hledger/hledger-ui/doc/hledger-ui.1.m4.md

author	date	title
author	monthyear	hledger-ui(1) hledger-ui version

web({{ versions({{hledger-ui}}) toc

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man({{ # NAME

hledger-ui - curses-style interface for the hledger accounting tool

SYNOPSIS

hledger-ui [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]
hledger ui -- [OPTIONS] [QUERYARGS]

DESCRIPTION

hledgerdescription }})

hledger-ui is hledger’s curses-style interface, providing an efficient full-window text UI for viewing accounts and transactions, and some limited data entry capability. It is easier than hledger’s command-line interface, and sometimes quicker and more convenient than the web interface.

Like hledger, it reads files For more about this see hledger(1), hledger_journal(5) etc.

OPTIONS

Note: if invoking hledger-ui as a hledger subcommand, write -- before options as shown above.

Any QUERYARGS are interpreted as a hledger search query which filters the data.

--flat

show full account names, unindented

--no-elide

don’t compress empty parent accounts on one line

--register=ACCTREGEX

start in the (first) matched account’s register screen

--theme=default|terminal|greenterm

use this custom display theme

-V --value

show amounts as their current market value in their default valuation commodity (accounts screen only)

hledger general options:

generaloptions

hledger reporting options:

reportingoptions

KEYS

? shows a help dialog listing all keys. (Some but not all of these also appear in the quick help at the bottom of each screen.) Press ? again (or ESCAPE, or LEFT) to close it.

The cursor keys navigate: right (or enter) goes deeper, left returns to the previous screen, up/down/page up/page down/home/end move up and down through lists. Vi-style h/j/k/l movement keys are also supported. (A tip: movement speed is limited by your keyboard repeat rate, to move faster you may want to adjust that. On a mac, the Karabiner app is one way to do that.)

On most screens, / lets you set or change the filter query, which limits the data shown (this filter is in addition to the quick filters described below). While editing the query you can use typical command-line edit keys (CTRL-a/e/d/k, cursor keys etc.), and ENTERto set the new filter or ESCAPEto cancel.

d cycles through the common report period durations: day, week, month, quarter, year, and unlimited (the default). When the report duration is limited in this way, n and p step to the next or previous day/week/month/etc. (To set arbitrary start/end dates, you can use / to set a date: query.)

BACKSPACE or DELETE clears any filters in effect.

ESCAPE removes any filters currently in effect, and jumps to the top screen. Or, it cancels a minibuffer edit or help dialog if one is active.

g reloads from the data file(s) and updates the current screen and any previous screens. (With large files, there can be a noticeable pause.)

I toggles balance assertion checking. Disabling balance assertions temporarily can be useful for troubleshooting.

a runs command-line hledger’s add command, and reloads the updated file. This allows some basic data entry.

E runs $HLEDGER_UI_EDITOR, or $EDITOR, or a default (emacsclient -a "" -nw) on the journal file. With some editors (emacs, vi), the cursor will be positioned at the current transaction when invoked from the register and transaction screens, and at the error location (if possible) when invoked from the error screen.

q quits the application.

Additional screen-specific keys are described below.

SCREENS

Accounts screen

This is normally the first screen displayed. It lists accounts and their balances, like hledger’s balance command. By default, it shows all accounts and their latest ending balances (including the balances of subaccounts). if you specify a query on the command line, it shows just the matched accounts and the balances from matched transactions.

Account names are normally indented to show the hierarchy (tree mode). To see less detail, set a depth limit by pressing a number key, 1 to 9. 0 shows even less detail, collapsing all accounts to a single total. - and + (or =) decrease and increase the depth limit. To remove the depth limit, set it higher than the maximum account depth, or press ESCAPE.

F toggles flat mode on and off. In flat mode, accounts are listed without indentation, and show their subaccount-excluding balances, except for accounts which have been clipped by a depth limit, which show their inclusive balances (as with hledger’s balance command).

C toggles cleared mode, in which uncleared transactions and postings are not shown. U toggles uncleared mode, in which only uncleared transactions/postings are shown.

R toggles real mode, in which virtual postings are ignored.

Z toggles nonzero mode, in which only accounts with nonzero balances are shown (hledger-ui shows zero items by default, unlike command-line hledger).

Press right or enter to view an account’s transactions register.

Register screen

This screen shows the transactions affecting a particular account, like a check register. Each line represents one transaction and shows:

• the other account(s) involved, in abbreviated form. (If there are both real and virtual postings, it shows only the accounts affected by real postings.)

• the overall change to the current account’s balance; positive for an inflow to this account, negative for an outflow.

• the current account’s historic balance (if no query other than a date limit is in effect) or the running total starting from zero (otherwise), after the transaction.
  Eg, these will show historic balances:

  $ hledger-ui
  $ hledger-ui --begin 'this month'
  $ hledger-ui --register checking date:2015/10
  

  while these will show a running total, since the queries are not just date limits:

  $ hledger-ui checking
  $ hledger-ui --begin 'this month' desc:market
  $ hledger-ui --register checking --cleared
  

The register screen normally shows transactions in the current account and any of its subaccounts (inclusive mode). If it was entered from the accounts screen in flat mode, where the selected account was not depth-clipped and therefore was showing its subaccount-excluding balance, the register too will omit the transactions of subaccounts (exclusive mode). This means the register always shows the transactions responsible for the balance being displayed on the accounts screen.

C toggles cleared mode, in which uncleared transactions and postings are not shown. U toggles uncleared mode, in which only uncleared transactions/postings are shown.

R toggles real mode, in which virtual postings are ignored.

Z toggles nonzero mode, in which only transactions posting a nonzero change are shown (hledger-ui shows zero items by default, unlike command-line hledger).

Press right (or enter) to view the selected transaction in detail.

Transaction screen

This screen shows a single transaction, as a general journal entry, similar to hledger’s print command and journal format (hledger_journal(5)).

The transaction’s date(s) and any cleared flag, transaction code, description, comments, along with all of its account postings are shown. Simple transactions have two postings, but there can be more (or in certain cases, fewer).

up and down will step through all transactions listed in the previous account register screen. In the title bar, the numbers in parentheses show your position within that account register. They will vary depending on which account register you came from (remember most transactions appear in multiple account registers). The #N number preceding them is the transaction’s position within the complete unfiltered journal, which is a more stable id (at least until the next reload).

Error screen

This screen will appear if there is a problem, such as a parse error, when you press g to reload. Once you have fixed the problem, press g again to reload and resume normal operation. (Or, you can press escape to cancel the reload attempt.)

man({{ # ENVIRONMENT

COLUMNS The screen width to use. Default: the full terminal width.

LEDGER_FILE

FILES

Reads files

BUGS

The need to precede options with -- when invoked from hledger is awkward.

-f- doesn’t work (hledger-ui can’t read from stdin).

-V affects only the accounts screen.

When you press g, the current and all previous screens are regenerated, which may cause a noticeable pause. Also there is no visual indication that this is in progress.

The register screen’s switching between historic balance and running total based on query arguments may be confusing, and there is no column heading to indicate which is being displayed. }})