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ch_basics.xml
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ch_basics.xml
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE chapter SYSTEM "gnc-docbookx.dtd">
<!--
(Do not remove this comment block.)
Version: 2.0.0
Last modified: 2014-08-28 (fell)
modified: October 25th 2010
modified: January 12th 2007
modified: July 9th 2006
Maintainers:
Cristian Marchi <cri.penta@gmail.com>
Chris Lyttle <chris@wilddev.net>
Author:
Jon Lapham <lapham@extracta.com.br>
Updated Bengt Thuree <bengt@thuree.com>
Originally written by Carol Champagne.
Translators:
(translators put your name and email here)
-->
<chapter id="chapter_basics"
xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
<title>The Basics</title>
<para>This chapter will introduce some of the basics of using &app;. It is recommended that you read
through this chapter, before starting to do any real work with &app;. Next chapters will begin
to show you hands on examples.
</para>
<sect1 id="basics-accounting1">
<title>Accounting Concepts</title>
<para>&app; is easy enough to use that you do not need to have a complete understanding of accounting
principles to find it useful. However, you will find that some basic accounting knowledge will
prove to be invaluable as &app; was designed using these principles as a template. It is
highly recommended that you understand this section of the guide before proceeding.
</para>
<sect2 id="basics-accounting52">
<title>The 5 Basic Accounts</title>
<para>Basic accounting rules group all finance related things into 5 fundamental types of
<quote>accounts</quote>. That is, everything that accounting deals with can be placed into
one of these 5 accounts:
</para>
<variablelist>
<title>Account types</title>
<varlistentry>
<term><emphasis>Assets</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>Things you own
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><emphasis>Liabilities</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>Things you owe
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><emphasis>Equity</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>Overall net worth
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><emphasis>Income</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>Increases the value of your accounts
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><emphasis>Expenses</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>Decreases the value of your accounts
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>It is clear that it is possible to categorize your financial world into these 5 groups. For example,
the cash in your bank account is an asset, your mortgage is a liability, your paycheck is
income, and the cost of dinner last night is an expense.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-accountingequation2">
<title>The Accounting Equation</title>
<para>With the 5 basic accounts defined, what is the relationship between them? How does one type of
account affect the others? Firstly, equity is defined by assets and liability. That is, your
net worth is calculated by subtracting your liabilities from your assets:
</para>
<equation id="accounting_equation_static">
<title>The static accounting equation</title>
<mathphrase>Assets - Liabilities = Equity</mathphrase>
</equation>
<para>Furthermore, you can increase your equity through income, and decrease equity through expenses. This
makes sense of course, when you receive a paycheck you become <quote>richer</quote> and when
you pay for dinner you become <quote>poorer</quote>. This is expressed mathematically in
what is known as the Accounting Equation:
</para>
<equation id="accounting_equation_dynamic">
<title>The (dynamic) accounting equation</title>
<mathphrase>Assets - Liabilities = Equity + (Income - Expenses)</mathphrase>
</equation>
<para>This equation must always be balanced, a condition that can only be satisfied if you enter values to
multiple accounts. For example: if you receive money in the form of income you must see an
equal increase in your assets. As another example, you could have an increase in assets if
you have a parallel increase in liabilities.
</para>
<figure pgwide="1">
<title>The basic accounts relationships</title><screenshot id="basics-AccountRelationships">
<mediaobject>
<imageobject role="html">
<imagedata fileref="figures/basics_AccountRelationships.png"
format="PNG" srccredit="Geert Janssens"></imagedata>
</imageobject>
<imageobject role="fo">
<imagedata fileref="figures/basics_AccountRelationships.svg"
format="SVG" srccredit="Geert Janssens"
contentwidth="4in"></imagedata>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The basic accounts relationships</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption>
<para>A graphical view of the relationship between the 5 basic accounts. Net worth (equity) increases
through income and decreases through expenses. The arrows represent the movement of
value.
</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
</figure>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-debits-credits">
<title>Debits and Credits</title>
<para>The use of debits and credits in accounting and their effect on accounts of different types is often
confusing when first encountered in accounting. The accounting equation introduced above is
the key to understanding which accounts types are debited or credited and when. First of all
we need to rearrange the expanded form a little bit with Assets on the left hand side of the
equal sign and transposing any account type with a negative sign to the other side to
obtain:
</para>
<equation id="accounting_equation_rearranged">
<title>The rearranged accounting equation</title>
<mathphrase> Assets + Expenses = Liabilities + Equity + Income</mathphrase>
</equation>
<para>With the accounting equation in this form, the accounts on the left hand side of the equal sign are
known as <emphasis>debit balance accounts</emphasis> in accounting practice, that is the
normal positive balance for these accounts is increased by <emphasis>debit</emphasis>
entries to accounts of these types. Conversely credit entries to accounts of these types
will decrease the balance of accounts of these types.
</para>
<para>Similarly, the account types on the right hand side of the equal sign are known as <emphasis>credit
balance accounts</emphasis>, that is the normal positive balance for these account types is
increased by <emphasis>credit</emphasis> entries to the accounts of these types. Again debit
entries to accounts of these types will reduce the balance in the account.
</para>
<table frame='all' id="basics-debits-credits-effect-tbl">
<title>Summary of effect of debits (Dr) and credits (Cr) on the balance of accounts of the 5 account types</title>
<tgroup cols='3' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
<colspec colname='c1'/>
<colspec colname='c2'/>
<colspec colname='c3'/>
<thead>
<row>
<entry>
Account Type
</entry>
<entry namest="c2" nameend="c3" align ="center">
Effect on Account Balance
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry></entry>
<entry>
Debit (Dr)
</entry>
<entry>
Credit (Cr)
</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry>
Assets
</entry>
<entry morerows='1' valign='middle'>
Increase
</entry>
<entry morerows='1' valign='middle'>
Decrease
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
Expenses
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
Liabilities
</entry>
<entry morerows='2' valign='middle'>
Decrease
</entry>
<entry morerows='2' valign='middle'>
Increase
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
Equity
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
Income
</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-accountingdouble2">
<title>Double Entry</title>
<para>The accounting equation is the very heart of a <firstterm>double entry accounting
system</firstterm>. For every change in value of one account in the Accounting Equation,
there must be a balancing change in another. This concept is known as the
<firstterm>Principle of Balance</firstterm>, and is of fundamental importance for
understanding &app; and other double entry accounting systems. When you work with &app;, you
will always be concerned with at least 2 accounts, to keep the accounting equation balanced.
</para>
<para>Balancing changes (or transfers of money) among accounts are done by debiting one account and
simultaneously crediting another. Accounting <firstterm>debits</firstterm> and
<firstterm>credits</firstterm> do not mean <quote>decrease</quote> and
<quote>increase</quote>. Debits and credits each increase certain types of accounts and
decrease others as described in the previous section. In asset and expense accounts, debits
increase the balance and credits decrease the balance. In liability, equity and income
accounts, credits increase the balance and debits decrease the balance.
</para>
<para>In traditional double-entry accounting, the left column in the register is used for debits, while
the right column is used for credits. Accountants record increases in asset and expense
accounts on the debit (left) side, and they record increases in liability, revenue, and
equity accounts on the credit (right) side. &app; follows this convention in the register.
</para>
<note>
<para>This accounting terminology can be confusing to new users, which is why &app; allows you to use the
common terms <guilabel>Deposit</guilabel> and <guilabel>Withdrawal</guilabel>. If you
prefer the formal accounting terms, you can change the account register column headings to
use them in the <guilabel>Accounts</guilabel> tab under <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel>
(see the &app; Help Manual for more information on setting preferences).
</para>
</note>
<warning>
<para>Common use of the words <emphasis>debit</emphasis> and <emphasis>credit</emphasis> does not match
how accountants use these words. In common use, <emphasis>credit</emphasis> generally has
positive associations; in accounting, <emphasis>credit</emphasis> means
<emphasis>affecting the right column</emphasis> of the ledger sheet of an account. This is
associated with a <emphasis>decrease</emphasis> in asset and expense, but an
<emphasis>increase</emphasis> of income, liability and equity accounts.
</para>
<para>For more details see <ulink url="&url-wp-en;Debits_and_credits"></ulink>.
</para>
</warning>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="basics-entry1">
<title>Data Entry Concepts</title>
<para>When entering data in &app;, you should be aware of the 3 levels of organization in which &app;
divides your data: files, accounts and transactions. These levels are presented in their order
of complexity, one file contains many accounts and one account contains many transactions.
This division is fundamental to understanding how to use &app;.
</para>
<sect2 id="basics-files2">
<title>Files</title>
<para>&app; stores information at the highest level in files. A file can be stored on your computer either
as a single <acronym>XML</acronym> file (in all versions of &app;), or in a
<acronym>SQL</acronym> database (in &app; version 2.4 and higher).
</para>
<note>
<para><acronym>SQL</acronym> is pronounced <quote>sequel</quote>, so in spoken and written language we
would say <quote>a SQL database</quote>.
</para>
</note>
<para>With the <acronym>XML</acronym> file format, &app; stores your data in an <acronym>XML</acronym>
data file, usually in compressed format (although this can be changed in the
<guilabel>General</guilabel> tab of the &app; <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel>).
</para>
<para>With <acronym>SQL</acronym> storage, &app; stores your data in a <acronym>SQL</acronym> database
under the database application you select (SQLite3, MySQL or PostgreSQL).
</para>
<para>You will need one main file or database for each set of accounts you are maintaining. To learn how
to create and manage &app; files, see <xref
linkend="basics-files1"/>.
</para>
<note>
<para>If you think you might need more than one set of accounts, you might want to consult a professional
accountant or bookkeeper before proceeding. Most users will probably have only one data
file.
</para>
</note>
<para>Backup files and log files are automatically generated by &app; when appropriate. Backup and log
files are described in <xref linkend="basics-backup1"/>.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- basics-files2 -->
<sect2 id="basics-accounts2">
<title>Accounts</title>
<para>An <glossterm linkend="gnc-gl_account">account</glossterm> keeps track of what you own, owe, spend
or receive. Each &app; file can contain any number of accounts, and each account can contain
many sub-accounts up to an arbitrary number of levels. This simple feature gives &app; much
of its power in managing your finances, as you will see in later chapters.
</para>
<para>Examples of accounts include: checking accounts, savings accounts, credit card accounts, mortgages,
and loans. Each &app; account tracks the activity for that <quote>real</quote> account, and
can inform you of its status.
</para>
<para>In addition, accounts are also used to categorize the money you receive or spend. For example, you
can create expense accounts to track the money you pay on utilities or groceries. Even
though these are not accounts that receive statements, they allow you to determine how much
money is being spent in each of these areas.
</para>
<para>Accounts will be covered in more detail in <xref
linkend="chapter_accts"/>.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- basics-accounts2 -->
<sect2 id="basics-transactions2">
<title>Transactions</title>
<para>A <firstterm>transaction</firstterm> represents the movement of money among accounts. Whenever you
spend or receive money, or transfer money between accounts, that is a transaction.
</para>
<para>Examples of transactions are: paying a phone bill, transferring money from savings to checking,
buying a pizza, withdrawing money, and depositing a paycheck. <xref linkend="chapter_txns"/>
goes more in depth on how to enter transactions.
</para>
<para>In <link linkend="basics-accountingdouble2">double entry accounting</link>, transactions always
involve at least two accounts–a source account and a destination account. &app;
manages this by inserting a line into the transaction for every account that is affected,
and recording the amounts involved in each line. A line within a transaction that records
the account and amount of money involved is called a <firstterm>split</firstterm>. A
transaction can contain an arbitrary number of splits.
</para>
<note>
<para>Splits in transactions will be covered in <xref
linkend="txns-registers-multiaccount2"/>
</para>
</note>
</sect2>
<!-- basics-transactions2 -->
</sect1>
<!-- basics-entry1 -->
<sect1 id="basics-running-gnucash">
<title>Running &app;</title>
<para>&app; can be run from your desktop main menu by selecting the associated menu entry.
</para>
<para>Alternatively it can be run from a command line prompt with the command <command>gnucash</command>.
</para>
<para>During start up, &app; will display the Splash Screen, where some information about the program
(version number, build, etc.) and the loading process are displayed.
</para>
<sect2 id="basics-welcome-to-gnucash">
<title><guilabel>Welcome to &appname;</guilabel> dialog</title>
<para>The very first time you open &app;, you will see the <guilabel>Welcome to &appname;!</guilabel>
screen. This dialog includes three choices:
</para>
<!-- Recommend screen shot here of Welcome to GnuCash! dialog -->
<itemizedlist id="welcome-screen-options">
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Create a new set of accounts</guilabel> - Runs the <guilabel>New Account Hierarchy
Setup</guilabel> assistant (see <xref linkend="basics-acct-hierarchy"/>). Select this
option if you want to be assisted in creating a set of accounts.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Import my QIF files</guilabel> - Runs the <guilabel>Import QIF Files</guilabel> assistant
(see <xref linkend="importing-qif"/>). Select this option if you already have Quicken
files (<filename>.qif</filename> files) and wish to import them into &app;.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Open the new user tutorial</guilabel> - Opens the &app; Tutorial and Concepts Guide.
Select this option if you are completely new to &app; and accounting concepts.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<note>
<para>It is possible to access each of these items after you have left this screen, but the
<guilabel>Welcome to &appname;!</guilabel> screen will not reappear. To create a new set
of accounts, see <xref linkend="basics-acct-hierarchy" />. To import QIF files, see
<xref linkend="importing-qif" />.
</para>
</note>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-acct-hierarchy">
<title>New Account Hierarchy Setup</title>
<para>The <emphasis>New Account Hierarchy Setup</emphasis> assistant helps you to create a set of &app;
accounts. It will appear if you choose <guibutton>Create a new set of accounts</guibutton>
in the <guilabel>Welcome to &appname;!</guilabel> menu, or when you select
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>
. You may also use it to add a section of accounts to an existing book from the
<guilabel>Accounts</guilabel> page by selecting
<guimenu>Action</guimenu>><guimenuitem>New Account Hierarchy...</guimenuitem>.
</para>
<para>This assistant will guide you through the creation of a <emphasis>Chart of Accounts</emphasis>.
There are several steps in the assistant, which are outlined below.
</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The first screen briefly describes what this assistant does.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>New Book Options</guilabel> Appears only when creating a new book. Here you set various
book attributes. This page has four tabs: Accounts, Budgeting, Business, and Counters.
These items are explained elsewhere in the Guide, and can be changed at any time from
<guimenu>File</guimenu>><guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Choose Currency</guilabel> sets the hidden root account currency and the default currency
for new accounts. The offered default is based on the computer locale settings. Choose
this carefully: Not only does it set the default currency for creating new accounts, it
is the "Home" currency for the book and becomes the default currency for all stock
pricing and foriegn currency exchange rates. While it can be changed by rerunning the
<guilabel>New Account Hierarchy Setup</guilabel> Assistant from the
<guimenu>Action</guimenu> menu, doing so after you've created transactions is risky.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Choose accounts to create</guilabel> provides a variety of accounting categories that may
be added to the book. There are two main panels: On the left the list of categories with
a selection check box next to each one and on the right the accounts that will be added
by the highlighted category.
</para>
<para>Above the <guilabel>Categories</guilabel> list you'll find two list-buttons, one for language code
and the other for country code. The initial selection is again based on your computer's
locale settings. You may select any language and country combination that suits your
needs.
</para>
<note>
<para>The <guilabel>New Account Hierarchy Setup</guilabel> Assistant can't process selections from more
than one locale at a time, so if you need to select segments from multiple
locales—perhaps because the categories for your primary locale are intended to
extend those of another country—you'll need to run the assistant more than once
from the <guimenu>Action</guimenu> menu.
</para>
</note>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Setup selected accounts</guilabel> presents the accounts from the categories you selected
on <guilabel>Choose accounts to create</guilabel> in a non-collapsible tree view with
four or five columns depending on whether or not you're creating a new book:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Account Name</guilabel>. This is editable, just click in it or select the row and press
<keycap>Enter</keycap>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Type</guilabel> Not editable. This is the type of the account.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Placeholder</guilabel> accounts (accounts that are intended only to collect sub-accounts
and not to have transactions themselves). You may change this by checking to make
an account a placeholder or unchecking to make it a regular account.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Opening Balances</guilabel>can accept a value for new non-placeholder accounts that are
not of type <emphasis>Equity</emphasis>, as existing accounts already have
balances, placeholder accounts can't have transactions, and Equity can't have an
opening balance.
<note>
<para><guilabel>Opening Balance</guilabel>entry isn't obvious until you click in it. You must move out of
the entry by clicking somewhere or by pressing <keycap>Tab</keycap> or
<keycap>Enter</keycap> before clicking <guilabel>Next</guilabel> or your entry
will be discarded.
</para>
</note>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Use Existing</guilabel> appears only when you've started the <guilabel>New Account
Hierarchy Setup</guilabel> Assistant from the <guimenu>Action</guimenu> menu. It
indicates whether an account already exists. It's not editable.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Finish account setup</guilabel> is the last screen and gives you a final option to cancel
the process, back up to change something, or apply to confirm your choices. If you're
creating a new book, gnucash will present a dialog to select a backend and either a file
to save it or database server, database name, and credentials to create a MySQL or
Postgresql database if GnuCash was built with those features and you have the necesaary
dependencies installed.
</para>
<warning>
<para>If you choose to cancel, any selections you have made up to this point will be lost.
</para>
</warning>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-tip2">
<title>Tip of the Day</title>
<para>&app; provides a <guilabel>Tip of the Day</guilabel> screen to give helpful hints for using the
program:
</para>
<screenshot id="basics-TipOfDay">
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="figures/basics_TipOfDay.png" format="PNG"
srccredit="Cristian Marchi"></imagedata>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Tip of the Day</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption>
<para>This image shows the <guilabel>Tip of the Day</guilabel>.
</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>These tips provide useful information for beginning users. To view more of the tips, click
<guibutton>Forward</guibutton> to continue. If you do not wish to see this screen box on
start-up, deselect the box next to <guilabel>Show tips at startup</guilabel>. When you have
finished viewing the helpful tips, click <guibutton>Close</guibutton> to close the
<guilabel>Tip of the Day</guilabel> screen.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-main2">
<title>Account Tree Window</title>
<para>You should now see the <guilabel>Accounts</guilabel> window, which appears as shown below. The exact
layout of the account tree will depend on which default accounts you selected during the New
Account Hierarchy Setup. In this example, the <guilabel>Common Accounts</guilabel> are
shown.
</para>
<screenshot id="basics-Accounts">
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="figures/basics_Accounts.png" format="PNG"
srccredit="Cristian Marchi"></imagedata>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Account Tree Window</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption>
<para>This image shows the <guilabel>Accounts</guilabel> window.
</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para>The Account Tree window (also known as a Chart of Accounts, or CoA) provides an overview of the data
contained in the current file. It contains a list of account names and their current
balances.
</para>
<para>From this window, you can open the register of any account either by double-clicking the account
name, right clicking the account name and selecting <guilabel>Open Account</guilabel> from
the menu, or by using the <guibutton>Open</guibutton> button on the toolbar. &app; allows
you to have as many account registers open as you wish. For more information on using
account registers, see <xref linkend="basics-register2" />.
</para>
<tip>
<para>Clicking the small triangle to the left of an account that has children will expand the tree view
showing child accounts.
</para>
</tip>
<para>At the top of this window is the <emphasis>Titlebar</emphasis>, which displays the file name for
this set of accounts (once you have saved the file.) Below that is the
<emphasis>Menubar</emphasis>. You can access the menu options by either clicking on these
menu headings or by using shortcuts and access keys (see
<xref linkend="basics-shortcut2" />). Next is the <emphasis>Toolbar</emphasis>, which
contains buttons for the most common functions.
</para>
<para>The account tree appears below the <emphasis>Toolbar</emphasis>. Once you have started creating
accounts, the account names will appear in the account tree. You can customize which
headings show up by using the small <guiicon>down-arrow</guiicon> at the far right just
above the account tree.
</para>
<para>At the bottom is the <emphasis>Statusbar</emphasis>, which tells you information about what you own
(Net Assets) and how much money you have made (Profits).
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-register2">
<title>Account Register Window</title>
<para>Account Register windows are used to enter and edit your account data. As the name suggests, they
look similar to a checkbook register.
</para>
<screenshot id="basics-CheckAccount">
<mediaobject>
<imageobject role="html">
<imagedata fileref="figures/basics_CheckAccount.png" format="PNG"
srccredit="Bengt Thuree" width="510"></imagedata>
</imageobject>
<imageobject role="fo">
<imagedata fileref="figures/basics_CheckAccount.png" format="PNG"
srccredit="Bengt Thuree"></imagedata>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>The Checking Account Register</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption>
<para>This image shows the <guilabel>Checking Account - Register </guilabel> with several transactions.
</para>
</caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>
<para><xref linkend="chapter_txns"></xref> explains more about account register windows and how to enter
data into them. For now, note that the parts of an account register window are similar to
the parts of the account tree window described earlier. The <emphasis>Titlebar</emphasis> at
the top contains the account name. Below that, the <emphasis>Menubar</emphasis> contains
menu options related to the account register. <emphasis>Toolbar</emphasis> buttons simplify
common data entry functions. The <emphasis>Statusbar</emphasis> at the bottom of the window,
displays some account balances covered in <xref linkend="chapter_txns"></xref>. At the
bottom of the account register window, information appears about the current location of the
cursor.
</para>
<note>
<para>In the register windows, you can resize the various columns that &app; displays, <emphasis>but keep
in mind that the Description and Balance columns behave differently from other
columns</emphasis>.
</para>
<para>The <guilabel>Description</guilabel> column is designed to expand automatically to fill all unused
horizontal screen space. Therefore you should set the widths of all your other columns
before setting the Description column width.
</para>
<para>The <guilabel>Balance</guilabel> column must be resized by double-clicking on the column heading.
</para>
</note>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-toolbar2">
<title>Toolbar Buttons</title>
<para>Both the account tree window and the account register window contain <emphasis>Toolbar</emphasis>
buttons. These buttons provide quick access to common functions such as
<guibutton>Save</guibutton> and <guibutton>Open</guibutton> in the account tree window and
<guibutton>Record</guibutton> and <guibutton>Delete</guibutton> in the account register
window. If you are not sure what a button does, move the mouse pointer over that button, and
you should see a description of the function appear.
</para>
<para>Here is a summary of the account tree window buttons:
</para>
<variablelist>
<title>Account tree window buttons</title>
<varlistentry>
<term><guibutton>Save</guibutton></term>
<listitem>
<para>Save the current file to disk
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guibutton>Close</guibutton></term>
<listitem>
<para>Close the current notebook page
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guibutton>Open</guibutton>, <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>, <guibutton>New</guibutton> and
<guibutton>Delete</guibutton></term>
<listitem>
<para>These are functions related to accounts. They are discussed in
<xref linkend="chapter_accts"></xref>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>Register-specific buttons are discussed in <xref linkend="chapter_txns"></xref>.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-tabbar">
<title>Tab Bar</title>
<para>&app; uses a tabbed model that allows you to open multiple account registers and reports
simultaneously. Each open window (which can include account registers, reports, or Scheduled
Transactions windows) is given a tab on this bar that you can click to view that window.
Tabs can be configured in Preferences to appear along any side of the &app; window.
</para>
<para>To see the full name for a tab, hover the mouse pointer over an account window tab.
</para>
<para>If more screens are open than can be displayed across the screen, some tabs will not display. You
can move through all tabs by clicking the arrows on either end of the tab bar. A complete
list of tabs can be viewed by right-clicking the Tab Bar and any tab can be selected by
clicking it.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-options2">
<title>Menu Items</title>
<para>The account tree window and the account register window both contain menu headings in a
<emphasis>Menubar</emphasis>. Clicking on a menu heading brings up the menu items for that
heading.
</para>
<para>You can click on the account tree menu headings and then move the mouse pointer over the menu items
to see what they do. As the pointer moves over a menu item, a description of the item
appears in the lower left-hand corner of the window (inside the
<emphasis>Statusbar</emphasis>). To select a menu item, click on it.
</para>
<para>You can also access the most common menu items in a window by right-clicking the mouse anywhere in
that window. In the account tree window, this will bring up a list of account items. In the
account register window, this will bring up a list of transaction items.
</para>
<para>Other ways of accessing menu items are through keyboard shortcuts and access keys, described next.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-shortcut2">
<title>Menu Shortcuts</title>
<para>All of the menu items have access keys which are marked by underlined characters in the menu names.
Pressing the <keycap>Alt</keycap> key with the underlined character in the menu heading will
bring up the menu items for that heading. Once the menu items are displayed, type the
underlined character in the menu item to activate it. For example, typing
<keycombo>
<keycap>Alt</keycap> <keycap>F</keycap>
</keycombo>
in the main window brings up the <guimenu>File</guimenu> menu, then typing
<keycap>S</keycap> will save the file. Access keys are fixed and cannot be changed by users.
</para>
<para>Some of the more commonly used menu items also have shortcut keys that directly activate the command
without having to traverse the menu structure. These shortcuts typically use the
<keycap>Ctrl</keycap> key, although they can use any key combination. Menu shortcuts are
displayed at the end of each menu item.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="basics-files1">
<title>Storing your financial data</title>
<sect2 id="basics-files1-overview">
<title>Overview</title>
<para>&app; offers several formats for storing your financial data. The default file storage format is
<acronym>XML</acronym>, while <acronym>SQL</acronym> storage is available in SQLite, MySQL,
and PostgreSQL formats. Users can choose a file format for new files from
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Save </guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>
and for existing files from
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Save As...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>
dialogs.
</para>
<para>The <acronym>XML</acronym> storage format is a text file that by default is compressed, which is a
preference that is set at
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>Edit</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>
<guilabel>General</guilabel> <guilabel>Compress files</guilabel>. SQLite storage is also
available, and stores your data in a single file on your system, like the
<acronym>XML</acronym> format. However, internally, an SQLite file is managed as a database.
The MySQL and PostgreSQL storage options require access to a MySQL or PostgreSQL database
server and the installation of additional database drivers on your machine.
</para>
<tip>
<para>Users can change the format at any time by using
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Save As...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>
. This will create a copy of the data file in the selected format.
</para>
</tip>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-files-storage-comparison">
<title>Storage Comparison and Recommendations</title>
<para>Each storage format has benefits and shortcomings that users should consider for their needs and
abilities. See the
<link linkend='basics-storage-comparison-table' endterm="basics-storage-comparison-tbltitle"/>
below for further details.
</para>
<para>The <acronym>XML</acronym> format is the most stable and established, and for this reason, it is
recommended for most users. <acronym>SQL</acronym> storage was added for the 2.4 release and
has become an increasingly popular choice for users. The SQLite format allows users to
realize the benefits of <acronym>SQL</acronym> storage without the overhead of installing or
managing a full <acronym>DBMS</acronym>. MySQL and PostgreSQL require the installation of
MySQL and PostgreSQL <acronym>DBMS</acronym>, respectively, and are best maintained only by
experienced database administrators.
</para>
<note>
<para>Use of a <acronym>SQL</acronym> back end for storage implies to many that &app; has fully
implemented <acronym>DBMS</acronym> features, including multi-user and incremental data
manipulation. However, &app; does not currently implement these features, although it is a
long term goal of the development team.
</para>
</note>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basics-storage-comparison-tblsect">
<title>Storage Comparison Table</title>
<table frame="topbot" id="basics-storage-comparison-table">
<title id="basics-storage-comparison-tbltitle">Storage Comparison</title>
<tgroup align="left" cols="5">
<colspec colname="c1item"></colspec>
<colspec colname="c2xml"></colspec>
<colspec colname="c3sqlite"></colspec>
<colspec colname="c4mysql"></colspec>
<colspec colname="c5pgsql"></colspec>
<thead>
<row>
<entry></entry>
<entry align="center">
XML
</entry>
<entry align="center">
SQLite
</entry>
<entry align="center">
MySQL
</entry>
<entry align="center">
PostgreSQL
</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry namest="c1item">
Availability
</entry>
<entry align="center" namest="c2xml">
Built-in
</entry>
<entry align="center" namest="c3sqlite" nameend="c5pgsql">
Depends on packaging
<footnote>
<para>SQLite relies on an additional package and driver (called libdbi and libdbd-sqlite3, respectively),
which are installed by default on Mac OS and Windows. Linux users may need to
manually install these for SQLite.