be converted to cost. - 2. amount-in and amount-out work exactly like the above, but should be - used when the CSV has two amount fields (such as "Debit" and + 2. amount-in and amount-out work exactly like the above, but should be + used when the CSV has two amount fields (such as "Debit" and "Credit", or "Inflow" and "Outflow"). Whichever field has a - non-zero value will be used as the amount of the first and second + non-zero value will be used as the amount of the first and second postings. Here are some tips to avoid confusion: - o It's not "amount-in for posting 1 and amount-out for posting 2", - it is "extract a single amount from the amount-in or amount-out + o It's not "amount-in for posting 1 and amount-out for posting 2", + it is "extract a single amount from the amount-in or amount-out field, and use that for posting 1 and (negated) for posting 2". - o Don't use both amount and amount-in/amount-out in the same rules + o Don't use both amount and amount-in/amount-out in the same rules file; choose based on whether the amount is in a single CSV field or spread across two fields. - o In each record, at most one of the two CSV fields should contain - a non-zero amount; the other field must contain a zero or noth- + o In each record, at most one of the two CSV fields should contain + a non-zero amount; the other field must contain a zero or noth- ing. - o hledger assumes both CSV fields contain unsigned numbers, and it + o hledger assumes both CSV fields contain unsigned numbers, and it automatically negates the amount-out values. - o If the data doesn't fit these requirements, you'll probably need + o If the data doesn't fit these requirements, you'll probably need an if rule (see below). 3. amountN (where N is a number from 1 to 99) sets the amount of only a - single posting: the Nth posting in the transaction. You'll usually - need at least two such assignments to make a balanced transaction. + single posting: the Nth posting in the transaction. You'll usually + need at least two such assignments to make a balanced transaction. You can also generate more than two postings, to represent more com- - plex transactions. The posting numbers don't have to be consecu- - tive; with if rules, higher posting numbers can be useful to ensure + plex transactions. The posting numbers don't have to be consecu- + tive; with if rules, higher posting numbers can be useful to ensure a certain order of postings. - 4. amountN-in and amountN-out work exactly like the above, but should - be used when the CSV has two amount fields. This is analogous to + 4. amountN-in and amountN-out work exactly like the above, but should + be used when the CSV has two amount fields. This is analogous to amount-in and amount-out, and those tips also apply here. 5. Remember that a fields list can also do assignments. So in a fields - list if you name a CSV field "amount", that counts as assigning to - amount. (If you don't want that, call it something else in the + list if you name a CSV field "amount", that counts as assigning to + amount. (If you don't want that, call it something else in the fields list, like "amount_".) - 6. The above don't handle every situation; if you need more flexibil- + 6. The above don't handle every situation; if you need more flexibil- ity, use an if rule to set amounts conditionally. See "Working with - CSV > Setting amounts" below for more on this and on amount-setting + CSV > Setting amounts" below for more on this and on amount-setting generally. currency field - currency sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all postings' - amounts. You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency + currency sets a currency symbol, to be prepended to all postings' + amounts. You can use this if the CSV amounts do not have a currency symbol, eg if it is in a separate column. currencyN prepends a currency symbol to just the Nth posting's amount. balance field - balanceN sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting amount is + balanceN sets a balance assertion amount (or if the posting amount is left empty, a balance assignment) on posting N. balance is a compatibility spelling for hledger <1.17; it is equivalent to balance1. - You can adjust the type of assertion/assignment with the balance-type + You can adjust the type of assertion/assignment with the balance-type rule (see below). - See the Working with CSV tips below for more about setting amounts and + See the Working with CSV tips below for more about setting amounts and currency. if block - Rules can be applied conditionally, depending on patterns in the CSV - data. This allows flexibility; in particular, it is how you can cate- - gorise transactions, selecting an appropriate account name based on - their description (for example). There are two ways to write condi- - tional rules: "if blocks", described here, and "if tables", described + Rules can be applied conditionally, depending on patterns in the CSV + data. This allows flexibility; in particular, it is how you can cate- + gorise transactions, selecting an appropriate account name based on + their description (for example). There are two ways to write condi- + tional rules: "if blocks", described here, and "if tables", described below. - An if block is the word if and one or more "matcher" expressions (can + An if block is the word if and one or more "matcher" expressions (can be a word or phrase), one per line, starting either on the same or next line; followed by one or more indented rules. Eg, @@ -3594,11 +3615,11 @@ CSV RULE RULE - If any of the matchers succeeds, all of the indented rules will be ap- - plied. They are usually field assignments, but the following special + If any of the matchers succeeds, all of the indented rules will be ap- + plied. They are usually field assignments, but the following special rules may also be used within an if block: - o skip - skips the matched CSV record (generating no transaction from + o skip - skips the matched CSV record (generating no transaction from it) o end - skips the rest of the current CSV file. @@ -3622,51 +3643,54 @@ CSV end Matchers - There are two kinds: + There are two kinds of matcher: - 1. A record matcher is a word or single-line text fragment or regular - expression (REGEX), which hledger will try to match case-insensi- - tively anywhere within the CSV record. - Eg: whole foods + 1. A whole record matcher is simplest: it is just a word, single-line + text fragment, or other regular expression, which hledger will try + to match case-insensitively anywhere within the CSV record. + Eg: whole foods. - 2. A field matcher is preceded with a percent sign and CSV field name - (%CSVFIELD REGEX). hledger will try to match these just within the - named CSV field. - Eg: %date 2023 + 2. A field matcher has a percent-prefixed CSV field number or name be- + fore the pattern. + Eg: %3 whole foods or %description whole foods. + hledger will try to match the pattern just within the named CSV field. - The regular expression is (as usual in hledger) a POSIX extended regu- - lar expression, that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, - \>), and nothing else. If you have trouble, see "Regular expressions" - in the hledger manual (https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expres- + When using these, there's two things to be aware of: + + 1. Whole record matchers don't see the exact original record; they see + a reconstruction of it, in which values are comma-separated, and + quotes enclosing values and whitespace outside those quotes are re- + moved. + Eg when reading an SSV record like: 2023-01-01 ; "Acme, Inc. " ; 1,000 + the whole record matcher sees instead: 2023-01-01,Acme, Inc. ,1,000 + + 2. Field matchers expect either a CSV field number, or a CSV field name + declared with fields. (Don't use a hledger field name here, unless + it is also a CSV field name.) A non-CSV field name will cause the + matcher to match against "" (the empty string), and does not raise + an error, allowing easier reuse of common rules with different CSV + files. + + You can also prefix a matcher with ! (and optional space) to negate it. + Eg ! whole foods, ! %3 whole foods, !%description whole foods will + match if "whole foods" is NOT present. Added in 1.32. + + The pattern is, as usual in hledger, a POSIX extended regular expres- + sion that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>) and noth- + ing else. If you have trouble with it, see "Regular expressions" in + the hledger manual (https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expres- sions). - What matchers match - With record matchers, it's important to know that the record matched is - not the original CSV record, but a modified one: separators will be - converted to commas, and enclosing double quotes (but not enclosing - whitespace) are removed. So for example, when reading an SSV file, if - the original record was: + Multiple matchers + When an if block has multiple matchers, each on its own line, - 2023-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000 + o By default they are OR'd (any of them can match). - the regex would see, and try to match, this modified record text: + o Matcher lines beginning with & (and optional space) are AND'ed with + the matcher above (all in the AND'ed group must match). - 2023-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000 - - Combining matchers - When an if block has multiple matchers, they are combined as follows: - - o By default they are OR'd (any of them can match) - - o When a matcher is preceded by ampersand (&, at the start of the line) - it will be AND'ed with the previous matcher (all in the AND'ed group - must match) - - o Added in 1.32 When a matcher is preceded by an exclamation mark (!), - it is negated (it must not match). - - Note currently there is a limitation: you can't use both & and ! on the - same line (you can't AND a negated matcher). + (Since 1.41:) You can use a negated ! matcher on a & line, meaning AND + NOT. Match groups Added in 1.32 @@ -4976,23 +5000,53 @@ Depth effect as a depth: query argument: depth:2, --depth=2 or -2 are equiva- lent. + In place of a single number which limits the depth for all accounts, + you can also provide separate depth limits for different accounts using + regular expressions (since 1.41). + + For example, --depth assets=2 (or, equivalently: depth:assets=2) will + collapse accounts matching the regular expression assets to depth 2. + So assets:bank:savings would be collapsed to assets:bank, while liabil- + ities:bank:credit card would not be affected. This can be combined + with a flat depth to collapse other accounts not matching the regular + expression, so --depth assets=2 --depth 1 would collapse as- + sets:bank:savings to assets:bank and liabilities:bank:credit card to + liabilities. + + You can supply multiple depth arguments and they will all be applied, + so --depth assets=2 --depth liabilities=3 --depth 1 would collapse: + + o accounts matching assets to depth 2, + + o accounts matching liabilities to depth 3, + + o all other accounts to depth 1. + + If an account is matched by more than one regular expression depth ar- + gument then the more specific one will used. For example, if --depth + assets=1 --depth assets:bank:savings=2 is provided, then as- + sets:bank:savings will be collapsed to depth 2 rather than depth 1. + This is because assets:bank:savings matches at level 3 in the account + name, while assets matches at level 1. The same would be true with the + argument --depth assets=1 --depth savings=2. + Queries One of hledger's strengths is being able to quickly report on a precise - subset of your data. Most hledger commands accept query arguments, to + subset of your data. Most hledger commands accept query arguments, to restrict their scope. Multiple query terms can be provided to build up a more complex query. - o By default, a query term is interpreted as a case-insensitive sub- + o By default, a query term is interpreted as a case-insensitive sub- string pattern for matching account names: car:fuel dining groceries - o Patterns containing spaces or other special characters must be en- + o Patterns containing spaces or other special characters must be en- closed in single or double quotes: 'personal care' - o These patterns are actually regular expressions, so you can add reg- - exp metacharacters for more precision (see "Regular expressions" + o These patterns are actually regular expressions, so you can add reg- + exp metacharacters for more precision (see "Regular expressions" above for details): '^expenses\b' @@ -5013,106 +5067,134 @@ Queries not:status:'*' not:desc:'opening|closing' not:cur:USD - o Terms with different types are AND-ed, terms with the same type are - OR-ed (mostly; see "Combining query terms" below). The following + o Terms with different types are AND-ed, terms with the same type are + OR-ed (mostly; see "Combining query terms" below). The following query: date:2022 desc:amazon desc:amzn is interpreted as: - date is in 2022 AND ( transaction description contains "amazon" OR + date is in 2022 AND ( transaction description contains "amazon" OR "amzn" ) Query types - Here are the types of query term available. Remember these can also be - prefixed with not: to convert them into a negative match. + Here are the types of query term available. - acct:REGEX or REGEX - Match account names containing this case insensitive regular expres- - sion. This is the default query type, so we usually don't bother writ- - ing the "acct:" prefix. + acct: query + acct:REGEX, or just REGEX + Match account names containing this case insensitive regular expres- + sion. + This is the default query type, so we usually don't bother writing the + "acct:" prefix. - amt:N, amt:N, amt:>=N + amt: query + amt:N, amt:'N', amt:'>=N' Match postings with a single-commodity amount equal to, less than, or greater than N. (Postings with multi-commodity amounts are not tested and will always match.) The comparison has two modes: if N is preceded by a + or - sign (or is 0), the two signed numbers are compared. Oth- - erwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. + erwise, the absolute magnitudes are compared, ignoring sign. amt: + needs quotes to hide the less than/greater than sign from the command + line shell. + code: query code:REGEX Match by transaction code (eg check number). + cur: query cur:REGEX Match postings or transactions including any amounts whose cur- - rency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (For a partial - match, use .*REGEX.*). Note, to match special characters which are - regex-significant, you need to escape them with \. And for characters - which are significant to your shell you may need one more level of es- - caping. So eg to match the dollar sign: - hledger print cur:\\$. + rency/commodity symbol is fully matched by REGEX. (Contrary to + hledger's usual infix matching. To do infix matching, write + .*REGEX.*.) Note, to match special characters which are regex-signifi- + cant, you need to escape them with \. And for characters which are + significant to your shell you will usually need one more level of es- + caping. Eg to match the dollar sign: cur:\\$ or cur:'\$' + desc: query desc:REGEX Match transaction descriptions. + date: query date:PERIODEXPR Match dates (or with the --date2 flag, secondary dates) within the specified period. PERIODEXPR is a period expression with no report in- terval. Examples: date:2016, date:thismonth, date:2/1-2/15, date:2021-07-27..nextquarter. + date2: query date2:PERIODEXPR - Match secondary dates within the specified period (independent of the - --date2 flag). + If you use secondary dates: this matches secondary dates within the + specified period. It is not affected by the --date2 flag. - depth:N + depth: query + depth:[REGEXP=]N Match (or display, depending on command) accounts at or above this - depth. + depth, optionally only for accounts matching a provided regular expres- + sion. See Depth for detailed rules. - expr:"TERM AND NOT (TERM OR TERM)" (eg) - Match with a boolean combination of queries (which must be enclosed in - quotes). See Combining query terms below. + expr: query + expr:'QUERYEXPR' + expr lets you write more complicated query expressions with AND, OR, + NOT, and parentheses. + Eg: expr:'date:lastmonth and not (food or rent)' + The expression should be enclosed in quotes. See Combining query terms + below. + not: query + not:QUERYTERM + You can prepend not: to any other query term to negate the match. + Eg: not:equity, not:desc:apple + (Also, a trick: not:not:... can sometimes solve query problems conve- + niently..) + + note: query note:REGEX Match transaction notes (the part of the description right of |, or the whole description if there's no |). + payee: query payee:REGEX - Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left + Match transaction payee/payer names (the part of the description left of |, or the whole description if there's no |). + real: query real:, real:0 Match real or virtual postings respectively. + status: query status:, status:!, status:* Match unmarked, pending, or cleared transactions respectively. + type: query type:TYPECODES - Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). TYPE- - CODES is one or more of the single-letter account type codes ALERXCV, + Match by account type (see Declaring accounts > Account types). TYPE- + CODES is one or more of the single-letter account type codes ALERXCV, case insensitive. Note type:A and type:E will also match their respec- - tive subtypes C (Cash) and V (Conversion). Certain kinds of account - alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts > Aliases and + tive subtypes C (Cash) and V (Conversion). Certain kinds of account + alias can disrupt account types, see Rewriting accounts > Aliases and account types. - tag:REGEX[=REGEX] - Match by tag name, and optionally also by tag value. (To match only by - value, use tag:.=REGEX.) + tag: query + tag:NAMEREGEX[=VALREGEX] + Match by tag name, and optionally also by tag value. Note: - When querying by tag, note that: + o Both regular expressions do infix matching. If you need a complete + match, use ^ and $. + Eg: tag:'^fullname$', tag:'^fullname$=^fullvalue$ - o Accounts also inherit the tags of their parent accounts + o To match values, ignoring names, do tag:.=VALREGEX + + o Accounts also inherit the tags of their parent accounts. o Postings also inherit the tags of their account and their transaction + . o Transactions also acquire the tags of their postings. - (inacct:ACCTNAME - A special query term used automatically in hledger-web only: tells - hledger-web to show the transaction register for an account.) - Combining query terms - When given multiple space-separated query terms, most commands select + When given multiple space-separated query terms, most commands select things which match: o any of the description terms AND @@ -5133,8 +5215,8 @@ Queries o match all the other terms. - We also support more complex boolean queries with the expr: prefix. - This allows one to combine query terms using and, or, not keywords + We also support more complex boolean queries with the expr: prefix. + This allows one to combine query terms using and, or, not keywords (case insensitive), and to group them by enclosing in parentheses. Some examples: @@ -5147,45 +5229,45 @@ Queries expr:"desc:cool and tag:A" (expr:"desc:cool tag:A" is equivalent) - o Match things which either do not reference the 'expenses:food' ac- + o Match things which either do not reference the 'expenses:food' ac- count, or do have the 'A' tag: expr:"not expenses:food or tag:A" - o Match things which either do not reference the 'expenses:food' ac- - count, or which reference the 'expenses:drink' account and also have + o Match things which either do not reference the 'expenses:food' ac- + count, or which reference the 'expenses:drink' account and also have the 'A' tag: expr:"expenses:food or (expenses:drink and tag:A)" - expr: has a restriction: date: queries may not be used inside or ex- + expr: has a restriction: date: queries may not be used inside or ex- pressions. That would allow disjoint report periods or disjoint result sets, with unclear semantics for our reports. Queries and command options - Some queries can also be expressed as command-line options: depth:2 is + Some queries can also be expressed as command-line options: depth:2 is equivalent to --depth 2, date:2023 is equivalent to -p 2023, etc. When - you mix command options and query arguments, generally the resulting + you mix command options and query arguments, generally the resulting query is their intersection. Queries and account aliases - When account names are rewritten with --alias or alias, acct: will + When account names are rewritten with --alias or alias, acct: will match either the old or the new account name. Queries and valuation - When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value re- - ports, cur: and amt: match the old commodity symbol and the old amount + When amounts are converted to other commodities in cost or value re- + ports, cur: and amt: match the old commodity symbol and the old amount quantity, not the new ones. (Except in hledger 1.22, #1625.) Pivoting - Normally, hledger groups and sums amounts within each account. The - --pivot FIELD option substitutes some other transaction field for ac- - count names, causing amounts to be grouped and summed by that field's - value instead. FIELD can be any of the transaction fields acct, sta- - tus, code, desc, payee, note, or a tag name. When pivoting on a tag - and a posting has multiple values of that tag, only the first value is - displayed. Values containing colon:separated:parts will be displayed - hierarchically, like account names. Multiple, colon-delimited fields + Normally, hledger groups and sums amounts within each account. The + --pivot FIELD option substitutes some other transaction field for ac- + count names, causing amounts to be grouped and summed by that field's + value instead. FIELD can be any of the transaction fields acct, sta- + tus, code, desc, payee, note, or a tag name. When pivoting on a tag + and a posting has multiple values of that tag, only the first value is + displayed. Values containing colon:separated:parts will be displayed + hierarchically, like account names. Multiple, colon-delimited fields can be pivoted simultaneously, generating a hierarchical account name. Some examples: @@ -5217,7 +5299,7 @@ Pivoting -------------------- -2 EUR - Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted "account + Another way (the acct: query matches against the pivoted "account name"): $ hledger balance --pivot member acct:. @@ -5233,78 +5315,78 @@ Pivoting -2 EUR Generating data - hledger can enrich the data provided to it, or generate new data, in a + hledger can enrich the data provided to it, or generate new data, in a number of ways. Mostly, this is done only if you request it: - o Missing amounts or missing costs in transactions are inferred auto- + o Missing amounts or missing costs in transactions are inferred auto- matically when possible. - o The --infer-equity flag infers missing conversion equity postings + o The --infer-equity flag infers missing conversion equity postings from @/@@ costs. - o The --infer-costs flag infers missing costs from conversion equity + o The --infer-costs flag infers missing costs from conversion equity postings. o The --infer-market-prices flag infers P price directives from costs. - o The --auto flag adds extra postings to transactions matched by auto + o The --auto flag adds extra postings to transactions matched by auto posting rules. - o The --forecast option generates transactions from periodic transac- + o The --forecast option generates transactions from periodic transac- tion rules. - o The balance --budget report infers budget goals from periodic trans- + o The balance --budget report infers budget goals from periodic trans- action rules. - o Commands like close, rewrite, and hledger-interest generate transac- + o Commands like close, rewrite, and hledger-interest generate transac- tions or postings. - o CSV data is converted to transactions by applying CSV conversion + o CSV data is converted to transactions by applying CSV conversion rules.. etc. - Such generated data is temporary, existing only at report time. You - can convert it to permanent recorded data by, eg, capturing the output - of hledger print and saving it in your journal file. This can some- + Such generated data is temporary, existing only at report time. You + can convert it to permanent recorded data by, eg, capturing the output + of hledger print and saving it in your journal file. This can some- times be useful as a data entry aid. - If you are curious what data is being generated and why, run hledger - print -x --verbose-tags. -x/--explicit shows inferred amounts and - --verbose-tags adds tags like generated-transaction (from periodic + If you are curious what data is being generated and why, run hledger + print -x --verbose-tags. -x/--explicit shows inferred amounts and + --verbose-tags adds tags like generated-transaction (from periodic rules) and generated-posting, modified (from auto posting rules). Sim- - ilar hidden tags (with an underscore prefix) are always present, also, - so you can always match such data with queries like tag:generated or + ilar hidden tags (with an underscore prefix) are always present, also, + so you can always match such data with queries like tag:generated or tag:modified. Forecasting - Forecasting, or speculative future reporting, can be useful for esti- + Forecasting, or speculative future reporting, can be useful for esti- mating future balances, or for exploring different future scenarios. The simplest and most flexible way to do it with hledger is to manually record a bunch of future-dated transactions. You could keep these in a - separate future.journal and include that with -f only when you want to + separate future.journal and include that with -f only when you want to see them. --forecast - There is another way: with the --forecast option, hledger can generate - temporary "forecast transactions" for reporting purposes, according to - periodic transaction rules defined in the journal. Each rule can gen- - erate multiple recurring transactions, so by changing one rule you can + There is another way: with the --forecast option, hledger can generate + temporary "forecast transactions" for reporting purposes, according to + periodic transaction rules defined in the journal. Each rule can gen- + erate multiple recurring transactions, so by changing one rule you can change many forecasted transactions. - Forecast transactions usually start after ordinary transactions end. + Forecast transactions usually start after ordinary transactions end. By default, they begin after your latest-dated ordinary transaction, or - today, whichever is later, and they end six months from today. (The + today, whichever is later, and they end six months from today. (The exact rules are a little more complicated, and are given below.) This is the "forecast period", which need not be the same as the report - period. You can override it - eg to forecast farther into the future, + period. You can override it - eg to forecast farther into the future, or to force forecast transactions to overlap your ordinary transactions - - by giving the --forecast option a period expression argument, like - --forecast=..2099 or --forecast=2023-02-15... Note that the = is re- + - by giving the --forecast option a period expression argument, like + --forecast=..2099 or --forecast=2023-02-15... Note that the = is re- quired. Inspecting forecast transactions - print is the best command for inspecting and troubleshooting forecast + print is the best command for inspecting and troubleshooting forecast transactions. Eg: ~ monthly from 2022-12-20 rent @@ -5338,7 +5420,7 @@ Forecasting expenses:rent $1000 Here there are no ordinary transactions, so the forecasted transactions - begin on the first occurrence after today's date. (You won't normally + begin on the first occurrence after today's date. (You won't normally use --today; it's just to make these examples reproducible.) Forecast reports @@ -5362,19 +5444,19 @@ Forecasting || $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 $1000 Forecast tags - Forecast transactions generated by --forecast have a hidden tag, _gen- - erated-transaction. So if you ever need to match forecast transac- + Forecast transactions generated by --forecast have a hidden tag, _gen- + erated-transaction. So if you ever need to match forecast transac- tions, you could use tag:_generated-transaction (or just tag:generated) in a query. - For troubleshooting, you can add the --verbose-tags flag. Then, visi- + For troubleshooting, you can add the --verbose-tags flag. Then, visi- ble generated-transaction tags will be added also, so you can view them - with the print command. Their value indicates which periodic rule was + with the print command. Their value indicates which periodic rule was responsible. Forecast period, in detail Forecast start/end dates are chosen so as to do something useful by de- - fault in almost all situations, while also being flexible. Here are + fault in almost all situations, while also being flexible. Here are (with luck) the exact rules, to help with troubleshooting: The forecast period starts on: @@ -5406,7 +5488,7 @@ Forecasting o otherwise: 180 days (~6 months) from today. Forecast troubleshooting - When --forecast is not doing what you expect, one of these tips should + When --forecast is not doing what you expect, one of these tips should help: o Remember to use the --forecast option. @@ -5416,22 +5498,22 @@ Forecasting o Test with print --forecast. - o Check for typos or too-restrictive start/end dates in your periodic + o Check for typos or too-restrictive start/end dates in your periodic transaction rule. - o Leave at least 2 spaces between the rule's period expression and de- + o Leave at least 2 spaces between the rule's period expression and de- scription fields. - o Check for future-dated ordinary transactions suppressing forecasted + o Check for future-dated ordinary transactions suppressing forecasted transactions. o Try setting explicit report start and/or end dates with -b, -e, -p or date: - o Try adding the -E flag to encourage display of empty periods/zero + o Try adding the -E flag to encourage display of empty periods/zero transactions. - o Try setting explicit forecast start and/or end dates with --fore- + o Try setting explicit forecast start and/or end dates with --fore- cast=START..END o Consult Forecast period, in detail, above. @@ -5439,13 +5521,13 @@ Forecasting o Check inside the engine: add --debug=2 (eg). Budgeting - With the balance command's --budget report, each periodic transaction - rule generates recurring budget goals in specified accounts, and goals - and actual performance can be compared. See the balance command's doc + With the balance command's --budget report, each periodic transaction + rule generates recurring budget goals in specified accounts, and goals + and actual performance can be compared. See the balance command's doc below. - You can generate budget goals and forecast transactions at the same - time, from the same or different periodic transaction rules: hledger + You can generate budget goals and forecast transactions at the same + time, from the same or different periodic transaction rules: hledger bal -M --budget --forecast ... See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. @@ -5453,17 +5535,17 @@ Budgeting Amount formatting Commodity display style For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display - style (symbol placement, decimal mark and digit group marks, number of + style (symbol placement, decimal mark and digit group marks, number of decimal digits) to use in most reports. This is inferred as follows: - First, if there's a D directive declaring a default commodity, that - commodity symbol and amount format is applied to all no-symbol amounts + First, if there's a D directive declaring a default commodity, that + commodity symbol and amount format is applied to all no-symbol amounts in the journal. - Then each commodity's display style is determined from its commodity - directive. We recommend always declaring commodities with commodity + Then each commodity's display style is determined from its commodity + directive. We recommend always declaring commodities with commodity directives, since they help ensure consistent display styles and preci- - sions, and bring other benefits such as error checking for commodity + sions, and bring other benefits such as error checking for commodity symbols. Here's an example: # Set display styles (and decimal marks, for parsing, if there is no decimal-mark directive) @@ -5473,9 +5555,9 @@ Amount formatting commodity INR 9,99,99,999.00 commodity 1 000 000.9455 - But for convenience, if a commodity directive is not present, hledger - infers a commodity's display styles from its amounts as they are writ- - ten in the journal (excluding cost amounts and amounts in periodic + But for convenience, if a commodity directive is not present, hledger + infers a commodity's display styles from its amounts as they are writ- + ten in the journal (excluding cost amounts and amounts in periodic transaction rules or auto posting rules). It uses o the symbol placement and decimal mark of the first amount seen @@ -5484,7 +5566,7 @@ Amount formatting o and the maximum number of decimal digits seen across all amounts. - And as fallback if no applicable amounts are found, it would use a de- + And as fallback if no applicable amounts are found, it would use a de- fault style, like $1000.00 (symbol on the left with no space, period as decimal mark, and two decimal digits). @@ -5493,16 +5575,16 @@ Amount formatting Rounding Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal - places. They are displayed with their original journal precisions by - print and print-like reports, and rounded to their display precision + places. They are displayed with their original journal precisions by + print and print-like reports, and rounded to their display precision (the number of decimal digits specified by the commodity display style) - by other reports. When rounding, hledger uses banker's rounding (it + by other reports. When rounding, hledger uses banker's rounding (it rounds to the nearest even digit). So eg 0.5 displayed with zero deci- mal digits appears as "0". Trailing decimal marks If you're wondering why your print report sometimes shows trailing dec- - imal marks, with no decimal digits; it does this when showing amounts + imal marks, with no decimal digits; it does this when showing amounts that have digit group marks but no decimal digits, to disambiguate them and allow them to be re-parsed reliably (see Decimal marks). Eg: @@ -5516,7 +5598,7 @@ Amount formatting (a) $1,000. If this is a problem (eg when exporting to Ledger), you can avoid it by - disabling digit group marks, eg with -c/--commodity (for each affected + disabling digit group marks, eg with -c/--commodity (for each affected commodity): $ hledger print -c '$1000.00' @@ -5533,19 +5615,19 @@ Amount formatting More generally, hledger output falls into three rough categories, which format amounts a little bit differently to suit different consumers: - 1. "hledger-readable output" - should be readable by hledger (and by + 1. "hledger-readable output" - should be readable by hledger (and by humans) - o This is produced by reports that show full journal entries: print, + o This is produced by reports that show full journal entries: print, import, close, rewrite etc. - o It shows amounts with their original journal precisions, which may + o It shows amounts with their original journal precisions, which may not be consistent. - o It adds a trailing decimal mark when needed to avoid showing ambigu- + o It adds a trailing decimal mark when needed to avoid showing ambigu- ous amounts. - o It can be parsed reliably (by hledger and ledger2beancount at least, + o It can be parsed reliably (by hledger and ledger2beancount at least, but perhaps not by Ledger..) 2. "human-readable output" - usually for humans @@ -5557,13 +5639,13 @@ Amount formatting o It shows ambiguous amounts unmodified. - o It can be parsed reliably in the context of a known report (when you + o It can be parsed reliably in the context of a known report (when you know decimals are consistently not being shown, you can assume a sin- gle mark is a digit group mark). 3. "machine-readable output" - usually for other software - o This is produced by all reports when an output format like csv, tsv, + o This is produced by all reports when an output format like csv, tsv, json, or sql is selected. o It shows amounts as 1 or 2 do, but without digit group marks. @@ -5573,17 +5655,17 @@ Amount formatting Cost reporting In some transactions - for example a currency conversion, or a purchase - or sale of stock - one commodity is exchanged for another. In these - transactions there is a conversion rate, also called the cost (when - buying) or selling price (when selling). In hledger docs we just say + or sale of stock - one commodity is exchanged for another. In these + transactions there is a conversion rate, also called the cost (when + buying) or selling price (when selling). In hledger docs we just say "cost", for convenience; feel free to mentally translate to "conversion rate" or "selling price" if helpful. Recording costs - We'll explore several ways of recording transactions involving costs. + We'll explore several ways of recording transactions involving costs. These are also summarised at hledger Cookbook > Cost notation. - Costs can be recorded explicitly in the journal, using the @ UNITCOST + Costs can be recorded explicitly in the journal, using the @ UNITCOST or @@ TOTALCOST notation described in Journal > Costs: Variant 1 @@ -5598,11 +5680,11 @@ Cost reporting assets:dollars $-135 assets:euros 100 @@ $135 ; $135 total cost - Typically, writing the unit cost (variant 1) is preferable; it can be + Typically, writing the unit cost (variant 1) is preferable; it can be more effort, requiring more attention to decimal digits; but it reveals the per-unit cost basis, and makes stock sales easier. - Costs can also be left implicit, and hledger will infer the cost that + Costs can also be left implicit, and hledger will infer the cost that is consistent with a balanced transaction: Variant 3 @@ -5611,49 +5693,49 @@ Cost reporting assets:dollars $-135 assets:euros 100 - Here, hledger will attach a @@ 100 cost to the first amount (you can - see it with hledger print -x). This form looks convenient, but there + Here, hledger will attach a @@ 100 cost to the first amount (you can + see it with hledger print -x). This form looks convenient, but there are downsides: - o It sacrifices some error checking. For example, if you accidentally + o It sacrifices some error checking. For example, if you accidentally wrote 10 instead of 100, hledger would not be able to detect the mis- take. - o It is sensitive to the order of postings - if they were reversed, a + o It is sensitive to the order of postings - if they were reversed, a different entry would be inferred and reports would be different. o The per-unit cost basis is not easy to read. - So generally this kind of entry is not recommended. You can make sure + So generally this kind of entry is not recommended. You can make sure you have none of these by using -s (strict mode), or by running hledger check balanced. Reporting at cost - Now when you add the -B/--cost flag to reports ("B" is from Ledger's - -B/--basis/--cost flag), any amounts which have been annotated with - costs will be converted to their cost's commodity (in the report out- + Now when you add the -B/--cost flag to reports ("B" is from Ledger's + -B/--basis/--cost flag), any amounts which have been annotated with + costs will be converted to their cost's commodity (in the report out- put). Ie they will be displayed "at cost" or "at sale price". Some things to note: - o Costs are attached to specific posting amounts in specific transac- - tions, and once recorded they do not change. This contrasts with + o Costs are attached to specific posting amounts in specific transac- + tions, and once recorded they do not change. This contrasts with market prices, which are ambient and fluctuating. - o Conversion to cost is performed before conversion to market value + o Conversion to cost is performed before conversion to market value (described below). Equity conversion postings - There is a problem with the entries above - they are not conventional - Double Entry Bookkeeping (DEB) notation, and because of the "magical" - transformation of one commodity into another, they cause an imbalance + There is a problem with the entries above - they are not conventional + Double Entry Bookkeeping (DEB) notation, and because of the "magical" + transformation of one commodity into another, they cause an imbalance in the Accounting Equation. This shows up as a non-zero grand total in balance reports like hledger bse. - For most hledger users, this doesn't matter in practice and can safely + For most hledger users, this doesn't matter in practice and can safely be ignored ! But if you'd like to learn more, keep reading. - Conventional DEB uses an extra pair of equity postings to balance the + Conventional DEB uses an extra pair of equity postings to balance the transaction. Of course you can do this in hledger as well: Variant 4 @@ -5664,10 +5746,10 @@ Cost reporting equity:conversion $135 equity:conversion -100 - Now the transaction is perfectly balanced according to standard DEB, + Now the transaction is perfectly balanced according to standard DEB, and hledger bse's total will not be disrupted. - And, hledger can still infer the cost for cost reporting, but it's not + And, hledger can still infer the cost for cost reporting, but it's not done by default - you must add the --infer-costs flag like so: $ hledger print --infer-costs @@ -5689,14 +5771,14 @@ Cost reporting o Instead of -B you must remember to type -B --infer-costs. - o --infer-costs works only where hledger can identify the two eq- - uity:conversion postings and match them up with the two non-equity - postings. So writing the journal entry in a particular format be- + o --infer-costs works only where hledger can identify the two eq- + uity:conversion postings and match them up with the two non-equity + postings. So writing the journal entry in a particular format be- comes more important. More on this below. Inferring equity conversion postings Can we go in the other direction ? Yes, if you have transactions writ- - ten with the @/@@ cost notation, hledger can infer the missing equity + ten with the @/@@ cost notation, hledger can infer the missing equity postings, if you add the --infer-equity flag. Eg: 2022-01-01 @@ -5710,18 +5792,18 @@ Cost reporting equity:conversion:$-: -100 equity:conversion:$-:$ $135.00 - The equity account names will be "equity:conversion:A-B:A" and "eq- - uity:conversion:A-B:B" where A is the alphabetically first commodity + The equity account names will be "equity:conversion:A-B:A" and "eq- + uity:conversion:A-B:B" where A is the alphabetically first commodity symbol. You can customise the "equity:conversion" part by declaring an account with the V/Conversion account type. - Note you will need to add account declarations for these to your jour- + Note you will need to add account declarations for these to your jour- nal, if you use check accounts or check --strict. Combining costs and equity conversion postings Finally, you can use both the @/@@ cost notation and equity postings at - the same time. This in theory gives the best of all worlds - preserv- - ing the accounting equation, revealing the per-unit cost basis, and + the same time. This in theory gives the best of all worlds - preserv- + ing the accounting equation, revealing the per-unit cost basis, and providing more flexibility in how you write the entry: Variant 5 @@ -5732,15 +5814,15 @@ Cost reporting equity:conversion -100 assets:euros 100 @ $1.35 - All the other variants above can (usually) be rewritten to this final + All the other variants above can (usually) be rewritten to this final form with: $ hledger print -x --infer-costs --infer-equity Downsides: - o The precise format of the journal entry becomes more important. If - hledger can't detect and match up the cost and equity postings, it + o The precise format of the journal entry becomes more important. If + hledger can't detect and match up the cost and equity postings, it will give a transaction balancing error. o The add command does not yet accept this kind of entry (#2056). @@ -5748,34 +5830,34 @@ Cost reporting o This is the most verbose form. Requirements for detecting equity conversion postings - --infer-costs has certain requirements (unlike --infer-equity, which + --infer-costs has certain requirements (unlike --infer-equity, which always works). It will infer costs only in transactions with: - o Two non-equity postings, in different commodities. Their order is + o Two non-equity postings, in different commodities. Their order is significant: the cost will be added to the first of them. - o Two postings to equity conversion accounts, next to one another, + o Two postings to equity conversion accounts, next to one another, which balance the two non-equity postings. This balancing is checked - to the same precision (number of decimal places) used in the conver- + to the same precision (number of decimal places) used in the conver- sion posting's amount. Equity conversion accounts are: o any accounts declared with account type V/Conversion, or their sub- accounts - o otherwise, accounts named equity:conversion, equity:trade, or eq- + o otherwise, accounts named equity:conversion, equity:trade, or eq- uity:trading, or their subaccounts. - And multiple such four-posting groups can coexist within a single - transaction. When --infer-costs fails, it does not infer a cost in - that transaction, and does not raise an error (ie, it infers costs + And multiple such four-posting groups can coexist within a single + transaction. When --infer-costs fails, it does not infer a cost in + that transaction, and does not raise an error (ie, it infers costs where it can). - Reading variant 5 journal entries, combining cost notation and equity - postings, has all the same requirements. When reading such an entry + Reading variant 5 journal entries, combining cost notation and equity + postings, has all the same requirements. When reading such an entry fails, hledger raises an "unbalanced transaction" error. Infer cost and equity by default ? - Should --infer-costs and --infer-equity be enabled by default ? Try + Should --infer-costs and --infer-equity be enabled by default ? Try using them always, eg with a shell alias: alias h="hledger --infer-equity --infer-costs" @@ -5783,101 +5865,101 @@ Cost reporting and let us know what problems you find. Value reporting - Instead of reporting amounts in their original commodity, hledger can + Instead of reporting amounts in their original commodity, hledger can convert them to cost/sale amount (using the conversion rate recorded in - the transaction), and/or to market value (using some market price on a - certain date). This is controlled by the --value=TYPE[,COMMODITY] op- - tion, which will be described below. We also provide the simpler -V + the transaction), and/or to market value (using some market price on a + certain date). This is controlled by the --value=TYPE[,COMMODITY] op- + tion, which will be described below. We also provide the simpler -V and -X COMMODITY options, and often one of these is all you need: -V: Value - The -V/--market flag converts amounts to market value in their default + The -V/--market flag converts amounts to market value in their default valuation commodity, using the market prices in effect on the valuation date(s), if any. More on these in a minute. -X: Value in specified commodity The -X/--exchange=COMM option is like -V, except you tell it which cur- - rency you want to convert to, and it tries to convert everything to + rency you want to convert to, and it tries to convert everything to that. Valuation date - Market prices can change from day to day. hledger will use the prices - on a particular valuation date (or on more than one date). By default + Market prices can change from day to day. hledger will use the prices + on a particular valuation date (or on more than one date). By default hledger uses "end" dates for valuation. More specifically: - o For single period reports (including normal print and register re- + o For single period reports (including normal print and register re- ports): o If an explicit report end date is specified, that is used - o Otherwise the latest transaction date or P directive date is used + o Otherwise the latest transaction date or P directive date is used (even if it's in the future) o For multiperiod reports, each period is valued on its last day. - This can be customised with the --value option described below, which + This can be customised with the --value option described below, which can select either "then", "end", "now", or "custom" dates. (Note, this has a bug in hledger-ui <=1.31: turning on valuation with the V key al- ways resets it to "end".) Finding market price - To convert a commodity A to its market value in another commodity B, - hledger looks for a suitable market price (exchange rate) as follows, + To convert a commodity A to its market value in another commodity B, + hledger looks for a suitable market price (exchange rate) as follows, in this order of preference: - 1. A declared market price or inferred market price: A's latest market + 1. A declared market price or inferred market price: A's latest market price in B on or before the valuation date as declared by a P direc- tive, or (with the --infer-market-prices flag) inferred from costs. 2. A reverse market price: the inverse of a declared or inferred market price from B to A. - 3. A forward chain of market prices: a synthetic price formed by com- + 3. A forward chain of market prices: a synthetic price formed by com- bining the shortest chain of "forward" (only 1 above) market prices, leading from A to B. - 4. Any chain of market prices: a chain of any market prices, including - both forward and reverse prices (1 and 2 above), leading from A to + 4. Any chain of market prices: a chain of any market prices, including + both forward and reverse prices (1 and 2 above), leading from A to B. - There is a limit to the length of these price chains; if hledger - reaches that length without finding a complete chain or exhausting all - possibilities, it will give up (with a "gave up" message visible in + There is a limit to the length of these price chains; if hledger + reaches that length without finding a complete chain or exhausting all + possibilities, it will give up (with a "gave up" message visible in --debug=2 output). That limit is currently 1000. - Amounts for which no suitable market price can be found, are not con- + Amounts for which no suitable market price can be found, are not con- verted. --infer-market-prices: market prices from transactions Normally, market value in hledger is fully controlled by, and requires, P directives in your journal. Since adding and updating those can be a - chore, and since transactions usually take place at close to market - value, why not use the recorded costs as additional market prices (as - Ledger does) ? Adding the --infer-market-prices flag to -V, -X or + chore, and since transactions usually take place at close to market + value, why not use the recorded costs as additional market prices (as + Ledger does) ? Adding the --infer-market-prices flag to -V, -X or --value enables this. - So for example, hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices will get market - prices both from P directives and from transactions. If both occur on + So for example, hledger bs -V --infer-market-prices will get market + prices both from P directives and from transactions. If both occur on the same day, the P directive takes precedence. There is a downside: value reports can sometimes be affected in confus- - ing/undesired ways by your journal entries. If this happens to you, - read all of this Value reporting section carefully, and try adding + ing/undesired ways by your journal entries. If this happens to you, + read all of this Value reporting section carefully, and try adding --debug or --debug=2 to troubleshoot. --infer-market-prices can infer market prices from: o multicommodity transactions with explicit prices (@/@@) - o multicommodity transactions with implicit prices (no @, two commodi- - ties, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings matters. + o multicommodity transactions with implicit prices (no @, two commodi- + ties, unbalanced). (With these, the order of postings matters. hledger print -x can be useful for troubleshooting.) o multicommodity transactions with equity postings, if cost is inferred with --infer-costs. - There is a limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity is - not specified, prices inferred with --infer-market-prices do not help + There is a limitation (bug) currently: when a valuation commodity is + not specified, prices inferred with --infer-market-prices do not help select a default valuation commodity, as P prices would. So conversion might not happen because no valuation commodity was detected (--debug=2 will show this). To be safe, specify the valuation commmodity, eg: @@ -5887,8 +5969,8 @@ Value reporting o --value=then,EUR --infer-market-prices, not --value=then --infer-mar- ket-prices - Signed costs and market prices can be confusing. For reference, here - is the current behaviour, since hledger 1.25. (If you think it should + Signed costs and market prices can be confusing. For reference, here + is the current behaviour, since hledger 1.25. (If you think it should work differently, see #1870.) 2022-01-01 Positive Unit prices @@ -5918,7 +6000,7 @@ Value reporting b B -1 @@ A -1 All of the transactions above are considered balanced (and on each day, - the two transactions are considered equivalent). Here are the market + the two transactions are considered equivalent). Here are the market prices inferred for B: $ hledger -f- --infer-market-prices prices @@ -5931,34 +6013,34 @@ Value reporting Valuation commodity When you specify a valuation commodity (-X COMM or --value TYPE,COMM): - hledger will convert all amounts to COMM, wherever it can find a suit- + hledger will convert all amounts to COMM, wherever it can find a suit- able market price (including by reversing or chaining prices). - When you leave the valuation commodity unspecified (-V or --value + When you leave the valuation commodity unspecified (-V or --value TYPE): - For each commodity A, hledger picks a default valuation commodity as + For each commodity A, hledger picks a default valuation commodity as follows, in this order of preference: 1. The price commodity from the latest P-declared market price for A on or before valuation date. 2. The price commodity from the latest P-declared market price for A on - any date. (Allows conversion to proceed when there are inferred + any date. (Allows conversion to proceed when there are inferred prices before the valuation date.) - 3. If there are no P directives at all (any commodity or date) and the - --infer-market-prices flag is used: the price commodity from the + 3. If there are no P directives at all (any commodity or date) and the + --infer-market-prices flag is used: the price commodity from the latest transaction-inferred price for A on or before valuation date. This means: - o If you have P directives, they determine which commodities -V will + o If you have P directives, they determine which commodities -V will convert, and to what. - o If you have no P directives, and use the --infer-market-prices flag, + o If you have no P directives, and use the --infer-market-prices flag, costs determine it. - Amounts for which no valuation commodity can be found are not con- + Amounts for which no valuation commodity can be found are not con- verted. --value: Flexible valuation @@ -5975,26 +6057,26 @@ Value reporting The TYPE part selects cost or value and valuation date: --value=then - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- ity, using market prices on each posting's date. --value=end - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- - ity, using market prices on the last day of the report period - (or if unspecified, the journal's end date); or in multiperiod + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- + ity, using market prices on the last day of the report period + (or if unspecified, the journal's end date); or in multiperiod reports, market prices on the last day of each subperiod. --value=now - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- - ity using current market prices (as of when report is gener- + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- + ity using current market prices (as of when report is gener- ated). --value=YYYY-MM-DD - Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- + Convert amounts to their value in the default valuation commod- ity using market prices on this date. To select a different valuation commodity, add the optional ,COMM part: - a comma, then the target commodity's symbol. Eg: --value=now,EUR. + a comma, then the target commodity's symbol. Eg: --value=now,EUR. hledger will do its best to convert amounts to this commodity, deducing market prices as described above. @@ -6022,13 +6104,13 @@ Value reporting $ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros -V -e 2016/11/4 $110.00 assets:euros - What are they worth after 2016/12/21 ? (no report end date specified, + What are they worth after 2016/12/21 ? (no report end date specified, defaults to today) $ hledger -f t.j bal -N euros -V $103.00 assets:euros - Here are some examples showing the effect of --value, as seen with + Here are some examples showing the effect of --value, as seen with print: P 2000-01-01 A 1 B @@ -6066,7 +6148,7 @@ Value reporting 2000-02-01 (a) 2 B - With no report period specified, that shows the value as of the last + With no report period specified, that shows the value as of the last day of the journal (2000-03-01): $ hledger -f- print --value=end @@ -6104,7 +6186,7 @@ Value reporting (a) 1 B Interaction of valuation and queries - When matching postings based on queries in the presence of valuation, + When matching postings based on queries in the presence of valuation, the following happens: 1. The query is separated into two parts: @@ -6118,45 +6200,45 @@ Value reporting 3. Valuation is applied to the postings. - 4. The postings are matched to the other parts of the query based on + 4. The postings are matched to the other parts of the query based on post-valued amounts. Related: #1625 Effect of valuation on reports - Here is a reference for how valuation is supposed to affect each part - of hledger's reports. (It's wide, you may need to scroll sideways.) - It may be useful when troubleshooting. If you find problems, please - report them, ideally with a reproducible example. Related: #329, + Here is a reference for how valuation is supposed to affect each part + of hledger's reports. (It's wide, you may need to scroll sideways.) + It may be useful when troubleshooting. If you find problems, please + report them, ideally with a reproducible example. Related: #329, #1083. First, a quick glossary: cost calculated using price(s) recorded in the transaction(s). - value market value using available market price declarations, or the + value market value using available market price declarations, or the unchanged amount if no conversion rate can be found. report start - the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or + the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or date:, otherwise today. report or journal start - the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or - date:, otherwise the earliest transaction date in the journal, + the first day of the report period specified with -b or -p or + date:, otherwise the earliest transaction date in the journal, otherwise today. report end - the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or + the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or date:, otherwise today. report or journal end - the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or - date:, otherwise the latest transaction date in the journal, + the last day of the report period specified with -e or -p or + date:, otherwise the latest transaction date in the journal, otherwise today. report interval - a flag (-D/-W/-M/-Q/-Y) or period expression that activates the + a flag (-D/-W/-M/-Q/-Y) or period expression that activates the report's multi-period mode (whether showing one or many subperi- ods). @@ -6164,8 +6246,8 @@ Value reporting type --value=now -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- print - posting cost value at re- value at posting value at re- value at - amounts port end or date port or DATE/today + posting cost value at re- value at posting value at re- value at + amounts port end or date port or DATE/today today journal end balance unchanged unchanged unchanged unchanged unchanged asser- @@ -6181,7 +6263,7 @@ Value reporting (-H) with port or posting was made port or report journal journal interval start start - posting cost value at re- value at posting value at re- value at + posting cost value at re- value at posting value at re- value at amounts port or date port or DATE/today journal end journal end summary summarised value at pe- sum of postings value at pe- value at @@ -6197,8 +6279,8 @@ Value reporting balance (bs, bse, cf, is) - balance sums of value at re- value at posting value at re- value at - changes costs port end or date port or DATE/today of + balance sums of value at re- value at posting value at re- value at + changes costs port end or date port or DATE/today of today of journal end sums of post- sums of of sums of ings postings postings @@ -6206,7 +6288,7 @@ Value reporting amounts changes changes changes ances changes (--bud- get) - grand to- sum of dis- sum of dis- sum of displayed sum of dis- sum of dis- + grand to- sum of dis- sum of dis- sum of displayed sum of dis- sum of dis- tal played val- played val- valued played val- played values ues ues ues @@ -6232,7 +6314,7 @@ Value reporting end bal- sums of same as sums of values of period end value at ances costs of --value=end postings from be- balances, DATE/today of (bal -H, postings fore period start valued at sums of post- - is --H, from before to period end at period ends ings + is --H, from before to period end at period ends ings bs, cf) report start respective post- to period ing dates end @@ -6241,10 +6323,10 @@ Value reporting (--bud- balances balances ances balances get) row to- sums, aver- sums, aver- sums, averages of sums, aver- sums, aver- - tals, row ages of dis- ages of dis- displayed values ages of dis- ages of dis- + tals, row ages of dis- ages of dis- displayed values ages of dis- ages of dis- averages played val- played val- played val- played values (-T, -A) ues ues ues - column sums of dis- sums of dis- sums of displayed sums of dis- sums of dis- + column sums of dis- sums of dis- sums of displayed sums of dis- sums of dis- totals played val- played val- values played val- played values ues ues ues grand to- sum, average sum, average sum, average of sum, average sum, average @@ -6257,7 +6339,7 @@ Value reporting starting balance. PART 4: COMMANDS - Here are the standard commands, which you can list by running hledger. + Here are the standard commands, which you can list by running hledger. If you have installed more add-on commands, they also will be listed. Help commands @@ -6306,7 +6388,7 @@ PART 4: COMMANDS o aregister (areg) - show transactions in a particular account - o register (reg) - show postings in one or more accounts & running to- + o register (reg) - show postings in one or more accounts & running to- tal o balancesheet (bs) - show assets, liabilities and net worth @@ -6345,7 +6427,7 @@ PART 4: COMMANDS Help commands help - Show the hledger user manual with info, man, or a pager. With a (case + Show the hledger user manual with info, man, or a pager. With a (case insensitive) TOPIC argument, try to open it at that section heading. Flags: @@ -6354,23 +6436,23 @@ Help commands -p show the manual with $PAGER or less (less is always used if TOPIC is specified) - This command shows the hledger manual built in to your hledger exe- - cutable. It can be useful when offline, or when you prefer the termi- + This command shows the hledger manual built in to your hledger exe- + cutable. It can be useful when offline, or when you prefer the termi- nal to a web browser, or when the appropriate hledger manual or viewers are not installed properly on your system. - By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH, trying in this - order: info, man, $PAGER, less, more, stdout. (If a TOPIC is speci- - fied, $PAGER and more are not tried.) You can force the use of info, - man, or a pager with the -i, -m, or -p flags. If no viewer can be - found, or if running non-interactively, it just prints the manual to + By default it chooses the best viewer found in $PATH, trying in this + order: info, man, $PAGER, less, more, stdout. (If a TOPIC is speci- + fied, $PAGER and more are not tried.) You can force the use of info, + man, or a pager with the -i, -m, or -p flags. If no viewer can be + found, or if running non-interactively, it just prints the manual to stdout. - When using info, TOPIC can match either the full heading or a prefix. + When using info, TOPIC can match either the full heading or a prefix. If your info --version is < 6, you'll need to upgrade it, eg with 'brew install texinfo' on mac. - When using man or less, TOPIC must match the full heading. For a pre- + When using man or less, TOPIC must match the full heading. For a pre- fix match, you can write 'TOPIC.*'. Examples @@ -6387,19 +6469,19 @@ Help commands -s --speed=SPEED playback speed (1 is original speed, .5 is half, 2 is double, etc (default: 2)) - Run this command with no argument to list the demos. To play a demo, + Run this command with no argument to list the demos. To play a demo, write its number or a prefix or substring of its title. Tips: Make your terminal window large enough to see the demo clearly. - Use the -s/--speed SPEED option to set your preferred playback speed, + Use the -s/--speed SPEED option to set your preferred playback speed, eg -s4 to play at 4x original speed or -s.5 to play at half speed. The default speed is 2x. - Other asciinema options can be added following a double dash, eg -- + Other asciinema options can be added following a double dash, eg -- -i.1 to limit pauses or -- -h to list asciinema's other options. - During playback, several keys are available: SPACE to pause/unpause, . + During playback, several keys are available: SPACE to pause/unpause, . to step forward (while paused), CTRL-c quit. Examples: @@ -6422,30 +6504,30 @@ Data entry commands Flags: --no-new-accounts don't allow creating new accounts - Many hledger users edit their journals directly with a text editor, or - generate them from CSV. For more interactive data entry, there is the - add command, which prompts interactively on the console for new trans- - actions, and appends them to the main journal file (which should be in - journal format). Existing transactions are not changed. This is one - of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file (see also + Many hledger users edit their journals directly with a text editor, or + generate them from CSV. For more interactive data entry, there is the + add command, which prompts interactively on the console for new trans- + actions, and appends them to the main journal file (which should be in + journal format). Existing transactions are not changed. This is one + of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file (see also import). To use it, just run hledger add and follow the prompts. You can add as - many transactions as you like; when you are finished, enter . or press + many transactions as you like; when you are finished, enter . or press control-d or control-c to exit. Features: - o add tries to provide useful defaults, using the most similar (by de- - scription) recent transaction (filtered by the query, if any) as a + o add tries to provide useful defaults, using the most similar (by de- + scription) recent transaction (filtered by the query, if any) as a template. o You can also set the initial defaults with command line arguments. o Readline-style edit keys can be used during data entry. - o The tab key will auto-complete whenever possible - accounts, pay- - ees/descriptions, dates (yesterday, today, tomorrow). If the input + o The tab key will auto-complete whenever possible - accounts, pay- + ees/descriptions, dates (yesterday, today, tomorrow). If the input area is empty, it will insert the default value. o A parenthesised transaction code may be entered following a date. @@ -6454,15 +6536,15 @@ Data entry commands o If you make a mistake, enter < at any prompt to go one step backward. - o Input prompts are displayed in a different colour when the terminal + o Input prompts are displayed in a different colour when the terminal supports it. Notes: o If you enter a number with no commodity symbol, and you have declared - a default commodity with a D directive, you might expect add to add - this symbol for you. It does not do this; we assume that if you are - using a D directive you prefer not to see the commodity symbol re- + a default commodity with a D directive, you might expect add to add + this symbol for you. It does not do this; we assume that if you are + using a D directive you prefer not to see the commodity symbol re- peated on amounts in the journal. Examples: @@ -6483,138 +6565,204 @@ Data entry commands There is a detailed tutorial at https://hledger.org/add.html. import - Import new transactions from one or more data files to the main jour- + Import new transactions from one or more data files to the main jour- nal. Flags: --catchup just mark all transactions as already imported --dry-run just show the transactions to be imported - This command detects new transactions in each FILE argument since it - was last run, and appends them to the main journal. + This command detects new transactions in one or more data files speci- + fied as arguments, and appends them to the main journal. - Or with --dry-run, it just print the transactions that would be added. + You can import from any input file format hledger supports, but + CSV/SSV/TSV files, downloaded from financial institutions, are the most + common import source. - Or with --catchup, it just marks all of the FILEs' current transactions - as already imported. + The import destination is the default journal file, or another speci- + fied in the usual way with $LEDGER_FILE or -f/--file. It should be in + journal format. - This is one of the few hledger commands that writes to the journal file - (see also add). It only appends; existing data will not be changed. + Examples: - The input files are specified as arguments, so to import one or more - CSV files to your main journal, you will run hledger import bank.csv or - perhaps hledger import *.csv. + $ hledger import bank1-checking.csv bank1-savings.csv - Note you can import from any file format, though CSV files are the most - common import source, and these docs focus on that case. The target - file (main journal) should be in journal format. + $ hledger import *.csv - Date skipping - import tries to import only the transactions which are new since the - last import, ignoring any that it has seen in previous runs. So if - your bank's CSV includes the last three months of data, you can down- - load and import it every month (or week, or day) and only the new - transactions will be imported each time. + Import preview + It's useful to preview the import by running first with --dry-run, to + sanity check the range of dates being imported, and to check the effect + of your conversion rules if converting from CSV. Eg: - It works as follows: for each imported FILE, + $ hledger import bank.csv --dry-run - o It tries to read the latest date previously seen, from .latest.FILE - in the same directory + The dry run output is valid journal format, so hledger can re-parse it. + If the output is large, you could show just the uncategorised transac- + tions like so: - o Then it processes FILE, ignoring transactions on or before that date + $ hledger import --dry-run bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown - And after a successful import, unless --dry-run was used, it updates - the .latest.FILE(s) for next time. This is a simple system that works - for most real-world CSV files; it assumes the following are true, or - true enough: + You could also run this repeatedly to see the effect of edits to your + conversion rules: - 1. the name of the input file is stable across successive downloads + $ watchexec -- 'hledger import --dry-run bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' - 2. new items always have the newest dates + Once the conversion and dates look good enough to import to your jour- + nal, perhaps with some manual fixups to follow, you would do the actual + import: - 3. item dates are stable across downloads + $ hledger import bank.csv - 4. the order of same-date items is stable across downloads. + Overlap detection + Reading CSV files is built in to hledger, and not specific to import; + so you could also import by doing hledger -f bank.csv print + >>$LEDGER_FILE. - Tips: + But import is easier and provides some advantages. The main one is + that it avoids re-importing transactions it has seen on previous runs. + This means you don't have to worry about overlapping data in successive + downloads of your bank CSV; just download and import as often as you + like, and only the new transactions will be imported each time. - o To help ensure a stable file name, remember you can use a CSV rules - file as an input file. + We don't call this "deduplication", as it's generally not possible to + reliably detect duplicates in bank CSV. Instead, import remembers the + latest date processed previously in each CSV file (saving it in a hid- + den file), and skips any records prior to that date. This works well + for most real-world CSV, where: - o If you have a bank whose CSV dates or ordering occasionally change, - you can reduce the chance of this happening in new transactions by - importing more often. (If it happens in old transactions, that's - harmless.) + 1. the data file name is stable (does not change) across imports - Note this is just one kind of "deduplication": not reprocessing the - same dates across successive runs. import doesn't detect other kinds - of duplication, such as the same transaction appearing multiple times - within a single run, or a new transaction that looks identical to a - transaction already in the journal. (Because these can happen legiti- - mately in real-world data.) + 2. the item dates are stable across imports - Here's a situation where you need to run import with care: say you - download but forget to import bank.1.csv, and a week later you download - bank.2.csv with some overlapping data. You should not process both of - these as a single import (hledger import bank.1.csv bank.2.csv), be- - cause the overlapping transactions would not be deduplicated. Instead, - import one file at a time, using the same filename each time: + 3. the order of same-date items is stable across imports - $ mv bank.1.csv bank.csv; hledger import bank.csv - $ mv bank.2.csv bank.csv; hledger import bank.csv + 4. the newest items have the newest dates - Normally you don't need to think about .latest.* files, but you can - create or modify them to catch up to a certain date, or delete them to - mark all transactions as new. Their format is a single ISO-format - YYYY-MM-DD date, optionally repeated on multiple lines, meaning "I have - seen the transactions before this date, and this many of them on this - date". + (Occasional violations of 2-4 are often harmless; you can reduce the + chance of disruption by downloading and importing more often.) - hledger print --new also uses and updates these .latest.* files, but it - is less often used. + Overlap detection is automatic, and shouldn't require much attention + from you, except perhaps at first import (see below). But here's how + it works: - Related: CSV > Working with CSV > Deduplicating, importing. + o For each FILE being imported from: - Import testing - With --dry-run, the transactions that will be imported are printed to - the terminal, without updating your journal or state files. The output - is valid journal format, like the print command, so you can re-parse - it. Eg, to see any importable transactions which CSV rules have not - categorised: + 1. hledger reads a file named .latest.FILE file in the same direc- + tory, if any. This file contains the latest record date previ- + ously imported from FILE, in YYYY-MM-DD format. If multiple + records with that date were imported, the date is repeated on N + lines. - $ hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown + 2. hledger reads records from FILE. If a latest date was found in + step 1, any records before that date, and the first N records on + that date, are skipped. - or (live updating): + o After a successful import from all FILEs, without error and without + --dry-run, hledger updates each FILE's .latest.FILE for next time. - $ ls bank.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ====; hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' + If this goes wrong, it's relatively easy to repair: - Note: when importing from multiple files at once, it's currently possi- - ble for some .latest files to be updated successfully, while the actual - import fails because of a problem in one of the files, leaving them out - of sync (and causing some transactions to be missed). To prevent this, - do a --dry-run first and fix any problems before the real import. + o You'll notice it before import when you preview with import + --dry-run. + + o Or after import when you try to reconcile your hledger account bal- + ances with your bank. + + o hledger print -f FILE.csv will show all recently downloaded transac- + tions. Compare these with your journal. Copy/paste if needed. + + o Update your conversion rules and print again, if needed. + + o You can manually update or remove the .latest file, or use import + --catchup FILE. + + o Download and import more often, eg twice a week, at least while you + are learning. It's easier to review and troubleshoot when there are + fewer transactions. + + First import + The first time you import from a file, when no corresponding .latest + file has been created yet, all of the records will be imported. + + But perhaps you have been entering the data manually, so you know that + all of these transactions are already recorded in the journal. In this + case you can run hledger import --catchup once. This will create a + .latest file containing the latest CSV record date, so that none of + those records will be re-imported. + + Or, if you know that some but not all of the transactions are in the + journal, you can create the .latest file yourself. Eg, let's say you + previously recorded foobank transactions up to 2024-10-31 in the jour- + nal. Then in the directory where you'll be saving foobank.csv, you + would create a .latest.foobank.csv file containing + + 2024-10-31 + + Or if you had three foobank transactions recorded with that date, you + would repeat the date that many times: + + 2024-10-31 + 2024-10-31 + 2024-10-31 + + Then hledger import foobank.csv [--dry-run] will import only the newer + records. Importing balance assignments - Entries added by import will have their posting amounts made explicit - (like hledger print -x). This means that any balance assignments in - imported files must be evaluated; but, imported files don't get to see - the main file's account balances. As a result, importing entries with - balance assignments (eg from an institution that provides only balances - and not posting amounts) will probably generate incorrect posting - amounts. To avoid this problem, use print instead of import: + Journal entries added by import will have all posting amounts made ex- + plicit (like print -x). - $ hledger print IMPORTFILE [--new] >> $LEDGER_FILE + This means that any balance assignments in the imported entries would + need to be evaluated. But this generally isn't possible, as the main + file's account balances are not visible during import. So try to avoid + generating balance assignments with your CSV rules, or importing from a + journal that contains balance assignments. (Balance assignments are + best avoided anyway.) - (If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, - please test it and send a pull request.) + But if you must use them, eg because your CSV includes only balances: + you can import with print, which leaves implicit amounts implicit. + (print can also do overlap detection like import, with the --new flag): + + $ hledger print --new -f bank.csv >> $LEDGER_FILE + + (If you think import should preserve implicit balances, please test + that and send a pull request.) Import and commodity styles - Amounts in entries added by import will be formatted according to the - journal's canonical commodity styles, as declared by commodity direc- + Amounts in entries added by import will be formatted according to the + journal's canonical commodity styles, as declared by commodity direc- tives or inferred from the journal's amounts. Related: CSV > Amount decimal places. + Import special cases + If you have a download whose file name varies, you could rename it to a + fixed name after each download. Or you could use a CSV source rule + with a suitable glob pattern, and import from the .rules file instead + of the data file. + + Here's a situation where you would need to run import with care: say + you download bank.csv, but forget to import it or delete it. And next + month you download it again. This time your web browser may save it as + bank (2).csv. So now each of these may have data not included in the + other. And a source rule with a glob pattern would match only the most + recent file. So in this case you should import from each one in turn, + in the correct order, taking care to use the same filename each time: + + $ hledger import bank.csv + $ mv 'bank (2).csv' bank.csv + $ hledger import bank.csv + + Here are two kinds of "deduplication" which import does not handle (and + generally should not, since these can happen legitimately in financial + data): + + o Two or more of the new CSV records are identical, and generate iden- + tical new journal entries. + + o A new CSV record generates a journal entry identical to one(s) al- + ready in the journal. + Basic report commands accounts List account names. @@ -7111,6 +7259,9 @@ Standard report commands date. Warning: this can show a wrong running balance. --no-elide don't show only 2 commodities per amount + --cumulative show running total from report start date + --invert display all amounts with reversed sign + --heading=YN show heading row above table: yes (default) or no -w --width=N set output width (default: terminal width or $COLUMNS). -wN,M sets description width as well. --align-all guarantee alignment across all lines (slower) @@ -7121,8 +7272,9 @@ Standard report commands aregister shows the overall transactions affecting a particular account (and any subaccounts). Each report line represents one transaction in - this account. Transactions before the report start date are always in- - cluded in the running balance (--historical mode is always on). + this account. Transactions before the report start date are included + in the running balance (--historical mode is the default). You can + suppress this behaviour using the --cumulative option. This is a more "real world", bank-like view than the register command (which shows individual postings, possibly from multiple accounts, not @@ -7174,18 +7326,23 @@ Standard report commands ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the --align-all flag. + By default, aregister shows a heading above the data. However, when + reporting in a language different from English, it is easier to omit + this heading and prepend your own one. For this purpose, use the + --heading=no option. + This command also supports the output destination and output format op- tions. The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), - and json. + html, fods (Added in 1.41) and json. aregister and posting dates - aregister always shows one line (and date and amount) per transaction. - But sometimes transactions have postings with different dates. Also, - not all of a transaction's postings may be within the report period. + aregister always shows one line (and date and amount) per transaction. + But sometimes transactions have postings with different dates. Also, + not all of a transaction's postings may be within the report period. To resolve this, aregister shows the earliest of the transaction's date and posting dates that is in-period, and the sum of the in-period post- - ings. In other words it will show a combined line item with just the - earliest date, and the running balance will (temporarily, until the + ings. In other words it will show a combined line item with just the + earliest date, and the running balance will (temporarily, until the transaction's last posting) be inaccurate. Use register -H if you need to see the individual postings. @@ -7224,14 +7381,14 @@ Standard report commands one of the above formats selects that format. The register command displays matched postings, across all accounts, in - date order, with their running total or running historical balance. - (See also the aregister command, which shows matched transactions in a + date order, with their running total or running historical balance. + (See also the aregister command, which shows matched transactions in a specific account.) register normally shows line per posting, but note that multi-commodity amounts will occupy multiple lines (one line per commodity). - It is typically used with a query selecting a particular account, to + It is typically used with a query selecting a particular account, to see that account's activity: $ hledger register checking @@ -7242,14 +7399,14 @@ Standard report commands With --date2, it shows and sorts by secondary date instead. - For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first - 1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause - visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to - ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the + For performance reasons, column widths are chosen based on the first + 1000 lines; this means unusually wide values in later lines can cause + visual discontinuities as column widths are adjusted. If you want to + ensure perfect alignment, at the cost of more time and memory, use the --align-all flag. - The --historical/-H flag adds the balance from any undisplayed prior - postings to the running total. This is useful when you want to see + The --historical/-H flag adds the balance from any undisplayed prior + postings to the running total. This is useful when you want to see only recent activity, with a historically accurate running balance: $ hledger register checking -b 2008/6 --historical @@ -7259,25 +7416,25 @@ Standard report commands The --depth option limits the amount of sub-account detail displayed. - The --average/-A flag shows the running average posting amount instead + The --average/-A flag shows the running average posting amount instead of the running total (so, the final number displayed is the average for - the whole report period). This flag implies --empty (see below). It - is affected by --historical. It works best when showing just one ac- + the whole report period). This flag implies --empty (see below). It + is affected by --historical. It works best when showing just one ac- count and one commodity. - The --related/-r flag shows the other postings in the transactions of + The --related/-r flag shows the other postings in the transactions of the postings which would normally be shown. - The --invert flag negates all amounts. For example, it can be used on + The --invert flag negates all amounts. For example, it can be used on an income account where amounts are normally displayed as negative num- - bers. It's also useful to show postings on the checking account to- + bers. It's also useful to show postings on the checking account to- gether with the related account: - The --sort=FIELDS flag sorts by the fields given, which can be any of + The --sort=FIELDS flag sorts by the fields given, which can be any of account, amount, absamount, date, or desc/description, optionally sepa- - rated by commas. For example, --sort account,amount will group all + rated by commas. For example, --sort account,amount will group all transactions in each account, sorted by transaction amount. Each field - can be negated by a preceding -, so --sort -amount will show transac- + can be negated by a preceding -, so --sort -amount will show transac- tions ordered from smallest amount to largest amount. $ hledger register --related --invert assets:checking @@ -7289,7 +7446,7 @@ Standard report commands 2008/01 income:salary $-1 $-1 2008/06 income:gifts $-1 $-2 - Periods with no activity, and summary postings with a zero amount, are + Periods with no activity, and summary postings with a zero amount, are not shown by default; use the --empty/-E flag to see them: $ hledger register --monthly income -E @@ -7306,7 +7463,7 @@ Standard report commands 2008/11 0 $-2 2008/12 0 $-2 - Often, you'll want to see just one line per interval. The --depth op- + Often, you'll want to see just one line per interval. The --depth op- tion helps with this, causing subaccounts to be aggregated: $ hledger register --monthly assets --depth 1h @@ -7314,22 +7471,22 @@ Standard report commands 2008/06 assets $-1 0 2008/12 assets $-1 $-1 - Note when using report intervals, if you specify start/end dates these - will be adjusted outward if necessary to contain a whole number of in- - tervals. This ensures that the first and last intervals are full + Note when using report intervals, if you specify start/end dates these + will be adjusted outward if necessary to contain a whole number of in- + tervals. This ensures that the first and last intervals are full length and comparable to the others in the report. - With -m DESC/--match=DESC, register does a fuzzy search for one recent + With -m DESC/--match=DESC, register does a fuzzy search for one recent posting whose description is most similar to DESC. DESC should contain at least two characters. If there is no similar-enough match, no post- ing will be shown and the program exit code will be non-zero. Custom register output - register uses the full terminal width by default, except on windows. - You can override this by setting the COLUMNS environment variable (not + register uses the full terminal width by default, except on windows. + You can override this by setting the COLUMNS environment variable (not a bash shell variable) or by using the --width/-w option. - The description and account columns normally share the space equally + The description and account columns normally share the space equally (about half of (width - 40) each). You can adjust this by adding a de- scription width as part of --width's argument, comma-separated: --width W,D . Here's a diagram (won't display correctly in --help): @@ -7348,14 +7505,14 @@ Standard report commands $ hledger reg -w $COLUMNS,40 # use terminal width, & description width 40 This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), and json. balancesheet (bs) - Show the end balances in asset and liability accounts. Amounts are - shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial state- + Show the end balances in asset and liability accounts. Amounts are + shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial state- ments. Flags: @@ -7407,13 +7564,13 @@ Standard report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- + This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- ances of asset and liability accounts. (To see equity as well, use the balancesheetequity command.) Accounts declared with the Asset, Cash or Liability type are shown (see - account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows - top-level accounts named asset or liability (case insensitive, plurals + account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows + top-level accounts named asset or liability (case insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -7439,20 +7596,20 @@ Standard report commands Net: || 0 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. - It is similar to hledger balance -H assets liabilities, but with - smarter account detection, and liabilities displayed with their sign + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + It is similar to hledger balance -H assets liabilities, but with + smarter account detection, and liabilities displayed with their sign flipped. This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), html, and json. balancesheetequity (bse) - This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- - ances of asset, liability and equity accounts. Amounts are shown with + This command displays a balance sheet, showing historical ending bal- + ances of asset, liability and equity accounts. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. Flags: @@ -7504,9 +7661,9 @@ Standard report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - This report shows accounts declared with the Asset, Cash, Liability or - Equity type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, - it shows top-level accounts named asset, liability or equity (case in- + This report shows accounts declared with the Asset, Cash, Liability or + Equity type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, + it shows top-level accounts named asset, liability or equity (case in- sensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -7537,14 +7694,14 @@ Standard report commands Net: || 0 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. It is similar to hledger balance -H assets liabilities equity, but with - smarter account detection, and liabilities/equity displayed with their + smarter account detection, and liabilities/equity displayed with their sign flipped. This report is the easiest way to see if the accounting equation (A+L+E - = 0) is satisfied (after you have done a close --retain to merge rev- - enues and expenses with equity, and perhaps added --infer-equity to + = 0) is satisfied (after you have done a close --retain to merge rev- + enues and expenses with equity, and perhaps added --infer-equity to balance your commodity conversions). This command also supports the output destination and output format op- @@ -7553,9 +7710,9 @@ Standard report commands cashflow (cf) - This command displays a (simple) cashflow statement, showing the in- - flows and outflows affecting "cash" (ie, liquid, easily convertible) - assets. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conven- + This command displays a (simple) cashflow statement, showing the in- + flows and outflows affecting "cash" (ie, liquid, easily convertible) + assets. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conven- tional financial statements. Flags: @@ -7606,10 +7763,10 @@ Standard report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - This report shows accounts declared with the Cash type (see account + This report shows accounts declared with the Cash type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows accounts - o under a top-level account named asset (case insensitive, plural al- + o under a top-level account named asset (case insensitive, plural al- lowed) o whose name contains some variation of cash, bank, checking or saving. @@ -7636,19 +7793,19 @@ Standard report commands || $-1 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. - It is similar to hledger balance assets not:fixed not:investment + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + It is similar to hledger balance assets not:fixed not:investment not:receivable, but with smarter account detection. This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), html, and json. incomestatement (is) - Show revenue inflows and expense outflows during the report period. - Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional finan- + Show revenue inflows and expense outflows during the report period. + Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional finan- cial statements. Flags: @@ -7699,12 +7856,12 @@ Standard report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - This command displays an income statement, showing revenues and ex- + This command displays an income statement, showing revenues and ex- penses during one or more periods. - It shows accounts declared with the Revenue or Expense type (see ac- - count types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows top-level - accounts named revenue or income or expense (case insensitive, plurals + It shows accounts declared with the Revenue or Expense type (see ac- + count types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows top-level + accounts named revenue or income or expense (case insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -7731,20 +7888,20 @@ Standard report commands Net: || 0 This command is a higher-level variant of the balance command, and sup- - ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. + ports many of that command's features, such as multi-period reports. It is similar to hledger balance '(revenues|income)' expenses, but with - smarter account detection, and revenues/income displayed with their + smarter account detection, and revenues/income displayed with their sign flipped. This command also supports the output destination and output format op- - tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), + tions The output formats supported are txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), html, and json. Advanced report commands balance (bal) - A flexible, general purpose "summing" report that shows accounts with + A flexible, general purpose "summing" report that shows accounts with some kind of numeric data. This can be balance changes per period, end balances, budget performance, unrealised capital gains, etc. @@ -7808,19 +7965,19 @@ Advanced report commands -o --output-file=FILE write output to FILE. A file extension matching one of the above formats selects that format. - balance is one of hledger's oldest and most versatile commands, for - listing account balances, balance changes, values, value changes and + balance is one of hledger's oldest and most versatile commands, for + listing account balances, balance changes, values, value changes and more, during one time period or many. Generally it shows a table, with rows representing accounts, and columns representing periods. - Note there are some higher-level variants of the balance command with - convenient defaults, which can be simpler to use: balancesheet, bal- + Note there are some higher-level variants of the balance command with + convenient defaults, which can be simpler to use: balancesheet, bal- ancesheetequity, cashflow and incomestatement. When you need more con- trol, then use balance. balance features - Here's a quick overview of the balance command's features, followed by - more detailed descriptions and examples. Many of these work with the + Here's a quick overview of the balance command's features, followed by + more detailed descriptions and examples. Many of these work with the higher-level commands as well. balance can show.. @@ -7875,7 +8032,7 @@ Advanced report commands ..with.. - o totals (-T), averages (-A), percentages (-%), inverted sign (--in- + o totals (-T), averages (-A), percentages (-%), inverted sign (--in- vert) o rows and columns swapped (--transpose) @@ -7888,20 +8045,20 @@ Advanced report commands This command supports the output destination and output format options, with output formats txt, csv, tsv (Added in 1.32), json, and (multi-pe- - riod reports only:) html, fods (Added in 1.40). In txt output in a + riod reports only:) html, fods (Added in 1.40). In txt output in a colour-supporting terminal, negative amounts are shown in red. Simple balance report - With no arguments, balance shows a list of all accounts and their - change of balance - ie, the sum of posting amounts, both inflows and - outflows - during the entire period of the journal. ("Simple" here - means just one column of numbers, covering a single period. You can + With no arguments, balance shows a list of all accounts and their + change of balance - ie, the sum of posting amounts, both inflows and + outflows - during the entire period of the journal. ("Simple" here + means just one column of numbers, covering a single period. You can also have multi-period reports, described later.) - For real-world accounts, these numbers will normally be their end bal- + For real-world accounts, these numbers will normally be their end bal- ance at the end of the journal period; more on this below. - Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then alphabeti- + Accounts are sorted by declaration order if any, and then alphabeti- cally by account name. For instance (using examples/sample.journal): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal @@ -7916,7 +8073,7 @@ Advanced report commands 0 Accounts with a zero balance (and no non-zero subaccounts, in tree mode - - see below) are hidden by default. Use -E/--empty to show them (re- + - see below) are hidden by default. Use -E/--empty to show them (re- vealing assets:bank:checking here): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal -E @@ -7931,12 +8088,12 @@ Advanced report commands -------------------- 0 - The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless + The total of the amounts displayed is shown as the last line, unless -N/--no-total is used. Balance report line format For single-period balance reports displayed in the terminal (only), you - can use --format FMT to customise the format and content of each line. + can use --format FMT to customise the format and content of each line. Eg: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance --format "%20(account) %12(total)" @@ -7953,7 +8110,7 @@ Advanced report commands --------------------------------- 0 - The FMT format string specifies the formatting applied to each ac- + The FMT format string specifies the formatting applied to each ac- count/balance pair. It may contain any suitable text, with data fields interpolated like so: @@ -7965,14 +8122,14 @@ Advanced report commands o FIELDNAME must be enclosed in parentheses, and can be one of: - o depth_spacer - a number of spaces equal to the account's depth, or + o depth_spacer - a number of spaces equal to the account's depth, or if MIN is specified, MIN * depth spaces. o account - the account's name o total - the account's balance/posted total, right justified - Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how multi-com- + Also, FMT can begin with an optional prefix to control how multi-com- modity amounts are rendered: o %_ - render on multiple lines, bottom-aligned (the default) @@ -7982,25 +8139,25 @@ Advanced report commands o %, - render on one line, comma-separated There are some quirks. Eg in one-line mode, %(depth_spacer) has no ef- - fect, instead %(account) has indentation built in. Experimentation + fect, instead %(account) has indentation built in. Experimentation may be needed to get pleasing results. Some example formats: o %(total) - the account's total - o %-20.20(account) - the account's name, left justified, padded to 20 + o %-20.20(account) - the account's name, left justified, padded to 20 characters and clipped at 20 characters - o %,%-50(account) %25(total) - account name padded to 50 characters, - total padded to 20 characters, with multiple commodities rendered on + o %,%-50(account) %25(total) - account name padded to 50 characters, + total padded to 20 characters, with multiple commodities rendered on one line - o %20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account) - the default format for the + o %20(total) %2(depth_spacer)%-(account) - the default format for the single-column balance report Filtered balance report - You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from + You can show fewer accounts, a different time period, totals from cleared transactions only, etc. by using query arguments or options to limit the postings being matched. Eg: @@ -8010,10 +8167,10 @@ Advanced report commands $-2 List or tree mode - By default, or with -l/--flat, accounts are shown as a flat list with + By default, or with -l/--flat, accounts are shown as a flat list with their full names visible, as in the examples above. - With -t/--tree, the account hierarchy is shown, with subaccounts' + With -t/--tree, the account hierarchy is shown, with subaccounts' "leaf" names indented below their parent: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance @@ -8033,26 +8190,26 @@ Advanced report commands Notes: o "Boring" accounts are combined with their subaccount for more compact - output, unless --no-elide is used. Boring accounts have no balance - of their own and just one subaccount (eg assets:bank and liabilities + output, unless --no-elide is used. Boring accounts have no balance + of their own and just one subaccount (eg assets:bank and liabilities above). - o All balances shown are "inclusive", ie including the balances from - all subaccounts. Note this means some repetition in the output, + o All balances shown are "inclusive", ie including the balances from + all subaccounts. Note this means some repetition in the output, which requires explanation when sharing reports with non-plaintextac- - counting-users. A tree mode report's final total is the sum of the + counting-users. A tree mode report's final total is the sum of the top-level balances shown, not of all the balances shown. - o Each group of sibling accounts (ie, under a common parent) is sorted + o Each group of sibling accounts (ie, under a common parent) is sorted separately. Depth limiting - With a depth:NUM query, or --depth NUM option, or just -NUM (eg: -3) - balance reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, hiding - the deeper subaccounts. This can be useful for getting an overview + With a depth:NUM query, or --depth NUM option, or just -NUM (eg: -3) + balance reports will show accounts only to the specified depth, hiding + the deeper subaccounts. This can be useful for getting an overview without too much detail. - Account balances at the depth limit always include the balances from + Account balances at the depth limit always include the balances from any deeper subaccounts (even in list mode). Eg, limiting to depth 1: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal balance -1 @@ -8064,7 +8221,7 @@ Advanced report commands 0 Dropping top-level accounts - You can also hide one or more top-level account name parts, using + You can also hide one or more top-level account name parts, using --drop NUM. This can be useful for hiding repetitive top-level account names: @@ -8075,53 +8232,53 @@ Advanced report commands $2 Showing declared accounts - With --declared, accounts which have been declared with an account di- - rective will be included in the balance report, even if they have no + With --declared, accounts which have been declared with an account di- + rective will be included in the balance report, even if they have no transactions. (Since they will have a zero balance, you will also need -E/--empty to see them.) - More precisely, leaf declared accounts (with no subaccounts) will be + More precisely, leaf declared accounts (with no subaccounts) will be included, since those are usually the more useful in reports. - The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance re- + The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance re- port, even when you don't have transactions in all of your declared ac- counts yet. Sorting by amount - With -S/--sort-amount, accounts with the largest (most positive) bal- - ances are shown first. Eg: hledger bal expenses -MAS shows your - biggest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity - is present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commod- - ity first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing + With -S/--sort-amount, accounts with the largest (most positive) bal- + ances are shown first. Eg: hledger bal expenses -MAS shows your + biggest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity + is present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commod- + ity first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing a commodity, it is treated as 0). - Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -S - shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add --in- - vert to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, + Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -S + shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add --in- + vert to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, which flip the sign automatically. Eg: hledger incomestatement -MAS). Percentages - With -%/--percent, balance reports show each account's value expressed + With -%/--percent, balance reports show each account's value expressed as a percentage of the (column) total. Note it is not useful to calculate percentages if the amounts in a col- - umn have mixed signs. In this case, make a separate report for each + umn have mixed signs. In this case, make a separate report for each sign, eg: $ hledger bal -% amt:`>0` $ hledger bal -% amt:`<0` - Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert - them to one commodity with -B, -V, -X or --value, or make a separate + Similarly, if the amounts in a column have mixed commodities, convert + them to one commodity with -B, -V, -X or --value, or make a separate report for each commodity: $ hledger bal -% cur:\\$ $ hledger bal -% cur: Multi-period balance report - With a report interval (set by the -D/--daily, -W/--weekly, - -M/--monthly, -Q/--quarterly, -Y/--yearly, or -p/--period flag), bal- - ance shows a tabular report, with columns representing successive time + With a report interval (set by the -D/--daily, -W/--weekly, + -M/--monthly, -Q/--quarterly, -Y/--yearly, or -p/--period flag), bal- + ance shows a tabular report, with columns representing successive time periods (and a title): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal --quarterly income expenses -E @@ -8142,24 +8299,24 @@ Advanced report commands encompass the displayed subperiods (so that the first and last subpe- riods have the same duration as the others). - o Leading and trailing periods (columns) containing all zeroes are not + o Leading and trailing periods (columns) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless -E/--empty is used. - o Accounts (rows) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless + o Accounts (rows) containing all zeroes are not shown, unless -E/--empty is used. - o Amounts with many commodities are shown in abbreviated form, unless + o Amounts with many commodities are shown in abbreviated form, unless --no-elide is used. - o Average and/or total columns can be added with the -A/--average and + o Average and/or total columns can be added with the -A/--average and -T/--row-total flags. o The --transpose flag can be used to exchange rows and columns. - o The --pivot FIELD option causes a different transaction field to be + o The --pivot FIELD option causes a different transaction field to be used as "account name". See PIVOTING. - o The --summary-only flag (--summary also works) hides all but the To- + o The --summary-only flag (--summary also works) hides all but the To- tal and Average columns (those should be enabled with --row-total and -A/--average). @@ -8178,57 +8335,57 @@ Advanced report commands o Reduce the terminal's font size - o View with a pager like less, eg: hledger bal -D --color=yes | less + o View with a pager like less, eg: hledger bal -D --color=yes | less -RS - o Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata (hledger bal -D -O - csv | vd -f csv), Emacs' csv-mode (M-x csv-mode, C-c C-a), or a + o Output as CSV and use a CSV viewer like visidata (hledger bal -D -O + csv | vd -f csv), Emacs' csv-mode (M-x csv-mode, C-c C-a), or a spreadsheet (hledger bal -D -o a.csv && open a.csv) - o Output as HTML and view with a browser: hledger bal -D -o a.html && + o Output as HTML and view with a browser: hledger bal -D -o a.html && open a.html Balance change, end balance - It's important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in bal- + It's important to be clear on the meaning of the numbers shown in bal- ance reports. Here is some terminology we use: - A balance change is the net amount added to, or removed from, an ac- + A balance change is the net amount added to, or removed from, an ac- count during some period. - An end balance is the amount accumulated in an account as of some date - (and some time, but hledger doesn't store that; assume end of day in + An end balance is the amount accumulated in an account as of some date + (and some time, but hledger doesn't store that; assume end of day in your timezone). It is the sum of previous balance changes. - We call it a historical end balance if it includes all balance changes + We call it a historical end balance if it includes all balance changes since the account was created. For a real world account, this means it - will match the "historical record", eg the balances reported in your + will match the "historical record", eg the balances reported in your bank statements or bank web UI. (If they are correct!) - In general, balance changes are what you want to see when reviewing + In general, balance changes are what you want to see when reviewing revenues and expenses, and historical end balances are what you want to see when reviewing or reconciling asset, liability and equity accounts. - balance shows balance changes by default. To see accurate historical + balance shows balance changes by default. To see accurate historical end balances: - 1. Initialise account starting balances with an "opening balances" - transaction (a transfer from equity to the account), unless the + 1. Initialise account starting balances with an "opening balances" + transaction (a transfer from equity to the account), unless the journal covers the account's full lifetime. 2. Include all of of the account's prior postings in the report, by not - specifying a report start date, or by using the -H/--historical + specifying a report start date, or by using the -H/--historical flag. (-H causes report start date to be ignored when summing post- ings.) Balance report types - The balance command is quite flexible; here is the full detail on how - to control what it reports. If the following seems complicated, don't - worry - this is for advanced reporting, and it does take time and ex- + The balance command is quite flexible; here is the full detail on how + to control what it reports. If the following seems complicated, don't + worry - this is for advanced reporting, and it does take time and ex- perimentation to get familiar with all the report modes. There are three important option groups: - hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] + hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] ... Calculation type @@ -8240,57 +8397,57 @@ Advanced report commands each account/period) o --valuechange : show the change in period-end historical balance val- - ues (caused by deposits, withdrawals, and/or market price fluctua- + ues (caused by deposits, withdrawals, and/or market price fluctua- tions) - o --gain : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current valued + o --gain : show the unrealised capital gain/loss, (the current valued balance minus each amount's original cost) o --count : show the count of postings Accumulation type - How amounts should accumulate across a report's subperiods/columns. - Another way to say it: which time period's postings should contribute + How amounts should accumulate across a report's subperiods/columns. + Another way to say it: which time period's postings should contribute to each cell's calculation. It is one of: - o --change : calculate with postings from column start to column end, - ie "just this column". Typically used to see revenues/expenses. + o --change : calculate with postings from column start to column end, + ie "just this column". Typically used to see revenues/expenses. (default for balance, cashflow, incomestatement) - o --cumulative : calculate with postings from report start to column - end, ie "previous columns plus this column". Typically used to show + o --cumulative : calculate with postings from report start to column + end, ie "previous columns plus this column". Typically used to show changes accumulated since the report's start date. Not often used. - o --historical/-H : calculate with postings from journal start to col- - umn end, ie "all postings from before report start date until this - column's end". Typically used to see historical end balances of as- - sets/liabilities/equity. (default for balancesheet, balancesheete- + o --historical/-H : calculate with postings from journal start to col- + umn end, ie "all postings from before report start date until this + column's end". Typically used to see historical end balances of as- + sets/liabilities/equity. (default for balancesheet, balancesheete- quity) Valuation type - Which kind of value or cost conversion should be applied, if any, be- + Which kind of value or cost conversion should be applied, if any, be- fore displaying the report. It is one of: o no valuation type : don't convert to cost or value (default) - o --value=cost[,COMM] : convert amounts to cost (then optionally to + o --value=cost[,COMM] : convert amounts to cost (then optionally to some other commodity) - o --value=then[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on transaction + o --value=then[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on transaction dates - o --value=end[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on period end + o --value=end[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on period end date(s) (default with --valuechange, --gain) o --value=now[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on today's date - o --value=YYYY-MM-DD[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on an- + o --value=YYYY-MM-DD[,COMM] : convert amounts to market value on an- other date or one of the equivalent simpler flags: - o -B/--cost : like --value=cost (though, note --cost and --value are + o -B/--cost : like --value=cost (though, note --cost and --value are independent options which can both be used at once) o -V/--market : like --value=end @@ -8300,13 +8457,13 @@ Advanced report commands See Cost reporting and Value reporting for more about these. Combining balance report types - Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, - but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. The + Most combinations of these options should produce reasonable reports, + but if you find any that seem wrong or misleading, let us know. The following restrictions are applied: o --valuechange implies --value=end - o --valuechange makes --change the default when used with the bal- + o --valuechange makes --change the default when used with the bal- ancesheet/balancesheetequity commands o --cumulative or --historical disables --row-total/-T @@ -8319,18 +8476,18 @@ Advanced report commands Accumu- /now lation:v ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --change change in period sum of post- period-end DATE-value of - ing-date market value of change change in pe- + --change change in period sum of post- period-end DATE-value of + ing-date market value of change change in pe- values in period in period riod - --cumu- change from re- sum of post- period-end DATE-value of - lative port start to ing-date market value of change change from + --cumu- change from re- sum of post- period-end DATE-value of + lative port start to ing-date market value of change change from period end values from re- from report report start port start to pe- start to period to period end riod end end - --his- change from sum of post- period-end DATE-value of + --his- change from sum of post- period-end DATE-value of torical journal start to ing-date market value of change change from /-H period end (his- values from jour- from journal journal start - torical end bal- nal start to pe- start to period to period end + torical end bal- nal start to pe- start to period to period end ance) riod end end Budget report @@ -8341,11 +8498,11 @@ Advanced report commands o Accounts which don't have budget goals are hidden by default. - This is useful for comparing planned and actual income, expenses, time + This is useful for comparing planned and actual income, expenses, time usage, etc. - Periodic transaction rules are used to define budget goals. For exam- - ple, here's a periodic rule defining monthly goals for bus travel and + Periodic transaction rules are used to define budget goals. For exam- + ple, here's a periodic rule defining monthly goals for bus travel and food expenses: ;; Budget @@ -8387,66 +8544,66 @@ Advanced report commands || 0 [ 0% of $430] 0 [ 0% of $430] This is "goal-based budgeting"; you define goals for accounts and peri- - ods, often recurring, and hledger shows performance relative to the - goals. This contrasts with "envelope budgeting", which is more de- - tailed and strict - useful when cash is tight, but also quite a bit - more work. https://plaintextaccounting.org/Budgeting has more on this + ods, often recurring, and hledger shows performance relative to the + goals. This contrasts with "envelope budgeting", which is more de- + tailed and strict - useful when cash is tight, but also quite a bit + more work. https://plaintextaccounting.org/Budgeting has more on this topic. Using the budget report - Historically this report has been confusing and fragile. hledger's - version should be relatively robust and intuitive, but you may still - find surprises. Here are more notes to help with learning and trou- + Historically this report has been confusing and fragile. hledger's + version should be relatively robust and intuitive, but you may still + find surprises. Here are more notes to help with learning and trou- bleshooting. - o In the above example, expenses:bus and expenses:food are shown be- + o In the above example, expenses:bus and expenses:food are shown be- cause they have budget goals during the report period. - o Their parent expenses is also shown, with budget goals aggregated + o Their parent expenses is also shown, with budget goals aggregated from the children. - o The subaccounts expenses:food:groceries and expenses:food:dining are - not shown since they have no budget goal of their own, but they con- + o The subaccounts expenses:food:groceries and expenses:food:dining are + not shown since they have no budget goal of their own, but they con- tribute to expenses:food's actual amount. - o Unbudgeted accounts expenses:movies and expenses:gifts are also not + o Unbudgeted accounts expenses:movies and expenses:gifts are also not shown, but they contribute to expenses's actual amount. - o The other unbudgeted accounts income and assets:bank:checking are + o The other unbudgeted accounts income and assets:bank:checking are grouped as . - o --depth or depth: can be used to limit report depth in the usual way + o --depth or depth: can be used to limit report depth in the usual way (but will not reveal unbudgeted subaccounts). o Amounts are always inclusive of subaccounts (even in -l/--list mode). o Numbers displayed in a --budget report will not always agree with the - totals, because of hidden unbudgeted accounts; this is normal. + totals, because of hidden unbudgeted accounts; this is normal. -E/--empty can be used to reveal the hidden accounts. o In the periodic rules used for setting budget goals, unbalanced post- ings are convenient. - o You can filter budget reports with the usual queries, eg to focus on - particular accounts. It's common to restrict them to just expenses. - (The account is occasionally hard to exclude; this is + o You can filter budget reports with the usual queries, eg to focus on + particular accounts. It's common to restrict them to just expenses. + (The account is occasionally hard to exclude; this is because of date surprises, discussed below.) - o When you have multiple currencies, you may want to convert them to - one (-X COMM --infer-market-prices) and/or show just one at a time - (cur:COMM). If you do need to show multiple currencies at once, + o When you have multiple currencies, you may want to convert them to + one (-X COMM --infer-market-prices) and/or show just one at a time + (cur:COMM). If you do need to show multiple currencies at once, --layout bare can be helpful. - o You can "roll over" amounts (actual and budgeted) to the next period + o You can "roll over" amounts (actual and budgeted) to the next period with --cumulative. See also: https://hledger.org/budgeting.html. Budget date surprises - With small data, or when starting out, some of the generated budget - goal transaction dates might fall outside the report periods. Eg with - the following journal and report, the first period appears to have no - expenses:food budget. (Also the account should be ex- + With small data, or when starting out, some of the generated budget + goal transaction dates might fall outside the report periods. Eg with + the following journal and report, the first period appears to have no + expenses:food budget. (Also the account should be ex- cluded by the expenses query, but isn't.): ~ monthly in 2020 @@ -8466,64 +8623,64 @@ Advanced report commands ---------------++-------------------- || $400 [80% of $500] - In this case, the budget goal transactions are generated on first days - of of month (this can be seen with hledger print --forecast tag:gener- - ated expenses). Whereas the report period defaults to just the 15th - day of january (this can be seen from the report table's column head- + In this case, the budget goal transactions are generated on first days + of of month (this can be seen with hledger print --forecast tag:gener- + ated expenses). Whereas the report period defaults to just the 15th + day of january (this can be seen from the report table's column head- ings). - To fix this kind of thing, be more explicit about the report period - (and/or the periodic rules' dates). In this case, adding -b 2020 does + To fix this kind of thing, be more explicit about the report period + (and/or the periodic rules' dates). In this case, adding -b 2020 does the trick. Selecting budget goals - By default, the budget report uses all available periodic transaction - rules to generate goals. This includes rules with a different report - interval from your report. Eg if you have daily, weekly and monthly - periodic rules, all of these will contribute to the goals in a monthly + By default, the budget report uses all available periodic transaction + rules to generate goals. This includes rules with a different report + interval from your report. Eg if you have daily, weekly and monthly + periodic rules, all of these will contribute to the goals in a monthly budget report. - You can select a subset of periodic rules by providing an argument to - the --budget flag. --budget=DESCPAT will match all periodic rules + You can select a subset of periodic rules by providing an argument to + the --budget flag. --budget=DESCPAT will match all periodic rules whose description contains DESCPAT, a case-insensitive substring (not a - regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic - rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed between period - expression and description), and then select from multiple budgets de- + regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic + rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed between period + expression and description), and then select from multiple budgets de- fined in your journal. Budgeting vs forecasting - --forecast and --budget both use the periodic transaction rules in the - journal to generate temporary transactions for reporting purposes. - However they are separate features - though you can use both at the + --forecast and --budget both use the periodic transaction rules in the + journal to generate temporary transactions for reporting purposes. + However they are separate features - though you can use both at the same time if you want. Here are some differences between them: --forecast --budget -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - is a general option; it enables fore- is a balance command option; it - casting with all reports selects the balance report's + is a general option; it enables fore- is a balance command option; it + casting with all reports selects the balance report's budget mode - generates visible transactions which generates invisible transactions + generates visible transactions which generates invisible transactions appear in reports which produce goal amounts - generates forecast transactions from generates budget goal transac- - after the last regular transaction, to tions throughout the report pe- - the end of the report period; or with riod, optionally restricted by - an argument --forecast=PERIODEXPR gen- periods specified in the peri- - erates them throughout the specified odic transaction rules - period, both optionally restricted by - periods specified in the periodic + generates forecast transactions from generates budget goal transac- + after the last regular transaction, to tions throughout the report pe- + the end of the report period; or with riod, optionally restricted by + an argument --forecast=PERIODEXPR gen- periods specified in the peri- + erates them throughout the specified odic transaction rules + period, both optionally restricted by + periods specified in the periodic transaction rules uses all periodic rules uses all periodic rules; or with an argument --budget=DESCPAT - uses just the rules matched by + uses just the rules matched by DESCPAT Balance report layout The --layout option affects how balance and the other balance-like com- - mands show multi-commodity amounts and commodity symbols. It can im- + mands show multi-commodity amounts and commodity symbols. It can im- prove readability, for humans and/or machines (other software). It has four possible values: - o --layout=wide[,WIDTH]: commodities are shown on a single line, op- + o --layout=wide[,WIDTH]: commodities are shown on a single line, op- tionally elided to WIDTH o --layout=tall: each commodity is shown on a separate line @@ -8531,11 +8688,11 @@ Advanced report commands o --layout=bare: commodity symbols are in their own column, amounts are bare numbers - o --layout=tidy: data is normalised to easily-consumed "tidy" form, - with one row per data value. (This one is currently supported only + o --layout=tidy: data is normalised to easily-consumed "tidy" form, + with one row per data value. (This one is currently supported only by the balance command.) - Here are the --layout modes supported by each output format Only CSV + Here are the --layout modes supported by each output format Only CSV output supports all of them: - txt csv html json sql @@ -8571,7 +8728,7 @@ Advanced report commands || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 2 more.. 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, 3 more.. -11.00 ITOT, 3 more.. 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 3 more.. Tall layout - Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in each column), and + Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in each column), and account names are repeated: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=tall @@ -8592,7 +8749,7 @@ Advanced report commands || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT Bare layout - Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each commodity has its own + Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each commodity has its own row, amounts are bare numbers, account names are repeated: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=bare @@ -8628,15 +8785,15 @@ Advanced report commands "Total:","VEA","36.00" "Total:","VHT","294.00" - Bare layout will sometimes display an extra row for the no-symbol com- - modity, because of zero amounts (hledger treats zeroes as commod- + Bare layout will sometimes display an extra row for the no-symbol com- + modity, because of zero amounts (hledger treats zeroes as commod- ity-less, usually). This can break hledger-bar confusingly (workaround: add a cur: query to exclude the no-symbol row). Tidy layout This produces normalised "tidy data" (see https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/vignettes/tidy-data.html) - where every variable has its own column and each row represents a sin- + where every variable has its own column and each row represents a sin- gle data point. This is the easiest kind of data for other software to consume: @@ -8659,45 +8816,45 @@ Advanced report commands "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VHT","170.00" Balance report output - As noted in Output format, if you choose HTML output (by using -O html - or -o somefile.html), it will use the UTF-8 text encoding, And you can - create a hledger.css file in the same directory to customise the re- + As noted in Output format, if you choose HTML output (by using -O html + or -o somefile.html), it will use the UTF-8 text encoding, And you can + create a hledger.css file in the same directory to customise the re- port's appearance. The HTML and FODS output formats can generate hyperlinks to a - hledger-web register view for each account and period. E.g. if your + hledger-web register view for each account and period. E.g. if your hledger-web server is reachable at http://localhost:5000 then you might - run the balance command with the extra option --base-url=http://local- - host:5000. You can also produce relative links, like + run the balance command with the extra option --base-url=http://local- + host:5000. You can also produce relative links, like --base-url="some/path" or --base-url="".) - The balance reports' HTML output currently does not indent tree mode - reports properly (#1846). So in HTML balance reports, use list mode + The balance reports' HTML output currently does not indent tree mode + reports properly (#1846). So in HTML balance reports, use list mode for now (it is the default). Some useful balance reports Some frequently used balance options/reports are: o bal -M revenues expenses - Show revenues/expenses in each month. Also available as the incomes- + Show revenues/expenses in each month. Also available as the incomes- tatement command. o bal -M -H assets liabilities - Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. Also + Show historical asset/liability balances at each month end. Also available as the balancesheet command. o bal -M -H assets liabilities equity - Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. + Show historical asset/liability/equity balances at each month end. Also available as the balancesheetequity command. o bal -M assets not:receivable - Show changes to liquid assets in each month. Also available as the + Show changes to liquid assets in each month. Also available as the cashflow command. Also: o bal -M expenses -2 -SA - Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average + Show monthly expenses summarised to depth 2 and sorted by average amount. o bal -M --budget expenses @@ -8711,7 +8868,7 @@ Advanced report commands Show top gainers [or losers] last week roi - Shows the time-weighted (TWR) and money-weighted (IRR) rate of return + Shows the time-weighted (TWR) and money-weighted (IRR) rate of return on your investments. Flags: @@ -8721,38 +8878,38 @@ Advanced report commands --profit-loss=QUERY --pnl query to select profit-and-loss or appreciation/valuation transactions - At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an ac- - count name) to select your investment(s) with --inv, and another query + At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an ac- + count name) to select your investment(s) with --inv, and another query to identify your profit and loss transactions with --pnl. - If you do not record changes in the value of your investment manually, - or do not require computation of time-weighted return (TWR), --pnl + If you do not record changes in the value of your investment manually, + or do not require computation of time-weighted return (TWR), --pnl could be an empty query (--pnl "" or --pnl STR where STR does not match any of your accounts). - This command will compute and display the internalized rate of return - (IRR, also known as money-weighted rate of return) and time-weighted - rate of return (TWR) for your investments for the time period re- - quested. IRR is always annualized due to the way it is computed, but - TWR is reported both as a rate over the chosen reporting period and as + This command will compute and display the internalized rate of return + (IRR, also known as money-weighted rate of return) and time-weighted + rate of return (TWR) for your investments for the time period re- + quested. IRR is always annualized due to the way it is computed, but + TWR is reported both as a rate over the chosen reporting period and as an annual rate. - Price directives will be taken into account if you supply appropriate + Price directives will be taken into account if you supply appropriate --cost or --value flags (see VALUATION). Note, in some cases this report can fail, for these reasons: - o Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR). - Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of investment be- + o Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR). + Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of investment be- comes negative at some point in time. - o Error (SearchFailed): Failed to find solution for Internal Rate of + o Error (SearchFailed): Failed to find solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Either search does not converge to a solution, or con- verges too slowly. Examples: - o Using roi to compute total return of investment in stocks: + o Using roi to compute total return of investment in stocks: https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/blob/master/examples/invest- ing/roi-unrealised.ledger @@ -8762,28 +8919,28 @@ Advanced report commands Note that --inv and --pnl's argument is a query, and queries could have several space-separated terms (see QUERIES). - To indicate that all search terms form single command-line argument, + To indicate that all search terms form single command-line argument, you will need to put them in quotes (see Special characters): $ hledger roi --inv 'term1 term2 term3 ...' - If any query terms contain spaces themselves, you will need an extra + If any query terms contain spaces themselves, you will need an extra level of nested quoting, eg: $ hledger roi --inv="'Assets:Test 1'" --pnl="'Equity:Unrealized Profit and Loss'" Semantics of --inv and --pnl - Query supplied to --inv has to match all transactions that are related + Query supplied to --inv has to match all transactions that are related to your investment. Transactions not matching --inv will be ignored. In these transactions, ROI will conside postings that match --inv to be - "investment postings" and other postings (not matching --inv) will be - sorted into two categories: "cash flow" and "profit and loss", as ROI - needs to know which part of the investment value is your contributions + "investment postings" and other postings (not matching --inv) will be + sorted into two categories: "cash flow" and "profit and loss", as ROI + needs to know which part of the investment value is your contributions and which is due to the return on investment. o "Cash flow" is depositing or withdrawing money, buying or selling as- - sets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity and + sets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity and any other commodity. Example: 2019-01-01 Investing in Snake Oil @@ -8800,12 +8957,12 @@ Advanced report commands investment:snake oil = $57 equity:unrealized profit or loss - All non-investment postings are assumed to be "cash flow", unless they - match --pnl query. Changes in value of your investment due to "profit - and loss" postings will be considered as part of your investment re- + All non-investment postings are assumed to be "cash flow", unless they + match --pnl query. Changes in value of your investment due to "profit + and loss" postings will be considered as part of your investment re- turn. - Example: if you use --inv snake --pnl equity:unrealized, then postings + Example: if you use --inv snake --pnl equity:unrealized, then postings in the example below would be classifed as: 2019-01-01 Snake Oil #1 @@ -8822,58 +8979,58 @@ Advanced report commands snake oil $50 ; investment posting IRR and TWR explained - "ROI" stands for "return on investment". Traditionally this was com- - puted as a difference between current value of investment and its ini- + "ROI" stands for "return on investment". Traditionally this was com- + puted as a difference between current value of investment and its ini- tial value, expressed in percentage of the initial value. However, this approach is only practical in simple cases, where invest- - ments receives no in-flows or out-flows of money, and where rate of + ments receives no in-flows or out-flows of money, and where rate of growth is fixed over time. For more complex scenarios you need differ- - ent ways to compute rate of return, and this command implements two of + ent ways to compute rate of return, and this command implements two of them: IRR and TWR. - Internal rate of return, or "IRR" (also called "money-weighted rate of - return") takes into account effects of in-flows and out-flows, and the - time between them. Investment at a particular fixed interest rate is - going to give you more interest than the same amount invested at the - same interest rate, but made later in time. If you are withdrawing - from your investment, your future gains would be smaller (in absolute - numbers), and will be a smaller percentage of your initial investment, + Internal rate of return, or "IRR" (also called "money-weighted rate of + return") takes into account effects of in-flows and out-flows, and the + time between them. Investment at a particular fixed interest rate is + going to give you more interest than the same amount invested at the + same interest rate, but made later in time. If you are withdrawing + from your investment, your future gains would be smaller (in absolute + numbers), and will be a smaller percentage of your initial investment, so your IRR will be smaller. And if you are adding to your investment, you will receive bigger absolute gains, which will be a bigger percent- age of your initial investment, so your IRR will be larger. - As mentioned before, in-flows and out-flows would be any cash that you + As mentioned before, in-flows and out-flows would be any cash that you personally put in or withdraw, and for the "roi" command, these are the - postings that match the query in the--inv argument and NOT match the + postings that match the query in the--inv argument and NOT match the query in the--pnl argument. - If you manually record changes in the value of your investment as - transactions that balance them against "profit and loss" (or "unreal- - ized gains") account or use price directives, then in order for IRR to - compute the precise effect of your in-flows and out-flows on the rate - of return, you will need to record the value of your investement on or + If you manually record changes in the value of your investment as + transactions that balance them against "profit and loss" (or "unreal- + ized gains") account or use price directives, then in order for IRR to + compute the precise effect of your in-flows and out-flows on the rate + of return, you will need to record the value of your investement on or close to the days when in- or out-flows occur. - In technical terms, IRR uses the same approach as computation of net + In technical terms, IRR uses the same approach as computation of net present value, and tries to find a discount rate that makes net present value of all the cash flows of your investment to add up to zero. This - could be hard to wrap your head around, especially if you haven't done + could be hard to wrap your head around, especially if you haven't done discounted cash flow analysis before. Implementation of IRR in hledger should produce results that match the =XIRR formula in Excel. - Second way to compute rate of return that roi command implements is - called "time-weighted rate of return" or "TWR". Like IRR, it will ac- - count for the effect of your in-flows and out-flows, but unlike IRR it - will try to compute the true rate of return of the underlying asset, - compensating for the effect that deposits and withdrawas have on the + Second way to compute rate of return that roi command implements is + called "time-weighted rate of return" or "TWR". Like IRR, it will ac- + count for the effect of your in-flows and out-flows, but unlike IRR it + will try to compute the true rate of return of the underlying asset, + compensating for the effect that deposits and withdrawas have on the apparent rate of growth of your investment. - TWR represents your investment as an imaginary "unit fund" where - in-flows/ out-flows lead to buying or selling "units" of your invest- - ment and changes in its value change the value of "investment unit". - Change in "unit price" over the reporting period gives you rate of re- - turn of your investment, and make TWR less sensitive than IRR to the + TWR represents your investment as an imaginary "unit fund" where + in-flows/ out-flows lead to buying or selling "units" of your invest- + ment and changes in its value change the value of "investment unit". + Change in "unit price" over the reporting period gives you rate of re- + turn of your investment, and make TWR less sensitive than IRR to the effects of cash in-flows and out-flows. References: @@ -8886,7 +9043,7 @@ Advanced report commands o IRR vs TWR - o Examples of computing IRR and TWR and discussion of the limitations + o Examples of computing IRR and TWR and discussion of the limitations of both metrics Chart commands @@ -8896,8 +9053,8 @@ Chart commands Flags: no command-specific flags - The activity command displays an ascii histogram showing transaction - counts by day, week, month or other reporting interval (by day is the + The activity command displays an ascii histogram showing transaction + counts by day, week, month or other reporting interval (by day is the default). With query arguments, it counts only matched transactions. Examples: @@ -8912,10 +9069,10 @@ Data generation commands close (equity) - close generates several kinds of "closing" and/or "opening" transac- - tions, useful in certain situations, including migrating balances to a - new journal file, retaining earnings into equity, consolidating bal- - ances, or viewing lots. Like print, it prints valid journal entries. + close generates several kinds of "closing" and/or "opening" transac- + tions, useful in certain situations, including migrating balances to a + new journal file, retaining earnings into equity, consolidating bal- + ances, or viewing lots. Like print, it prints valid journal entries. You can append or copy these to your journal file(s) when you are happy with how they look. @@ -8952,77 +9109,77 @@ Data generation commands close currently has six modes, selected by a single mode flag: close --migrate - This is the most common mode. It prints a "closing balances" transac- + This is the most common mode. It prints a "closing balances" transac- tion that zeroes out all asset and liability balances (by default), and - an opposite "opening balances" transaction that restores them again. - The balancing account will be equity:opening/closing balances (or an- + an opposite "opening balances" transaction that restores them again. + The balancing account will be equity:opening/closing balances (or an- other specified by --close-acct or --open-acct). - This is useful when migrating balances to a new journal file at the - start of a new year. Essentially, you run hledger close --mi- - grate=NEWYEAR -e NEWYEAR and then copy the closing transaction to the + This is useful when migrating balances to a new journal file at the + start of a new year. Essentially, you run hledger close --mi- + grate=NEWYEAR -e NEWYEAR and then copy the closing transaction to the end of the old file and the opening transaction to the start of the new - file. The opening transaction sets correct starting balances in the - new file when it is used alone, and the closing transaction keeps bal- - ances correct when you use both old and new files together, by can- + file. The opening transaction sets correct starting balances in the + new file when it is used alone, and the closing transaction keeps bal- + ances correct when you use both old and new files together, by can- celling out the following opening transaction and preventing buildup of - duplicated opening balances. Think of the closing/opening pair as + duplicated opening balances. Think of the closing/opening pair as "moving the balances into the next file". - You can close a different set of accounts by providing a query. Eg if - you want to include equity, you can add assets liabilities equity or - type:ALE arguments. (The balancing account is always excluded.) Rev- + You can close a different set of accounts by providing a query. Eg if + you want to include equity, you can add assets liabilities equity or + type:ALE arguments. (The balancing account is always excluded.) Rev- enues and expenses usually are not migrated to a new file directly; see --retain below. - The generated transactions will have a start: tag, with its value set - to --migrate's NEW argument if any, for easier matching or exclusion. - When NEW is not specified, it will be inferred if possible by incre- - menting a number (eg a year number) within the default journal's main + The generated transactions will have a start: tag, with its value set + to --migrate's NEW argument if any, for easier matching or exclusion. + When NEW is not specified, it will be inferred if possible by incre- + menting a number (eg a year number) within the default journal's main file name. The other modes behave similarly. close --close - This prints just the closing balances transaction of --migrate. It is - the default behaviour if you specify no mode flag. Using the customi- + This prints just the closing balances transaction of --migrate. It is + the default behaviour if you specify no mode flag. Using the customi- sation options below, you can move balances from any set of accounts to a different account. close --open - This prints just the opening balances transaction of --migrate. It is + This prints just the opening balances transaction of --migrate. It is similar to Ledger's equity command. close --assert This prints a "closing balances" transaction (with balances: tag), that - just declares balance assertions for the current balances without - changing them. It could be useful as documention and to guard against + just declares balance assertions for the current balances without + changing them. It could be useful as documention and to guard against changes. close --assign This prints an "opening balances" transaction that restores the account - balances using balance assignments. Balance assignments work regard- - less of any previous balance, so a preceding closing balances transac- + balances using balance assignments. Balance assignments work regard- + less of any previous balance, so a preceding closing balances transac- tion is not needed. - However, omitting the closing balances transaction would unbalance eq- - uity. This is relatively harmless for personal reports, but it dis- - turbs the accounting equation, removing a source of error detection. - So --migrate is generally the best way to set to set balances in new + However, omitting the closing balances transaction would unbalance eq- + uity. This is relatively harmless for personal reports, but it dis- + turbs the accounting equation, removing a source of error detection. + So --migrate is generally the best way to set to set balances in new files, for now. close --retain This is like --close with different defaults: it prints a "retain earn- - ings" transaction (with retain: tag), that transfers revenue and ex- + ings" transaction (with retain: tag), that transfers revenue and ex- pense balances to equity:retained earnings. - This is a different kind of closing, called "retaining earnings" or + This is a different kind of closing, called "retaining earnings" or "closing the books"; it is traditionally performed by businesses at the - end of each accounting period, to consolidate revenues and expenses - into the main equity balance. ("Revenues" and "expenses" are actually - equity by another name, kept separate temporarily for reporting pur- + end of each accounting period, to consolidate revenues and expenses + into the main equity balance. ("Revenues" and "expenses" are actually + equity by another name, kept separate temporarily for reporting pur- poses.) - In personal accounting you generally don't need to do this, unless you - want the balancesheetequity report to show a zero total, demonstrating + In personal accounting you generally don't need to do this, unless you + want the balancesheetequity report to show a zero total, demonstrating that the accounting equation (A-L=E) is satisfied. close customisation @@ -9032,57 +9189,57 @@ Data generation commands o the balancing account, with --close-acct=ACCT and/or --open-acct=ACCT - o the transaction descriptions, with --close-desc=DESC and + o the transaction descriptions, with --close-desc=DESC and --open-desc=DESC o the transaction's tag value, with a --MODE=NEW option argument o the closing/opening dates, with -e OPENDATE - By default, the closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, - whichever is later; and the opening date is always one day after the - closing date. You can change these by specifying a report end date; + By default, the closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, + whichever is later; and the opening date is always one day after the + closing date. You can change these by specifying a report end date; the closing date will be the last day of the report period. Eg -e 2024 means "close on 2023-12-31, open on 2024-01-01". With --x/--explicit, the balancing amount will be shown explicitly, and - if it involves multiple commodities, a separate posting will be gener- + if it involves multiple commodities, a separate posting will be gener- ated for each of them (similar to print -x). - With --interleaved, each individual transfer is shown with source and - destination postings next to each other (perhaps useful for trou- + With --interleaved, each individual transfer is shown with source and + destination postings next to each other (perhaps useful for trou- bleshooting). With --show-costs, balances' costs are also shown, with different costs - kept separate. This may generate very large journal entries, if you - have many currency conversions or investment transactions. close - --show-costs is currently the best way to view investment lots with - hledger. (To move or dispose of lots, see the more capable + kept separate. This may generate very large journal entries, if you + have many currency conversions or investment transactions. close + --show-costs is currently the best way to view investment lots with + hledger. (To move or dispose of lots, see the more capable hledger-move script.) close and balance assertions close adds balance assertions verifying that the accounts have been re- set to zero in a closing transaction or restored to their previous bal- - ances in an opening transaction. These provide useful error checking, + ances in an opening transaction. These provide useful error checking, but you can ignore them temporarily with -I, or remove them if you pre- fer. - Single-commodity, subaccount-exclusive balance assertions (=) are gen- - erated by default. This can be changed with --assertion-type='==*' + Single-commodity, subaccount-exclusive balance assertions (=) are gen- + erated by default. This can be changed with --assertion-type='==*' (eg). - When running close you should probably avoid using -C, -R, status: - (filtering by status or realness) or --auto (generating postings), + When running close you should probably avoid using -C, -R, status: + (filtering by status or realness) or --auto (generating postings), since the generated balance assertions would then require these. - Transactions with multiple dates (eg posting dates) spanning the file + Transactions with multiple dates (eg posting dates) spanning the file boundary also can disrupt the balance assertions: 2023-12-30 a purchase made in december, cleared in january expenses:food 5 assets:bank:checking -5 ; date: 2023-01-02 - To solve this you can transfer the money to and from a temporary ac- + To solve this you can transfer the money to and from a temporary ac- count, splitting the multi-day transaction into two single-day transac- tions: @@ -9103,7 +9260,7 @@ Data generation commands $ hledger close --retain -f 2022.journal -p 2022 >> 2022.journal - After this, to see 2022's revenues and expenses you must exclude the + After this, to see 2022's revenues and expenses you must exclude the retain earnings transaction: $ hledger -f 2022.journal is not:desc:'retain earnings' @@ -9115,13 +9272,13 @@ Data generation commands # copy/paste the closing transaction to the end of 2022.journal # copy/paste the opening transaction to the start of 2023.journal - After this, to see 2022's end-of-year balances you must exclude the + After this, to see 2022's end-of-year balances you must exclude the closing balances transaction: $ hledger -f 2022.journal bs not:desc:'closing balances' - For more flexibility, it helps to tag closing and opening transactions - with eg start:NEWYEAR, then you can ensure correct balances by exclud- + For more flexibility, it helps to tag closing and opening transactions + with eg start:NEWYEAR, then you can ensure correct balances by exclud- ing all opening/closing transactions except the first, like so: $ hledger bs -Y -f 2021.j -f 2022.j -f 2023.j expr:'tag:start=2021 or not tag:start' @@ -9136,7 +9293,7 @@ Data generation commands rewrite Print all transactions, rewriting the postings of matched transactions. - For now the only rewrite available is adding new postings, like print + For now the only rewrite available is adding new postings, like print --auto. Flags: @@ -9150,9 +9307,9 @@ Data generation commands patch tool This is a start at a generic rewriter of transaction entries. It reads - the default journal and prints the transactions, like print, but adds + the default journal and prints the transactions, like print, but adds one or more specified postings to any transactions matching QUERY. The - posting amounts can be fixed, or a multiplier of the existing transac- + posting amounts can be fixed, or a multiplier of the existing transac- tion's first posting amount. Examples: @@ -9168,7 +9325,7 @@ Data generation commands (reserve:grocery) *0.25 ; reserve 25% for grocery (reserve:) *0.25 ; reserve 25% for grocery - Note the single quotes to protect the dollar sign from bash, and the + Note the single quotes to protect the dollar sign from bash, and the two spaces between account and amount. More: @@ -9178,16 +9335,16 @@ Data generation commands $ hledger rewrite -- expenses:gifts --add-posting '(budget:gifts) *-1"' $ hledger rewrite -- ^income --add-posting '(budget:foreign currency) *0.25 JPY; diversify' - Argument for --add-posting option is a usual posting of transaction - with an exception for amount specification. More precisely, you can + Argument for --add-posting option is a usual posting of transaction + with an exception for amount specification. More precisely, you can use '*' (star symbol) before the amount to indicate that that this is a - factor for an amount of original matched posting. If the amount in- + factor for an amount of original matched posting. If the amount in- cludes a commodity name, the new posting amount will be in the new com- - modity; otherwise, it will be in the matched posting amount's commod- + modity; otherwise, it will be in the matched posting amount's commod- ity. Re-write rules in a file - During the run this tool will execute so called "Automated Transac- + During the run this tool will execute so called "Automated Transac- tions" found in any journal it process. I.e instead of specifying this operations in command line you can put them in a journal file. @@ -9202,7 +9359,7 @@ Data generation commands budget:gifts *-1 assets:budget *1 - Note that '=' (equality symbol) that is used instead of date in trans- + Note that '=' (equality symbol) that is used instead of date in trans- actions you usually write. It indicates the query by which you want to match the posting to add new ones. @@ -9215,12 +9372,12 @@ Data generation commands --add-posting 'assets:budget *1' \ > rewritten-tidy-output.journal - It is important to understand that relative order of such entries in - journal is important. You can re-use result of previously added post- + It is important to understand that relative order of such entries in + journal is important. You can re-use result of previously added post- ings. Diff output format - To use this tool for batch modification of your journal files you may + To use this tool for batch modification of your journal files you may find useful output in form of unified diff. $ hledger rewrite -- --diff -f examples/sample.journal '^income' --add-posting '(liabilities:tax) *.33' @@ -9244,10 +9401,10 @@ Data generation commands If you'll pass this through patch tool you'll get transactions contain- ing the posting that matches your query be updated. Note that multiple - files might be update according to list of input files specified via + files might be update according to list of input files specified via --file options and include directives inside of these files. - Be careful. Whole transaction being re-formatted in a style of output + Be careful. Whole transaction being re-formatted in a style of output from hledger print. See also: @@ -9255,17 +9412,17 @@ Data generation commands https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/issues/99 rewrite vs. print --auto - This command predates print --auto, and currently does much the same + This command predates print --auto, and currently does much the same thing, but with these differences: - o with multiple files, rewrite lets rules in any file affect all other - files. print --auto uses standard directive scoping; rules affect + o with multiple files, rewrite lets rules in any file affect all other + files. print --auto uses standard directive scoping; rules affect only child files. - o rewrite's query limits which transactions can be rewritten; all are + o rewrite's query limits which transactions can be rewritten; all are printed. print --auto's query limits which transactions are printed. - o rewrite applies rules specified on command line or in the journal. + o rewrite applies rules specified on command line or in the journal. print --auto applies rules specified in the journal. Maintenance commands @@ -9275,103 +9432,103 @@ Maintenance commands Flags: no command-specific flags - hledger provides a number of built-in correctness checks to help vali- - date your data and prevent errors. Some are run automatically, some - when you enable --strict mode; or you can run any of them on demand by - providing them as arguments to the check command. check produces no + hledger provides a number of built-in correctness checks to help vali- + date your data and prevent errors. Some are run automatically, some + when you enable --strict mode; or you can run any of them on demand by + providing them as arguments to the check command. check produces no output and a zero exit code if all is well. Eg: hledger check # run basic checks hledger check -s # run basic and strict checks hledger check ordereddates payees # run basic checks and two others - If you are an Emacs user, you can also configure flycheck-hledger to + If you are an Emacs user, you can also configure flycheck-hledger to run these checks, providing instant feedback as you edit the journal. Here are the checks currently available. Generally, they are performed - in the order they are shown here (and only the first failure is re- + in the order they are shown here (and only the first failure is re- ported). Basic checks - These important checks are performed by default, by almost all hledger + These important checks are performed by default, by almost all hledger commands: - o parseable - data files are in a supported format, with no syntax er- - rors and no invalid include directives. This ensures that all files + o parseable - data files are in a supported format, with no syntax er- + rors and no invalid include directives. This ensures that all files exist and are readable. o autobalanced - all transactions are balanced, after inferring missing - amounts and conversion costs where possible, and then converting to + amounts and conversion costs where possible, and then converting to cost. This ensures that each individual transaction is well formed. o assertions - all balance assertions in the journal are passing. Bal- - ance assertions are like canaries in your journal, they catch many - problems. They can get in the way sometimes; you can disable them - temporarily with -I/--ignore-assertions (unless overridden with + ance assertions are like canaries in your journal, they catch many + problems. They can get in the way sometimes; you can disable them + temporarily with -I/--ignore-assertions (unless overridden with -s/--strict or hledger check assertions). Strict checks - These additional checks are performed by any command when the + These additional checks are performed by any command when the -s/--strict flag is used (strict mode). Strict mode always enables the - balance assertions check, also. These provide extra error-catching - power when you are serious about keeping your data clean and free of + balance assertions check, also. These provide extra error-catching + power when you are serious about keeping your data clean and free of typos: - o balanced - like autobalanced, but in conversion transactions, costs - must be written explicitly. This ensures some redundancy in the en- + o balanced - like autobalanced, but in conversion transactions, costs + must be written explicitly. This ensures some redundancy in the en- try, which helps prevent typos. - o commodities - all commodity symbols used must be declared. This + o commodities - all commodity symbols used must be declared. This guards against mistyping or omitting commodity symbols. - o accounts - all account names used must be declared. This prevents + o accounts - all account names used must be declared. This prevents the use of mis-spelled or outdated account names. Other checks These other checks are not wanted by everyone, but can be run using the check command: - o ordereddates - within each file, transactions are ordered by date. - This is a simple and effective error catcher, and you should use it. - Alas! not everyone wants it. If you do, use hledger check -s or- + o ordereddates - within each file, transactions are ordered by date. + This is a simple and effective error catcher, and you should use it. + Alas! not everyone wants it. If you do, use hledger check -s or- dereddates. When enabled, this check is performed early, before bal- - ance assertions (because copy-pasted dates are often the root cause + ance assertions (because copy-pasted dates are often the root cause of balance assertion failures). o payees - all payees used by transactions must be declared. This will - force you to always use known/declared payee names. For most people + force you to always use known/declared payee names. For most people this is a bit too restrictive. o tags - all tags used by transactions must be declared. This prevents mistyped tag names. - o recentassertions - all accounts with balance assertions must have a + o recentassertions - all accounts with balance assertions must have a balance assertion within the last 7 days before their latest posting. - This encourages you to add balance assertions fairly regularly for - your active asset/liability accounts, which in turn should encourage + This encourages you to add balance assertions fairly regularly for + your active asset/liability accounts, which in turn should encourage you to check and reconcile with their real world balances fairly reg- - ularly. close --assert can be helpful. (The older balance asser- - tions become redundant; you can remove them periodically, or leave + ularly. close --assert can be helpful. (The older balance asser- + tions become redundant; you can remove them periodically, or leave them in place, perhaps commented, as documentation.) - o uniqueleafnames - no two accounts may have the same leaf name. The - leaf name is the last colon-separated part of an account name, eg - checking in assets:bank:checking. This encourages you to keep those - unique, effectively giving each account a short name which is easier + o uniqueleafnames - no two accounts may have the same leaf name. The + leaf name is the last colon-separated part of an account name, eg + checking in assets:bank:checking. This encourages you to keep those + unique, effectively giving each account a short name which is easier to remember and to type in reporting commands. Custom checks - You can build your own custom checks with add-on command scripts. See + You can build your own custom checks with add-on command scripts. See also Cookbook > Scripting. Here are some examples from hledger/bin/: - o hledger-check-tagfiles - all tag values containing / (a forward + o hledger-check-tagfiles - all tag values containing / (a forward slash) exist as file paths - o hledger-check-fancyassertions - more complex balance assertions are + o hledger-check-fancyassertions - more complex balance assertions are passing diff - Compares a particular account's transactions in two input files. It + Compares a particular account's transactions in two input files. It shows any transactions to this account which are in one file but not in the other. @@ -9379,16 +9536,16 @@ Maintenance commands no command-specific flags More precisely: for each posting affecting this account in either file, - this command looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which - posts the same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, + this command looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which + posts the same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, etc). Since it compares postings, not transactions, this also works when mul- tiple bank transactions have been combined into a single journal entry. - This command is useful eg if you have downloaded an account's transac- - tions from your bank (eg as CSV data): when hledger and your bank dis- - agree about the account balance, you can compare the bank data with + This command is useful eg if you have downloaded an account's transac- + tions from your bank (eg as CSV data): when hledger and your bank dis- + agree about the account balance, you can compare the bank data with your journal to find out the cause. Examples: @@ -9409,13 +9566,13 @@ Maintenance commands Flags: no command-specific flags - This command runs the unit tests built in to hledger and hledger-lib, - printing the results on stdout. If any test fails, the exit code will + This command runs the unit tests built in to hledger and hledger-lib, + printing the results on stdout. If any test fails, the exit code will be non-zero. - This is mainly used by hledger developers, but you can also use it to - sanity-check the installed hledger executable on your platform. All - tests are expected to pass - if you ever see a failure, please report + This is mainly used by hledger developers, but you can also use it to + sanity-check the installed hledger executable on your platform. All + tests are expected to pass - if you ever see a failure, please report as a bug! This command also accepts tasty test runner options, written after a -- @@ -9424,11 +9581,11 @@ Maintenance commands $ hledger test -- -pData.Amount --color=never - For help on these, see https://github.com/feuerbach/tasty#options (-- + For help on these, see https://github.com/feuerbach/tasty#options (-- --help currently doesn't show them). PART 5: COMMON TASKS - Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with + Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with hledger. Getting help @@ -9438,37 +9595,37 @@ Getting help $ hledger --help # show common options $ hledger CMD --help # show CMD's options, common options and CMD's documentation - You can also view your hledger version's manual in several formats by + You can also view your hledger version's manual in several formats by using the help command. Eg: $ hledger help # show the hledger manual with info, man or $PAGER (best available) $ hledger help journal # show the journal topic in the hledger manual $ hledger help --help # find out more about the help command - To view manuals and introductory docs on the web, visit - https://hledger.org. Chat and mail list support and discussion + To view manuals and introductory docs on the web, visit + https://hledger.org. Chat and mail list support and discussion archives can be found at https://hledger.org/support. Constructing command lines - hledger has a flexible command line interface. We strive to keep it - simple and ergonomic, but if you run into one of the sharp edges de- + hledger has a flexible command line interface. We strive to keep it + simple and ergonomic, but if you run into one of the sharp edges de- scribed in OPTIONS, here are some tips that might help: - o command-specific options must go after the command (it's fine to put + o command-specific options must go after the command (it's fine to put common options there too: hledger CMD OPTS ARGS) - o running add-on executables directly simplifies command line parsing + o running add-on executables directly simplifies command line parsing (hledger-ui OPTS ARGS) o enclose "problematic" args in single quotes - o if needed, also add a backslash to hide regular expression metachar- + o if needed, also add a backslash to hide regular expression metachar- acters from the shell o to see how a misbehaving command line is being parsed, add --debug=2. Starting a journal file - hledger looks for your accounting data in a journal file, + hledger looks for your accounting data in a journal file, $HOME/.hledger.journal by default: $ hledger stats @@ -9476,9 +9633,9 @@ Starting a journal file Please create it first, eg with "hledger add" or a text editor. Or, specify an existing journal file with -f or LEDGER_FILE. - You can override this by setting the LEDGER_FILE environment variable - (see below). It's a good practice to keep this important file under - version control, and to start a new file each year. So you could do + You can override this by setting the LEDGER_FILE environment variable + (see below). It's a good practice to keep this important file under + version control, and to start a new file each year. So you could do something like this: $ mkdir ~/finance @@ -9504,34 +9661,37 @@ Starting a journal file Setting LEDGER_FILE How to set LEDGER_FILE permanently depends on your setup: - On unix and mac, running these commands in the terminal will work for + On unix and mac, running these commands in the terminal will work for many people; adapt as needed: $ echo 'export LEDGER_FILE=~/finance/2023.journal' >> ~/.profile $ source ~/.profile - When correctly configured, in a new terminal window env | grep + When correctly configured, in a new terminal window env | grep LEDGER_FILE will show your file, and so will hledger files. - On mac, this additional step might be helpful for GUI applications - (like Emacs started from the dock): add an entry to ~/.MacOSX/environ- + On mac, this additional step might be helpful for GUI applications + (like Emacs started from the dock): add an entry to ~/.MacOSX/environ- ment.plist like { "LEDGER_FILE" : "~/finance/2023.journal" } - and then run killall Dock in a terminal window (or restart the ma- + and then run killall Dock in a terminal window (or restart the ma- chine). On Windows, see https://www.java.com/en/download/help/path.html, or try - running these commands in a powershell window (let us know if it per- + running these commands in a powershell window (let us know if it per- sists across a reboot, and if you need to be an Administrator): > CD > MKDIR finance > SETX LEDGER_FILE "C:\Users\USERNAME\finance\2023.journal" + When correctly configured, in a new terminal window $env:LEDGER_FILE + will show the file path, and so will hledger files. + Setting opening balances Pick a starting date for which you can look up the balances of some real-world assets (bank accounts, wallet..) and liabilities (credit @@ -9834,7 +9994,7 @@ Migrating to a new file BUGS We welcome bug reports in the hledger issue tracker (shortcut: - http://bugs.hledger.org), or on the #hledger chat or hledger mail list + https://bugs.hledger.org), or on the hledger chat or mail list (https://hledger.org/support). Some known issues and limitations: @@ -9870,7 +10030,7 @@ BUGS o LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell variable. Eg on unix, the command env | grep LEDGER_FILE should show it. You may need to use export (see https://stackover- - flow.com/a/7411509). + flow.com/a/7411509). On Windows, $env:LEDGER_FILE should show it. o You may need to force your shell to see the new configuration. A simple way is to close your terminal window and open a new one. @@ -9922,4 +10082,4 @@ LICENSE SEE ALSO hledger(1), hledger-ui(1), hledger-web(1), ledger(1) -hledger-1.40.99 October 2024 HLEDGER(1) +hledger-1.41.99 December 2024 HLEDGER(1)