hledger/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt

HLEDGER-UI(1)                hledger User Manuals                HLEDGER-UI(1)



NAME
       hledger-ui  is  a  terminal  interface (TUI) for the hledger accounting
       tool.  This manual is for hledger-ui 1.20.99.

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

DESCRIPTION
       hledger is a reliable, cross-platform  set  of  programs  for  tracking
       money,  time, or any other commodity, using double-entry accounting and
       a simple, editable file format.  hledger is  inspired  by  and  largely
       compatible with ledger(1).

       hledger-ui  is  hledger's  terminal  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 data from one or more files in hledger journal,
       timeclock, timedot, or CSV format specified with -f,  or  $LEDGER_FILE,
       or        $HOME/.hledger.journal       (on       windows,       perhaps
       C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal).  For more about this  see  hledger(1),
       hledger_journal(5) etc.

       Unlike  hledger,  hledger-ui hides all future-dated transactions by de-
       fault.  They can be revealed, along with  any  rule-generated  periodic
       transactions,  by  pressing  the F key (or starting with --forecast) to
       enable "forecast mode".

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.

       --watch
              watch for data and date changes and reload automatically

       --theme=default|terminal|greenterm
              use this custom display theme

       --register=ACCTREGEX
              start in the (first) matched account's register screen

       --change
              show period balances (changes) at startup instead of  historical
              balances

       -l --flat
              show accounts as a flat list (default)

       -t --tree
              show accounts as a tree

       hledger input options:

       -f FILE --file=FILE
              use  a  different  input  file.   For  stdin,  use  -  (default:
              $LEDGER_FILE or $HOME/.hledger.journal)

       --rules-file=RULESFILE
              Conversion  rules  file  to  use  when  reading  CSV   (default:
              FILE.rules)

       --separator=CHAR
              Field separator to expect when reading CSV (default: ',')

       --alias=OLD=NEW
              rename accounts named OLD to NEW

       --anon anonymize accounts and payees

       --pivot FIELDNAME
              use some other field or tag for the account name

       -I --ignore-assertions
              disable balance assertion checks (note: does not disable balance
              assignments)

       -s --strict
              do extra error checking (check that all posted accounts are  de-
              clared)

       hledger reporting options:

       -b --begin=DATE
              include postings/txns on or after this date

       -e --end=DATE
              include postings/txns before this date

       -D --daily
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by day

       -W --weekly
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by week

       -M --monthly
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by month

       -Q --quarterly
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by quarter

       -Y --yearly
              multiperiod/multicolumn report by year

       -p --period=PERIODEXP
              set  start date, end date, and/or reporting interval all at once
              using period expressions syntax

       --date2
              match the secondary date instead (see command help for other ef-
              fects)

       -U --unmarked
              include only unmarked postings/txns (can combine with -P or -C)

       -P --pending
              include only pending postings/txns

       -C --cleared
              include only cleared postings/txns

       -R --real
              include only non-virtual postings

       -NUM --depth=NUM
              hide/aggregate accounts or postings more than NUM levels deep

       -E --empty
              show  items with zero amount, normally hidden (and vice-versa in
              hledger-ui/hledger-web)

       -B --cost
              convert amounts to their cost/selling amount at transaction time

       -V --market
              convert amounts to their market value in default valuation  com-
              modities

       -X --exchange=COMM
              convert amounts to their market value in commodity COMM

       --value
              convert  amounts  to  cost  or  market value, more flexibly than
              -B/-V/-X

       --infer-value
              with -V/-X/--value, also infer market prices from transactions

       --auto apply automated posting rules to modify transactions.

       --forecast
              generate future transactions from  periodic  transaction  rules,
              for  the  next 6 months or till report end date.  In hledger-ui,
              also make ordinary future transactions visible.

       --color=WHEN (or --colour=WHEN)
              Should color-supporting commands use ANSI color  codes  in  text
              output.   'auto' (default): whenever stdout seems to be a color-
              supporting terminal.  'always' or 'yes': always, useful eg  when
              piping  output  into  'less  -R'.   'never'  or  'no': never.  A
              NO_COLOR environment variable overrides this.

       When a reporting option appears more than once in the command line, the
       last one takes precedence.

       Some reporting options can also be written as query arguments.

       hledger help options:

       -h --help
              show general or COMMAND help

       --man  show general or COMMAND user manual with man

       --info show general or COMMAND user manual with info

       --version
              show general or ADDONCMD version

       --debug[=N]
              show debug output (levels 1-9, default: 1)

       A @FILE argument will be expanded to the contents of FILE, which should
       contain one command line option/argument per line.  (To  prevent  this,
       insert a -- argument before.)

KEYS
       ?  shows a help dialog listing all keys.  (Some of these also appear in
       the quick help at the bottom of each screen.) Press ? again (or ESCAPE,
       or LEFT, or q) to close it.  The following keys work on most screens:

       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.  Emacs-style (ctrl-p/ctrl-n/ctrl-f/ctrl-b) movement
       keys are also supported (but not  vi-style  keys,  since  hledger-1.19,
       sorry!).   A  tip:  movement  speed  is limited by your keyboard repeat
       rate, to move faster you may want to adjust it.  (If you're on  a  mac,
       the karabiner app is one way to do that.)

       With  shift pressed, the cursor keys adjust the report period, limiting
       the transactions to be shown  (by  default,  all  are  shown).   shift-
       down/up  steps downward and upward through these standard report period
       durations: year, quarter, month,  week,  day.   Then,  shift-left/right
       moves  to the previous/next period.  T sets the report period to today.
       With the --watch option, when viewing a "current" period  (the  current
       day, week, month, quarter, or year), the period will move automatically
       to track the current date.  To set a non-standard period, you can use /
       and a date: query.

       /  lets  you  set a general filter query limiting the data shown, using
       the same query terms as in hledger and hledger-web.  While editing  the
       query,  you  can  use CTRL-a/e/d/k, BS, cursor keys; press ENTER to set
       it, or ESCAPEto cancel.  There are also keys for quickly adjusting some
       common  filters  like account depth and transaction status (see below).
       BACKSPACE or DELETE removes all filters, showing all transactions.

       As mentioned above, by default hledger-ui hides future  transactions  -
       both ordinary transactions recorded in the journal, and periodic trans-
       actions generated by rule.  F  toggles  forecast  mode,  in  which  fu-
       ture/forecasted transactions are shown.

       ESCAPE  resets the UI state and jumps back to the top screen, restoring
       the app's initial state at startup.  Or, it cancels minibuffer data en-
       try or the help dialog.

       CTRL-l redraws the screen and centers the selection if possible (selec-
       tions near the top won't be centered, since we don't scroll  above  the
       top).

       g  reloads from the data file(s) and updates the current screen and any
       previous screens.  (With large files, this  could  cause  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.

       A  is like a, but runs the hledger-iadd tool, which provides a terminal
       interface.  This key will be available if hledger-iadd is installed  in
       $path.

       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  possi-
       ble) when invoked from the error screen.

       B  toggles cost mode, showing amounts in their transaction price's com-
       modity (like toggling the -B/--cost flag).

       V toggles value mode, showing amounts' current market  value  in  their
       default  valuation  commodity  (like  toggling  the  -V/--market flag).
       Note, "current market value" means the value on the report end date  if
       specified,  otherwise today.  To see the value on another date, you can
       temporarily set that as the report end date.  Eg: to see a  transaction
       as  it  was  valued  on july 30, go to the accounts or register screen,
       press /, and add date:-7/30 to the query.

       At most one of cost or value mode can be active at once.

       There's not yet any visual reminder when cost or value mode is  active;
       for now pressing b b v should reliably reset to normal mode.

       With  --watch  active,  if  you  save an edit to the journal file while
       viewing the transaction screen in cost or value mode, the B/V keys will
       stop  working.   To  work  around, press g to force a manual reload, or
       exit the transaction 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 shown as a flat list by default; press  t  to  toggle
       tree  mode.   In  list  mode,  account balances are exclusive of subac-
       counts, except where subaccounts are hidden by a depth limit  (see  be-
       low).  In tree mode, all account balances are inclusive of subaccounts.

       To  see  less detail, press a number key, 1 to 9, to set a depth limit.
       Or use - to decrease and +/= to increase the depth limit.  0 shows even
       less  detail, collapsing all accounts to a single total.  To remove the
       depth limit, set it higher than the maximum account depth, or press ES-
       CAPE.

       H toggles between showing historical balances or period balances.  His-
       torical balances (the default) are ending balances at the  end  of  the
       report  period,  taking  into account all transactions before that date
       (filtered by the filter query if any),  including  transactions  before
       the  start  of  the report period.  In other words, historical balances
       are what you would see on a bank statement  for  that  account  (unless
       disturbed  by a filter query).  Period balances ignore transactions be-
       fore the report start date, so they show the change in  balance  during
       the report period.  They are more useful eg when viewing a time log.

       U toggles filtering by unmarked status, including or excluding unmarked
       postings in the balances.  Similarly, P toggles pending postings, and C
       toggles  cleared postings.  (By default, balances include all postings;
       if you activate one or two status filters, only those postings are  in-
       cluded; and if you activate all three, the filter is removed.)

       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:

       o 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.)

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

       o the running historical total or period total for the current account,
         after the transaction.  This can be toggled with H.  Similar  to  the
         accounts  screen,  the  historical  total is affected by transactions
         (filtered by the filter query) before the report  start  date,  while
         the period total is not.  If the historical total is not disturbed by
         a filter query, it will be the running historical balance  you  would
         see on a bank register for the current account.

       Transactions  affecting  this account's subaccounts will be included in
       the register if the accounts screen is in tree mode, or if it's in list
       mode  but  this  account  has  subaccounts which are not shown due to a
       depth limit.  In other words, the register always  shows  the  transac-
       tions  contributing  to the balance shown on the accounts screen.  Tree
       mode/list mode can be toggled with t here also.

       U toggles filtering by unmarked  status,  showing  or  hiding  unmarked
       transactions.  Similarly, P toggles pending transactions, and C toggles
       cleared transactions.  (By default, transactions with all statuses  are
       shown;  if  you activate one or two status filters, only those transac-
       tions are shown; and if you activate all three, the filter is removed.)

       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 com-
       mand-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_jour-
       nal(5)).

       The transaction's date(s) and any cleared flag, transaction  code,  de-
       scription,  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 de-
       pending on which account register you came from (remember most transac-
       tions  appear  in multiple account registers).  The #N number preceding
       them is the transaction's position within the complete unfiltered jour-
       nal, 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.)

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

       LEDGER_FILE The journal file path when not specified with -f.  Default:
       ~/.hledger.journal  (on  windows,  perhaps C:/Users/USER/.hledger.jour-
       nal).

       A typical value is ~/DIR/YYYY.journal,  where  DIR  is  a  version-con-
       trolled  finance directory and YYYY is the current year.  Or ~/DIR/cur-
       rent.journal, where current.journal is a symbolic link to YYYY.journal.

       On Mac computers, you can set this and other environment variables in a
       more  thorough  way that also affects applications started from the GUI
       (say, an Emacs dock icon).  Eg on MacOS Catalina I have a ~/.MacOSX/en-
       vironment.plist file containing

              {
                "LEDGER_FILE" : "~/finance/current.journal"
              }

       To see the effect you may need to killall Dock, or reboot.

FILES
       Reads  data from one or more files in hledger journal, timeclock, time-
       dot,  or  CSV  format  specified   with   -f,   or   $LEDGER_FILE,   or
       $HOME/.hledger.journal           (on          windows,          perhaps
       C:/Users/USER/.hledger.journal).

BUGS
       The need to precede options with -- when invoked from hledger  is  awk-
       ward.

       -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 with large files.  Also there is  no
       visual indication that this is in progress.

       --watch  is  not yet fully robust.  It works well for normal usage, but
       many file changes in a short time (eg  saving  the  file  thousands  of
       times  with an editor macro) can cause problems at least on OSX.  Symp-
       toms include: unresponsive UI, periodic resetting of the  cursor  posi-
       tion, momentary display of parse errors, high CPU usage eventually sub-
       siding, and possibly a small but persistent build-up of CPU usage until
       the program is restarted.

       Also,  if  you  are viewing files mounted from another machine, --watch
       requires that both machine clocks are roughly in step.



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


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


COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2007-2020 Simon Michael.
       Released under GNU GPL v3 or later.


SEE ALSO
       hledger(1), hledger-ui(1), hledger-web(1), ledger(1)



hledger-ui-1.20.99               December 2020                   HLEDGER-UI(1)