hledger/hledger-lib/doc/hledger_journal.5

.TH "hledger_journal" "5" "April 2016" "" "hledger User Manuals"



.SH NAME
.PP
Journal \- hledger\[aq]s default file format, representing a General
Journal
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
hledger\[aq]s usual data source is a plain text file containing journal
entries in hledger journal format.
This file represents a standard accounting general journal.
I use file names ending in \f[C]\&.journal\f[], but that\[aq]s not
required.
The journal file contains a number of transaction entries, each
describing a transfer of money (or any commodity) between two or more
named accounts, in a simple format readable by both hledger and humans.
.PP
hledger\[aq]s journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of
ledger\[aq]s journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger
journal files as well.
It\[aq]s safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and ledger on the
same journal file, eg to validate the results you\[aq]re getting.
.PP
You can use hledger without learning any more about this file; just use
the add or web commands to create and update it.
Many users, though, also edit the journal file directly with a text
editor, perhaps assisted by the helper modes for emacs or vim.
.PP
Here\[aq]s an example:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ A\ sample\ journal\ file.\ This\ is\ a\ comment.

2008/01/01\ income\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ transaction\[aq]s\ first\ line\ starts\ in\ column\ 0,\ contains\ date\ and\ description
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking\ \ $1\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ posting\ lines\ start\ with\ whitespace,\ each\ contains\ an\ account\ name
\ \ \ \ income:salary\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-1\ \ \ \ ;\ \ \ \ followed\ by\ at\ least\ two\ spaces\ and\ an\ amount

2008/06/01\ gift
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking\ \ $1\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ at\ least\ two\ postings\ in\ a\ transaction
\ \ \ \ income:gifts\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-1\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ their\ amounts\ must\ balance\ to\ 0

2008/06/02\ save
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:saving\ \ \ \ $1
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ one\ amount\ may\ be\ omitted;\ here\ $\-1\ is\ inferred

2008/06/03\ eat\ &\ shop\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ description\ can\ be\ anything
\ \ \ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $1
\ \ \ \ expenses:supplies\ \ \ \ \ $1\ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ this\ transaction\ debits\ two\ expense\ accounts
\ \ \ \ assets:cash\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ $\-2\ inferred

2008/12/31\ *\ pay\ off\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ <\-\ an\ optional\ *\ or\ !\ after\ the\ date\ means\ "cleared"\ (or\ anything\ you\ want)
\ \ \ \ liabilities:debts\ \ \ \ \ $1
\ \ \ \ assets:bank:checking
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Now let\[aq]s explore the available journal file syntax in detail.
.SS Transactions
.PP
Transactions are represented by journal entries.
Each begins with a simple date in column 0, followed by three optional
fields with spaces between them:
.IP \[bu] 2
a status flag, which can be empty or \f[C]!\f[] or \f[C]*\f[] (meaning
"uncleared", "pending" and "cleared", or whatever you want)
.IP \[bu] 2
a transaction code (eg a check number),
.IP \[bu] 2
and/or a description
.PP
then some number of postings, of some amount to some account, each on
its own line.
Usually there are at least two postings, though one or even none is
possible.
.PP
The (real) posting amounts within a transaction must always balance, ie
add up to 0.
Optionally one amount can be left blank, in which case it will be
inferred.
.SS Dates
.SS Simple dates
.PP
Within a journal file, transaction dates use Y/M/D (or Y\-M\-D or Y.M.D)
Leading zeroes are optional.
The year may be omitted, in which case it defaults to the current year,
or you can set the default year with a default year directive.
.PP
Some examples: \f[C]2010/01/31\f[], \f[C]1/31\f[],
\f[C]2010\-01\-31\f[], \f[C]2010.1.31\f[].
.SS Secondary dates
.PP
Real\-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date \- eg the
date you write a cheque, and the date it clears in your bank.
When you want to model this, eg for more accurate balances, write both
dates separated by an equals sign.
The \f[I]primary date\f[], on the left, is used by default; the
\f[I]secondary date\f[], on the right, is used when the
\f[C]\-\-date2\f[] flag is specified (For Ledger compatibility,
\f[C]\-\-aux\-date\f[] or \f[C]\-\-effective\f[] also work.)
.PP
Their meaning is up to you, but it\[aq]s best to follow a consistent
rule.
Eg write the bank\[aq]s clearing date as primary, and when needed, the
date the transaction was initiated as secondary.
.PP
Here\[aq]s an example.
Note that a secondary date will use the year of the primary date if
unspecified.
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2010/2/23=2/19\ movie\ ticket
\ \ expenses:cinema\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10
\ \ assets:checking
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ register\ checking
2010/02/23\ movie\ ticket\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ register\ checking\ \-\-date2
2010/02/19\ movie\ ticket\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Secondary dates require some effort: you must use them consistently in
your journal entries and remember whether to use or not use the
\f[C]\-\-date2\f[] flag for your reports.
Arguably they are now obsolete, superseded by...
.SS Posting dates
.PP
You can give individual postings a different date from their parent
transaction, by adding a posting tag (see below) like
\f[C]date:DATE\f[], where DATE is a simple date.
This is probably the best way to control posting dates precisely.
Eg in this example the expense should appear in May reports, and the
deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for easy bank
reconciliation:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2015/5/30
\ \ \ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ \ $10\ \ \ ;\ food\ purchased\ on\ saturday\ 5/30
\ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ bank\ cleared\ it\ on\ monday,\ date:6/1
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ \-f\ tt.j\ register\ food
2015/05/30\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ expenses:food\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ \-f\ tt.j\ register\ checking
2015/06/01\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ assets:checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.PP
A posting date will use the year of the transaction date if unspecified.
.PP
You can also set the secondary date, with \f[C]date2:DATE2\f[].
For compatibility, Ledger\[aq]s older posting date syntax is also
supported: \f[C][DATE]\f[], \f[C][DATE=DATE2]\f[] or \f[C][=DATE2]\f[]
in a posting comment.
.PP
When using any of these forms, be sure to provide a valid simple date or
you\[aq]ll get a parse error.
Eg a \f[C]date:\f[] tag with no value is not allowed.
.SS Account names
.PP
Account names typically have several parts separated by a full colon,
from which hledger derives a hierarchical chart of accounts.
They can be anything you like, but in finance there are traditionally
five top\-level accounts: \f[C]assets\f[], \f[C]liabilities\f[],
\f[C]income\f[], \f[C]expenses\f[], and \f[C]equity\f[].
.PP
Account names may contain single spaces, eg:
\f[C]assets:accounts\ receivable\f[].
Because of this, they must always be followed by at least two spaces (or
newline).
.PP
Account names can be aliased.
.SS Amounts
.PP
After the account name, there is usually an amount.
Important: between account name and amount, there must be \f[B]two or
more\f[] spaces.
.PP
The amount is a number, optionally with a currency symbol or commodity
name on either the left or right.
Negative amounts may have the minus sign either before or after the
currency symbol (\f[C]\-$1\f[] or \f[C]$\-1\f[]).
Commodity names which contain more than just letters should be enclosed
in double quotes (\f[C]1\ "person\ hours"\f[]).
.SS Decimal points and digit groups
.PP
hledger supports flexible decimal point and digit group separator
styles, to support international variations.
Numbers can use either a period (\f[C]\&.\f[]) or a comma (\f[C],\f[])
as decimal point.
They can also have digit group separators at any position (eg thousands
separators) which can be comma or period \- whichever one you did not
use as a decimal point.
If you use digit group separators, you must also include a decimal point
in at least one number in the same commodity, so that hledger knows
which character is which.
Eg, write \f[C]$1,000.00\f[] or \f[C]$1.000,00\f[].
.SS Amount display styles
.PP
Based on how you format amounts, hledger will infer canonical display
styles for each commodity, and use these when displaying amounts in that
commodity.
Amount styles include:
.IP \[bu] 2
the position (left or right) and spacing (space or no separator) of the
commodity symbol
.IP \[bu] 2
the digit group separator character (comma or period) and digit group
sizes, if any
.IP \[bu] 2
the decimal point character (period or comma)
.IP \[bu] 2
the display precision (number of decimal places displayed)
.PP
The canonical style is generally the style of the first posting amount
seen in a commodity.
However the display precision will be the highest precision seen in all
posting amounts in that commmodity.
.PP
The precisions used in a price amount, or a D directive, don\[aq]t
affect the canonical display precision directly, but they can affect it
indirectly, eg when D\[aq]s default commodity is applied to a
commodity\-less amount or when an amountless posting is balanced using a
price\[aq]s commodity (actually this last case does not influence the
canonical display precision but probably should).
.SS Virtual Postings
.PP
When you parenthesise the account name in a posting, that posting is
considered \f[I]virtual\f[], which means:
.IP \[bu] 2
it is ignored when checking that the transaction is balanced
.IP \[bu] 2
it is excluded from reports when the \f[C]\-\-real/\-R\f[] flag is used,
or the \f[C]real:1\f[] query.
.PP
You could use this, eg, to set an account\[aq]s opening balance without
needing to use the \f[C]equity:opening\ balances\f[] account:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
1/1\ special\ unbalanced\ posting\ to\ set\ initial\ balance
\ \ (assets:checking)\ \ \ $1000
\f[]
.fi
.SS Balanced Virtual Postings
.PP
When the account name is bracketed, the posting is \f[I]balanced
virtual\f[], which is just like a virtual posting except the balanced
virtual postings in a transaction must balance to 0, like the real
postings (but separately from them).
Balanced virtual postings are also excluded by \f[C]\-\-real/\-R\f[] or
\f[C]real:1\f[].
.PP
Virtual postings are a feature inherited from Ledger can can
occasionally be useful, but they can be a crutch and you should think
twice or three times before using them.
You can almost always find an equivalent journal entry using two or more
real postings that will be more correct and more error\-proof.
.SS Balance Assertions
.PP
hledger supports ledger\-style balance assertions in journal files.
These look like \f[C]=EXPECTEDBALANCE\f[] following a posting\[aq]s
amount.
Eg in this example we assert the expected dollar balance in accounts a
and b after each posting:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2013/1/1
\ \ a\ \ \ $1\ \ =$1
\ \ b\ \ \ \ \ \ \ =$\-1

2013/1/2
\ \ a\ \ \ $1\ \ =$2
\ \ b\ \ $\-1\ \ =$\-2
\f[]
.fi
.PP
After reading a journal file, hledger will check all balance assertions
and report an error if any of them fail.
Balance assertions can protect you from, eg, inadvertently disrupting
reconciled balances while cleaning up old entries.
You can disable them temporarily with the
\f[C]\-\-ignore\-assertions\f[] flag, which can be useful for
troubleshooting or for reading Ledger files.
.SS Assertions and ordering
.PP
hledger sorts an account\[aq]s postings and assertions first by date and
then (for postings on the same day) by parse order.
Note this is different from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse
order.
(Also, Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated
postings to the same account within a transaction.)
.PP
So, hledger balance assertions keep working if you reorder
differently\-dated transactions within the journal.
But if you reorder same\-dated transactions or postings, assertions
might break and require updating.
This order dependence does bring an advantage: precise control over the
order of postings and assertions within a day, so you can assert
intra\-day balances.
.PP
With included files, things are a little more complicated.
Including preserves the ordering of postings and assertions.
If you have multiple postings to an account on the same day, split
across different files, and you also want to assert the account\[aq]s
balance on the same day, you\[aq]ll have to put the assertion in the
right file.
.SS Assertions and commodities
.PP
The asserted balance must be a simple single\-commodity amount, and in
fact the assertion checks only this commodity\[aq]s balance within the
(possibly multi\-commodity) account balance.
We could call this a partial balance assertion.
This is compatible with Ledger, and makes it possible to make assertions
about accounts containing multiple commodities.
.PP
To assert each commodity\[aq]s balance in such a multi\-commodity
account, you can add multiple postings (with amount 0 if necessary).
But note that no matter how many assertions you add, you can\[aq]t be
sure the account does not contain some unexpected commodity.
(We\[aq]ll add support for this kind of total balance assertion if
there\[aq]s demand.)
.SS Assertions and subaccounts
.PP
Balance assertions do not count the balance from subaccounts; they check
the posted account\[aq]s exclusive balance.
For example:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
1/1
\ \ checking:fund\ \ \ 1\ =\ 1\ \ ;\ post\ to\ this\ subaccount,\ its\ balance\ is\ now\ 1
\ \ checking\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1\ =\ 1\ \ ;\ post\ to\ the\ parent\ account,\ its\ exclusive\ balance\ is\ now\ 1
\ \ equity
\f[]
.fi
.PP
The balance report\[aq]s flat mode shows these exclusive balances more
clearly:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ bal\ checking\ \-\-flat
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1\ \ checking
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1\ \ checking:fund
\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 2
\f[]
.fi
.SS Assertions and virtual postings
.PP
Balance assertions are checked against all postings, both real and
virtual.
They are not affected by the \f[C]\-\-real/\-R\f[] flag or
\f[C]real:\f[] query.
.SS Prices
.SS Transaction prices
.PP
When recording a transaction, you can also record an amount\[aq]s price
in another commodity.
This documents the exchange rate, cost (of a purchase), or selling price
(of a sale) that was in effect within this particular transaction (or
more precisely, within the particular posting).
These transaction prices are fixed, and do not change.
.PP
Such priced amounts can be displayed in their transaction price\[aq]s
commodity, by using the \f[C]\-\-cost/\-B\f[] flag (B for "cost Basis"),
supported by most hledger commands.
.PP
There are three ways to specify a transaction price:
.IP "1." 3
Write the unit price (aka exchange rate), as \f[C]\@\ UNITPRICE\f[]
after the amount:
.RS 4
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2009/1/1
\ \ assets:foreign\ currency\ \ \ €100\ \@\ $1.35\ \ ;\ one\ hundred\ euros\ at\ $1.35\ each
\ \ assets:cash
\f[]
.fi
.RE
.IP "2." 3
Or write the total price, as \f[C]\@\@\ TOTALPRICE\f[] after the amount:
.RS 4
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2009/1/1
\ \ assets:foreign\ currency\ \ \ €100\ \@\@\ $135\ \ ;\ one\ hundred\ euros\ at\ $135\ for\ the\ lot
\ \ assets:cash
\f[]
.fi
.RE
.IP "3." 3
Or let hledger infer the price so as to balance the transaction.
To permit this, you must fully specify all posting amounts, and their
sum must have a non\-zero amount in exactly two commodities:
.RS 4
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2009/1/1
\ \ assets:foreign\ currency\ \ \ €100\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ one\ hundred\ euros
\ \ assets:cash\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-135\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ exchanged\ for\ $135
\f[]
.fi
.RE
.PP
With any of the above examples we get:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ print\ \-B
2009/01/01
\ \ \ \ assets:foreign\ currency\ \ \ \ \ \ \ $135.00
\ \ \ \ assets:cash\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-135.00
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Example use for transaction prices: recording the effective conversion
rate of purchases made in a foreign currency.
.SS Market prices
.PP
Market prices are not tied to a particular transaction; they represent
historical exchange rates between two commodities, usually from some
public market which publishes such rates.
.PP
When market prices are known, the \f[C]\-V/\-\-value\f[] option will use
them to convert reported amounts to their market value as of the report
end date.
This option is currently available only with the balance command.
.PP
You record market prices (Ledger calls them historical prices) with a P
directive, in the journal or perhaps in a separate included file.
Market price directives have the format:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
P\ DATE\ COMMODITYSYMBOL\ UNITPRICE
\f[]
.fi
.PP
For example, the following directives say that the euro\[aq]s exchange
rate was 1.35 US dollars during 2009, and $1.40 from 2010 onward (and
unknown before 2009).
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
P\ 2009/1/1\ €\ $1.35
P\ 2010/1/1\ €\ $1.40
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Example use for market prices: tracking the value of stocks.
.SS Comments
.PP
Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (\f[C];\f[]) or hash
(\f[C]#\f[]) or asterisk (\f[C]*\f[]) are comments, and will be ignored.
(Asterisk comments make it easy to treat your journal like an org\-mode
outline in emacs.)
.PP
Also, anything between \f[C]comment\f[] and \f[C]end\ comment\f[]
directives is a (multi\-line) comment.
If there is no \f[C]end\ comment\f[], the comment extends to the end of
the file.
.PP
You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the
description and/or indented on the following lines (before the
postings).
Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting by writing
them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines.
.PP
Some examples:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
#\ a\ journal\ comment

;\ also\ a\ journal\ comment

comment
This\ is\ a\ multiline\ comment,
which\ continues\ until\ a\ line
where\ the\ "end\ comment"\ string
appears\ on\ its\ own.
end\ comment

2012/5/14\ something\ \ ;\ a\ transaction\ comment
\ \ \ \ ;\ the\ transaction\ comment,\ continued
\ \ \ \ posting1\ \ 1\ \ ;\ a\ comment\ for\ posting\ 1
\ \ \ \ posting2
\ \ \ \ ;\ a\ comment\ for\ posting\ 2
\ \ \ \ ;\ another\ comment\ line\ for\ posting\ 2
;\ a\ journal\ comment\ (because\ not\ indented)
\f[]
.fi
.SS Tags
.PP
A \f[I]tag\f[] is a word followed by a full colon inside a transaction
or posting comment.
You can write multiple tags, comma separated.
Eg: \f[C];\ a\ comment\ containing\ sometag:,\ anothertag:\f[].
You can search for tags with the \f[C]tag:\f[] query.
.PP
A tag can also have a value, which is any text between the colon and the
next comma or newline, excluding leading/trailing whitespace.
(So hledger tag values can not contain commas or newlines).
.PP
Tags in a transaction comment affect the transaction and all of its
postings, while tags in a posting comment affect only that posting.
For example, the following transaction has three tags (A, TAG2,
third\-tag) and the posting has four (A, TAG2, third\-tag,
posting\-tag):
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
1/1\ a\ transaction\ \ ;\ A:,\ TAG2:
\ \ \ \ ;\ third\-tag:\ a\ third\ transaction\ tag,\ this\ time\ with\ a\ value
\ \ \ \ (a)\ \ $1\ \ ;\ posting\-tag:
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Tags are like Ledger\[aq]s metadata feature, except hledger\[aq]s tag
values are always simple strings.
.SS Directives
.SS Account aliases
.PP
You can define aliases which rewrite your account names (after reading
the journal, before generating reports).
hledger\[aq]s account aliases can be useful for:
.IP \[bu] 2
expanding shorthand account names to their full form, allowing easier
data entry and a less verbose journal
.IP \[bu] 2
adapting old journals to your current chart of accounts
.IP \[bu] 2
experimenting with new account organisations, like a new hierarchy or
combining two accounts into one
.IP \[bu] 2
customising reports
.PP
See also How to use account aliases.
.SS Basic aliases
.PP
To set an account alias, use the \f[C]alias\f[] directive in your
journal file.
This affects all subsequent journal entries in the current file or its
included files.
The spaces around the = are optional:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
alias\ OLD\ =\ NEW
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Or, you can use the \f[C]\-\-alias\ \[aq]OLD=NEW\[aq]\f[] option on the
command line.
This affects all entries.
It\[aq]s useful for trying out aliases interactively.
.PP
OLD and NEW are full account names.
hledger will replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new
one.
Subaccounts are also affected.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
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"
\f[]
.fi
.SS Regex aliases
.PP
There is also a more powerful variant that uses a regular expression,
indicated by the forward slashes.
(This was the default behaviour in hledger 0.24\-0.25):
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
alias\ /REGEX/\ =\ REPLACEMENT
\f[]
.fi
.PP
or \f[C]\-\-alias\ \[aq]/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT\[aq]\f[].
.PP
REGEX is a case\-insensitive regular expression.
Anywhere it matches inside an account name, the matched part will be
replaced by REPLACEMENT.
If REGEX contains parenthesised match groups, these can be referenced by
the usual numeric backreferences in REPLACEMENT.
Note, currently regular expression aliases may cause noticeable
slow\-downs.
(And if you use Ledger on your hledger file, they will be ignored.) Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
alias\ /^(.+):bank:([^:]+)(.*)/\ =\ \\1:\\2\ \\3
#\ rewrites\ "assets:bank:wells\ fargo:checking"\ to\ \ "assets:wells\ fargo\ checking"
\f[]
.fi
.SS Multiple aliases
.PP
You can define as many aliases as you like using directives or
command\-line options.
Aliases are recursive \- each alias sees the result of applying previous
ones.
(This is different from Ledger, where aliases are non\-recursive by
default).
Aliases are applied in the following order:
.IP "1." 3
alias directives, most recently seen first (recent directives take
precedence over earlier ones; directives not yet seen are ignored)
.IP "2." 3
alias options, in the order they appear on the command line
.SS end aliases
.PP
You can clear (forget) all currently defined aliases with the
\f[C]end\ aliases\f[] directive:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
end\ aliases
\f[]
.fi
.SS account directive
.PP
The \f[C]account\f[] directive predefines account names, as in Ledger
and Beancount.
This may be useful for your own documentation; hledger doesn\[aq]t make
use of it yet.
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ account\ ACCT
;\ \ \ OPTIONAL\ COMMENTS/TAGS...

account\ assets:bank:checking
\ a\ comment
\ acct\-no:12345

account\ expenses:food

;\ etc.
\f[]
.fi
.SS apply account directive
.PP
You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all accounts
within a section of the journal.
Use the \f[C]apply\ account\f[] and \f[C]end\ apply\ account\f[]
directives like so:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
apply\ account\ home

2010/1/1
\ \ \ \ food\ \ \ \ $10
\ \ \ \ cash

end\ apply\ account
\f[]
.fi
.PP
which is equivalent to:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
2010/01/01
\ \ \ \ home:food\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $10
\ \ \ \ home:cash\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ $\-10
\f[]
.fi
.PP
If \f[C]end\ apply\ account\f[] is omitted, the effect lasts to the end
of the file.
Included files are also affected, eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
apply\ account\ business
include\ biz.journal
end\ apply\ account
apply\ account\ personal
include\ personal.journal
\f[]
.fi
.PP
Prior to hledger 0.28, legacy \f[C]account\f[] and \f[C]end\f[]
spellings were also supported.
.SS Multi\-line comments
.PP
A line containing just \f[C]comment\f[] starts a multi\-line comment,
and a line containing just \f[C]end\ comment\f[] ends it.
See comments.
.SS Default commodity
.PP
You can set a default commodity, to be used for amounts without one.
Use the D directive with a sample amount.
The commodity (and the sample amount\[aq]s display style) will be
applied to all subsequent commodity\-less amounts, up to the next D
directive.
(Note this is different from Ledger\[aq]s default commodity directive.)
.PP
Also note the directive itself does not influence the commodity\[aq]s
default display style, but the amount it is applied to might.
Here\[aq]s an example:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
;\ set\ £\ as\ the\ default\ commodity
D\ £1,000.00

2010/1/1
\ \ a\ \ 2340
\ \ b

2014/1/1
\ \ c\ \ £1000
\ \ d
\f[]
.fi
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
$\ hledger\ print
2010/01/01
\ \ \ \ a\ \ \ \ \ £2,340.00
\ \ \ \ b\ \ \ \ £\-2,340.00

2014/01/01
\ \ \ \ c\ \ \ \ \ £1,000.00
\ \ \ \ d\ \ \ \ £\-1,000.00
\f[]
.fi
.SS Default year
.PP
You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which
don\[aq]t specify a year.
This is a line beginning with \f[C]Y\f[] followed by the year.
Eg:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
Y2009\ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ set\ default\ year\ to\ 2009

12/15\ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ equivalent\ to\ 2009/12/15
\ \ expenses\ \ 1
\ \ assets

Y2010\ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ change\ default\ year\ to\ 2010

2009/1/30\ \ ;\ specifies\ the\ year,\ not\ affected
\ \ expenses\ \ 1
\ \ assets

1/31\ \ \ \ \ \ \ ;\ equivalent\ to\ 2010/1/31
\ \ expenses\ \ 1
\ \ assets
\f[]
.fi
.SS Including other files
.PP
You can pull in the content of additional journal files by writing an
include directive, like this:
.IP
.nf
\f[C]
include\ path/to/file.journal
\f[]
.fi
.PP
If the path does not begin with a slash, it is relative to the current
file.
.PP
Glob patterns (\f[C]*\f[]) are not currently supported.
.PP
The \f[C]include\f[] directive may only be used in journal files, and
currently it may only include other journal files (eg, not CSV or
timelog files.)


.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org
(or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list)

.SH AUTHORS
Simon Michael <simon@joyful.com> and contributors

.SH COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2007-2016 Simon Michael.
.br
Released under GNU GPLv3+.

.SH SEE ALSO
hledger(1), hledger\-ui(1), hledger\-web(1), hledger\-api(1),
hledger_csv(5), hledger_journal(5), hledger_timelog(5), hledger_timedot(5),
ledger(1)

http://hledger.org