From 423f3bd15551538b91b0917c1fc1d44f4b79f9da Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Simon Michael Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2022 07:59:02 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] ;doc: update manuals --- hledger-lib/.date.m4 | 2 +- hledger-ui/.date.m4 | 2 +- hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 | 2 +- hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt | 2 +- hledger-web/.date.m4 | 2 +- hledger-web/hledger-web.1 | 2 +- hledger-web/hledger-web.txt | 2 +- hledger/.date.m4 | 2 +- hledger/hledger.1 | 367 ++--- hledger/hledger.info | 1153 +++++++-------- hledger/hledger.txt | 2659 ++++++++++++++++++----------------- 11 files changed, 2137 insertions(+), 2058 deletions(-) diff --git a/hledger-lib/.date.m4 b/hledger-lib/.date.m4 index de5ee4b6a..d22e9b3ab 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_}}, {{July 2022}})m4_dnl +m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{August 2022}})m4_dnl diff --git a/hledger-ui/.date.m4 b/hledger-ui/.date.m4 index de5ee4b6a..d22e9b3ab 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_}}, {{July 2022}})m4_dnl +m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{August 2022}})m4_dnl diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 index 4cde5d5d8..c054b92ad 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.1 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ -.TH "HLEDGER-UI" "1" "July 2022" "hledger-ui-1.26.99 " "hledger User Manuals" +.TH "HLEDGER-UI" "1" "August 2022" "hledger-ui-1.26.99 " "hledger User Manuals" diff --git a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt index c9c31f5cd..accfc8b23 100644 --- a/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt +++ b/hledger-ui/hledger-ui.txt @@ -549,4 +549,4 @@ SEE ALSO -hledger-ui-1.26.99 July 2022 HLEDGER-UI(1) +hledger-ui-1.26.99 August 2022 HLEDGER-UI(1) diff --git a/hledger-web/.date.m4 b/hledger-web/.date.m4 index de5ee4b6a..d22e9b3ab 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_}}, {{July 2022}})m4_dnl +m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{August 2022}})m4_dnl diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 b/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 index 9a0589563..a32193d7e 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.1 @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ -.TH "HLEDGER-WEB" "1" "July 2022" "hledger-web-1.26.99 " "hledger User Manuals" +.TH "HLEDGER-WEB" "1" "August 2022" "hledger-web-1.26.99 " "hledger User Manuals" diff --git a/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt b/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt index 2e775b800..7916b40a2 100644 --- a/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt +++ b/hledger-web/hledger-web.txt @@ -586,4 +586,4 @@ SEE ALSO -hledger-web-1.26.99 July 2022 HLEDGER-WEB(1) +hledger-web-1.26.99 August 2022 HLEDGER-WEB(1) diff --git a/hledger/.date.m4 b/hledger/.date.m4 index de5ee4b6a..d22e9b3ab 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_}}, {{July 2022}})m4_dnl +m4_define({{_monthyear_}}, {{August 2022}})m4_dnl diff --git a/hledger/hledger.1 b/hledger/hledger.1 index 618b8ea9c..089475f40 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.1 +++ b/hledger/hledger.1 @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ .\"t -.TH "HLEDGER" "1" "July 2022" "hledger-1.26.99 " "hledger User Manuals" +.TH "HLEDGER" "1" "August 2022" "hledger-1.26.99 " "hledger User Manuals" @@ -2984,6 +2984,7 @@ This command lists account names, either declared with account directives (--declared), posted to (--used), or both (the default). With query arguments, only matched account names and account names referenced by matched postings are shown. +.PP It shows a flat list by default. With \f[C]--tree\f[R], it uses indentation to show the account hierarchy. @@ -2996,6 +2997,15 @@ With \f[C]--types\f[R], it also shows each account\[aq]s type, if it\[aq]s known. (See Declaring accounts > Account types.) .PP +With \f[C]--positions\f[R], it also shows the file and line number of +each account\[aq]s declaration, if any, and the account\[aq]s overall +declaration order; these may be useful when troubleshooting account +display order. +.PP +With \f[C]--directives\f[R], it adds the \f[C]account\f[R] keyword, +showing valid account directives which can be pasted into a journal +file. +.PP Examples: .IP .nf @@ -4644,6 +4654,9 @@ hledger check ordereddates payees # basic + two other checks \f[R] .fi .PP +If you are an Emacs user, you can also configure flycheck-hledger to run +these checks, providing instant feedback as you edit the journal. +.PP Here are the checks currently available: .SS Basic checks .PP @@ -4688,6 +4701,9 @@ file .IP \[bu] 2 \f[B]payees\f[R] - all payees used by transactions have been declared .IP \[bu] 2 +\f[B]recentassertions\f[R] - all accounts with balance assertions have a +balance assertion no more than 7 days before their latest posting +.IP \[bu] 2 \f[B]uniqueleafnames\f[R] - all account leaf names are unique .SS Custom checks .PP @@ -4702,6 +4718,20 @@ assertions are passing .PP You could make similar scripts to perform your own custom checks. See: Cookbook -> Scripting. +.SS More about specific checks +.PP +\f[C]hledger check recentassertions\f[R] will complain if any +balance-asserted account does not have a balance assertion within 7 days +before its latest posting. +This aims to prevent the situation where you are regularly updating your +journal, but forgetting to check your balances against the real world, +then one day must dig back through months of data to find an error. +It assumes that adding a balance assertion requires/reminds you to check +the real-world balance. +That may not be true if you auto-generate balance assertions from bank +data; in that case, I recommend to import transactions uncleared, then +use the manual-review-and-mark-cleared phase as a reminder to check the +latest assertions against real-world balances. .SS close .PP close, equity @@ -5134,12 +5164,10 @@ help Show the hledger user manual in one of several formats, optionally positioned at a given TOPIC (if possible). .PP -TOPIC is any heading in the manual, or the start of any heading (but not -the middle). -It is case insensitive. -.PP -Some examples: \f[C]commands\f[R], \f[C]print\f[R], \f[C]forecast\f[R], -\f[C]\[dq]auto postings\[dq]\f[R], \f[C]\[dq]commodity column\[dq]\f[R]. +TOPIC is any heading in the manual, or a heading prefix, case +insensitive. +Eg: \f[C]commands\f[R], \f[C]print\f[R], \f[C]forecast\f[R], +\f[C]\[dq]auto postings\[dq]\f[R], \f[C]journal\f[R], \f[C]amount\f[R]. .PP This command shows the user manual built in to this hledger version. It can be useful if the correct version of the hledger manual, or the @@ -5151,6 +5179,16 @@ By default it uses the best viewer it can find in $PATH, in this order: When run non-interactively, it always uses stdout. Or you can select a particular viewer with the \f[C]-i\f[R] (info), \f[C]-m\f[R] (man), or \f[C]-p\f[R] (pager) flags. +.PP +Examples +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger help --help # show how the help command works +$ hledger help # show the hledger manual with info, man or $PAGER +$ hledger help journal # show the journal topic in the hledger manual +\f[R] +.fi .SS import .PP import @@ -6595,63 +6633,53 @@ You can also comment larger regions of a file using \f[C]comment\f[R] and \f[C]end comment\f[R] directives. .SS Tags .PP -Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to postings and -transactions, which you can then search or pivot on. +Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, +postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. .PP -A simple tag is a word (which may contain hyphens) followed by a full -colon, written inside a transaction or posting comment line: +They are written as a (optionally hyphenated) word immediately followed +by a full colon within a transaction or posting or account +directive\[aq]s comment: .IP .nf \f[C] -2017/1/16 bought groceries ; sometag: +account assets:checking ; accounttag: + +2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transaction-tag: + ; another-transaction-tag: + assets:checking $-1 + expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag: \f[R] .fi .PP -Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, up to the next -comma or end of line, with leading/trailing whitespace removed: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] - expenses:food $10 ; a-posting-tag: the tag value -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Note this means hledger\[aq]s tag values can not contain commas or -newlines. -Ending at commas means you can write multiple short tags on one line, -comma separated: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] - assets:checking ; a comment containing tag1:, tag2: some value ... -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Here, +Tags are inherited, as follows: .IP \[bu] 2 -\[dq]\f[C]a comment containing\f[R]\[dq] is just comment text, not a tag +Tags on a transaction affect the transaction and all of its postings .IP \[bu] 2 -\[dq]\f[C]tag1\f[R]\[dq] is a tag with no value -.IP \[bu] 2 -\[dq]\f[C]tag2\f[R]\[dq] is another tag, whose value is -\[dq]\f[C]some value ...\f[R]\[dq] +Tags on an account affect all postings to that account. .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 (\f[C]A\f[R], -\f[C]TAG2\f[R], \f[C]third-tag\f[R]) and the posting has four (those -plus \f[C]posting-tag\f[R]): +So in the example above, - the \f[C]assets:checking\f[R] account has one +tag (\f[C]accounttag\f[R]) - the transaction has two tags +(\f[C]transaction-tag\f[R], \f[C]another-transaction-tag\f[R]) - the +\f[C]assets:checking\f[R] posting has three tags +(\f[C]transaction-tag\f[R], \f[C]another-transaction-tag\f[R], +\f[C]accounttag\f[R]) - the \f[C]expenses:food\f[R] posting has three +tags (\f[C]transaction-tag\f[R], \f[C]another-transaction-tag\f[R], +\f[C]posting-tag\f[R]). +.PP +Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, until the next +comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace stripped. +So here \f[C]a-posting-tag\f[R]\[aq]s value is \[dq]the tag value\[dq], +\f[C]tag2\f[R]\[aq]s value is \[dq]foo\[dq], and \f[C]tag3\f[R]\[aq]s +value is \[dq]\[dq] (the empty string): .IP .nf \f[C] -1/1 a transaction ; A:, TAG2: - ; third-tag: a third transaction tag, <- with a value - (a) $1 ; posting-tag: + expenses:food $10 + ; some text, a-posting-tag:the tag value, tag2: foo , tag3: , other text \f[R] .fi .PP -Tags are like Ledger\[aq]s metadata feature, except hledger\[aq]s tag -values are simple strings. +A hledger tag value may not contain a comma. .SS Postings .PP A posting is an addition of some amount to, or removal of some amount @@ -7914,38 +7942,68 @@ Though not required, these declarations can provide several benefits: They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a reference. .IP \[bu] 2 +In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by +transactions, which helps detect typos. +.IP \[bu] 2 They control account display order in reports, allowing non-alphabetic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). .IP \[bu] 2 -They can help hledger know your accounts\[aq] types (asset, liability, -equity, revenue, expense), useful for reports like balancesheet and -incomestatement. -.IP \[bu] 2 -They can store other account information, as comments or as tags which -can be used to filter reports. -.IP \[bu] 2 They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) .IP \[bu] 2 -In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by -transactions, which helps detect typos. +They can store additional account information as comments, or as tags +which can be used to filter or pivot reports. +.IP \[bu] 2 +They can help hledger know your accounts\[aq] types (asset, liability, +equity, revenue, expense), affecting reports like balancesheet and +incomestatement. .PP -The simplest form is just the word \f[C]account\f[R] followed by a -hledger-style account name, eg this account directive declares the -\f[C]assets:bank:checking\f[R] account: +They are written as the word \f[C]account\f[R] followed by a +hledger-style account name, eg: .IP .nf \f[C] account assets:bank:checking \f[R] .fi +.SS Account comments +.PP +Comments, beginning with a semicolon: +.IP \[bu] 2 +can be written on the same line, but only after \f[B]two or more +spaces\f[R] (because \f[C];\f[R] is allowed in account names) +.IP \[bu] 2 +and/or on the next lines, indented +.IP \[bu] 2 +and may contain tags, such as the \f[C]type:\f[R] tag. +.PP +For example: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon + ; next-line comment + ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 +\f[R] +.fi +.SS Account subdirectives +.PP +Ledger-style indented subdirectives are also accepted, but currently +ignored: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets:bank:checking + format subdirective is ignored +\f[R] +.fi .SS Account error checking .PP -By default, accounts come into existence when a transaction references -them by name. +By default, accounts need not be declared; they come into existence when +a posting references them. This is convenient, but it means hledger can\[aq]t warn you when you mis-spell an account name in the journal. -Usually you\[aq]ll find the error later, as an extra account in balance +Usually you\[aq]ll find that error later, as an extra account in balance reports, or an incorrect balance when reconciling. .PP In strict mode, enabled with the \f[C]-s\f[R]/\f[C]--strict\f[R] flag, @@ -7963,54 +8021,65 @@ includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of account directives within the file does not matter, though it\[aq]s usual to put them at the top. .IP \[bu] 2 -Accounts can only be declared in \f[C]journal\f[R] files (but will -affect included files in other formats). +Accounts can only be declared in \f[C]journal\f[R] files, but will +affect included files of all types. .IP \[bu] 2 It\[aq]s currently not possible to declare \[dq]all possible subaccounts\[dq] with a wildcard; every account posted to must be declared. -.SS Account comments +.SS Account display order .PP -Comments, beginning with a semicolon, can be added: +The order in which account directives are written influences the order +in which accounts appear in reports, hledger-ui, hledger-web etc. +By default accounts appear in alphabetical order, but if you add these +account directives to the journal file: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account assets +account liabilities +account equity +account revenues +account expenses +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +those accounts will be displayed in declaration order: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ hledger accounts -1 +assets +liabilities +equity +revenues +expenses +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +Any undeclared accounts are displayed last, in alphabetical order. +.PP +Sorting is done at each level of the account tree, within each group of +sibling accounts under the same parent. +And currently, this directive: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +account other:zoo +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +would influence the position of \f[C]zoo\f[R] among +\f[C]other\f[R]\[aq]s subaccounts, but not the position of +\f[C]other\f[R] among the top-level accounts. +This means: .IP \[bu] 2 -on the same line, \f[B]after two or more spaces\f[R] (because ; is -allowed in account names) +you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg \f[C]account other\f[R] +above) that you don\[aq]t intend to post to, just to customize their +display order .IP \[bu] 2 -on the next lines, indented -.PP -An example of both: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, note 2+ spaces required before ; - ; next-line comment - ; some tags, type:A, acctnum:12345 -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Compatibility note: same-line comments are not supported by Ledger or -hledger <1.13. -.SS Account subdirectives -.PP -We also allow (and ignore) Ledger-style indented subdirectives, just for -compatibility.: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets:bank:checking - format blah blah ; <- subdirective, ignored -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Here is the full syntax of account directives: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account ACCTNAME [;type:ACCTTYPE] [COMMENT] - [;COMMENTS] - [LEDGER-STYLE SUBDIRECTIVES, IGNORED] -\f[R] -.fi +sibling accounts stay together (you couldn\[aq]t display \f[C]x:y\f[R] +in between \f[C]a:b\f[R] and \f[C]a:c\f[R]). .SS Account types .PP hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, @@ -8124,61 +8193,6 @@ $ hledger accounts --types [ACCTPAT] [-DEPTH] [type:TYPECODES] \f[R] .fi .RE -.SS Account display order -.PP -Account directives also set the order in which accounts are displayed, -eg in reports, the hledger-ui accounts screen, and the hledger-web -sidebar. -By default accounts are listed in alphabetical order. -But if you have these account directives in the journal: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account assets -account liabilities -account equity -account revenues -account expenses -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -you\[aq]ll see those accounts displayed in declaration order, not -alphabetically: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -$ hledger accounts -1 -assets -liabilities -equity -revenues -expenses -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -Undeclared accounts, if any, are displayed last, in alphabetical order. -.PP -Note that sorting is done at each level of the account tree (within each -group of sibling accounts under the same parent). -And currently, this directive: -.IP -.nf -\f[C] -account other:zoo -\f[R] -.fi -.PP -would influence the position of \f[C]zoo\f[R] among -\f[C]other\f[R]\[aq]s subaccounts, but not the position of -\f[C]other\f[R] among the top-level accounts. -This means: -.IP \[bu] 2 -you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg \f[C]account other\f[R] -above) that you don\[aq]t intend to post to, just to customize their -display order -.IP \[bu] 2 -sibling accounts stay together (you couldn\[aq]t display \f[C]x:y\f[R] -in between \f[C]a:b\f[R] and \f[C]a:c\f[R]). .SS Rewriting accounts .PP You can define account alias rules which rewrite your account names, or @@ -8910,7 +8924,7 @@ Note, for best error messages when reading CSV files, use a \f[C].csv\f[R], \f[C].tsv\f[R] or \f[C].ssv\f[R] file extension or file prefix - see File Extension below. .PP -There\[aq]s an introductory Convert CSV files tutorial on hledger.org. +There\[aq]s an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org. .SS Examples .PP Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. @@ -10557,25 +10571,34 @@ A sample.timedot file. .SH COMMON TASKS .PP Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with hledger. -For more details, see the reference section below, the -hledger_journal(5) manual, or the more extensive docs at -https://hledger.org. .SS Getting help +.PP +Here\[aq]s how to list commands and view options and command docs: .IP .nf \f[C] -$ hledger # show available commands -$ hledger --help # show common options -$ hledger CMD --help # show common and command options, and command help -$ hledger help # show available manuals/topics -$ hledger help hledger # show hledger manual, as info/man/text (auto-chosen) -$ hledger help journal -m # show the journal topic, as a man page scrolled to that section -$ hledger help --help # show more detailed help for the help command +$ hledger # show available commands +$ hledger --help # show common options +$ hledger CMD --help # show common options and CMD\[aq]s options and documentation \f[R] .fi .PP -Find more docs, chat, mail list, reddit, issue tracker: -https://hledger.org/support.html +You can also view your hledger version\[aq]s manual in several formats +by using the help command. +Eg: +.IP +.nf +\f[C] +$ 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 # show how the help command works +\f[R] +.fi +.PP +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. .SS Constructing command lines .PP hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. diff --git a/hledger/hledger.info b/hledger/hledger.info index df46d6beb..77e3c9389 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.info +++ b/hledger/hledger.info @@ -2391,15 +2391,23 @@ Show account names. This command lists account names, either declared with account directives (-declared), posted to (-used), or both (the default). With query arguments, only matched account names and account names referenced -by matched postings are shown. It shows a flat list by default. With -'--tree', it uses indentation to show the account hierarchy. In flat -mode you can add '--drop N' to omit the first few account name -components. Account names can be depth-clipped with 'depth:N' or -'--depth N' or '-N'. +by matched postings are shown. + + It shows a flat list by default. With '--tree', it uses indentation +to show the account hierarchy. In flat mode you can add '--drop N' to +omit the first few account name components. Account names can be +depth-clipped with 'depth:N' or '--depth N' or '-N'. With '--types', it also shows each account's type, if it's known. (See Declaring accounts > Account types.) + With '--positions', it also shows the file and line number of each +account's declaration, if any, and the account's overall declaration +order; these may be useful when troubleshooting account display order. + + With '--directives', it adds the 'account' keyword, showing valid +account directives which can be pasted into a journal file. + Examples: $ hledger accounts @@ -3783,6 +3791,9 @@ hledger check # basic checks hledger check -s # basic + strict checks hledger check ordereddates payees # basic + two other checks + 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: * Menu: @@ -3791,6 +3802,7 @@ hledger check ordereddates payees # basic + two other checks * Strict checks:: * Other checks:: * Custom checks:: +* More about specific checks::  File: hledger.info, Node: Basic checks, Next: Strict checks, Up: check @@ -3844,10 +3856,13 @@ therefore optional: * *payees* - all payees used by transactions have been declared + * *recentassertions* - all accounts with balance assertions have a + balance assertion no more than 7 days before their latest posting + * *uniqueleafnames* - all account leaf names are unique  -File: hledger.info, Node: Custom checks, Prev: Other checks, Up: check +File: hledger.info, Node: Custom checks, Next: More about specific checks, Prev: Other checks, Up: check 11.9.4 Custom checks -------------------- @@ -3864,6 +3879,24 @@ https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/bin: You could make similar scripts to perform your own custom checks. See: Cookbook -> Scripting. + +File: hledger.info, Node: More about specific checks, Prev: Custom checks, Up: check + +11.9.5 More about specific checks +--------------------------------- + +'hledger check recentassertions' will complain if any balance-asserted +account does not have a balance assertion within 7 days before its +latest posting. This aims to prevent the situation where you are +regularly updating your journal, but forgetting to check your balances +against the real world, then one day must dig back through months of +data to find an error. It assumes that adding a balance assertion +requires/reminds you to check the real-world balance. That may not be +true if you auto-generate balance assertions from bank data; in that +case, I recommend to import transactions uncleared, then use the +manual-review-and-mark-cleared phase as a reminder to check the latest +assertions against real-world balances. +  File: hledger.info, Node: close, Next: codes, Prev: check, Up: COMMANDS @@ -4231,11 +4264,9 @@ help Show the hledger user manual in one of several formats, optionally positioned at a given TOPIC (if possible). - TOPIC is any heading in the manual, or the start of any heading (but -not the middle). It is case insensitive. - - Some examples: 'commands', 'print', 'forecast', '"auto postings"', -'"commodity column"'. + TOPIC is any heading in the manual, or a heading prefix, case +insensitive. Eg: 'commands', 'print', 'forecast', '"auto postings"', +'journal', 'amount'. This command shows the user manual built in to this hledger version. It can be useful if the correct version of the hledger manual, or the @@ -4247,6 +4278,12 @@ stdout. When run non-interactively, it always uses stdout. Or you can select a particular viewer with the '-i' (info), '-m' (man), or '-p' (pager) flags. + Examples + +$ hledger help --help # show how the help command works +$ hledger help # show the hledger manual with info, man or $PAGER +$ hledger help journal # show the journal topic in the hledger manual +  File: hledger.info, Node: import, Next: incomestatement, Prev: help, Up: COMMANDS @@ -5585,42 +5622,42 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Tags, Next: Postings, Prev: Comments, Up: JOURNAL 12.7 Tags ========= -Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to postings and -transactions, which you can then search or pivot on. +Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, +postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. - A simple tag is a word (which may contain hyphens) followed by a full -colon, written inside a transaction or posting comment line: + They are written as a (optionally hyphenated) word immediately +followed by a full colon within a transaction or posting or account +directive's comment: -2017/1/16 bought groceries ; sometag: +account assets:checking ; accounttag: - Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, up to the -next comma or end of line, with leading/trailing whitespace removed: +2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transaction-tag: + ; another-transaction-tag: + assets:checking $-1 + expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag: - expenses:food $10 ; a-posting-tag: the tag value + Tags are inherited, as follows: - Note this means hledger's tag values can not contain commas or -newlines. Ending at commas means you can write multiple short tags on -one line, comma separated: + * Tags on a transaction affect the transaction and all of its + postings + * Tags on an account affect all postings to that account. - assets:checking ; a comment containing tag1:, tag2: some value ... + So in the example above, - the 'assets:checking' account has one tag +('accounttag') - the transaction has two tags ('transaction-tag', +'another-transaction-tag') - the 'assets:checking' posting has three +tags ('transaction-tag', 'another-transaction-tag', 'accounttag') - the +'expenses:food' posting has three tags ('transaction-tag', +'another-transaction-tag', 'posting-tag'). - Here, + Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, until the +next comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace stripped. So +here 'a-posting-tag''s value is "the tag value", 'tag2''s value is +"foo", and 'tag3''s value is "" (the empty string): - * "'a comment containing'" is just comment text, not a tag - * "'tag1'" is a tag with no value - * "'tag2'" is another tag, whose value is "'some value ...'" + expenses:food $10 + ; some text, a-posting-tag:the tag value, tag2: foo , tag3: , other text - 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 (those plus 'posting-tag'): - -1/1 a transaction ; A:, TAG2: - ; third-tag: a third transaction tag, <- with a value - (a) $1 ; posting-tag: - - Tags are like Ledger's metadata feature, except hledger's tag values -are simple strings. + A hledger tag value may not contain a comma.  File: hledger.info, Node: Postings, Next: Account names, Prev: Tags, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT @@ -6707,43 +6744,73 @@ declarations can provide several benefits: * They can document your intended chart of accounts, providing a reference. - * They control account display order in reports, allowing - non-alphabetic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). - * They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, - equity, revenue, expense), useful for reports like balancesheet and - incomestatement. - * They can store other account information, as comments or as tags - which can be used to filter reports. - * They help with account name completion (in hledger add, - hledger-web, hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) * In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by transactions, which helps detect typos. + * They control account display order in reports, allowing + non-alphabetic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). + * They help with account name completion (in hledger add, + hledger-web, hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) + * They can store additional account information as comments, or as + tags which can be used to filter or pivot reports. + * They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, + equity, revenue, expense), affecting reports like balancesheet and + incomestatement. - The simplest form is just the word 'account' followed by a -hledger-style account name, eg this account directive declares the -'assets:bank:checking' account: + They are written as the word 'account' followed by a hledger-style +account name, eg: account assets:bank:checking * Menu: -* Account error checking:: * Account comments:: * Account subdirectives:: -* Account types:: +* Account error checking:: * Account display order:: +* Account types::  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account error checking, Next: Account comments, Up: Declaring accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Account comments, Next: Account subdirectives, Up: Declaring accounts -12.25.1 Account error checking +12.25.1 Account comments +------------------------ + +Comments, beginning with a semicolon: + + * can be written on the same line, but only after *two or more + spaces* (because ';' is allowed in account names) + * and/or on the next lines, indented + * and may contain tags, such as the 'type:' tag. + + For example: + +account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon + ; next-line comment + ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Account subdirectives, Next: Account error checking, Prev: Account comments, Up: Declaring accounts + +12.25.2 Account subdirectives +----------------------------- + +Ledger-style indented subdirectives are also accepted, but currently +ignored: + +account assets:bank:checking + format subdirective is ignored + + +File: hledger.info, Node: Account error checking, Next: Account display order, Prev: Account subdirectives, Up: Declaring accounts + +12.25.3 Account error checking ------------------------------ -By default, accounts come into existence when a transaction references -them by name. This is convenient, but it means hledger can't warn you -when you mis-spell an account name in the journal. Usually you'll find -the error later, as an extra account in balance reports, or an incorrect -balance when reconciling. +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 journal. +Usually you'll find that error later, as an extra account in balance +reports, or an incorrect balance when reconciling. In strict mode, enabled with the '-s'/'--strict' flag, hledger will report an error if any transaction uses an account name that has not @@ -6756,54 +6823,59 @@ been declared by an account directive. Some notes: any files it includes, but not parent or sibling files. The position of account directives within the file does not matter, though it's usual to put them at the top. - * Accounts can only be declared in 'journal' files (but will affect - included files in other formats). + * Accounts can only be declared in 'journal' files, but will affect + included files of all types. * It's currently not possible to declare "all possible subaccounts" with a wildcard; every account posted to must be declared.  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account comments, Next: Account subdirectives, Prev: Account error checking, Up: Declaring accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Account display order, Next: Account types, Prev: Account error checking, Up: Declaring accounts -12.25.2 Account comments ------------------------- - -Comments, beginning with a semicolon, can be added: - - * on the same line, *after two or more spaces* (because ; is allowed - in account names) - * on the next lines, indented - - An example of both: - -account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, note 2+ spaces required before ; - ; next-line comment - ; some tags, type:A, acctnum:12345 - - Compatibility note: same-line comments are not supported by Ledger or -hledger <1.13. - - -File: hledger.info, Node: Account subdirectives, Next: Account types, Prev: Account comments, Up: Declaring accounts - -12.25.3 Account subdirectives +12.25.4 Account display order ----------------------------- -We also allow (and ignore) Ledger-style indented subdirectives, just for -compatibility.: +The order in which account directives are written influences the order +in which accounts appear in reports, hledger-ui, hledger-web etc. By +default accounts appear in alphabetical order, but if you add these +account directives to the journal file: -account assets:bank:checking - format blah blah ; <- subdirective, ignored +account assets +account liabilities +account equity +account revenues +account expenses - Here is the full syntax of account directives: + those accounts will be displayed in declaration order: -account ACCTNAME [;type:ACCTTYPE] [COMMENT] - [;COMMENTS] - [LEDGER-STYLE SUBDIRECTIVES, IGNORED] +$ hledger accounts -1 +assets +liabilities +equity +revenues +expenses + + Any undeclared accounts are displayed last, in alphabetical order. + + Sorting is done at each level of the account tree, within each group +of sibling accounts under the same parent. And currently, this +directive: + +account other:zoo + + would influence the position of 'zoo' among 'other''s subaccounts, +but not the position of 'other' among the top-level accounts. This +means: + + * you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg 'account other' + above) that you don't intend to post to, just to customize their + display order + * sibling accounts stay together (you couldn't display 'x:y' in + between 'a:b' and 'a:c').  -File: hledger.info, Node: Account types, Next: Account display order, Prev: Account subdirectives, Up: Declaring accounts +File: hledger.info, Node: Account types, Prev: Account display order, Up: Declaring accounts -12.25.4 Account types +12.25.5 Account types --------------------- hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, @@ -6887,52 +6959,6 @@ account equity:conversion ; type: V $ hledger accounts --types [ACCTPAT] [-DEPTH] [type:TYPECODES] - -File: hledger.info, Node: Account display order, Prev: Account types, Up: Declaring accounts - -12.25.5 Account display order ------------------------------ - -Account directives also set the order in which accounts are displayed, -eg in reports, the hledger-ui accounts screen, and the hledger-web -sidebar. By default accounts are listed in alphabetical order. But if -you have these account directives in the journal: - -account assets -account liabilities -account equity -account revenues -account expenses - - you'll see those accounts displayed in declaration order, not -alphabetically: - -$ hledger accounts -1 -assets -liabilities -equity -revenues -expenses - - Undeclared accounts, if any, are displayed last, in alphabetical -order. - - Note that sorting is done at each level of the account tree (within -each group of sibling accounts under the same parent). And currently, -this directive: - -account other:zoo - - would influence the position of 'zoo' among 'other''s subaccounts, -but not the position of 'other' among the top-level accounts. This -means: - - * you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg 'account other' - above) that you don't intend to post to, just to customize their - display order - * sibling accounts stay together (you couldn't display 'x:y' in - between 'a:b' and 'a:c'). -  File: hledger.info, Node: Rewriting accounts, Next: Default parent account, Prev: Declaring accounts, Up: JOURNAL FORMAT @@ -7594,7 +7620,7 @@ after the examples: '.tsv' or '.ssv' file extension or file prefix - see File Extension below. - There's an introductory Convert CSV files tutorial on hledger.org. + There's an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org. * Menu: @@ -9104,9 +9130,6 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: COMMON TASKS, Next: LIMITATIONS, Prev: TIMEDOT FORM *************** Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with hledger. -For more details, see the reference section below, the -hledger_journal(5) manual, or the more extensive docs at -https://hledger.org. * Menu: @@ -9125,16 +9148,22 @@ File: hledger.info, Node: Getting help, Next: Constructing command lines, Up: 16.1 Getting help ================= -$ hledger # show available commands -$ hledger --help # show common options -$ hledger CMD --help # show common and command options, and command help -$ hledger help # show available manuals/topics -$ hledger help hledger # show hledger manual, as info/man/text (auto-chosen) -$ hledger help journal -m # show the journal topic, as a man page scrolled to that section -$ hledger help --help # show more detailed help for the help command +Here's how to list commands and view options and command docs: - Find more docs, chat, mail list, reddit, issue tracker: -https://hledger.org/support.html +$ hledger # show available commands +$ hledger --help # show common options +$ hledger CMD --help # show common options and CMD's options and documentation + + 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 # show how the help command works + + 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.  File: hledger.info, Node: Constructing command lines, Next: Starting a journal file, Prev: Getting help, Up: COMMON TASKS @@ -9764,414 +9793,416 @@ Node: COMMANDS78881 Ref: #commands78993 Node: accounts82247 Ref: #accounts82347 -Node: activity83155 -Ref: #activity83267 -Node: add83650 -Ref: #add83753 -Node: aregister86548 -Ref: #aregister86662 -Node: aregister and custom posting dates89331 -Ref: #aregister-and-custom-posting-dates89497 -Node: balance90049 -Ref: #balance90168 -Node: balance features91161 -Ref: #balance-features91301 -Node: Simple balance report93225 -Ref: #simple-balance-report93407 -Node: Filtered balance report94887 -Ref: #filtered-balance-report95074 -Node: List or tree mode95401 -Ref: #list-or-tree-mode95569 -Node: Depth limiting96914 -Ref: #depth-limiting97080 -Node: Dropping top-level accounts97681 -Ref: #dropping-top-level-accounts97883 -Node: Multi-period balance report98193 -Ref: #multi-period-balance-report98406 -Node: Showing declared accounts100681 -Ref: #showing-declared-accounts100874 -Node: Data layout101405 -Ref: #data-layout101560 -Node: Sorting by amount109500 -Ref: #sorting-by-amount109655 -Node: Percentages110325 -Ref: #percentages110483 -Node: Balance change end balance111444 -Ref: #balance-change-end-balance111637 -Node: Balance report types113065 -Ref: #balance-report-types113255 -Node: Useful balance reports117534 -Ref: #useful-balance-reports117715 -Node: Budget report118800 -Ref: #budget-report118984 -Node: Budget report start date124259 -Ref: #budget-report-start-date124437 -Node: Budgets and subaccounts125769 -Ref: #budgets-and-subaccounts125976 -Node: Selecting budget goals129416 -Ref: #selecting-budget-goals129588 -Node: Customising single-period balance reports130622 -Ref: #customising-single-period-balance-reports130831 -Node: balancesheet133006 -Ref: #balancesheet133144 -Node: balancesheetequity134472 -Ref: #balancesheetequity134623 -Node: cashflow136026 -Ref: #cashflow136150 -Node: check137582 -Ref: #check137687 -Node: Basic checks138321 -Ref: #basic-checks138439 -Node: Strict checks138990 -Ref: #strict-checks139131 -Node: Other checks139567 -Ref: #other-checks139707 -Node: Custom checks140064 -Ref: #custom-checks140184 -Node: close140601 -Ref: #close140705 -Node: close and prices142796 -Ref: #close-and-prices142925 -Node: close date143320 -Ref: #close-date143504 -Node: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition144261 -Ref: #example-close-assetliability-accounts-for-file-transition144562 -Node: Hiding opening/closing transactions145421 -Ref: #hiding-openingclosing-transactions145692 -Node: close and balance assertions147069 -Ref: #close-and-balance-assertions147327 -Node: Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings148681 -Ref: #example-close-revenueexpense-accounts-to-retained-earnings148959 -Node: codes149849 -Ref: #codes149959 -Node: commodities150671 -Ref: #commodities150800 -Node: descriptions150882 -Ref: #descriptions151012 -Node: diff151316 -Ref: #diff151424 -Node: files152471 -Ref: #files152573 -Node: help152720 -Ref: #help152822 -Node: import153640 -Ref: #import153756 -Node: Deduplication154849 -Ref: #deduplication154974 -Node: Import testing156868 -Ref: #import-testing157033 -Node: Importing balance assignments157521 -Ref: #importing-balance-assignments157727 -Node: Commodity display styles158376 -Ref: #commodity-display-styles158549 -Node: incomestatement158678 -Ref: #incomestatement158813 -Node: notes160145 -Ref: #notes160260 -Node: payees160628 -Ref: #payees160736 -Node: prices161262 -Ref: #prices161370 -Node: print161739 -Ref: #print161851 -Node: print-unique167219 -Ref: #print-unique167347 -Node: register167632 -Ref: #register167761 -Node: Custom register output172511 -Ref: #custom-register-output172642 -Node: register-match173979 -Ref: #register-match174115 -Node: rewrite174466 -Ref: #rewrite174583 -Node: Re-write rules in a file176489 -Ref: #re-write-rules-in-a-file176652 -Node: Diff output format177801 -Ref: #diff-output-format177984 -Node: rewrite vs print --auto179076 -Ref: #rewrite-vs.-print---auto179236 -Node: roi179792 -Ref: #roi179892 -Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl181617 -Ref: #spaces-and-special-characters-in---inv-and---pnl181857 -Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl182345 -Ref: #semantics-of---inv-and---pnl182584 -Node: IRR and TWR explained184434 -Ref: #irr-and-twr-explained184594 -Node: stats187680 -Ref: #stats187781 -Node: tags189161 -Ref: #tags189261 -Node: test190275 -Ref: #test190385 -Node: Add-on commands191132 -Ref: #add-on-commands191251 -Node: JOURNAL FORMAT192382 -Ref: #journal-format192510 -Node: Transactions194737 -Ref: #transactions194852 -Node: Dates195866 -Ref: #dates195982 -Node: Simple dates196047 -Ref: #simple-dates196167 -Node: Secondary dates196676 -Ref: #secondary-dates196824 -Node: Posting dates198160 -Ref: #posting-dates198283 -Node: Status199655 -Ref: #status199765 -Node: Code201473 -Ref: #code201585 -Node: Description201817 -Ref: #description201945 -Node: Payee and note202265 -Ref: #payee-and-note202373 -Node: Comments202708 -Ref: #comments202830 -Node: Tags204024 -Ref: #tags-1204135 -Node: Postings205528 -Ref: #postings205652 -Node: Virtual postings206678 -Ref: #virtual-postings206789 -Node: Account names208094 -Ref: #account-names208231 -Node: Amounts208719 -Ref: #amounts208856 -Node: Decimal marks digit group marks209841 -Ref: #decimal-marks-digit-group-marks210018 -Node: Commodity211039 -Ref: #commodity211228 -Node: Directives influencing number parsing and display212180 -Ref: #directives-influencing-number-parsing-and-display212441 -Node: Commodity display style212934 -Ref: #commodity-display-style213142 -Node: Rounding215337 -Ref: #rounding215457 -Node: Transaction prices215869 -Ref: #transaction-prices216035 -Node: Equity conversion postings218507 -Ref: #equity-conversion-postings218660 -Node: Lot prices lot dates221178 -Ref: #lot-prices-lot-dates221361 -Node: Balance assertions221849 -Ref: #balance-assertions222027 -Node: Assertions and ordering223100 -Ref: #assertions-and-ordering223291 -Node: Assertions and multiple included files223991 -Ref: #assertions-and-multiple-included-files224253 -Node: Assertions and multiple -f files224753 -Ref: #assertions-and-multiple--f-files225006 -Node: Assertions and commodities225403 -Ref: #assertions-and-commodities225627 -Node: Assertions and prices226807 -Ref: #assertions-and-prices227015 -Node: Assertions and subaccounts227455 -Ref: #assertions-and-subaccounts227678 -Node: Assertions and virtual postings228002 -Ref: #assertions-and-virtual-postings228242 -Node: Assertions and auto postings228374 -Ref: #assertions-and-auto-postings228606 -Node: Assertions and precision229251 -Ref: #assertions-and-precision229435 -Node: Balance assignments229702 -Ref: #balance-assignments229872 -Node: Balance assignments and prices231036 -Ref: #balance-assignments-and-prices231202 -Node: Directives231426 -Ref: #directives231589 -Node: Directives and multiple files236081 -Ref: #directives-and-multiple-files236277 -Node: Comment blocks236969 -Ref: #comment-blocks237146 -Node: Including other files237322 -Ref: #including-other-files237496 -Node: Default year238420 -Ref: #default-year238578 -Node: Declaring payees238985 -Ref: #declaring-payees239156 -Node: Declaring the decimal mark239402 -Ref: #declaring-the-decimal-mark239602 -Node: Declaring commodities239999 -Ref: #declaring-commodities240190 -Node: Commodity error checking242708 -Ref: #commodity-error-checking242858 -Node: Default commodity243373 -Ref: #default-commodity243553 -Node: Declaring market prices244669 -Ref: #declaring-market-prices244858 -Node: Declaring accounts245671 -Ref: #declaring-accounts245851 -Node: Account error checking247075 -Ref: #account-error-checking247241 -Node: Account comments248420 -Ref: #account-comments248604 -Node: Account subdirectives249045 -Ref: #account-subdirectives249230 -Node: Account types249548 -Ref: #account-types249722 -Node: Account display order253397 -Ref: #account-display-order253557 -Node: Rewriting accounts254708 -Ref: #rewriting-accounts254887 -Node: Basic aliases255927 -Ref: #basic-aliases256063 -Node: Regex aliases256807 -Ref: #regex-aliases256969 -Node: Combining aliases257859 -Ref: #combining-aliases258042 -Node: Aliases and multiple files259318 -Ref: #aliases-and-multiple-files259517 -Node: end aliases260096 -Ref: #end-aliases260290 -Node: Aliases can generate bad account names260439 -Ref: #aliases-can-generate-bad-account-names260682 -Node: Aliases and account types261267 -Ref: #aliases-and-account-types261464 -Node: Default parent account262160 -Ref: #default-parent-account262350 -Node: Periodic transactions263234 -Ref: #periodic-transactions263417 -Node: Periodic rule syntax265372 -Ref: #periodic-rule-syntax265552 -Node: Periodic rules and relative dates266011 -Ref: #periodic-rules-and-relative-dates266279 -Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!266790 -Ref: #two-spaces-between-period-expression-and-description267116 -Node: Forecasting with periodic transactions267800 -Ref: #forecasting-with-periodic-transactions268099 -Node: Budgeting with periodic transactions270870 -Ref: #budgeting-with-periodic-transactions271103 -Node: Auto postings271512 -Ref: #auto-postings271648 -Node: Auto postings and multiple files273827 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-multiple-files274025 -Node: Auto postings and dates274234 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-dates274502 -Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions274677 -Ref: #auto-postings-and-transaction-balancing-inferred-amounts-balance-assertions275022 -Node: Auto posting tags275525 -Ref: #auto-posting-tags275734 -Node: CSV FORMAT276370 -Ref: #csv-format276498 -Node: Examples279127 -Ref: #examples279230 -Node: Basic279438 -Ref: #basic279540 -Node: Bank of Ireland280082 -Ref: #bank-of-ireland280219 -Node: Amazon281681 -Ref: #amazon281801 -Node: Paypal283520 -Ref: #paypal283616 -Node: CSV rules291260 -Ref: #csv-rules291378 -Node: skip291711 -Ref: #skip291811 -Node: fields list292186 -Ref: #fields-list292325 -Node: field assignment293891 -Ref: #field-assignment294043 -Node: Field names295078 -Ref: #field-names295218 -Node: date field295598 -Ref: #date-field295718 -Node: date2 field295766 -Ref: #date2-field295909 -Node: status field295965 -Ref: #status-field296110 -Node: code field296159 -Ref: #code-field296306 -Node: description field296351 -Ref: #description-field296513 -Node: comment field296572 -Ref: #comment-field296729 -Node: account field297040 -Ref: #account-field297192 -Node: amount field297767 -Ref: #amount-field297918 -Node: currency field299163 -Ref: #currency-field299318 -Node: balance field299575 -Ref: #balance-field299709 -Node: separator300081 -Ref: #separator300213 -Node: if block300753 -Ref: #if-block300880 -Node: Matching the whole record301281 -Ref: #matching-the-whole-record301458 -Node: Matching individual fields302261 -Ref: #matching-individual-fields302467 -Node: Combining matchers302691 -Ref: #combining-matchers302889 -Node: Rules applied on successful match303202 -Ref: #rules-applied-on-successful-match303395 -Node: if table304049 -Ref: #if-table304170 -Node: end305908 -Ref: #end306022 -Node: date-format306246 -Ref: #date-format306380 -Node: decimal-mark307376 -Ref: #decimal-mark307523 -Node: newest-first307862 -Ref: #newest-first308005 -Node: include308688 -Ref: #include308821 -Node: balance-type309265 -Ref: #balance-type309387 -Node: Tips310087 -Ref: #tips310178 -Node: Rapid feedback310477 -Ref: #rapid-feedback310596 -Node: Valid CSV311048 -Ref: #valid-csv311180 -Node: File Extension311372 -Ref: #file-extension311526 -Node: Reading multiple CSV files311955 -Ref: #reading-multiple-csv-files312142 -Node: Valid transactions312383 -Ref: #valid-transactions312563 -Node: Deduplicating importing313191 -Ref: #deduplicating-importing313372 -Node: Setting amounts314408 -Ref: #setting-amounts314565 -Node: Amount signs317009 -Ref: #amount-signs317163 -Node: Setting currency/commodity317850 -Ref: #setting-currencycommodity318038 -Node: Amount decimal places319212 -Ref: #amount-decimal-places319404 -Node: Referencing other fields319716 -Ref: #referencing-other-fields319915 -Node: How CSV rules are evaluated320812 -Ref: #how-csv-rules-are-evaluated320987 -Node: TIMECLOCK FORMAT322438 -Ref: #timeclock-format322578 -Node: TIMEDOT FORMAT324639 -Ref: #timedot-format324777 -Node: COMMON TASKS329339 -Ref: #common-tasks329468 -Node: Getting help329875 -Ref: #getting-help330009 -Node: Constructing command lines330590 -Ref: #constructing-command-lines330784 -Node: Starting a journal file331481 -Ref: #starting-a-journal-file331681 -Node: Setting opening balances332869 -Ref: #setting-opening-balances333067 -Node: Recording transactions336208 -Ref: #recording-transactions336390 -Node: Reconciling336946 -Ref: #reconciling337091 -Node: Reporting339348 -Ref: #reporting339490 -Node: Migrating to a new file343489 -Ref: #migrating-to-a-new-file343639 -Node: LIMITATIONS343938 -Ref: #limitations344066 -Node: TROUBLESHOOTING344835 -Ref: #troubleshooting344950 +Node: activity83499 +Ref: #activity83611 +Node: add83994 +Ref: #add84097 +Node: aregister86892 +Ref: #aregister87006 +Node: aregister and custom posting dates89675 +Ref: #aregister-and-custom-posting-dates89841 +Node: balance90393 +Ref: #balance90512 +Node: balance features91505 +Ref: #balance-features91645 +Node: Simple balance report93569 +Ref: #simple-balance-report93751 +Node: Filtered balance report95231 +Ref: #filtered-balance-report95418 +Node: List or tree mode95745 +Ref: #list-or-tree-mode95913 +Node: Depth limiting97258 +Ref: #depth-limiting97424 +Node: Dropping top-level accounts98025 +Ref: #dropping-top-level-accounts98227 +Node: Multi-period balance report98537 +Ref: #multi-period-balance-report98750 +Node: Showing declared accounts101025 +Ref: #showing-declared-accounts101218 +Node: Data layout101749 +Ref: #data-layout101904 +Node: Sorting by amount109844 +Ref: #sorting-by-amount109999 +Node: Percentages110669 +Ref: #percentages110827 +Node: Balance change end balance111788 +Ref: #balance-change-end-balance111981 +Node: Balance report types113409 +Ref: #balance-report-types113599 +Node: Useful balance reports117878 +Ref: #useful-balance-reports118059 +Node: Budget report119144 +Ref: #budget-report119328 +Node: Budget report start date124603 +Ref: #budget-report-start-date124781 +Node: Budgets and subaccounts126113 +Ref: #budgets-and-subaccounts126320 +Node: Selecting budget goals129760 +Ref: #selecting-budget-goals129932 +Node: Customising single-period balance reports130966 +Ref: #customising-single-period-balance-reports131175 +Node: balancesheet133350 +Ref: #balancesheet133488 +Node: balancesheetequity134816 +Ref: #balancesheetequity134967 +Node: cashflow136370 +Ref: #cashflow136494 +Node: check137926 +Ref: #check138031 +Node: Basic checks138839 +Ref: #basic-checks138957 +Node: Strict checks139508 +Ref: #strict-checks139649 +Node: Other checks140085 +Ref: #other-checks140225 +Node: Custom checks140724 +Ref: #custom-checks140879 +Node: More about specific checks141296 +Ref: #more-about-specific-checks141456 +Node: close142184 +Ref: #close142288 +Node: close and prices144379 +Ref: #close-and-prices144508 +Node: close date144903 +Ref: #close-date145087 +Node: Example close asset/liability accounts for file transition145844 +Ref: #example-close-assetliability-accounts-for-file-transition146145 +Node: Hiding opening/closing transactions147004 +Ref: #hiding-openingclosing-transactions147275 +Node: close and balance assertions148652 +Ref: #close-and-balance-assertions148910 +Node: Example close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings150264 +Ref: #example-close-revenueexpense-accounts-to-retained-earnings150542 +Node: codes151432 +Ref: #codes151542 +Node: commodities152254 +Ref: #commodities152383 +Node: descriptions152465 +Ref: #descriptions152595 +Node: diff152899 +Ref: #diff153007 +Node: files154054 +Ref: #files154156 +Node: help154303 +Ref: #help154405 +Node: import155393 +Ref: #import155509 +Node: Deduplication156602 +Ref: #deduplication156727 +Node: Import testing158621 +Ref: #import-testing158786 +Node: Importing balance assignments159274 +Ref: #importing-balance-assignments159480 +Node: Commodity display styles160129 +Ref: #commodity-display-styles160302 +Node: incomestatement160431 +Ref: #incomestatement160566 +Node: notes161898 +Ref: #notes162013 +Node: payees162381 +Ref: #payees162489 +Node: prices163015 +Ref: #prices163123 +Node: print163492 +Ref: #print163604 +Node: print-unique168972 +Ref: #print-unique169100 +Node: register169385 +Ref: #register169514 +Node: Custom register output174264 +Ref: #custom-register-output174395 +Node: register-match175732 +Ref: #register-match175868 +Node: rewrite176219 +Ref: #rewrite176336 +Node: Re-write rules in a file178242 +Ref: #re-write-rules-in-a-file178405 +Node: Diff output format179554 +Ref: #diff-output-format179737 +Node: rewrite vs print --auto180829 +Ref: #rewrite-vs.-print---auto180989 +Node: roi181545 +Ref: #roi181645 +Node: Spaces and special characters in --inv and --pnl183370 +Ref: #spaces-and-special-characters-in---inv-and---pnl183610 +Node: Semantics of --inv and --pnl184098 +Ref: #semantics-of---inv-and---pnl184337 +Node: IRR and TWR explained186187 +Ref: #irr-and-twr-explained186347 +Node: stats189433 +Ref: #stats189534 +Node: tags190914 +Ref: #tags191014 +Node: test192028 +Ref: #test192138 +Node: Add-on commands192885 +Ref: #add-on-commands193004 +Node: JOURNAL FORMAT194135 +Ref: #journal-format194263 +Node: Transactions196490 +Ref: #transactions196605 +Node: Dates197619 +Ref: #dates197735 +Node: Simple dates197800 +Ref: #simple-dates197920 +Node: Secondary dates198429 +Ref: #secondary-dates198577 +Node: Posting dates199913 +Ref: #posting-dates200036 +Node: Status201408 +Ref: #status201518 +Node: Code203226 +Ref: #code203338 +Node: Description203570 +Ref: #description203698 +Node: Payee and note204018 +Ref: #payee-and-note204126 +Node: Comments204461 +Ref: #comments204583 +Node: Tags205777 +Ref: #tags-1205888 +Node: Postings207343 +Ref: #postings207467 +Node: Virtual postings208493 +Ref: #virtual-postings208604 +Node: Account names209909 +Ref: #account-names210046 +Node: Amounts210534 +Ref: #amounts210671 +Node: Decimal marks digit group marks211656 +Ref: #decimal-marks-digit-group-marks211833 +Node: Commodity212854 +Ref: #commodity213043 +Node: Directives influencing number parsing and display213995 +Ref: #directives-influencing-number-parsing-and-display214256 +Node: Commodity display style214749 +Ref: #commodity-display-style214957 +Node: Rounding217152 +Ref: #rounding217272 +Node: Transaction prices217684 +Ref: #transaction-prices217850 +Node: Equity conversion postings220322 +Ref: #equity-conversion-postings220475 +Node: Lot prices lot dates222993 +Ref: #lot-prices-lot-dates223176 +Node: Balance assertions223664 +Ref: #balance-assertions223842 +Node: Assertions and ordering224915 +Ref: #assertions-and-ordering225106 +Node: Assertions and multiple included files225806 +Ref: #assertions-and-multiple-included-files226068 +Node: Assertions and multiple -f files226568 +Ref: #assertions-and-multiple--f-files226821 +Node: Assertions and commodities227218 +Ref: #assertions-and-commodities227442 +Node: Assertions and prices228622 +Ref: #assertions-and-prices228830 +Node: Assertions and subaccounts229270 +Ref: #assertions-and-subaccounts229493 +Node: Assertions and virtual postings229817 +Ref: #assertions-and-virtual-postings230057 +Node: Assertions and auto postings230189 +Ref: #assertions-and-auto-postings230421 +Node: Assertions and precision231066 +Ref: #assertions-and-precision231250 +Node: Balance assignments231517 +Ref: #balance-assignments231687 +Node: Balance assignments and prices232851 +Ref: #balance-assignments-and-prices233017 +Node: Directives233241 +Ref: #directives233404 +Node: Directives and multiple files237896 +Ref: #directives-and-multiple-files238092 +Node: Comment blocks238784 +Ref: #comment-blocks238961 +Node: Including other files239137 +Ref: #including-other-files239311 +Node: Default year240235 +Ref: #default-year240393 +Node: Declaring payees240800 +Ref: #declaring-payees240971 +Node: Declaring the decimal mark241217 +Ref: #declaring-the-decimal-mark241417 +Node: Declaring commodities241814 +Ref: #declaring-commodities242005 +Node: Commodity error checking244523 +Ref: #commodity-error-checking244673 +Node: Default commodity245188 +Ref: #default-commodity245368 +Node: Declaring market prices246484 +Ref: #declaring-market-prices246673 +Node: Declaring accounts247486 +Ref: #declaring-accounts247666 +Node: Account comments248830 +Ref: #account-comments248983 +Node: Account subdirectives249406 +Ref: #account-subdirectives249600 +Node: Account error checking249742 +Ref: #account-error-checking249943 +Node: Account display order251132 +Ref: #account-display-order251323 +Node: Account types252424 +Ref: #account-types252568 +Node: Rewriting accounts256243 +Ref: #rewriting-accounts256422 +Node: Basic aliases257462 +Ref: #basic-aliases257598 +Node: Regex aliases258342 +Ref: #regex-aliases258504 +Node: Combining aliases259394 +Ref: #combining-aliases259577 +Node: Aliases and multiple files260853 +Ref: #aliases-and-multiple-files261052 +Node: end aliases261631 +Ref: #end-aliases261825 +Node: Aliases can generate bad account names261974 +Ref: #aliases-can-generate-bad-account-names262217 +Node: Aliases and account types262802 +Ref: #aliases-and-account-types262999 +Node: Default parent account263695 +Ref: #default-parent-account263885 +Node: Periodic transactions264769 +Ref: #periodic-transactions264952 +Node: Periodic rule syntax266907 +Ref: #periodic-rule-syntax267087 +Node: Periodic rules and relative dates267546 +Ref: #periodic-rules-and-relative-dates267814 +Node: Two spaces between period expression and description!268325 +Ref: #two-spaces-between-period-expression-and-description268651 +Node: Forecasting with periodic transactions269335 +Ref: #forecasting-with-periodic-transactions269634 +Node: Budgeting with periodic transactions272405 +Ref: #budgeting-with-periodic-transactions272638 +Node: Auto postings273047 +Ref: #auto-postings273183 +Node: Auto postings and multiple files275362 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-multiple-files275560 +Node: Auto postings and dates275769 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-dates276037 +Node: Auto postings and transaction balancing / inferred amounts / balance assertions276212 +Ref: #auto-postings-and-transaction-balancing-inferred-amounts-balance-assertions276557 +Node: Auto posting tags277060 +Ref: #auto-posting-tags277269 +Node: CSV FORMAT277905 +Ref: #csv-format278033 +Node: Examples280663 +Ref: #examples280766 +Node: Basic280974 +Ref: #basic281076 +Node: Bank of Ireland281618 +Ref: #bank-of-ireland281755 +Node: Amazon283217 +Ref: #amazon283337 +Node: Paypal285056 +Ref: #paypal285152 +Node: CSV rules292796 +Ref: #csv-rules292914 +Node: skip293247 +Ref: #skip293347 +Node: fields list293722 +Ref: #fields-list293861 +Node: field assignment295427 +Ref: #field-assignment295579 +Node: Field names296614 +Ref: #field-names296754 +Node: date field297134 +Ref: #date-field297254 +Node: date2 field297302 +Ref: #date2-field297445 +Node: status field297501 +Ref: #status-field297646 +Node: code field297695 +Ref: #code-field297842 +Node: description field297887 +Ref: #description-field298049 +Node: comment field298108 +Ref: #comment-field298265 +Node: account field298576 +Ref: #account-field298728 +Node: amount field299303 +Ref: #amount-field299454 +Node: currency field300699 +Ref: #currency-field300854 +Node: balance field301111 +Ref: #balance-field301245 +Node: separator301617 +Ref: #separator301749 +Node: if block302289 +Ref: #if-block302416 +Node: Matching the whole record302817 +Ref: #matching-the-whole-record302994 +Node: Matching individual fields303797 +Ref: #matching-individual-fields304003 +Node: Combining matchers304227 +Ref: #combining-matchers304425 +Node: Rules applied on successful match304738 +Ref: #rules-applied-on-successful-match304931 +Node: if table305585 +Ref: #if-table305706 +Node: end307444 +Ref: #end307558 +Node: date-format307782 +Ref: #date-format307916 +Node: decimal-mark308912 +Ref: #decimal-mark309059 +Node: newest-first309398 +Ref: #newest-first309541 +Node: include310224 +Ref: #include310357 +Node: balance-type310801 +Ref: #balance-type310923 +Node: Tips311623 +Ref: #tips311714 +Node: Rapid feedback312013 +Ref: #rapid-feedback312132 +Node: Valid CSV312584 +Ref: #valid-csv312716 +Node: File Extension312908 +Ref: #file-extension313062 +Node: Reading multiple CSV files313491 +Ref: #reading-multiple-csv-files313678 +Node: Valid transactions313919 +Ref: #valid-transactions314099 +Node: Deduplicating importing314727 +Ref: #deduplicating-importing314908 +Node: Setting amounts315944 +Ref: #setting-amounts316101 +Node: Amount signs318545 +Ref: #amount-signs318699 +Node: Setting currency/commodity319386 +Ref: #setting-currencycommodity319574 +Node: Amount decimal places320748 +Ref: #amount-decimal-places320940 +Node: Referencing other fields321252 +Ref: #referencing-other-fields321451 +Node: How CSV rules are evaluated322348 +Ref: #how-csv-rules-are-evaluated322523 +Node: TIMECLOCK FORMAT323974 +Ref: #timeclock-format324114 +Node: TIMEDOT FORMAT326175 +Ref: #timedot-format326313 +Node: COMMON TASKS330875 +Ref: #common-tasks331004 +Node: Getting help331278 +Ref: #getting-help331412 +Node: Constructing command lines332164 +Ref: #constructing-command-lines332358 +Node: Starting a journal file333055 +Ref: #starting-a-journal-file333255 +Node: Setting opening balances334443 +Ref: #setting-opening-balances334641 +Node: Recording transactions337782 +Ref: #recording-transactions337964 +Node: Reconciling338520 +Ref: #reconciling338665 +Node: Reporting340922 +Ref: #reporting341064 +Node: Migrating to a new file345063 +Ref: #migrating-to-a-new-file345213 +Node: LIMITATIONS345512 +Ref: #limitations345640 +Node: TROUBLESHOOTING346409 +Ref: #troubleshooting346524  End Tag Table diff --git a/hledger/hledger.txt b/hledger/hledger.txt index fa6ac33b3..a01b14e6d 100644 --- a/hledger/hledger.txt +++ b/hledger/hledger.txt @@ -1991,15 +1991,23 @@ COMMANDS This command lists account names, either declared with account direc- tives (--declared), posted to (--used), or both (the default). With query arguments, only matched account names and account names refer- - enced by matched postings are shown. It shows a flat list by default. - With --tree, it uses indentation to show the account hierarchy. In - flat mode you can add --drop N to omit the first few account name com- - ponents. Account names can be depth-clipped with depth:N or --depth N - or -N. + enced by matched postings are shown. - With --types, it also shows each account's type, if it's known. (See + It shows a flat list by default. With --tree, it uses indentation to + show the account hierarchy. In flat mode you can add --drop N to omit + the first few account name components. Account names can be depth- + clipped with depth:N or --depth N or -N. + + With --types, it also shows each account's type, if it's known. (See Declaring accounts > Account types.) + With --positions, it also shows the file and line number of each + account's declaration, if any, and the account's overall declaration + order; these may be useful when troubleshooting account display order. + + With --directives, it adds the account keyword, showing valid account + directives which can be pasted into a journal file. + Examples: $ hledger accounts @@ -2016,8 +2024,8 @@ COMMANDS activity Show an ascii barchart of posting counts per interval. - 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: @@ -2030,25 +2038,25 @@ COMMANDS add add - Prompt for transactions and add them to the journal. Any arguments + Prompt for transactions and add them to the journal. Any arguments will be used as default inputs for the first N prompts. - 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 - description) recent transaction (filtered by the query, if any) as a + o add tries to provide useful defaults, using the most similar (by + description) recent transaction (filtered by the query, if any) as a template. o You can also set the initial defaults with command line arguments. @@ -2056,10 +2064,10 @@ COMMANDS o Readline-style edit keys can be used during data entry. o The tab key will auto-complete whenever possible - accounts, descrip- - tions, dates (yesterday, today, tomorrow). If the input area is + tions, dates (yesterday, today, tomorrow). If the input area is empty, it will insert the default value. - o If the journal defines a default commodity, it will be added to any + o If the journal defines a default commodity, it will be added to any bare numbers entered. o A parenthesised transaction code may be entered following a date. @@ -2068,7 +2076,7 @@ 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. Example (see the tutorial for a detailed explanation): @@ -2098,97 +2106,97 @@ COMMANDS Starting the next transaction (. or ctrl-D/ctrl-C to quit) Date [2015/05/22]: $ - On Microsoft Windows, the add command makes sure that no part of the + On Microsoft Windows, the add command makes sure that no part of the file path ends with a period, as that would cause problems (#1056). aregister aregister, areg - Show the transactions and running historical balance of a single + Show the transactions and running historical balance of a single account, with each transaction displayed as one line. 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 + (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). - This is a more "real world", bank-like view than the register command - (which shows individual postings, possibly from multiple accounts, not + This is a more "real world", bank-like view than the register command + (which shows individual postings, possibly from multiple accounts, not necessarily in historical mode). As a quick rule of thumb: - use areg- ister for reviewing and reconciling real-world asset/liability accounts - use register for reviewing detailed revenues/expenses. - aregister requires one argument: the account to report on. You can - write either the full account name, or a case-insensitive regular - expression which will select the alphabetically first matched account. - (Eg if you have assets:aaa:checking and assets:bbb:checking accounts, + aregister requires one argument: the account to report on. You can + write either the full account name, or a case-insensitive regular + expression which will select the alphabetically first matched account. + (Eg if you have assets:aaa:checking and assets:bbb:checking accounts, hledger areg checking would select assets:aaa:checking.) - Transactions involving subaccounts of this account will also be shown. - aregister ignores depth limits, so its final total will always match a + Transactions involving subaccounts of this account will also be shown. + aregister ignores depth limits, so its final total will always match a balance report with similar arguments. - Any additional arguments form a query which will filter the transac- + Any additional arguments form a query which will filter the transac- tions shown. Note some queries will disturb the running balance, caus- ing it to be different from the account's real-world running balance. - An example: this shows the transactions and historical running balance + An example: this shows the transactions and historical running balance during july, in the first account whose name contains "checking": $ hledger areg checking date:jul Each aregister line item shows: - o the transaction's date (or the relevant posting's date if different, + o the transaction's date (or the relevant posting's date if different, see below) - o the names of all the other account(s) involved in this transaction + o the names of all the other account(s) involved in this transaction (probably abbreviated) o the total change to this account's balance from this transaction o the account's historical running balance after this transaction. - Transactions making a net change of zero are not shown by default; add + Transactions making a net change of zero are not shown by default; add the -E/--empty flag to show them. - 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. - This command also supports the output destination and output format + This command also supports the output destination and output format options. The output formats supported are txt, csv, and json. aregister and custom posting dates - Transactions whose date is outside the report period can still be - shown, if they have a posting to this account dated inside the report - period. (And in this case it's the posting date that is shown.) This + Transactions whose date is outside the report period can still be + shown, if they have a posting to this account dated inside the report + period. (And in this case it's the posting date that is shown.) This ensures that aregister can show an accurate historical running balance, matching the one shown by register -H with the same arguments. - To filter strictly by transaction date instead, add the --txn-dates - flag. If you use this flag and some of your postings have custom + To filter strictly by transaction date instead, add the --txn-dates + flag. If you use this flag and some of your postings have custom dates, it's probably best to assume the running balance is wrong. balance balance, bal Show accounts and their balances. - 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.. @@ -2239,7 +2247,7 @@ COMMANDS ..with.. - o totals (-T), averages (-A), percentages (-%), inverted sign + o totals (-T), averages (-A), percentages (-%), inverted sign (--invert) o rows and columns swapped (--transpose) @@ -2251,21 +2259,21 @@ COMMANDS o commodities displayed on the same line or multiple lines (--layout) This command supports the output destination and output format options, - with output formats txt, csv, json, and (multi-period reports only:) - html. In txt output in a colour-supporting terminal, negative amounts + with output formats txt, csv, json, and (multi-period reports only:) + html. In txt output in a colour-supporting terminal, negative amounts are shown in red. - The --related/-r flag shows the balance of the other postings in the + The --related/-r flag shows the balance of the other postings in the transactions of the postings which would normally be shown. 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. For real-world - accounts, this should also match their end balance at the end of the + 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. For real-world + accounts, this should also match their end balance 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 @@ -2280,7 +2288,7 @@ 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 + - see below) are hidden by default. Use -E/--empty to show them (revealing assets:bank:checking here): $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal -E @@ -2295,11 +2303,11 @@ 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. 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: @@ -2309,10 +2317,10 @@ 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 @@ -2332,26 +2340,26 @@ 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 @@ -2363,7 +2371,7 @@ 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: @@ -2375,9 +2383,9 @@ COMMANDS 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 @@ -2398,21 +2406,21 @@ 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. (experimental) - 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. Multi-period reports with many periods can be too wide for easy viewing @@ -2426,32 +2434,32 @@ 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 Showing declared accounts - With --declared, accounts which have been declared with an account - directive will be included in the balance report, even if they have no + With --declared, accounts which have been declared with an account + directive 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 - report, even when you don't have transactions in all of your declared + The idea of this is to be able to see a useful "complete" balance + report, even when you don't have transactions in all of your declared accounts yet. Data layout - The --layout option affects how multi-commodity amounts are displayed, - and some other things, influencing the overall layout of the report + The --layout option affects how multi-commodity amounts are displayed, + and some other things, influencing the overall layout of the report data: o --layout=wide[,WIDTH]: commodities are shown on a single line, possi- @@ -2463,11 +2471,11 @@ COMMANDS bols in a separate column o --layout=tidy: data is normalised to tidy form, with one row per data - value. We currently support this with CSV output only. In tidy - mode, totals and row averages are disabled (-N/--no-total is implied + value. We currently support this with CSV output only. In tidy + mode, totals and row averages are disabled (-N/--no-total is implied and -T/--row-total and -A/--average will be ignored). - These --layout modes are supported with some but not all of the output + These --layout modes are supported with some but not all of the output formats: @@ -2491,7 +2499,7 @@ COMMANDS ------------------++-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- || 10.00 ITOT, 337.18 USD, 12.00 VEA, 106.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 18.00 ITOT, -98.12 USD, 10.00 VEA, 18.00 VHT -11.00 ITOT, 4881.44 USD, 14.00 VEA, 170.00 VHT 70.00 GLD, 17.00 ITOT, 5120.50 USD, 36.00 VEA, 294.00 VHT - o Limited wide layout. A width limit reduces the width, but some com- + o Limited wide layout. A width limit reduces the width, but some com- modities will be hidden: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=wide,32 @@ -2503,7 +2511,7 @@ 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.. - o Tall layout. Each commodity gets a new line (may be different in + o Tall layout. 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 @@ -2523,7 +2531,7 @@ COMMANDS || 106.00 VHT 10.00 VEA 170.00 VHT 36.00 VEA || 18.00 VHT 294.00 VHT - o Bare layout. Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each commod- + o Bare layout. Commodity symbols are kept in one column, each commod- ity gets its own report row, account names are repeated: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -T -Y --layout=bare @@ -2543,7 +2551,7 @@ COMMANDS || VEA 12.00 10.00 14.00 36.00 || VHT 106.00 18.00 170.00 294.00 - o Bare layout also affects CSV output, which is useful for producing + o Bare layout also affects CSV output, which is useful for producing data that is easier to consume, eg when making charts: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -O csv --layout=bare @@ -2559,10 +2567,10 @@ COMMANDS "total","VEA","36.00" "total","VHT","294.00" - o Tidy layout produces normalised "tidy data", where every variable is - a column and each row represents a single data point (see + o Tidy layout produces normalised "tidy data", where every variable is + a column and each row represents a single data point (see https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tidyr/vignettes/tidy- - data.html). This kind of data is the easiest to process with other + data.html). This kind of data is the easiest to process with other software: $ hledger -f examples/bcexample.hledger bal assets:us:etrade -3 -Y -O csv --layout=tidy @@ -2584,21 +2592,21 @@ COMMANDS "Assets:US:ETrade","2014","2014-01-01","2014-12-31","VHT","170.00" 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 big- - gest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity is - present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commodity - first, and then by subsequent commodities (if an amount is missing a + With -S/--sort-amount, accounts with the largest (most positive) bal- + ances are shown first. Eg: hledger bal expenses -MAS shows your big- + gest averaged monthly expenses first. When more than one commodity is + present, they will be sorted by the alphabetically earliest commodity + 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 - --invert to flip the signs. (Or, use one of the higher-level reports, - which flip the sign automatically. Eg: hledger incomestatement -MAS). + Revenues and liability balances are typically negative, however, so -S + shows these in reverse order. To work around this, you can add + --invert 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: $ hledger -f examples/sample.journal bal expenses -Q -% @@ -2612,62 +2620,62 @@ COMMANDS || 0 100.0 % 0 0 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:EUR 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 + A balance change is the net amount added to, or removed from, an account 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 For more flexible reporting, there are three important option groups: - hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] + hledger balance [CALCULATIONTYPE] [ACCUMULATIONTYPE] [VALUATIONTYPE] ... - The first two are the most important: calculation type selects the - basic calculation to perform for each table cell, while accumulation + The first two are the most important: calculation type selects the + basic calculation to perform for each table cell, while accumulation type says which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. - Typically one or both of these are selected by default, so you don't - need to write them explicitly. A valuation type can be added if you + Typically one or both of these are selected by default, so you don't + need to write them explicitly. A valuation type can be added if you want to convert the basic report to value or cost. Calculation type: @@ -2678,27 +2686,27 @@ COMMANDS o --budget : like --sum but also show a goal amount 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) Accumulation type: - Which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. It is + Which postings should be included in each cell's calculation. It is one of: - o --change : postings from column start to column end, ie within the - cell's period. Typically used to see revenues/expenses. (default + o --change : postings from column start to column end, ie within the + cell's period. Typically used to see revenues/expenses. (default for balance, incomestatement) - o --cumulative : postings from report start to column end, eg to show + o --cumulative : postings from report start to column end, eg to show changes accumulated since the report's start date. Rarely used. - o --historical/-H : postings from journal start to column end, ie all + o --historical/-H : postings from journal start to column end, ie all postings from account creation to the end of the cell's period. Typ- ically used to see historical end balances of assets/liabili- - ties/equity. (default for balancesheet, balancesheetequity, cash- + ties/equity. (default for balancesheet, balancesheetequity, cash- flow) Valuation type: @@ -2711,7 +2719,7 @@ COMMANDS o --value=then[,COMM] : show value at transaction dates - o --value=end[,COMM] : show value at period end date(s) (default with + o --value=end[,COMM] : show value at period end date(s) (default with --valuechange, --gain) o --value=now[,COMM] : show value at today's date @@ -2720,13 +2728,13 @@ COMMANDS or one of their aliases: --cost/-B, --market/-V or --exchange/-X. - 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 @@ -2742,16 +2750,16 @@ COMMANDS v ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --change change in period sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of - date market val- value of change change in + date market val- value of change change in ues in period in period period --cumu- change from sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of - lative report start to date market val- value of change change from + lative report start to date market val- value of change change from period end ues from report from report report start start to period start to period to period end end end --his- change from sum of posting- period-end DATE-value of - torical journal start to date market val- value of change change from - /-H period end (his- ues from journal from journal journal start + torical journal start to date market val- value of change change from + /-H period end (his- ues from journal from journal journal start torical end bal- start to period start to period to period end ance) end end @@ -2759,25 +2767,25 @@ COMMANDS 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 @@ -2791,12 +2799,12 @@ COMMANDS Show top gainers [or losers] last week Budget report - The --budget report type activates extra columns showing any budget - goals for each account and period. The budget goals are defined by - periodic transactions. This is very useful for comparing planned and + The --budget report type activates extra columns showing any budget + goals for each account and period. The budget goals are defined by + periodic transactions. This is very useful for comparing planned and actual income, expenses, time usage, etc. - For example, you can take average monthly expenses in the common + For example, you can take average monthly expenses in the common expense categories to construct a minimal monthly budget: ;; Budget @@ -2843,26 +2851,26 @@ COMMANDS This is different from a normal balance report in several ways: - o Only accounts with budget goals during the report period are shown, + o Only accounts with budget goals during the report period are shown, by default. - o In each column, in square brackets after the actual amount, budget - goal amounts are shown, and the actual/goal percentage. (Note: bud- + o In each column, in square brackets after the actual amount, budget + goal amounts are shown, and the actual/goal percentage. (Note: bud- get goals should be in the same commodity as the actual amount.) - o All parent accounts are always shown, even in list mode. Eg assets, + o All parent accounts are always shown, even in list mode. Eg assets, assets:bank, and expenses above. - o Amounts always include all subaccounts, budgeted or unbudgeted, even + o Amounts always include all subaccounts, budgeted or unbudgeted, even in list mode. This means that the numbers displayed will not always add up! Eg above, - the expenses actual amount includes the gifts and supplies transac- - tions, but the expenses:gifts and expenses:supplies accounts are not + the expenses actual amount includes the gifts and supplies transac- + tions, but the expenses:gifts and expenses:supplies accounts are not shown, as they have no budget amounts declared. - This can be confusing. When you need to make things clearer, use the - -E/--empty flag, which will reveal all accounts including unbudgeted + This can be confusing. When you need to make things clearer, use the + -E/--empty flag, which will reveal all accounts including unbudgeted ones, giving the full picture. Eg: $ hledger balance -M --budget --empty @@ -2904,12 +2912,12 @@ COMMANDS For more examples and notes, see Budgeting. Budget report start date - This might be a bug, but for now: when making budget reports, it's a + This might be a bug, but for now: when making budget reports, it's a good idea to explicitly set the report's start date to the first day of - a reporting period, because a periodic rule like ~ monthly generates - its transactions on the 1st of each month, and if your journal has no - regular transactions on the 1st, the default report start date could - exclude that budget goal, which can be a little surprising. Eg here + a reporting period, because a periodic rule like ~ monthly generates + its transactions on the 1st of each month, and if your journal has no + regular transactions on the 1st, the default report start date could + exclude that budget goal, which can be a little surprising. Eg here the default report period is just the day of 2020-01-15: ~ monthly in 2020 @@ -2928,9 +2936,9 @@ COMMANDS --------------++------------ || $400 - To avoid this, specify the budget report's period, or at least the - start date, with -b/-e/-p/date:, to ensure it includes the budget goal - transactions (periodic transactions) that you want. Eg, adding -b + To avoid this, specify the budget report's period, or at least the + start date, with -b/-e/-p/date:, to ensure it includes the budget goal + transactions (periodic transactions) that you want. Eg, adding -b 2020/1/1 to the above: $ hledger bal expenses --budget -b 2020/1/1 @@ -2943,12 +2951,12 @@ COMMANDS || $400 [80% of $500] Budgets and subaccounts - You can add budgets to any account in your account hierarchy. If you + You can add budgets to any account in your account hierarchy. If you have budgets on both parent account and some of its children, then bud- - get(s) of the child account(s) would be added to the budget of their + get(s) of the child account(s) would be added to the budget of their parent, much like account balances behave. - In the most simple case this means that once you add a budget to any + In the most simple case this means that once you add a budget to any account, all its parents would have budget as well. To illustrate this, consider the following budget: @@ -2958,13 +2966,13 @@ COMMANDS expenses:personal:electronics $100.00 liabilities - With this, monthly budget for electronics is defined to be $100 and - budget for personal expenses is an additional $1000, which implicitly + With this, monthly budget for electronics is defined to be $100 and + budget for personal expenses is an additional $1000, which implicitly means that budget for both expenses:personal and expenses is $1100. - Transactions in expenses:personal:electronics will be counted both - towards its $100 budget and $1100 of expenses:personal , and transac- - tions in any other subaccount of expenses:personal would be counted + Transactions in expenses:personal:electronics will be counted both + towards its $100 budget and $1100 of expenses:personal , and transac- + tions in any other subaccount of expenses:personal would be counted towards only towards the budget of expenses:personal. For example, let's consider these transactions: @@ -2990,9 +2998,9 @@ COMMANDS expenses:personal $30.00 liabilities - As you can see, we have transactions in expenses:personal:electron- - ics:upgrades and expenses:personal:train tickets, and since both of - these accounts are without explicitly defined budget, these transac- + As you can see, we have transactions in expenses:personal:electron- + ics:upgrades and expenses:personal:train tickets, and since both of + these accounts are without explicitly defined budget, these transac- tions would be counted towards budgets of expenses:personal:electronics and expenses:personal accordingly: @@ -3008,7 +3016,7 @@ COMMANDS -------------------------------++------------------------------- || 0 [ 0] - And with --empty, we can get a better picture of budget allocation and + And with --empty, we can get a better picture of budget allocation and consumption: $ hledger balance --budget -M --empty @@ -3027,28 +3035,28 @@ COMMANDS Selecting budget goals The budget report evaluates periodic transaction rules to generate spe- - cial "goal transactions", which generate the goal amounts for each - account in each report subperiod. When troubleshooting, you can use + cial "goal transactions", which generate the goal amounts for each + account in each report subperiod. When troubleshooting, you can use the print command to show these as forecasted transactions: $ hledger print --forecast=BUDGETREPORTPERIOD tag:generated - 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), and then + regular expression or query). This means you can give your periodic + rules descriptions (remember that two spaces are needed), and then select from multiple budgets defined in your journal. Customising single-period balance reports 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)" @@ -3066,7 +3074,7 @@ COMMANDS 0 The FMT format string (plus a newline) specifies the formatting applied - to each account/balance pair. It may contain any suitable text, with + to each account/balance pair. It may contain any suitable text, with data fields interpolated like so: %[MIN][.MAX](FIELDNAME) @@ -3077,14 +3085,14 @@ 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) @@ -3093,34 +3101,34 @@ COMMANDS o %, - render on one line, comma-separated - There are some quirks. Eg in one-line mode, %(depth_spacer) has no - effect, instead %(account) has indentation built in. Experimentation + There are some quirks. Eg in one-line mode, %(depth_spacer) has no + effect, 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 balancesheet balancesheet, bs - 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.) Amounts are shown with normal positive + balancesheetequity command.) Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. - This report shows accounts declared with the Asset, Cash or Liability - type (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it - shows top-level accounts named asset or liability (case insensitive, + This report shows accounts declared with the Asset, Cash or Liability + type (see 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: @@ -3145,24 +3153,24 @@ COMMANDS 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 - options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- + This command also supports the output destination and output format + options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- mental) json. balancesheetequity 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. - 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 + 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 insensitive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -3192,31 +3200,31 @@ COMMANDS 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 command also supports the output destination and output format - options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- + This command also supports the output destination and output format + options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- mental) json. cashflow cashflow, cf - This command displays a cashflow statement, showing the inflows and - outflows affecting "cash" (ie, liquid, easily convertible) assets. - Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional finan- + This command displays a cashflow statement, showing the inflows and + outflows affecting "cash" (ie, liquid, easily convertible) assets. + Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional finan- cial statements. - 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 + o under a top-level account named asset (case insensitive, plural allowed) o whose name contains some variation of cash, bank, checking or saving. - More precisely: all accounts matching this case insensitive regular + More precisely: all accounts matching this case insensitive regular expression: ^assets?(:.+)?:(cash|bank|che(ck|que?)(ing)?|savings?|currentcash)(:|$) @@ -3240,22 +3248,22 @@ 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 - options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- + This command also supports the output destination and output format + options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- mental) json. check check Check for various kinds of errors in your data. - hledger provides a number of built-in error checks to help prevent - problems in your data. Some of these are run automatically; or, you - can use this check command to run them on demand, with no output and a - zero exit code if all is well. Specify their names (or a prefix) as + hledger provides a number of built-in error checks to help prevent + problems in your data. Some of these are run automatically; or, you + can use this check command to run them on demand, with no output and a + zero exit code if all is well. Specify their names (or a prefix) as argument(s). Some examples: @@ -3264,6 +3272,9 @@ COMMANDS hledger check -s # basic + strict checks hledger check ordereddates payees # basic + two other checks + 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: Basic checks @@ -3300,55 +3311,71 @@ COMMANDS o payees - all payees used by transactions have been declared + o recentassertions - all accounts with balance assertions have a bal- + ance assertion no more than 7 days before their latest posting + o uniqueleafnames - all account leaf names are unique Custom checks - A few more checks are are available as separate add-on commands, in + A few more checks are are available as separate add-on commands, in https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/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 You could make similar scripts to perform your own custom checks. See: Cookbook -> Scripting. + More about specific checks + hledger check recentassertions will complain if any balance-asserted + account does not have a balance assertion within 7 days before its lat- + est posting. This aims to prevent the situation where you are regu- + larly updating your journal, but forgetting to check your balances + against the real world, then one day must dig back through months of + data to find an error. It assumes that adding a balance assertion + requires/reminds you to check the real-world balance. That may not be + true if you auto-generate balance assertions from bank data; in that + case, I recommend to import transactions uncleared, then use the man- + ual-review-and-mark-cleared phase as a reminder to check the latest + assertions against real-world balances. + close close, equity - Prints a sample "closing" transaction bringing specified account bal- - ances to zero, and an inverse "opening" transaction restoring the same + Prints a sample "closing" transaction bringing specified account bal- + ances to zero, and an inverse "opening" transaction restoring the same account balances. - If like most people you split your journal files by time, eg by year: - at the end of the year you can use this command to "close out" your - asset and liability (and perhaps equity) balances in the old file, and - reinitialise them in the new file. This helps ensure that report bal- - ances remain correct whether you are including old files or not. - (Because all closing/opening transactions except the very first will + If like most people you split your journal files by time, eg by year: + at the end of the year you can use this command to "close out" your + asset and liability (and perhaps equity) balances in the old file, and + reinitialise them in the new file. This helps ensure that report bal- + ances remain correct whether you are including old files or not. + (Because all closing/opening transactions except the very first will cancel out - see example below.) Some people also use this command to close out revenue and expense bal- - ances at the end of an accounting period. This properly records the - period's profit/loss as "retained earnings" (part of equity), and + ances at the end of an accounting period. This properly records the + period's profit/loss as "retained earnings" (part of equity), and allows the accounting equation (A-L=E) to balance, which you could then check by the bse report's zero total. - You can print just the closing transaction by using the --close flag, + You can print just the closing transaction by using the --close flag, or just the opening transaction with the --open flag. Their descriptions are closing balances and opening balances by - default; you can customise these with the --close-desc and --open-desc + default; you can customise these with the --close-desc and --open-desc options. - Just one balancing equity posting is used by default, with the amount + Just one balancing equity posting is used by default, with the amount left implicit. The default account name is equity:opening/closing bal- - ances. You can customise the account name(s) with --close-acct and - --open-acct. (If you specify only one of these, it will be used for + ances. You can customise the account name(s) with --close-acct and + --open-acct. (If you specify only one of these, it will be used for both.) - With --x/--explicit, the equity posting's amount will be shown explic- + With --x/--explicit, the equity posting's amount will be shown explic- itly, and if it involves multiple commodities, there will be a separate equity posting for each commodity (as in the print command). @@ -3356,29 +3383,29 @@ COMMANDS balances (good for troubleshooting). close and prices - Transaction prices are ignored (and discarded) by closing/opening + Transaction prices are ignored (and discarded) by closing/opening transactions, by default. With --show-costs, they are preserved; there - will be a separate equity posting for each cost in each commodity. - This means balance -B reports will look the same after the transition. + will be a separate equity posting for each cost in each commodity. + This means balance -B reports will look the same after the transition. Note if you have many foreign currency or investment transactions, this will generate very large journal entries. close date - The default closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, + The default closing date is yesterday, or the journal's end date, whichever is later. - Unless you are running close on exactly the first day of the new - period, you'll want to override the closing date. This is done by - specifying a report end date, where "last day of the report period" - will be the closing date. The opening date is always the following - day. So to close on (end of) 2020-12-31 and open on (start of) + Unless you are running close on exactly the first day of the new + period, you'll want to override the closing date. This is done by + specifying a report end date, where "last day of the report period" + will be the closing date. The opening date is always the following + day. So to close on (end of) 2020-12-31 and open on (start of) 2021-01-01, any of these will work: end date argument explanation ----------------------------------------------- -e 2021-01-01 end dates are exclusive - -e 2021 equivalent, per smart + -e 2021 equivalent, per smart dates -p 2020 equivalent, the period's begin date is ignored @@ -3406,17 +3433,17 @@ COMMANDS Hiding opening/closing transactions Although the closing/opening transactions cancel out, they will be vis- - ible in reports like print and register, creating some visual clutter. + ible in reports like print and register, creating some visual clutter. You can exclude them all with a query, like: $ hledger print not:desc:'opening|closing' # less typing $ hledger print not:'equity:opening/closing balances' # more precise - But when reporting on multiple files, this can get a bit tricky; you + But when reporting on multiple files, this can get a bit tricky; you may need to keep the earliest opening balances, for a historical regis- - ter report; or you may need to suppress a closing transaction, to see - year-end balances. If you find yourself needing more precise queries, - here's one solution: add more easily-matched tags to opening/closing + ter report; or you may need to suppress a closing transaction, to see + year-end balances. If you find yourself needing more precise queries, + here's one solution: add more easily-matched tags to opening/closing transactions, like this: ; 2019.journal @@ -3451,18 +3478,18 @@ COMMANDS # 2020 year end balances, suppressing 2020 closing txn close and balance assertions - The closing and opening transactions will include balance assertions, - verifying that the accounts have first been reset to zero and then - restored to their previous balance. These provide valuable error - checking, alerting you when things get out of line, but you can ignore + The closing and opening transactions will include balance assertions, + verifying that the accounts have first been reset to zero and then + restored to their previous balance. These provide valuable error + checking, alerting you when things get out of line, but you can ignore them temporarily with -I or just remove them if you prefer. You probably shouldn't use status or realness filters (like -C or -R or status:) with close, or the generated balance assertions will depend on - these flags. Likewise, if you run this command with --auto, the bal- + these flags. Likewise, if you run this command with --auto, the bal- ance assertions would probably always require --auto. - Multi-day transactions (where some postings have a different date) + Multi-day transactions (where some postings have a different date) break the balance assertions, because the money is temporarily "invisi- ble" while in transit: @@ -3470,8 +3497,8 @@ COMMANDS expenses:food 5 assets:bank:checking -5 ; date: 2021/1/2 - To fix the assertions, you can add a temporary account to track such - in-transit money (splitting the multi-day transaction into two single- + To fix the assertions, you can add a temporary account to track such + in-transit money (splitting the multi-day transaction into two single- day transactions): ; in 2020.journal: @@ -3485,8 +3512,8 @@ COMMANDS assets:bank:checking Example: close revenue/expense accounts to retained earnings - For this, use --close to suppress the opening transaction, as it's not - needed. Also you'll want to change the equity account name to your + For this, use --close to suppress the opening transaction, as it's not + needed. Also you'll want to change the equity account name to your equivalent of "equity:retained earnings". Closing 2021's first quarter revenues/expenses: @@ -3499,13 +3526,13 @@ COMMANDS $ hledger close --close revenues expenses -p Q1 \ --close-acct='equity:retained earnings' >> $LEDGER_FILE - Now, the first quarter's balance sheet should show a zero (unless you + Now, the first quarter's balance sheet should show a zero (unless you are using @/@@ notation without equity postings): $ hledger bse -p Q1 And we must suppress the closing transaction to see the first quarter's - income statement (using the description; not:'retained earnings' won't + income statement (using the description; not:'retained earnings' won't work here): $ hledger is -p Q1 not:desc:'closing balances' @@ -3514,13 +3541,13 @@ COMMANDS codes List the codes seen in transactions, in the order parsed. - This command prints the value of each transaction's code field, in the - order transactions were parsed. The transaction code is an optional - value written in parentheses between the date and description, often + This command prints the value of each transaction's code field, in the + order transactions were parsed. The transaction code is an optional + value written in parentheses between the date and description, often used to store a cheque number, order number or similar. Transactions aren't required to have a code, and missing or empty codes - will not be shown by default. With the -E/--empty flag, they will be + will not be shown by default. With the -E/--empty flag, they will be printed as blank lines. You can add a query to select a subset of transactions. @@ -3560,7 +3587,7 @@ COMMANDS List the unique descriptions that appear in transactions. This command lists the unique descriptions that appear in transactions, - in alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of trans- + in alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of trans- actions. Example: @@ -3572,18 +3599,18 @@ COMMANDS diff 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. More precisely, for each posting affecting this account in either file, - it looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which posts the - same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, etc.) + it looks for a corresponding posting in the other file which posts the + same amount to the same account (ignoring date, description, etc.) Since postings not transactions are compared, this also works when mul- tiple bank transactions have been combined into a single journal entry. This is useful eg if you have downloaded an account's transactions from - your bank (eg as CSV data). When hledger and your bank disagree about + your bank (eg as CSV data). When hledger and your bank disagree about the account balance, you can compare the bank data with your journal to find out the cause. @@ -3601,22 +3628,19 @@ COMMANDS files files - List all files included in the journal. With a REGEX argument, only - file names matching the regular expression (case sensitive) are shown. + List all files included in the journal. With a REGEX argument, only + file names matching the regular expression (case sensitive) are shown. help help - Show the hledger user manual in one of several formats, optionally + Show the hledger user manual in one of several formats, optionally positioned at a given TOPIC (if possible). - TOPIC is any heading in the manual, or the start of any heading (but - not the middle). It is case insensitive. + TOPIC is any heading in the manual, or a heading prefix, case insensi- + tive. Eg: commands, print, forecast, "auto postings", journal, amount. - Some examples: commands, print, forecast, "auto postings", "commodity - column". - - This command shows the user manual built in to this hledger version. - It can be useful if the correct version of the hledger manual, or the + This command shows the user manual built in to this hledger version. + It can be useful if the correct version of the hledger manual, or the usual viewing tools, are not installed on your system. By default it uses the best viewer it can find in $PATH, in this order: @@ -3624,73 +3648,79 @@ COMMANDS run non-interactively, it always uses stdout. Or you can select a par- ticular viewer with the -i (info), -m (man), or -p (pager) flags. + Examples + + $ hledger help --help # show how the help command works + $ hledger help # show the hledger manual with info, man or $PAGER + $ hledger help journal # show the journal topic in the hledger manual + import import - Read new transactions added to each FILE since last run, and add them - to the journal. Or with --dry-run, just print the transactions that - would be added. Or with --catchup, just mark all of the FILEs' trans- + Read new transactions added to each FILE since last run, and add them + to the journal. Or with --dry-run, just print the transactions that + would be added. Or with --catchup, just mark all of the FILEs' trans- actions as imported, without actually importing any. - This command may append new transactions 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 + This command may append new transactions 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 add). - Unlike other hledger commands, with import the journal file is an out- + Unlike other hledger commands, with import the journal file is an out- put file, and will be modified, though only by appending (existing data - will not be changed). The input files are specified as arguments, so - to import one or more CSV files to your main journal, you will run + will not be changed). 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. Note you can import from any file format, though CSV files are the most common import source, and these docs focus on that case. Deduplication - As a convenience import does deduplication while reading transactions. + As a convenience import does deduplication while reading transactions. This does not mean "ignore transactions that look the same", but rather "ignore transactions that have been seen before". This is intended for - when you are periodically importing foreign data which may contain - already-imported transactions. So eg, if every day you download bank - CSV files containing redundant data, you can safely run hledger import - bank.csv and only new transactions will be imported. (import is idem- + when you are periodically importing foreign data which may contain + already-imported transactions. So eg, if every day you download bank + CSV files containing redundant data, you can safely run hledger import + bank.csv and only new transactions will be imported. (import is idem- potent.) - Since the items being read (CSV records, eg) often do not come with - unique identifiers, hledger detects new transactions by date, assuming + Since the items being read (CSV records, eg) often do not come with + unique identifiers, hledger detects new transactions by date, assuming that: 1. new items always have the newest dates 2. item dates do not change across reads - 3. and items with the same date remain in the same relative order + 3. and items with the same date remain in the same relative order across reads. - These are often true of CSV files representing transactions, or true - enough so that it works pretty well in practice. 1 is important, but + These are often true of CSV files representing transactions, or true + enough so that it works pretty well in practice. 1 is important, but violations of 2 and 3 amongst the old transactions won't matter (and if - you import often, the new transactions will be few, so less likely to + you import often, the new transactions will be few, so less likely to be the ones affected). - hledger remembers the latest date processed in each input file by sav- + hledger remembers the latest date processed in each input file by sav- ing a hidden ".latest" state file in the same directory. Eg when read- - ing finance/bank.csv, it will look for and update the finance/.lat- - est.bank.csv state file. The format is simple: one or more lines con- - taining the same ISO-format date (YYYY-MM-DD), meaning "I have pro- - cessed transactions up to this date, and this many of them on that + ing finance/bank.csv, it will look for and update the finance/.lat- + est.bank.csv state file. The format is simple: one or more lines con- + taining the same ISO-format date (YYYY-MM-DD), meaning "I have pro- + cessed transactions up to this date, and this many of them on that date." Normally you won't see or manipulate these state files yourself. - But if needed, you can delete them to reset the state (making all - transactions "new"), or you can construct them to "catch up" to a cer- + But if needed, you can delete them to reset the state (making all + transactions "new"), or you can construct them to "catch up" to a cer- tain date. - Note deduplication (and updating of state files) can also be done by + Note deduplication (and updating of state files) can also be done by print --new, but this is less often used. Import testing - With --dry-run, the transactions that will be imported are printed to + 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 + 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: $ hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown @@ -3700,17 +3730,17 @@ COMMANDS $ ls bank.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ====; hledger import --dry bank.csv | hledger -f- -I print unknown' 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 + 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 + and not posting amounts) will probably generate incorrect posting amounts. To avoid this problem, use print instead of import: $ hledger print IMPORTFILE [--new] >> $LEDGER_FILE - (If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, + (If you think import should leave amounts implicit like print does, please test it and send a pull request.) Commodity display styles @@ -3720,12 +3750,12 @@ COMMANDS incomestatement incomestatement, is This command displays an income statement, showing revenues and - expenses during one or more periods. Amounts are shown with normal + expenses during one or more periods. Amounts are shown with normal positive sign, as in conventional financial statements. - This report shows accounts declared with the Revenue or Expense type - (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows - top-level accounts named revenue or income or expense (case insensi- + This report shows accounts declared with the Revenue or Expense type + (see account types). Or if no such accounts are declared, it shows + top-level accounts named revenue or income or expense (case insensi- tive, plurals allowed) and their subaccounts. Example: @@ -3752,22 +3782,22 @@ COMMANDS 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 - options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- + This command also supports the output destination and output format + options The output formats supported are txt, csv, html, and (experi- mental) json. notes notes List the unique notes that appear in transactions. - This command lists the unique notes that appear in transactions, in - alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of transac- - tions. The note is the part of the transaction description after a | + This command lists the unique notes that appear in transactions, in + alphabetic order. You can add a query to select a subset of transac- + tions. The note is the part of the transaction description after a | character (or if there is no |, the whole description). Example: @@ -3780,14 +3810,14 @@ COMMANDS payees List the unique payee/payer names that appear in transactions. - This command lists unique payee/payer names which have been declared - with payee directives (--declared), used in transaction descriptions + This command lists unique payee/payer names which have been declared + with payee directives (--declared), used in transaction descriptions (--used), or both (the default). - The payee/payer is the part of the transaction description before a | + The payee/payer is the part of the transaction description before a | character (or if there is no |, the whole description). - You can add query arguments to select a subset of transactions. This + You can add query arguments to select a subset of transactions. This implies --used. Example: @@ -3799,11 +3829,11 @@ COMMANDS prices prices - Print market price directives from the journal. With --infer-market- - prices, generate additional market prices from transaction prices. - With --infer-reverse-prices, also generate market prices by inverting + Print market price directives from the journal. With --infer-market- + prices, generate additional market prices from transaction prices. + With --infer-reverse-prices, also generate market prices by inverting transaction prices. Prices (and postings providing transaction prices) - can be filtered by a query. Price amounts are displayed with their + can be filtered by a query. Price amounts are displayed with their full precision. print @@ -3813,17 +3843,17 @@ COMMANDS The print command displays full journal entries (transactions) from the journal file, sorted by date (or with --date2, by secondary date). - Amounts are shown mostly normalised to commodity display style, eg the - placement of commodity symbols will be consistent. All of their deci- + Amounts are shown mostly normalised to commodity display style, eg the + placement of commodity symbols will be consistent. All of their deci- mal places are shown, as in the original journal entry (with one alter- ation: in some cases trailing zeroes are added.) Amounts are shown right-aligned within each transaction (but not across all transactions). - Directives and inter-transaction comments are not shown, currently. + Directives and inter-transaction comments are not shown, currently. This means the print command is somewhat lossy, and if you are using it - to reformat your journal you should take care to also copy over the + to reformat your journal you should take care to also copy over the directives and file-level comments. Eg: @@ -3850,7 +3880,7 @@ COMMANDS liabilities:debts $1 assets:bank:checking $-1 - print's output is usually a valid hledger journal, and you can process + print's output is usually a valid hledger journal, and you can process it again with a second hledger command. This can be useful for certain kinds of search, eg: @@ -3860,7 +3890,7 @@ COMMANDS There are some situations where print's output can become unparseable: - o Valuation affects posting amounts but not balance assertion or bal- + o Valuation affects posting amounts but not balance assertion or bal- ance assignment amounts, potentially causing those to fail. o Auto postings can generate postings with too many missing amounts. @@ -3869,32 +3899,32 @@ COMMANDS Normally, the journal entry's explicit or implicit amount style is pre- served. For example, when an amount is omitted in the journal, it will - not appear in the output. Similarly, when a transaction price is + not appear in the output. Similarly, when a transaction price is implied but not written, it will not appear in the output. You can use - the -x/--explicit flag to make all amounts and transaction prices - explicit, which can be useful for troubleshooting or for making your + the -x/--explicit flag to make all amounts and transaction prices + explicit, which can be useful for troubleshooting or for making your journal more readable and robust against data entry errors. -x is also implied by using any of -B,-V,-X,--value. - Note, -x/--explicit will cause postings with a multi-commodity amount - (these can arise when a multi-commodity transaction has an implicit - amount) to be split into multiple single-commodity postings, keeping + Note, -x/--explicit will cause postings with a multi-commodity amount + (these can arise when a multi-commodity transaction has an implicit + amount) to be split into multiple single-commodity postings, keeping the output parseable. - With -B/--cost, amounts with transaction prices are converted to cost + With -B/--cost, amounts with transaction prices are converted to cost using that price. This can be used for troubleshooting. - With -m/--match and a STR argument, print will show at most one trans- - action: the one one whose description is most similar to STR, and is - most recent. STR should contain at least two characters. If there is + With -m/--match and a STR argument, print will show at most one trans- + action: the one one whose description is most similar to STR, and is + most recent. STR should contain at least two characters. If there is no similar-enough match, no transaction will be shown. - With --new, hledger prints only transactions it has not seen on a pre- - vious run. This uses the same deduplication system as the import com- + With --new, hledger prints only transactions it has not seen on a pre- + vious run. This uses the same deduplication system as the import com- mand. (See import's docs for details.) - This command also supports the output destination and output format - options The output formats supported are txt, csv, and (experimental) + This command also supports the output destination and output format + options The output formats supported are txt, csv, and (experimental) json and sql. Here's an example of print's CSV output: @@ -3913,20 +3943,20 @@ COMMANDS "5","2008/12/31","","*","","pay off","","liabilities:debts","1","$","","1","","" "5","2008/12/31","","*","","pay off","","assets:bank:checking","-1","$","1","","","" - o There is one CSV record per posting, with the parent transaction's + o There is one CSV record per posting, with the parent transaction's fields repeated. o The "txnidx" (transaction index) field shows which postings belong to - the same transaction. (This number might change if transactions are - reordered within the file, files are parsed/included in a different + the same transaction. (This number might change if transactions are + reordered within the file, files are parsed/included in a different order, etc.) - o The amount is separated into "commodity" (the symbol) and "amount" + o The amount is separated into "commodity" (the symbol) and "amount" (numeric quantity) fields. o The numeric amount is repeated in either the "credit" or "debit" col- - umn, for convenience. (Those names are not accurate in the account- - ing sense; it just puts negative amounts under credit and zero or + umn, for convenience. (Those names are not accurate in the account- + ing sense; it just puts negative amounts under credit and zero or greater amounts under debit.) print-unique @@ -3950,14 +3980,14 @@ COMMANDS Show postings and their running total. 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 @@ -3968,14 +3998,14 @@ 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 @@ -3985,30 +4015,30 @@ 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 + the whole report period). This flag implies --empty (see below). It + is affected by --historical. It works best when showing just one account 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 + bers. It's also useful to show postings on the checking account together with the related account: $ hledger register --related --invert assets:checking - With a reporting interval, register shows summary postings, one per + With a reporting interval, register shows summary postings, one per interval, aggregating the postings to each account: $ hledger register --monthly income 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 @@ -4025,7 +4055,7 @@ COMMANDS 2008/11 0 $-2 2008/12 0 $-2 - Often, you'll want to see just one line per interval. The --depth + Often, you'll want to see just one line per interval. The --depth option helps with this, causing subaccounts to be aggregated: $ hledger register --monthly assets --depth 1h @@ -4033,19 +4063,19 @@ 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 - intervals. 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 + intervals. This ensures that the first and last intervals are full length and comparable to the others in the report. 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 - (about half of (width - 40) each). You can adjust this by adding a - description width as part of --width's argument, comma-separated: + The description and account columns normally share the space equally + (about half of (width - 40) each). You can adjust this by adding a + description width as part of --width's argument, comma-separated: --width W,D . Here's a diagram (won't display correctly in --help): <--------------------------------- width (W) ----------------------------------> @@ -4061,28 +4091,28 @@ COMMANDS $ hledger reg -w 100,40 # set overall width 100, description width 40 $ hledger reg -w $COLUMNS,40 # use terminal width, & description width 40 - This command also supports the output destination and output format - options The output formats supported are txt, csv, and (experimental) + This command also supports the output destination and output format + options The output formats supported are txt, csv, and (experimental) json. register-match register-match Print the one posting whose transaction description is closest to DESC, - in the style of the register command. If there are multiple equally - good matches, it shows the most recent. Query options (options, not - arguments) can be used to restrict the search space. Helps ledger- + in the style of the register command. If there are multiple equally + good matches, it shows the most recent. Query options (options, not + arguments) can be used to restrict the search space. Helps ledger- autosync detect already-seen transactions when importing. rewrite 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. 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: @@ -4098,7 +4128,7 @@ 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: @@ -4108,16 +4138,16 @@ 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 - includes a commodity name, the new posting amount will be in the new - commodity; otherwise, it will be in the matched posting amount's com- + factor for an amount of original matched posting. If the amount + includes a commodity name, the new posting amount will be in the new + commodity; otherwise, it will be in the matched posting amount's com- modity. 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. @@ -4132,7 +4162,7 @@ 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. @@ -4145,12 +4175,12 @@ 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' @@ -4174,10 +4204,10 @@ 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: @@ -4185,54 +4215,54 @@ 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. roi 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. - At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an - account name) to select your investment(s) with --inv, and another + At a minimum, you need to supply a query (which could be just an + account 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) and time-weighted rate of return (TWR) for your investments for - the time period requested. Both rates of return are annualized before + This command will compute and display the internalized rate of return + (IRR) and time-weighted rate of return (TWR) for your investments for + the time period requested. Both rates of return are annualized before display, regardless of the length of reporting interval. - 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 + o Error (NotBracketed): No solution for Internal Rate of Return (IRR). + Possible causes: IRR is huge (>1000000%), balance of investment becomes 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 @@ -4242,27 +4272,27 @@ 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 + o "Cash flow" is depositing or withdrawing money, buying or selling assets, or otherwise converting between your investment commodity and any other commodity. Example: @@ -4280,12 +4310,12 @@ 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 + 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 return. - 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 @@ -4302,57 +4332,57 @@ 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. + Internal rate of return, or "IRR" (also called "money-weighted rate of + return") takes into account effects of in-flows and out-flows. Naively, if you are withdrawing from your investment, your future gains - would be smaller (in absolute numbers), and will be a smaller percent- - age of your initial investment, and if you are adding to your invest- - ment, you will receive bigger absolute gains (but probably at the same - rate of return). IRR is a way to compute rate of return for each + would be smaller (in absolute numbers), and will be a smaller percent- + age of your initial investment, and if you are adding to your invest- + ment, you will receive bigger absolute gains (but probably at the same + rate of return). IRR is a way to compute rate of return for each period between in-flow or out-flow of money, and then combine them in a - way that gives you a compound annual rate of return that investment is + way that gives you a compound annual rate of return that investment is expected to generate. - 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 + Second way to compute rate of return that roi command implements is called "time-weighted rate of return" or "TWR". Like IRR, it will also - break the history of your investment into periods between in-flows, - out-flows and value changes, to compute rate of return per each period - and then a compound rate of return. However, internal workings of TWR + break the history of your investment into periods between in-flows, + out-flows and value changes, to compute rate of return per each period + and then a compound rate of return. However, internal workings of TWR are quite different. - TWR represents your investment as an imaginary "unit fund" where in- - flows/ out-flows lead to buying or selling "units" 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 investment and changes in its value change the value of "investment unit". Change - in "unit price" over the reporting period gives you rate of return of + in "unit price" over the reporting period gives you rate of return of your investment. References: @@ -4363,22 +4393,22 @@ COMMANDS o Explanation of 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 stats stats Show journal and performance statistics. - The stats command displays summary information for the whole journal, - or a matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report + The stats command displays summary information for the whole journal, + or a matched part of it. With a reporting interval, it shows a report for each report period. - At the end, it shows (in the terminal) the overall run time and number - of transactions processed per second. Note these are approximate and - will vary based on machine, current load, data size, hledger version, - haskell lib versions, GHC version.. but they may be of interest. The - stats command's run time is similar to that of a single-column balance + At the end, it shows (in the terminal) the overall run time and number + of transactions processed per second. Note these are approximate and + will vary based on machine, current load, data size, hledger version, + haskell lib versions, GHC version.. but they may be of interest. The + stats command's run time is similar to that of a single-column balance report. Example: @@ -4399,7 +4429,7 @@ COMMANDS Run time : 0.12 s Throughput : 8342 txns/s - This command also supports output destination and output format selec- + This command also supports output destination and output format selec- tion. tags @@ -4409,22 +4439,22 @@ COMMANDS This command lists the tag names used in the journal, whether on trans- actions, postings, or account declarations. - With a TAGREGEX argument, only tag names matching this regular expres- + With a TAGREGEX argument, only tag names matching this regular expres- sion (case insensitive, infix matched) are shown. - With QUERY arguments, only transactions and accounts matching this + With QUERY arguments, only transactions and accounts matching this query are considered. If the query involves transaction fields (date:, desc:, amt:, ...), the search is restricted to the matched transactions and their accounts. - With the --values flag, the tags' unique non-empty values are listed + With the --values flag, the tags' unique non-empty values are listed instead. With -E/--empty, blank/empty values are also shown. - With --parsed, tags or values are shown in the order they were parsed, - with duplicates included. (Except, tags from account declarations are + With --parsed, tags or values are shown in the order they were parsed, + with duplicates included. (Except, tags from account declarations are always shown first.) - Tip: remember, accounts also acquire tags from their parents, postings + Tip: remember, accounts also acquire tags from their parents, postings also acquire tags from their account and transaction, transactions also acquire tags from their postings. @@ -4432,13 +4462,13 @@ COMMANDS test Run built-in unit tests. - 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 -- @@ -4447,7 +4477,7 @@ 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). Add-on commands @@ -4455,16 +4485,16 @@ COMMANDS o whose name starts with hledger- - o whose name ends with a recognised file extension: .bat,.com,.exe, + o whose name ends with a recognised file extension: .bat,.com,.exe, .hs,.lhs,.pl,.py,.rb,.rkt,.sh or none o and (on unix, mac) which are executable by the current user. - Add-ons are a relatively easy way to add local features or experiment - with new ideas. They can be written in any language, but haskell - scripts have a big advantage: they can use the same hledger library - functions that built-in commands use for command-line options, parsing - and reporting. Some experimental/example add-on scripts can be found + Add-ons are a relatively easy way to add local features or experiment + with new ideas. They can be written in any language, but haskell + scripts have a big advantage: they can use the same hledger library + functions that built-in commands use for command-line options, parsing + and reporting. Some experimental/example add-on scripts can be found in the hledger repo's bin/ directory. Note in a hledger command line, add-on command flags must have a double @@ -4488,17 +4518,17 @@ COMMANDS JOURNAL FORMAT hledger's default file format, representing a General Journal. - hledger'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 .journal, but + hledger'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 .journal, but that'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. - hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of ledger's - journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger journal - files as well. It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and + hledger's journal format is a compatible subset, mostly, of ledger's + journal format, so hledger can work with compatible ledger journal + files as well. It's safe, and encouraged, to run both hledger and ledger on the same journal file, eg to validate the results you're get- ting. @@ -4506,25 +4536,25 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT the add or web or import commands to create and update it. Many users, though, edit the journal file with a text editor, and track - changes with a version control system such as git. Editor addons such - as ledger-mode or hledger-mode for Emacs, vim-ledger for Vim, and + changes with a version control system such as git. Editor addons such + 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. - Here's a description of each part of the file format (and hledger's - data model). These are mostly in the order you'll use them, but in - some cases related concepts have been grouped together for easy refer- - ence, or linked before they are introduced, so feel free to skip over + Here's a description of each part of the file format (and hledger's + data model). These are mostly in the order you'll use them, but in + some cases related concepts have been grouped together for easy refer- + ence, or linked before they are introduced, so feel free to skip over anything that looks unnecessary right now. 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- - ple date in column 0. This can be followed by any of the following + 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 optional fields, separated by spaces: o a status character (empty, !, or *) @@ -4533,11 +4563,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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: @@ -4548,35 +4578,35 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 default year directive, - or the current date when the command is run. Some examples: + omitted, in which case it will be inferred from the context: the cur- + rent transaction, the default year set with a default year directive, + or the current 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.) Secondary dates - Real-life transactions sometimes involve more than one date - eg the + 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, for more accurate daily balances, you can specify + want to model this, for more accurate daily balances, you can specify individual posting dates. - Or, you can use the older secondary date feature (Ledger calls it aux- - iliary date or effective date). Note: we support this for compatibil- - ity, but I usually recommend avoiding this feature; posting dates are + Or, you can use the older secondary date feature (Ledger calls it aux- + iliary date or effective date). Note: we support this for compatibil- + ity, but I usually recommend avoiding this feature; posting dates are almost always clearer and simpler. A secondary date is written after the primary date, following an equals - sign. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is assumed. - When running reports, the primary (left) date is used by default, but - with the --date2 flag (or --aux-date or --effective), the secondary + sign. If the year is omitted, the primary date's year is assumed. + When running reports, the primary (left) date is used by default, but + with the --date2 flag (or --aux-date or --effective), the secondary (right) date will be used instead. - The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it's best to follow a - consistent rule. Eg "primary = the bank's clearing date, secondary = + The meaning of secondary dates is up to you, but it's best to follow a + consistent rule. Eg "primary = the bank's clearing date, secondary = date the transaction was initiated, if different", as shown here: 2010/2/23=2/19 movie ticket @@ -4590,11 +4620,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 2010-02-19 movie ticket assets:checking $-10 $-10 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 - reports, and the deduction from checking should be reported on 6/1 for + 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: 2015/5/30 @@ -4607,50 +4637,48 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT $ 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 - the year of the transaction's date. You can set the secondary date - similarly, with date2:DATE2. The date: or date2: tags must have a - valid simple date value if they are present, eg a date: tag with no + DATE should be a simple date; if the year is not specified it will use + the year of the transaction's date. You can set the secondary date + similarly, with date2:DATE2. The date: or date2: tags must have a + valid simple date value if they are present, eg a date: tag with no value is not allowed. Ledger's earlier, more compact bracketed date syntax is also supported: - [DATE], [DATE=DATE2] or [=DATE2]. hledger will attempt to parse any + [DATE], [DATE=DATE2] or [=DATE2]. hledger will attempt to parse any square-bracketed sequence of the 0123456789/-.= characters in this way. - With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 + With this syntax, DATE infers its year from the transaction and DATE2 infers its year from DATE. Status - Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a - status mark, which is a single character before the transaction - description or posting account name, separated from it by a space, + Transactions, or individual postings within a transaction, can have a + status mark, which is a single character before the transaction + description or posting account name, separated from it by a space, indicating one of three statuses: - - mark status ------------------ unmarked ! pending * cleared - When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, - -P/--pending, and -C/--cleared flags; or the status:, status:!, and + When reporting, you can filter by status with the -U/--unmarked, + -P/--pending, and -C/--cleared flags; or the status:, status:!, and status:* queries; or the U, P, C keys in hledger-ui. - Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the "unmarked" state - is called "uncleared". As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to + Note, in Ledger and in older versions of hledger, the "unmarked" state + is called "uncleared". As of hledger 1.3 we have renamed it to unmarked for clarity. - To replicate Ledger and old hledger's behaviour of also matching pend- + To replicate Ledger and old hledger's behaviour of also matching pend- ing, combine -U and -P. - 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: @@ -4662,41 +4690,41 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 - bank, -U to see things which will probably hit your bank soon (like + 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 uncashed 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 - A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date - and status mark (or until a comment begins). Sometimes called the + A transaction's description is the rest of the line following the date + and status mark (or until a comment begins). Sometimes called the "narration" in traditional bookkeeping, it can be used for whatever you - wish, or left blank. Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike + wish, or left blank. Transaction descriptions can be queried, unlike comments. Payee and note You can optionally include a | (pipe) character in descriptions to sub- divide the description into separate fields for payee/payer name on the - left (up to the first |) and an additional note field on the right - (after the first |). This may be worthwhile if you need to do more + left (up to the first |) and an additional note field on the right + (after the first |). This may be worthwhile if you need to do more precise querying and pivoting by payee or by note. Comments Lines in the journal beginning with a semicolon (;) or hash (#) or star - (*) are comments, and will be ignored. (Star comments cause org-mode - nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users to fold and navigate their + (*) are comments, and will be ignored. (Star comments cause org-mode + nodes to be ignored, allowing emacs users to fold and navigate their journals with org-mode or orgstruct-mode.) - You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the - description and/or indented on the following lines (before the post- - ings). Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting by - writing them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines. + You can attach comments to a transaction by writing them after the + description and/or indented on the following lines (before the post- + ings). Similarly, you can attach comments to an individual posting by + writing them after the amount and/or indented on the following lines. Transaction and posting comments must begin with a semicolon (;). Some examples: @@ -4719,88 +4747,86 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT ; another comment line for posting 2 ; a file comment (because not indented) - You can also comment larger regions of a file using comment and end + You can also comment larger regions of a file using comment and end comment directives. Tags - Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to postings and - transactions, which you can then search or pivot on. + Tags are a way to add extra labels or labelled data to transactions, + postings, or accounts, which you can then search or pivot on. - A simple tag is a word (which may contain hyphens) followed by a full - colon, written inside a transaction or posting comment line: + They are written as a (optionally hyphenated) word immediately followed + by a full colon within a transaction or posting or account directive's + comment: - 2017/1/16 bought groceries ; sometag: + account assets:checking ; accounttag: - Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, up to the - next comma or end of line, with leading/trailing whitespace removed: + 2017/1/16 bought groceries ; transaction-tag: + ; another-transaction-tag: + assets:checking $-1 + expenses:food $1 ; posting-tag: - expenses:food $10 ; a-posting-tag: the tag value + Tags are inherited, as follows: - Note this means hledger's tag values can not contain commas or new- - lines. Ending at commas means you can write multiple short tags on one - line, comma separated: + o Tags on a transaction affect the transaction and all of its postings - assets:checking ; a comment containing tag1:, tag2: some value ... + o Tags on an account affect all postings to that account. - Here, + So in the example above, - the assets:checking account has one tag + (accounttag) - the transaction has two tags (transaction-tag, another- + transaction-tag) - the assets:checking posting has three tags (transac- + tion-tag, another-transaction-tag, accounttag) - the expenses:food + posting has three tags (transaction-tag, another-transaction-tag, post- + ing-tag). - o "a comment containing" is just comment text, not a tag + Tags can have a value, which is the text after the colon, until the + next comma or end of line, with surrounding whitespace stripped. So + here a-posting-tag's value is "the tag value", tag2's value is "foo", + and tag3's value is "" (the empty string): - o "tag1" is a tag with no value + expenses:food $10 + ; some text, a-posting-tag:the tag value, tag2: foo , tag3: , other text - o "tag2" is another tag, whose value is "some value ..." - - 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 (those plus posting-tag): - - 1/1 a transaction ; A:, TAG2: - ; third-tag: a third transaction tag, <- with a value - (a) $1 ; posting-tag: - - Tags are like Ledger's metadata feature, except hledger's tag values - are simple strings. + A hledger tag value may not contain a comma. 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. - Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are + Positive amounts are being added to the account, negative amounts are being removed. The amounts within a transaction must always sum up to zero. As a con- - venience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so as to + venience, one amount may be left blank; it will be inferred so as to balance the transaction. - Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name - and amount. This makes it easy to write account names containing spa- - ces. But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the + Be sure to note the unusual two-space delimiter between account name + and amount. This makes it easy to write account names containing spa- + ces. But if you accidentally leave only one space (or tab) before the amount, the amount will be considered part of the account name. Virtual postings A posting with a parenthesised account name is called a virtual posting - or unbalanced posting, which means it is exempt from the usual rule + or unbalanced posting, which means it is exempt from the usual rule that a transaction's postings must balance add up to zero. - This is not part of double entry accounting, so you might choose to - avoid this feature. Or you can use it sparingly for certain special - cases where it can be convenient. Eg, you could set opening balances + This is not part of double entry accounting, so you might choose to + avoid this feature. Or you can use it sparingly for certain special + cases where it can be convenient. Eg, you could set opening balances without using a balancing equity account: 1/1 opening balances (assets:checking) $1000 (assets:savings) $2000 - A posting with a bracketed account name is called a balanced virtual + A posting with a bracketed account name is called a balanced virtual posting. The balanced virtual postings in a transaction must add up to zero (separately from other postings). Eg: @@ -4812,34 +4838,34 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT [assets:checking:available] $10 ; <- (something:else) $5 ; <- not required to balance - Ordinary non-parenthesised, non-bracketed postings are called real - postings. You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the + Ordinary non-parenthesised, non-bracketed postings are called real + postings. You can exclude virtual postings from reports with the -R/--real flag or real:1 query. Account names - 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- + 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: assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and equity. - Account names may contain single spaces, eg: assets:accounts receiv- - able. Because of this, they must always be followed by two or more + Account names may contain single spaces, eg: assets:accounts receiv- + able. Because of this, they must always be followed by two or more spaces (or newline). Account names can be aliased. Amounts - After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Important: + After the account name, there is usually an amount. (Important: 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 @@ -4847,13 +4873,13 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -4870,8 +4896,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 1.23 1,23456780000009 - In the integer part of the quantity (left of the decimal mark), groups - of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a space, + In the integer part of the quantity (left of the decimal mark), groups + of digits can optionally be separated by a digit group mark - a space, comma, or period (different from the decimal mark): $1,000,000.00 @@ -4885,41 +4911,41 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 1,000 1.000 - If you don't tell it otherwise, hledger will assume both of the above + If you don't tell it otherwise, hledger will assume both of the above are decimal marks, parsing both numbers as 1. - To prevent confusing parsing mistakes and undetected typos, especially - if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we + To prevent confusing parsing mistakes and undetected typos, especially + if your data contains digit group marks (eg, thousands separators), we recommend explicitly declaring the decimal mark character in each jour- - nal file, using a directive at the top of the file. The decimal-mark - directive is best, otherwise commodity directives will also work. + nal file, using a directive at the top of the file. The decimal-mark + directive is best, otherwise commodity directives will also work. These are described detail below. 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. - (If you are writing scripts or working with hledger's internals, these + (If you are writing scripts or working with hledger's internals, these are the Amount and MixedAmount types.) Directives influencing number parsing and display - You can add decimal-mark and commodity directives to the journal, to - declare and control these things more explicitly and precisely. These - are described below, in JOURNAL FORMAT -> Declaring commodities. + You can add decimal-mark and commodity directives to the journal, to + declare and control these things more explicitly and precisely. These + are described below, in JOURNAL FORMAT -> Declaring commodities. Here's a quick example: # the decimal mark character used by all amounts in this file (all commodities) @@ -4934,48 +4960,48 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT Commodity display style For the amounts in each commodity, hledger chooses a consistent display - style to use in most reports. (Exceptions: price amounts, and all + style to use in most reports. (Exceptions: price amounts, and all amounts displayed by the print command, are displayed with all of their decimal digits visible.) A commodity's display style is inferred as follows. - First, if a default commodity is declared with D, this commodity and + First, if a default commodity is declared with D, this commodity and its style is applied to any no-symbol amounts in the journal. - Then each commodity's style is inferred from one of the following, in + Then each commodity's style is inferred from one of the following, in order of preference: - o The commodity directive for that commodity (including the no-symbol + o The commodity directive for that commodity (including the no-symbol commodity), if any. - o The amounts in that commodity seen in the journal's transactions. + o The amounts in that commodity seen in the journal's transactions. (Posting amounts only; prices and periodic or auto rules are ignored, currently.) - o The built-in fallback style, which looks like this: $1000.00. (Sym- + o The built-in fallback style, which looks like this: $1000.00. (Sym- bol on the left, period decimal mark, two decimal places.) A style is inferred from journal amounts as follows: - o Use the general style (decimal mark, symbol placement) of the first + o Use the general style (decimal mark, symbol placement) of the first amount - o Use the first-seen digit group style (digit group mark, digit group + o Use the first-seen digit group style (digit group mark, digit group sizes), if any o Use the maximum number of decimal places of all. - Transaction price amounts don't affect the commodity display style - directly, but occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a post- - ing's amount is inferred using a transaction price). If you find this + Transaction price amounts don't affect the commodity display style + directly, but occasionally they can do so indirectly (eg when a post- + ing's amount is inferred using a transaction price). If you find this causing problems, use a commodity directive to fix the display style. - To summarise: each commodity's amounts will be normalised to (a) the - style declared by a commodity directive, or (b) the style of the first - posting amount in the journal, with the first-seen digit group style - and the maximum-seen number of decimal places. So if your reports are - showing amounts in a way you don't like, eg with too many decimal + To summarise: each commodity's amounts will be normalised to (a) the + style declared by a commodity directive, or (b) the style of the first + posting amount in the journal, with the first-seen digit group style + and the maximum-seen number of decimal places. So if your reports are + showing amounts in a way you don't like, eg with too many decimal places, use a commodity directive. Some examples: # declare euro, dollar, bitcoin and no-symbol commodities and set their @@ -4985,22 +5011,22 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT commodity 1000.00000000 BTC commodity 1 000. - The inferred commodity style can be overridden by supplying a command + The inferred commodity style can be overridden by supplying a command line option. Rounding Amounts are stored internally as decimal numbers with up to 255 decimal - places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by - the commodity display style. Note, hledger uses banker's rounding: it - rounds to the nearest even number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal - places is "0"). (Guaranteed since hledger 1.17.1; in older versions + places, and displayed with the number of decimal places specified by + the commodity display style. Note, hledger uses banker's rounding: it + rounds to the nearest even number, eg 0.5 displayed with zero decimal + places is "0"). (Guaranteed since hledger 1.17.1; in older versions this could vary if hledger was built with Decimal < 0.5.1.) Transaction prices Within a transaction, you can note an amount's price in another commod- - ity. This can be used to document the cost (in a purchase) or selling - price (in a sale). For example, transaction prices are useful to - record purchases of a foreign currency. Note transaction prices are + ity. This can be used to document the cost (in a purchase) or selling + price (in a sale). For example, transaction prices are useful to + record purchases of a foreign currency. Note transaction prices are fixed at the time of the transaction, and do not change over time. See also market prices, which represent prevailing exchange rates on a cer- tain date. @@ -5026,14 +5052,14 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT assets:euros EUR100 ; one hundred euros purchased assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 - 4. Like 1, but the @ is parenthesised, i.e. (@); this is for compati- - bility with Ledger journals (Virtual posting costs), and is equiva- + 4. Like 1, but the @ is parenthesised, i.e. (@); this is for compati- + bility with Ledger journals (Virtual posting costs), and is equiva- lent to 1 in hledger. 5. Like 2, but as in 4 the @@ is parenthesised, i.e. (@@); in hledger, this is equivalent to 2. - Use the -B/--cost flag to convert amounts to their transaction price's + Use the -B/--cost flag to convert amounts to their transaction price's commodity, if any. (mnemonic: "B" is from "cost Basis", as in Ledger). Eg here is how -B affects the balance report for the example above: @@ -5044,8 +5070,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT $-135 assets:dollars $135 assets:euros # <- the euros' cost - Note -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction price - is inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the last + Note -B is sensitive to the order of postings when a transaction price + is inferred: the inferred price will be in the commodity of the last amount. So if example 3's postings are reversed, while the transaction is equivalent, -B shows something different: @@ -5061,7 +5087,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT Transaction prices can be converted to and from equity conversion post- ings using the --infer-equity and --infer-costs flags. - With --infer-equity, hledger will add equity postings to balance out + With --infer-equity, hledger will add equity postings to balance out any transaction prices. 2009/1/1 @@ -5076,8 +5102,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT equity:conversion:$-EUR:$ $135.00 ; 100 euros bought, generated-posting: assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 - The reverse is possible using --infer-costs, which will check any - equity conversion postings and generate a transaction price for the + The reverse is possible using --infer-costs, which will check any + equity conversion postings and generate a transaction price for the first non-conversion posting which matches. 2009-01-01 @@ -5094,9 +5120,9 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT equity:conversion $135 assets:dollars $-135 ; for $135 - Note that the above will assign the transaction price to the first - matching posting in the transaction. If you want to assign it to a - different posting, or if you have several different sets of conversion + Note that the above will assign the transaction price to the first + matching posting in the transaction. If you want to assign it to a + different posting, or if you have several different sets of conversion postings which must match different postings, you must manually specify the transaction price. If you do this, equity conversion postings must occur in adjacent pairs and must exactly match the amount of a non-con- @@ -5117,22 +5143,22 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT equity:conversion $100 assets:dollars $-235 ; for $235 total - The account names used for the conversion accounts can be changed with + The account names used for the conversion accounts can be changed with the conversion account type declaration. Lot prices, lot dates - Ledger allows another kind of price, lot price (four variants: {UNIT- + Ledger allows another kind of price, lot price (four variants: {UNIT- PRICE}, {{TOTALPRICE}}, {=FIXEDUNITPRICE}, {{=FIXEDTOTALPRICE}}), and/or a lot date ([DATE]) to be specified. These are normally used to - select a lot when selling investments. hledger will parse these, for - compatibility with Ledger journals, but currently ignores them. A - transaction price, lot price and/or lot date may appear in any order, + select a lot when selling investments. hledger will parse these, for + compatibility with Ledger journals, but currently ignores them. A + transaction price, lot price and/or lot date may appear in any order, after the posting amount and before the balance assertion if any. 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 @@ -5144,59 +5170,59 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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, below). Assertions and ordering - hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and - then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. Note this is dif- + hledger sorts an account's postings and assertions first by date and + then (for postings on the same day) by parse order. Note this is dif- ferent from Ledger, which sorts assertions only by parse order. (Also, - Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated post- + Ledger assertions do not see the accumulated effect of repeated post- ings to the same account within a transaction.) 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. + 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. 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 - order within each file. It means that balance assertions in later + Multiple files included with the include directive are processed as if + concatenated into one file, preserving their order and the posting + order 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 + If you do want assertions to see balance from earlier files, use include, or concatenate the files temporarily. Assertions and commodities - The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in - fact the assertion checks only this commodity's balance within the - (possibly multi-commodity) account balance. This is how assertions + The asserted balance must be a simple single-commodity amount, and in + fact the assertion checks only this commodity's balance within the + (possibly multi-commodity) account balance. This is how assertions work in Ledger also. We could call this a "partial" balance assertion. To assert the balance of more than one commodity in an account, you can write multiple postings, each asserting one commodity's balance. - You can make a stronger "total" balance assertion by writing a double + You can make a stronger "total" balance assertion by writing a double equals sign (== EXPECTEDBALANCE). This asserts that there are no other - commodities in the account besides the asserted one (or at least, that + commodities in the account besides the asserted one (or at least, that their balance is 0). 2013/1/1 @@ -5215,7 +5241,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT a 0 == $1 It's not yet possible to make a complete assertion about a balance that - has multiple commodities. One workaround is to isolate each commodity + has multiple commodities. One workaround is to isolate each commodity into its own subaccount: 2013/1/1 @@ -5229,21 +5255,21 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT a:euro 0 == 1EUR Assertions and prices - Balance assertions ignore transaction prices, and should normally be + Balance assertions ignore transaction prices, and should normally be written without one: 2019/1/1 (a) $1 @ EUR1 = $1 - We do allow prices to be written there, however, and print shows them, - even though 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 prices), and because balance assign- + We do allow prices to be written there, however, and print shows them, + even though 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 prices), and because balance assign- ments do use them (see below). Assertions and subaccounts - The balance assertions above (= and ==) do not count the balance from - subaccounts; they check the account's exclusive balance only. You can + The balance assertions above (= and ==) do not count the balance from + subaccounts; they check the account's exclusive balance only. You can assert the balance including subaccounts by writing =* or ==*, eg: 2019/1/1 @@ -5257,10 +5283,10 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -5273,16 +5299,16 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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. 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 @@ -5300,14 +5326,14 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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). Note that using balance assignments makes your journal a little less explicit; to know the exact amount posted, you have to run hledger or do the calculations yourself, instead of just reading it. Balance assignments and prices - A transaction price in a balance assignment will cause the calculated + A transaction price in a balance assignment will cause the calculated amount to have that price attached: 2019/1/1 @@ -5318,24 +5344,24 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT (a) $1 @ EUR2 = $1 @ EUR2 Directives - A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, + A directive is a line in the journal beginning with a special keyword, that influences how the journal is processed, how things are displayed, - and so on. hledger's directives are based on (a subset of) Ledger's, - but there are many differences, and also some differences between + and so on. hledger's directives are based on (a subset of) Ledger's, + but there are many differences, and also some differences between hledger versions. Here are some more definitions: - o subdirective - Some directives support subdirectives, written + o subdirective - Some directives support subdirectives, written indented below the parent directive. - o decimal mark - The character to interpret as a decimal mark (period + o decimal mark - The character to interpret as a decimal mark (period or comma) when parsing amounts of a commodity. o display style - How to display amounts of a commodity in output: sym- bol side and spacing, digit groups, decimal mark, and number of deci- mal places. - Directives are not required when starting out with hledger, but you - will probably add some as your needs grow. Here is an overview of + Directives are not required when starting out with hledger, but you + will probably add some as your needs grow. Here is an overview of directives by purpose: @@ -5345,17 +5371,17 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- READING/GENERATING DATA: Declare a commodity's or file's commodity, D, decimal- - decimal mark to help parse mark + decimal mark to help parse mark amounts accurately - Apply changes to the data while alias, apply account, --alias + Apply changes to the data while alias, apply account, --alias parsing comment, D, Y Inline extra data files include multiple -f/--file's - Generate extra transactions or ~ + Generate extra transactions or ~ budget goals Generate extra postings = CHECKING FOR ERRORS: - Define valid entities to allow account, commodity, + Define valid entities to allow account, commodity, stricter error checking payee DISPLAYING REPORTS: Declare accounts' display order account @@ -5371,73 +5397,76 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT file end? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - account Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; - and its display order and type, for reports. Subdirectives: + account Declares an account, for checking all entries in all files; + and its display order and type, for reports. Subdirectives: any text, ignored. - alias Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of Y + alias Rewrites account names, in following entries until end of Y current file or end aliases. - apply Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in Y - account following entries until end of current file or end apply + + + + apply Prepends a common parent account to all account names, in Y + account following entries until end of current file or end apply account. - comment Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file Y + comment Ignores part of the journal file, until end of current file Y or end comment. - commod- Declares a commodity, for checking all entries in all files; N, Y - ity the decimal mark for parsing amounts of this commodity, for - following entries until end of current file; and its display + commod- Declares a commodity, for checking all entries in all files; N, Y + ity the decimal mark for parsing amounts of this commodity, for + following entries until end of current file; and its display style, for reports. Takes precedence over D. Subdirectives: format (alternate syntax). - D Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts, and Y - its decimal mark for parsing amounts of this commodity in - following entries until end of current file; and its display + D Sets a default commodity to use for no-symbol amounts, and Y + its decimal mark for parsing amounts of this commodity in + following entries until end of current file; and its display style, for reports. - deci- Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all com- Y - mal- modities in following entries until next decimal-mark or end - mark of current file. Included files can override. Takes prece- + deci- Declares the decimal mark, for parsing amounts of all com- Y + mal- modities in following entries until next decimal-mark or end + mark of current file. Included files can override. Takes prece- dence over commodity and D. include Includes entries and directives from another file, as if they were written inline. payee Declares a payee name, for checking all entries in all files. - P Declares a market price for a commodity on some date, for + P Declares a market price for a commodity on some date, for valuation reports. - Y Declares a year for yearless dates, for following entries Y + Y Declares a year for yearless dates, for following entries Y until end of current file. - ~ Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future - (tilde) transactions with --forecast and budget goals with balance + ~ Declares a periodic transaction rule that generates future + (tilde) transactions with --forecast and budget goals with balance --budget. - = Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings partly - (equals) on matched transactions with --auto, in current, parent, and + = Declares an auto posting rule that generates extra postings partly + (equals) on matched transactions with --auto, in current, parent, and child files (but not sibling files, see #1212). Directives and multiple files - If you use multiple -f/--file options, or the include directive, + If you use multiple -f/--file options, or the include directive, hledger will process multiple input files. But directives which affect - input typically have effect only until the end of the file in which + input typically have effect only until the end of the file in which they occur (and on any included files in that region). This may seem inconvenient, but it's intentional; it makes reports sta- - ble and deterministic, independent of the order of input. Otherwise - you could see different numbers if you happened to write -f options in - a different order, or if you moved includes around while cleaning up + ble and deterministic, independent of the order of input. Otherwise + you could see different numbers if you happened to write -f options in + a different order, or if you moved includes around while cleaning up your files. - It can be surprising though; for example, it means that alias direc- + It can be surprising though; for example, it means that alias direc- tives do not affect parent or sibling files (see below). Comment blocks - A line containing just comment starts a commented region of the file, + A line containing just comment starts a commented region of the file, and a line containing just end comment (or the end of the current file) ends it. See also comments. Including other files - 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. @@ -5445,18 +5474,18 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT The path may contain glob patterns to match multiple files, eg: include *.journal. - There is limited support for recursive wildcards: **/ (the slash is - required) matches 0 or more subdirectories. It's not super convenient - since you have to avoid include cycles and including directories, but + There is limited support for recursive wildcards: **/ (the slash is + required) 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 hledger.1 -> Input files): + ing the file extension (as described in hledger.1 -> Input files): include timedot:~/notes/2020*.md. Default year - You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't - specify a year. This is a line beginning with Y followed by the year. + You can set a default year to be used for subsequent dates which don't + specify a year. This is a line beginning with Y followed by the year. Eg: Y2009 ; set default year to 2009 @@ -5476,9 +5505,9 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT assets Declaring payees - The payee 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 + The payee 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. Eg: payee Whole Foods @@ -5494,36 +5523,36 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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). Declaring commodities - You can use commodity directives to declare your commodities. In fact + You can use commodity directives to declare your commodities. In fact the commodity directive performs several functions at once: - 1. It declares commodities which may be used in the journal. This can - optionally be enforced, providing useful error checking. (Cf Com- + 1. It declares commodities which may be used in the journal. This can + optionally be enforced, providing useful error checking. (Cf Com- modity error checking) - 2. It declares which decimal mark character (period or comma), to - expect when parsing input - useful to disambiguate international - number formats in your data. Without this, hledger will parse both + 2. It declares which decimal mark character (period or comma), to + expect when parsing input - useful to disambiguate international + number formats in your data. Without this, hledger will parse both 1,000 and 1.000 as 1. (Cf Amounts) - 3. It declares how to render the commodity's amounts when displaying + 3. It declares how to render the commodity's amounts when displaying output - the decimal mark, any digit group marks, the number of dec- - imal places, symbol placement and so on. (Cf Commodity display + imal places, symbol placement and so on. (Cf Commodity display style) - You will run into one of the problems solved by commodity directives + You will run into one of the problems solved by commodity directives sooner or later, so we recommend using them, for robust and predictable parsing and display. - Generally you should put them at the top of your journal file (since + Generally you should put them at the top of your journal file (since for function 2, they affect only following amounts, cf #793). - A commodity directive is just the word commodity followed by a sample + A commodity directive is just the word commodity followed by a sample amount, like this: ;commodity SAMPLEAMOUNT @@ -5531,8 +5560,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT commodity $1000.00 commodity 1,000.0000 AAAA ; optional same-line comment - It may also be written on multiple lines, and use the format subdirec- - tive, as in Ledger. Note in this case the commodity symbol appears + It may also be written on multiple lines, and use the format subdirec- + tive, as in Ledger. Note in this case the commodity symbol appears twice; it must be the same in both places: ;commodity SYMBOL @@ -5544,11 +5573,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT commodity INR format INR 1,00,00,000.00 - Remember that if the commodity symbol contains spaces, numbers, or + Remember that if the commodity symbol contains spaces, numbers, or punctuation, it must be enclosed in double quotes (cf Commodity). - The amount's quantity does not matter; only the format is significant. - It must include a decimal mark - either a period or a comma - followed + The amount's quantity does not matter; only the format is significant. + It must include a decimal mark - either a period or a comma - followed by 0 or more decimal digits. A few more examples: @@ -5559,34 +5588,34 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT commodity INR 9,99,99,999.0 commodity 1 000 000. - Note hledger normally uses banker's rounding, so 0.5 displayed with + Note hledger normally uses banker's rounding, so 0.5 displayed with zero decimal digits is "0". (More at Commodity display style.) - Even in the presence of commodity directives, the commodity display + Even in the presence of commodity directives, the commodity display style can still be overridden by supplying a command line option. Commodity error checking - In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report - an error if a commodity symbol is used that has not been declared by a - commodity directive. This works similarly to account error checking, + In strict mode, enabled with the -s/--strict flag, hledger will report + an error if a commodity symbol is used that has not been declared by a + commodity directive. This works similarly to account error checking, see the notes there for more details. - Note, this disallows amounts without a commodity symbol, because cur- - rently it's not possible (?) to declare the "no-symbol" commodity with - a directive. This is one exception for convenience: zero amounts are + Note, this disallows amounts without a commodity symbol, because cur- + rently it's not possible (?) to declare the "no-symbol" commodity with + a directive. This is one exception for convenience: zero amounts are always allowed to have no commodity symbol. Default commodity The D 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 + commodityless amounts (ie, plain numbers) seen while parsing the jour- + nal. This effect lasts until the next D directive, or the end of the journal. - For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity + For compatibility/historical reasons, D also acts like a commodity directive (setting the commodity's decimal mark for parsing and display style for output). - The syntax is D AMOUNT. As with commodity, the amount must include a + The syntax is D AMOUNT. As with commodity, the amount must include a decimal mark (either period or comma). Eg: ; commodity-less amounts should be treated as dollars @@ -5600,23 +5629,23 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT If both commodity and D directives are found for a commodity, commodity takes precedence for setting decimal mark and display style. - If you are using D and also checking commodities, you will need to add + If you are using D and also checking commodities, you will need to add a commodity directive similar to the D. (The hledger check commodities command expects commodity directives, and ignores D). Declaring market prices - The P directive declares a market price, which is an exchange rate + The P directive declares a market price, which is an exchange rate between two commodities on a certain date. (In Ledger, they are called - "historical prices".) These are often obtained from a stock exchange, + "historical prices".) These are often obtained from a stock exchange, cryptocurrency exchange, or the 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) - of commodity 2 that one unit of commodity 1 is worth on this date. + 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. Examples: # one euro was worth $1.35 from 2009-01-01 onward: @@ -5625,45 +5654,67 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT # and $1.40 from 2010-01-01 onward: P 2010-01-01 EUR $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 Valuation. Declaring accounts 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- ence. - o They control 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, - equity, revenue, expense), useful for reports like balancesheet and - incomestatement. - - o They can store other account information, as comments or as tags - which can be used to filter reports. - - o They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, - hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) - o In strict mode, they restrict which accounts may be posted to by transactions, which helps detect typos. - The simplest form is just the word account followed by a hledger-style - account name, eg this account directive declares the assets:bank:check- - ing account: + o They control account display order in reports, allowing non-alpha- + betic sorting (eg Revenues to appear above Expenses). + + o They help with account name completion (in hledger add, hledger-web, + hledger-iadd, ledger-mode, etc.) + + o They can store additional account information as comments, or as tags + which can be used to filter or pivot reports. + + o They can help hledger know your accounts' types (asset, liability, + equity, revenue, expense), affecting reports like balancesheet and + incomestatement. + + They are written as the word account followed by a hledger-style + account name, eg: account assets:bank:checking + Account comments + Comments, beginning with a semicolon: + + o can be written on the same line, but only after two or more spaces + (because ; is allowed in account names) + + o and/or on the next lines, indented + + o and may contain tags, such as the type: tag. + + For example: + + account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, at least 2 spaces before the semicolon + ; next-line comment + ; some tags - type:A, acctnum:12345 + + Account subdirectives + Ledger-style indented subdirectives are also accepted, but currently + ignored: + + account assets:bank:checking + format subdirective is ignored + Account error checking - By default, accounts come into existence when a transaction references - them by name. This is convenient, but it means hledger can't warn you - when you mis-spell an account name in the journal. Usually you'll find - the error later, as an extra account in balance reports, or an incor- - rect balance when reconciling. + 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, hledger will report an error if any transaction uses an account name that has not been @@ -5678,41 +5729,49 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT account 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 - included files in other formats). + o Accounts can only be declared in journal files, but will affect + included files of all types. o It's currently not possible to declare "all possible subaccounts" with a wildcard; every account posted to must be declared. - Account comments - Comments, beginning with a semicolon, can be added: + Account display order + The order in which account directives are written influences the order + in which accounts appear in reports, hledger-ui, hledger-web etc. By + default accounts appear in alphabetical order, but if you add these + account directives to the journal file: - o on the same line, after two or more spaces (because ; is allowed in - account names) + account assets + account liabilities + account equity + account revenues + account expenses - o on the next lines, indented + those accounts will be displayed in declaration order: - An example of both: + $ hledger accounts -1 + assets + liabilities + equity + revenues + expenses - account assets:bank:checking ; same-line comment, note 2+ spaces required before ; - ; next-line comment - ; some tags, type:A, acctnum:12345 + Any undeclared accounts are displayed last, in alphabetical order. - Compatibility note: same-line comments are not supported by Ledger or - hledger <1.13. + Sorting is done at each level of the account tree, within each group of + sibling accounts under the same parent. And currently, this directive: - Account subdirectives - We also allow (and ignore) Ledger-style indented subdirectives, just - for compatibility.: + account other:zoo - account assets:bank:checking - format blah blah ; <- subdirective, ignored + would influence the position of zoo among other's subaccounts, but not + the position of other among the top-level accounts. This means: - Here is the full syntax of account directives: + o you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg account other above) + that you don't intend to post to, just to customize their display + order - account ACCTNAME [;type:ACCTTYPE] [COMMENT] - [;COMMENTS] - [LEDGER-STYLE SUBDIRECTIVES, IGNORED] + o sibling accounts stay together (you couldn't display x:y in between + a:b and a:c). Account types hledger knows that accounts come in several types: assets, liabilities, @@ -5804,46 +5863,6 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT $ hledger accounts --types [ACCTPAT] [-DEPTH] [type:TYPECODES] - Account display order - Account directives also set the order in which accounts are displayed, - eg in reports, the hledger-ui accounts screen, and the hledger-web - sidebar. By default accounts are listed in alphabetical order. But if - you have these account directives in the journal: - - account assets - account liabilities - account equity - account revenues - account expenses - - you'll see those accounts displayed in declaration order, not alphabet- - ically: - - $ hledger accounts -1 - assets - liabilities - equity - revenues - expenses - - Undeclared accounts, if any, are displayed last, in alphabetical order. - - Note that sorting is done at each level of the account tree (within - each group of sibling accounts under the same parent). And currently, - this directive: - - account other:zoo - - would influence the position of zoo among other's subaccounts, but not - the position of other among the top-level accounts. This means: - - o you will sometimes declare parent accounts (eg account other above) - that you don't intend to post to, just to customize their display - order - - o sibling accounts stay together (you couldn't display x:y in between - a:b and a:c). - Rewriting accounts You can define account alias rules which rewrite your account names, or parts of them, before generating reports. This can be useful for: @@ -5861,7 +5880,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o customising reports Account aliases also rewrite account names in account directives. They - do not affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger- + 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- @@ -5871,9 +5890,9 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -5881,17 +5900,17 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 - replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Sub- + OLD and NEW are case sensitive full account names. hledger will + replace any occurrence of the old account name with the new one. Sub- accounts 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 + 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 expression.) Eg: @@ -5902,13 +5921,13 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT $ hledger --alias '/REGEX/=REPLACEMENT' ... - Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by + Any part of an account name matched by REGEX will be replaced by REPLACEMENT. 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 @@ -5918,21 +5937,21 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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: @@ -5943,15 +5962,15 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -5984,7 +6003,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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: @@ -5996,8 +6015,8 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -6011,25 +6030,25 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT Aliases and account types If an account with a type declaration (see Declaring accounts > Account - types) is renamed by an alias, normally the account type remains in + types) is renamed by an alias, normally the account type remains in effect. - 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 Default parent account - You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all - accounts within a section of the journal. Use the apply account and + You can specify a parent account which will be prepended to all + accounts within a section of the journal. Use the apply account and end apply account directives like so: apply account home @@ -6046,7 +6065,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT home:food $10 home:cash $-10 - If end apply account is omitted, the effect lasts to the end of the + If end apply account is omitted, the effect lasts to the end of the file. Included files are also affected, eg: apply account business @@ -6055,49 +6074,49 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT apply account personal include personal.journal - Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy account and end spellings were also sup- + Prior to hledger 1.0, legacy account and end spellings were also sup- ported. - A default parent account also affects account directives. It does not - affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger-web. If - account aliases are present, they are applied after the default parent + A default parent account also affects account directives. It does not + affect account names being entered via hledger add or hledger-web. If + account aliases are present, they are applied after the default parent account. Periodic transactions - Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. They - allow hledger to generate temporary future transactions to help with - forecasting, so you don't have to write out each one in the journal, + Periodic transaction rules describe transactions that recur. They + allow hledger to generate temporary future transactions to help with + forecasting, so you don't have to write out each one in the journal, and it's easy to try out different forecasts. - Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, + Periodic transactions can be a little tricky, so before you use them, read this whole section - or at least these 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 + 5. period expressions can be tricky. Their documentation needs improvement, 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 - 2020/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from + inconsistent with the above.) Eg: ~ every 10th day of month from + 2020/01, which is equivalent to ~ every 10th day of month from 2020/01/01, will be adjusted to start on 2019/12/10. Periodic transaction rules also have a second meaning: they are used to @@ -6112,14 +6131,14 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT expenses:rent $2000 assets:bank:checking - There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start - date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. Eg monthly from + There is an additional constraint on the period expression: the start + date must fall on a natural boundary of the interval. Eg monthly from 2018/1/1 is valid, but monthly from 2018/1/15 is not. 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 - results 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 + results 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 @@ -6128,11 +6147,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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: @@ -6146,34 +6165,34 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 + o Don't accidentally write two spaces in the middle of your period expression. Forecasting with periodic transactions - The --forecast flag activates any periodic transaction rules in the - journal. These will generate temporary additional transactions, usu- - ally recurring and in the future, which will appear in all reports. + The --forecast flag activates any periodic transaction rules in the + journal. These will generate temporary additional transactions, usu- + ally recurring and in the future, which will appear in all reports. hledger print --forecast is a good way to see them. - This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps + This can be useful for estimating balances into the future, perhaps experimenting with different scenarios. - It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe - recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of print + It could also be useful for scripted data entry: you could describe + recurring transactions, and every so often copy the output of print --forecast into the journal. - The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like generated- - transaction:~ PERIODICEXPR, indicating which periodic rule generated - them. There is also a similar, hidden tag, named _generated-transac- + The generated transactions will have an extra tag, like generated- + transaction:~ PERIODICEXPR, indicating which periodic rule generated + them. There is also a similar, hidden tag, named _generated-transac- tion:, which you can use to reliably match transactions generated "just now" (rather than printed in the past). The forecast transactions are generated within a forecast period, which - is independent of the report period. (Forecast period sets the bounds - for generated transactions, report period controls which transactions + is independent of the report period. (Forecast period sets the bounds + for generated transactions, report period controls which transactions are reported.) The forecast period begins on: o the start date provided within --forecast's argument, if any @@ -6182,7 +6201,7 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o the report start date, if specified (with -b/-p/date:) - o the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, if + o the day after the latest ordinary transaction in the journal, if any o otherwise today. @@ -6195,17 +6214,17 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o otherwise 180 days (6 months) from today. - Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic - transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start + Note, this means that ordinary transactions will suppress periodic + transactions, by default; the periodic transactions will not start until after the last ordinary transaction. This is usually convenient, but you can get around it in two ways: - o If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them - periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: ~ YYYY-MM-DD) - rather than ordinary transactions. That way they won't suppress + o If you need to record some transactions in the future, make them + periodic transactions (with a single occurrence, eg: ~ YYYY-MM-DD) + rather than ordinary transactions. That way they won't suppress other periodic transactions. - o Or give --forecast a period expression argument. A forecast period + o Or give --forecast a period expression argument. A forecast period specified this way can overlap ordinary transactions, and need not be in the future. Some things to note: @@ -6214,25 +6233,25 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT o The period expression can specify the forecast period's start date, end date, or both. See also Report start & end date. - o The period expression should not specify a report interval. (Each + o The period expression should not specify a report interval. (Each periodic transaction rule specifies its own interval.) - Some examples: --forecast=202001-202004, --forecast=jan-, --fore- + Some examples: --forecast=202001-202004, --forecast=jan-, --fore- cast=2021. Budgeting with periodic transactions - With the --budget flag, currently supported by the balance command, - each periodic transaction rule declares recurring budget goals for the - specified accounts. Eg the first example above declares a goal of - spending $2000 on rent (and also, a goal of depositing $2000 into - checking) every month. Goals and actual performance can then be com- + With the --budget flag, currently supported by the balance command, + each periodic transaction rule declares recurring budget goals for the + specified accounts. Eg the first example above declares a goal of + spending $2000 on rent (and also, a goal of depositing $2000 into + checking) every month. Goals and actual performance can then be com- pared in budget reports. See also: Budgeting and Forecasting. Auto postings - "Automated postings" or "auto postings" are extra postings which get + "Automated postings" or "auto postings" are extra postings which get added automatically to transactions which match certain queries, defined by "auto posting rules", when you use the --auto flag. @@ -6243,27 +6262,27 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT ... ACCOUNT [AMOUNT] - except the first line is an equals sign (mnemonic: = suggests match- - ing), followed by a query (which matches existing postings), and each - "posting" line describes a posting to be generated, and the posting + except the first line is an equals sign (mnemonic: = suggests match- + ing), followed by a query (which matches existing postings), and each + "posting" line describes a posting to be generated, and the posting amounts can be: - o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg $2. This will be used + o a normal amount with a commodity symbol, eg $2. This will be used as-is. o a number, eg 2. The commodity symbol (if any) from the matched post- ing will be added to this. - o a numeric multiplier, eg *2 (a star followed by a number N). The + o a numeric multiplier, eg *2 (a star followed by a number N). The matched posting's amount (and total price, if any) will be multiplied by N. - o a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg *$2 (a star, number N, and + o a multiplier with a commodity symbol, eg *$2 (a star, number N, and symbol S). The matched posting's amount will be multiplied by N, and its commodity symbol will be replaced with S. - Any query term containing spaces must be enclosed in single or double - quotes, as on the command line. Eg, note the quotes around the second + Any query term containing spaces must be enclosed in single or double + quotes, as on the command line. Eg, note the quotes around the second query term below: = expenses:groceries 'expenses:dining out' @@ -6302,29 +6321,29 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -6333,11 +6352,11 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT 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 @@ -6348,63 +6367,65 @@ JOURNAL FORMAT CSV FORMAT How hledger reads CSV data, and the CSV rules file format. - hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, - semicolon, or tab) containing dated records as if they were journal + hledger can read CSV files (Character Separated Value - usually comma, + semicolon, or tab) containing dated records as if they were journal files, automatically converting each CSV record into a transaction. (To learn about writing CSV, see CSV output.) We describe each CSV file's format with a corresponding rules file. By - default this is named like the CSV file with a .rules extension added. - Eg when reading FILE.csv, hledger also looks for FILE.csv.rules in the - same directory as FILE.csv. You can specify a different rules file - with the --rules-file option. If a rules file is not found, hledger + default this is named like the CSV file with a .rules extension added. + Eg when reading FILE.csv, hledger also looks for FILE.csv.rules in the + same directory as FILE.csv. You can specify a different rules file + with the --rules-file option. If a rules file is not found, hledger will create a sample rules file, which you'll need to adjust. - This file contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields + This file contains rules describing the CSV data (header line, fields layout, date format etc.), and how to construct hledger journal entries (transactions) from it. Often there will also be a list of conditional rules for categorising transactions based on their descriptions. - Here's an overview of the CSV rules; these are described more fully + Here's an overview of the CSV rules; these are described more fully below, after the examples: + + skip skip one or more header lines or matched CSV records - fields list name CSV fields, assign them to hledger + fields list name CSV fields, assign them to hledger fields - field assignment assign a value to one hledger field, with + field assignment assign a value to one hledger field, with interpolation Field names hledger field names, used in the fields list and field assignments separator a custom field separator - if block apply some rules to CSV records matched by + if block apply some rules to CSV records matched by patterns - if table apply some rules to CSV records matched by + if table apply some rules to CSV records matched by patterns, alternate syntax end skip the remaining CSV records date-format how to parse dates in CSV records - decimal-mark the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if + decimal-mark the decimal mark used in CSV amounts, if ambiguous - newest-first disambiguate record order when there's only + newest-first disambiguate record order when there's only one date include inline another CSV rules file - balance-type choose which type of balance assignments to + balance-type choose which type of balance assignments to use - Note, for best error messages when reading CSV files, use a .csv, .tsv + Note, for best error messages when reading CSV files, use a .csv, .tsv or .ssv file extension or file prefix - see File Extension below. - There's an introductory Convert CSV files tutorial on hledger.org. + There's an introductory Importing CSV data tutorial on hledger.org. Examples - Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. See also the full col- + Here are some sample hledger CSV rules files. See also the full col- lection at: https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/tree/master/examples/csv Basic - 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 @@ -6423,8 +6444,8 @@ CSV FORMAT Default account names are chosen, since we didn't set them. Bank of Ireland - Here's a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a balance - field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not neces- + Here's a CSV with two amount fields (Debit and Credit), and a balance + field, which we can use to add balance assertions, which is not neces- sary but provides extra error checking: Date,Details,Debit,Credit,Balance @@ -6466,13 +6487,13 @@ CSV FORMAT assets:bank:boi:checking EUR-5.0 = EUR126.0 expenses:unknown EUR5.0 - The balance assertions don't raise an error above, because we're read- - ing directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are + The balance assertions don't raise an error above, because we're read- + ing directly from CSV, but they will be checked if these entries are imported into a journal file. Amazon Here we convert amazon.com order history, and use an if block to gener- - ate a third posting if there's a fee. (In practice you'd probably get + ate a third posting if there's a fee. (In practice you'd probably get this data from your bank instead, but it's an example.) "Date","Type","To/From","Name","Status","Amount","Fees","Transaction ID" @@ -6524,7 +6545,7 @@ CSV FORMAT expenses:fees $1.00 Paypal - Here's a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with some + Here's a real-world rules file for (customised) Paypal CSV, with some Paypal-specific rules, and a second rules file included: "Date","Time","TimeZone","Name","Type","Status","Currency","Gross","Fee","Net","From Email Address","To Email Address","Transaction ID","Item Title","Item ID","Reference Txn ID","Receipt ID","Balance","Note" @@ -6679,9 +6700,9 @@ CSV FORMAT skip skip N - The word "skip" followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells - hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data. - (Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this when- + The word "skip" followed by a number (or no number, meaning 1) tells + hledger to ignore this many non-empty lines preceding the CSV data. + (Empty/blank lines are skipped automatically.) You'll need this when- ever your CSV data contains header lines. It also has a second purpose: it can be used inside if blocks to ignore @@ -6690,19 +6711,19 @@ CSV FORMAT fields list fields FIELDNAME1, FIELDNAME2, ... - A fields list (the word "fields" followed by comma-separated field - names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger fields. - (The other way is field assignments, see below.) A fields list does + A fields list (the word "fields" followed by comma-separated field + names) is the quick way to assign CSV field values to hledger fields. + (The other way is field assignments, see below.) A fields list does does two things: - 1. It names the CSV fields. This is optional, but can be convenient + 1. It names the CSV fields. This is optional, but can be convenient later for interpolating them. - 2. Whenever you use a standard hledger field name (defined below), the + 2. Whenever you use a standard hledger field name (defined below), the CSV value is assigned to that part of the hledger 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 @@ -6712,20 +6733,20 @@ CSV FORMAT o The fields list always use commas, even if your CSV data uses another separator character. - o Currently there must be least two items in the list (at least one + o Currently 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 If the CSV contains column headings, it's a good idea to use these, + o If the CSV contains column headings, it's a good idea to use these, suitably modified, as the basis for your field names (eg lower-cased, with underscores instead of spaces). - o If some heading names match standard hledger fields, but you don't - want to set the hledger fields directly, alter those names, eg by + o If some heading names match standard hledger fields, but you don't + want to set the hledger fields directly, alter those names, eg by appending an underscore. o Fields you don't care about can be given a dummy name (eg: _ ), or no @@ -6734,15 +6755,15 @@ CSV FORMAT field assignment HLEDGERFIELDNAME 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 by their 1-based position in the CSV - record (%N), or by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSV- + 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 by their 1-based position in the CSV + record (%N), or by the name they were given in the fields list (%CSV- FIELDNAME). Some examples: @@ -6755,15 +6776,15 @@ CSV FORMAT Tips: - o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " + o Interpolation strips outer whitespace (so a CSV value like " 1 " becomes 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 Here are the standard hledger field (and pseudo-field) names, which you - can use in a fields list and in field assignments. For more about the + can use in a fields list and in field assignments. For more about the transaction parts they refer to, see Transactions. date field @@ -6797,63 +6818,63 @@ CSV FORMAT 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, and in conditional blocks. - 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 - amountN sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to - be generated. By assigning to amount1, amount2, ... etc. you can + amountN sets the amount of the Nth posting, and causes that posting to + be generated. By assigning to amount1, amount2, ... etc. you can generate up to 99 postings. - amountN-in and amountN-out can be used instead, if the CSV uses sepa- - rate fields for debits and credits (inflows and outflows). hledger - assumes both of these CSV fields are unsigned, and will automatically - negate the "-out" value. If they are signed, see "Setting amounts" + amountN-in and amountN-out can be used instead, if the CSV uses sepa- + rate fields for debits and credits (inflows and outflows). hledger + assumes both of these CSV fields are unsigned, and will automatically + negate the "-out" value. If they are signed, see "Setting amounts" below. - amount, or amount-in and amount-out are a legacy mode, to keep pre- - hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for occasional convenience). - They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both - posting 1's and posting 2's amount. Posting 2's amount will be + amount, or amount-in and amount-out are a legacy mode, to keep pre- + hledger-1.17 CSV rules files working (and for occasional convenience). + They are suitable only for two-posting transactions; they set both + posting 1's and posting 2's amount. Posting 2's amount will be negated, and also converted to cost if there's a transaction price. If you have an existing rules file using the unnumbered form, you might - want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, without - having to update and retest all the old rules. To facilitate this, - posting 1 ignores amount/amount-in/amount-out if any of + want to use the numbered form in certain conditional blocks, without + having to update and retest all the old rules. To facilitate this, + posting 1 ignores amount/amount-in/amount-out if any of amount1/amount1-in/amount1-out are assigned, and posting 2 ignores them - if any of amount2/amount2-in/amount2-out are assigned, avoiding con- + if any of amount2/amount2-in/amount2-out are assigned, avoiding con- flicts. 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. + 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 Tips below for more about setting amounts and currency. 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 , @@ -6866,7 +6887,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 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. @@ -6881,8 +6902,8 @@ CSV FORMAT RULE RULE - Conditional blocks ("if blocks") are a block of rules that are applied - only to CSV records which match certain patterns. They are often used + Conditional blocks ("if blocks") are a block of rules that are applied + only to CSV records which match certain patterns. They are often used for customising account names based on transaction descriptions. Matching the whole record @@ -6891,16 +6912,16 @@ CSV FORMAT REGEX REGEX is a case-insensitive regular expression that tries to match any- - where within the CSV record. It is a POSIX ERE (extended regular - expression) that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>), - and nothing else. If you have trouble, be sure to check our doc: + where within the CSV record. It is a POSIX ERE (extended regular + expression) that also supports GNU word boundaries (\b, \B, \<, \>), + and nothing else. If you have trouble, be sure to check our doc: https://hledger.org/hledger.html#regular-expressions - Important note: the record that is matched is not the original record, - but a synthetic one, with any enclosing double quotes (but not enclos- + Important note: the record that is matched is not the original record, + but a synthetic one, with any enclosing double quotes (but not enclos- ing whitespace) removed, and always comma-separated (which means that a - field containing a comma will appear like two fields). Eg, if the - original record is 2020-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000, the REGEX will + field containing a comma will appear like two fields). Eg, if the + original record is 2020-01-01; "Acme, Inc."; 1,000, the REGEX will actually see 2020-01-01,Acme, Inc., 1,000). Matching individual fields @@ -6908,14 +6929,14 @@ CSV FORMAT %CSVFIELD REGEX - which matches just the content of a particular CSV field. CSVFIELD is - a percent sign followed by the field's name or column number, like + which matches just the content of a particular CSV field. CSVFIELD is + a percent sign followed by the field's name or column number, like %date or %1. Combining matchers A single matcher can be written on the same line as the "if"; or multi- ple matchers can be written on the following lines, non-indented. Mul- - tiple matchers are OR'd (any one of them can match), unless one begins + tiple matchers are OR'd (any one of them can match), unless one begins with an & symbol, in which case it is AND'ed with the previous matcher. if @@ -6924,8 +6945,8 @@ CSV FORMAT RULE Rules applied on successful match - After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all - indented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in + After the patterns there should be one or more rules to apply, all + indented by at least one space. Three kinds of rule are allowed in conditional blocks: o field assignments (to set a hledger field) @@ -6955,11 +6976,11 @@ CSV FORMAT MATCHER3,VALUE31,VALUE32,...,VALUE3n - Conditional tables ("if tables") are a different syntax to specify - field assignments that will be applied only to CSV records which match + Conditional tables ("if tables") are a different syntax to specify + field assignments that will be applied only to CSV records which match certain patterns. - MATCHER could be either field or record matcher, as described above. + MATCHER could be either field or record matcher, as described above. When MATCHER matches, values from that row would be assigned to the CSV fields named on the if line, in the same order. @@ -6983,17 +7004,17 @@ CSV FORMAT ... CSVFIELDNAMEn VALUE3n - Each line starting with MATCHER should contain enough (possibly empty) + Each line starting with MATCHER should contain enough (possibly empty) values for all the listed fields. - Rules would be checked and applied in the order they are listed in the + Rules would be checked and applied in the order they are listed in the table and, like with if blocks, later rules (in the same or another ta- ble) or if blocks could override the effect of any rule. - Instead of ',' you can use a variety of other non-alphanumeric charac- + Instead of ',' you can use a variety of other non-alphanumeric charac- ters as a separator. First character after if is taken to be the sepa- - rator for the rest of the table. It is the responsibility of the user - to ensure that separator does not occur inside MATCHERs and values - + rator for the rest of the table. It is the responsibility of the user + to ensure that separator does not occur inside MATCHERs and values - there is no way to escape separator. Example: @@ -7004,7 +7025,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 2020/01/12.*Plumbing LLC,expenses:house:upkeep,emergency plumbing call-out end - This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop + This rule can be used inside if blocks (only), to make hledger stop reading this CSV file and move on to the next input file, or to command execution. Eg: @@ -7015,10 +7036,10 @@ CSV FORMAT 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 date - parsing pattern, which must parse the CSV date value completely. Some + 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 date + parsing pattern, which must parse the CSV date value completely. Some examples: # MM/DD/YY @@ -7039,9 +7060,9 @@ CSV FORMAT https://hackage.haskell.org/package/time/docs/Data-Time-For- mat.html#v:formatTime - Note that although you can parse date-times which include a time zone, - that time zone is ignored; it will not change the date that is parsed. - This means when reading CSV data with times not in your local time + Note that although you can parse date-times which include a time zone, + that time zone is ignored; it will not change the date that is parsed. + This means when reading CSV data with times not in your local time zone, dates can be "off by one". decimal-mark @@ -7051,22 +7072,22 @@ CSV FORMAT 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. newest-first - hledger always sorts the generated transactions by date. Transactions - on the same date should appear in the same order as their CSV records, - as hledger can usually auto-detect whether the CSV's normal order is + hledger always sorts the generated transactions by date. Transactions + on the same date should appear in the same order as their CSV records, + as hledger can usually auto-detect whether the CSV's normal order is oldest first or newest first. But if all of the following are true: - o the CSV might sometimes contain just one day of data (all records + o the CSV might sometimes contain just one day of data (all records having the same date) - o the CSV records are normally in reverse chronological order (newest + o the CSV records are normally in reverse chronological order (newest at the top) o and you care about preserving the order of same-day transactions @@ -7079,9 +7100,9 @@ CSV FORMAT include include RULESFILE - This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point. - RULESFILE is an absolute file path or a path relative to the current - file's directory. This can be useful for sharing common rules between + This includes the contents of another CSV rules file at this point. + RULESFILE is an absolute file path or a path relative to the current + file's directory. This can be useful for sharing common rules between several rules files, eg: # someaccount.csv.rules @@ -7096,10 +7117,10 @@ CSV FORMAT balance-type Balance assertions generated by assigning to balanceN are of the simple - = type by default, which is a single-commodity, subaccount-excluding + = type by default, which is a single-commodity, subaccount-excluding assertion. You may find the subaccount-including variants more useful, - eg if you have created some virtual subaccounts of checking to help - with budgeting. You can select a different type of assertion with the + eg if you have created some virtual subaccounts of checking to help + with budgeting. You can select a different type of assertion with the balance-type rule: # balance assertions will consider all commodities and all subaccounts @@ -7114,18 +7135,18 @@ CSV FORMAT Tips Rapid feedback - It's a good idea to get rapid feedback while creating/troubleshooting + It's a good idea to get rapid feedback while creating/troubleshooting CSV rules. Here's a good way, using entr from eradman.com/entrproject: $ ls foo.csv* | entr bash -c 'echo ----; hledger -f foo.csv print desc:SOMEDESC' - A desc: query (eg) is used to select just one, or a few, transactions - of interest. "bash -c" is used to run multiple commands, so we can - echo a separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to + A desc: query (eg) is used to select just one, or a few, transactions + of interest. "bash -c" is used to run multiple commands, so we can + echo a separator each time the command re-runs, making it easier to read the output. Valid CSV - hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. When CSV values are + hledger accepts CSV conforming to RFC 4180. When CSV values are enclosed in quotes, note: o they must be double quotes (not single quotes) @@ -7133,9 +7154,9 @@ CSV FORMAT o spaces outside the quotes are not allowed File Extension - To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, - CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a .csv, .ssv or .tsv - filename extension. Or, the file path should be prefixed with csv:, + To help hledger identify the format and show the right error messages, + CSV/SSV/TSV files should normally be named with a .csv, .ssv or .tsv + filename extension. Or, the file path should be prefixed with csv:, ssv: or tsv:. Eg: $ hledger -f foo.ssv print @@ -7144,48 +7165,48 @@ CSV FORMAT $ cat foo | hledger -f ssv:- foo - You can override the file extension with a separator rule if needed. + You can override the file extension with a separator rule if needed. See also: Input files in the hledger manual. Reading multiple CSV files - If you use multiple -f options to read multiple CSV files at once, - hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each CSV - file. But if you use the --rules-file option, that rules file will be + If you use multiple -f options to read multiple CSV files at once, + hledger will look for a correspondingly-named rules file for each CSV + file. But if you use the --rules-file option, that rules file will be used for all the CSV files. Valid transactions After reading a CSV file, hledger post-processes and validates the gen- erated journal entries as it would for a journal file - balancing them, - applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. Any - errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying the + applying balance assignments, and canonicalising amount styles. Any + errors at this stage will be reported in the usual way, displaying the problem entry. There is one exception: balance assertions, if you have generated them, - will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV - data is part of the main journal. If you do need to check balance + will not be checked, since normally these will work only when the CSV + data is part of the main journal. If you do need to check balance assertions generated from CSV right away, pipe into another hledger: $ hledger -f file.csv print | hledger -f- print Deduplicating, importing - When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank - transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing + When you download a CSV file periodically, eg to get your latest bank + transactions, the new file may overlap with the old one, containing some of the same records. The import command will (a) detect the new transactions, and (b) append just those transactions to your main journal. It is idempotent, so you - don't have to remember how many times you ran it or with which version - of the CSV. (It keeps state in a hidden .latest.FILE.csv file.) This + don't have to remember how many times you ran it or with which version + of the CSV. (It keeps state in a hidden .latest.FILE.csv file.) This is the easiest way to import CSV data. Eg: # download the latest CSV files, then run this command. # Note, no -f flags needed here. $ hledger import *.csv [--dry] - This method works for most CSV files. (Where records have a stable + This method works for most CSV files. (Where records have a stable chronological order, and new records appear only at the new end.) - A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, + A number of other tools and workflows, hledger-specific and otherwise, exist for converting, deduplicating, classifying and managing CSV data. See: @@ -7206,13 +7227,13 @@ CSV FORMAT a. If both fields are unsigned: Assign to amountN-in and amountN-out. This sets posting N's amount - to whichever of these has a non-zero value, and negates the "-out" + to whichever of these has a non-zero value, and negates the "-out" value. b. If either field is signed (can contain a minus sign): - Use a conditional rule to flip the sign (of non-empty values). - Since hledger always negates amountN-out, if it was already nega- - tive, we must undo that by negating once more (but only if the + Use a conditional rule to flip the sign (of non-empty values). + Since hledger always negates amountN-out, if it was already nega- + tive, we must undo that by negating once more (but only if the field is non-empty): fields date, description, amount1-in, amount1-out @@ -7220,8 +7241,8 @@ CSV FORMAT amount1-out -%amount1-out c. If both fields, or neither field, can contain a non-zero value: - hledger normally expects exactly one of the fields to have a non- - zero value. Eg, the amountN-in/amountN-out rules would reject + hledger normally expects exactly one of the fields to have a non- + zero value. Eg, the amountN-in/amountN-out rules would reject value pairs like these: "", "" @@ -7229,7 +7250,7 @@ CSV FORMAT "1", "none" So, use smarter conditional rules to set the amount from the appro- - priate field. Eg, these rules would make it use only the value + priate field. Eg, these rules would make it use only the value containing non-zero digits, handling the above: fields date, description, in, out @@ -7240,7 +7261,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 3. If you want posting 2's amount converted to cost: Assign to amount (or to amount-in and amount-out). (This is the legacy - numberless syntax, which sets amount1 and amount2 and converts amount2 + numberless syntax, which sets amount1 and amount2 and converts amount2 to cost.) 4. If the CSV has the balance instead of the transaction amount: @@ -7248,15 +7269,15 @@ CSV FORMAT ance assignment. (Old syntax: balance, equivalent to balance1.) o If hledger guesses the wrong default account name: - When setting the amount via balance assertion, hledger may guess - the wrong default account name. So, set the account name explic- + When setting the amount via balance assertion, hledger may guess + the wrong default account name. So, set the account name explic- itly, eg: fields date, description, balance1 account1 assets:checking Amount signs - There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing + There is some special handling for amount signs, to simplify parsing and sign-flipping: o If an amount value begins with a plus sign: @@ -7265,17 +7286,17 @@ CSV FORMAT o If an amount value is parenthesised: it will be de-parenthesised and sign-flipped: (AMT) becomes -AMT - o If an amount value has two minus signs (or two sets of parentheses, + o If an amount value has two minus signs (or two sets of parentheses, or a minus sign and parentheses): they cancel out and will be removed: --AMT or -(AMT) becomes AMT - o If an amount value contains just a sign (or just a set of parenthe- + o If an amount value contains just a sign (or just a set of parenthe- ses): - that is removed, making it an empty value. "+" or "-" or "()" becomes + that is removed, making it an empty value. "+" or "-" or "()" becomes "". Setting currency/commodity - If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV's amount + If the currency/commodity symbol is included in the CSV's amount field(s): 2020-01-01,foo,$123.00 @@ -7294,7 +7315,7 @@ CSV FORMAT 2020-01-01,foo,USD,123.00 You can assign that to the currency pseudo-field, which has the special - effect of prepending itself to every amount in the transaction (on the + effect of prepending itself to every amount in the transaction (on the left, with no separating space): fields date,description,currency,amount @@ -7303,7 +7324,7 @@ CSV FORMAT expenses:unknown USD123.00 income:unknown USD-123.00 - Or, you can use a field assignment to construct the amount yourself, + Or, you can use a field assignment to construct the amount yourself, with more control. Eg to put the symbol on the right, and separated by a space: @@ -7314,7 +7335,7 @@ CSV FORMAT expenses:unknown 123.00 USD income:unknown -123.00 USD - Note we used a temporary field name (cur) that is not currency - that + Note we used a temporary field name (cur) that is not currency - that would trigger the prepending effect, which we don't want here. Amount decimal places @@ -7322,13 +7343,13 @@ CSV FORMAT amount1 influence commodity display styles, such as the number of deci- mal places displayed in reports. - The original amounts as written in the CSV file do not affect display + The original amounts as written in the CSV file do not affect display style (because we don't yet reliably know their commodity). Referencing other fields - In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger - fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger - field named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the + In field assignments, you can interpolate only CSV fields, not hledger + fields. In the example below, there's both a CSV field and a hledger + field named amount1, but %amount1 always means the CSV field, not the hledger field: # Name the third CSV field "amount1" @@ -7340,7 +7361,7 @@ CSV FORMAT # Set comment to the CSV amount1 (not the amount1 assigned above) comment %amount1 - Here, since there's no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a lit- + Here, since there's no CSV amount1 field, %amount1 will produce a lit- eral "amount1": fields date,description,csvamount @@ -7348,7 +7369,7 @@ CSV FORMAT # Can't interpolate amount1 here comment %amount1 - When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, + When there are multiple field assignments to the same hledger field, only the last one takes effect. Here, comment's value will be be B, or C if "something" is matched, but never A: @@ -7358,14 +7379,14 @@ CSV FORMAT comment C How CSV rules are evaluated - Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need + Here's how to think of CSV rules being evaluated (if you really need to). First, - o include - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth first. - (At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further + o include - all includes are inlined, from top to bottom, depth first. + (At each include point the file is inlined and scanned for further includes, recursively, before proceeding.) - Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is + Then "global" rules are evaluated, top to bottom. If a rule is repeated, the last one wins: o skip (at top level) @@ -7379,33 +7400,33 @@ CSV FORMAT Then for each CSV record in turn: - o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all + o test all if blocks. If any of them contain a end rule, skip all remaining CSV records. Otherwise if any of them contain a skip rule, - skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip + skip that many CSV records. If there are multiple matched skip rules, the first one wins. - o collect all field assignments at top level and in matched if blocks. - When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last + o collect all field assignments at top level and in matched if blocks. + When there are multiple assignments for a field, keep only the last one. - o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was - assigned to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a + o compute a value for each hledger field - either the one that was + assigned to it (and interpolate the %CSVFIELDNAME references), or a default o generate a synthetic hledger transaction from these values. - This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can - use to parse input files. When all files have been read successfully, - the transactions are passed as input to whichever hledger command the + This is all part of the CSV reader, one of several readers hledger can + use to parse input files. When all files have been read successfully, + the transactions are passed as input to whichever hledger command the user specified. TIMECLOCK FORMAT The time logging format of timeclock.el, as read by hledger. - hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. As with Ledger, these + hledger can read time logs in timeclock format. As with Ledger, these are (a subset of) timeclock.el's format, containing clock-in and clock- - out entries as in the example below. The date is a simple date. The - time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. Seconds and timezone are optional. + out entries as in the example below. The date is a simple date. The + time format is HH:MM[:SS][+-ZZZZ]. Seconds and timezone are optional. The timezone, if present, must be four digits and is ignored (currently the time is always interpreted as a local time). @@ -7414,9 +7435,9 @@ TIMECLOCK FORMAT i 2015/03/31 22:21:45 another account o 2015/04/01 02:00:34 - hledger treats each clock-in/clock-out pair as a transaction posting - some number of hours to an account. Or if the session spans more than - one day, it is split into several transactions, one for each day. For + hledger treats each clock-in/clock-out pair as a transaction posting + some number of hours to an account. Or if the session spans more than + one day, it is split into several transactions, one for each day. For the above time log, hledger print generates these journal entries: $ hledger -f t.timeclock print @@ -7437,26 +7458,26 @@ TIMECLOCK FORMAT To generate time logs, ie to clock in and clock out, you could: - o use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or the extended timeclock- + o use emacs and the built-in timeclock.el, or the extended timeclock- x.el and perhaps the extras in ledgerutils.el o at the command line, use these bash aliases: shell alias ti="echo - i `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` \$* >>$TIMELOG" alias to="echo o + i `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` \$* >>$TIMELOG" alias to="echo o `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` >>$TIMELOG" o or use the old ti and to scripts in the ledger 2.x repository. These - rely on a "timeclock" executable which I think is just the ledger 2 + rely on a "timeclock" executable which I think is just the ledger 2 executable renamed. TIMEDOT FORMAT - timedot format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Com- + timedot format is hledger's human-friendly time logging format. Com- pared to timeclock format, it is o convenient for quick, approximate, and retroactive time logging o readable: you can see at a glance where time was spent. - A timedot file contains a series of day entries, which might look like + A timedot file contains a series of day entries, which might look like this: 2021-08-04 @@ -7464,7 +7485,7 @@ TIMEDOT FORMAT fos:hledger:timedot .. ; docs per:admin:finance - hledger reads this as three time transactions on this day, with each + hledger reads this as three time transactions on this day, with each dot representing a quarter-hour spent: $ hledger -f a.timedot print # .timedot file extension activates the timedot reader @@ -7487,45 +7508,45 @@ TIMEDOT FORMAT o a common transaction comment for this day, after a semicolon (;). - After the date line are zero or more optionally-indented time transac- + After the date line are zero or more optionally-indented time transac- tion lines, consisting of: o an account name - any word or phrase, usually a hledger-style account name. - o two or more spaces - a field separator, required if there is an + o two or more spaces - a field separator, required if there is an amount (as in journal format). - o a timedot amount - dots representing quarter hours, or a number rep- + o a timedot amount - dots representing quarter hours, or a number rep- resenting hours. o an optional comment beginning with semicolon. This is ignored. In more detail, timedot amounts can be: - o dots: zero or more period characters, each representing one quarter- - hour. Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping. Eg: .... .. + o dots: zero or more period characters, each representing one quarter- + hour. Spaces are ignored and can be used for grouping. Eg: .... .. o a number, representing hours. Eg: 1.5 - o a number immediately followed by a unit symbol s, m, h, d, w, mo, or + o a number immediately followed by a unit symbol s, m, h, d, w, mo, or y, representing seconds, minutes, hours, days weeks, months or years. Eg 1.5h or 90m. The following equivalencies are assumed: - 60s = 1m, 60m = 1h, 24h = 1d, 7d = 1w, 30d = 1mo, 365d = 1y. (This - unit will not be visible in the generated transaction amount, which is + 60s = 1m, 60m = 1h, 24h = 1d, 7d = 1w, 30d = 1mo, 365d = 1y. (This + unit will not be visible in the generated transaction amount, which is always in hours.) - There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in + There is some added flexibility to help with keeping time log data in the same file as your notes, todo lists, etc.: o Lines beginning with # or ;, and blank lines, are ignored. - o Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as trans- - actions with zero amount. (Most hledger reports hide these by + o Lines not ending with a double-space and amount are parsed as trans- + actions with zero amount. (Most hledger reports hide these by default; add -E to see them.) o One or more stars (*) followed by a space, at the start of a line, is - ignored. So date lines or time transaction lines can also be Org- + ignored. So date lines or time transaction lines can also be Org- mode headlines. o All Org-mode headlines before the first date line are ignored. @@ -7608,44 +7629,48 @@ TIMEDOT FORMAT A sample.timedot file. COMMON TASKS - Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with - hledger. For more details, see the reference section below, the - hledger_journal(5) manual, or the more extensive docs at - https://hledger.org. + Here are some quick examples of how to do some basic tasks with + hledger. Getting help - $ hledger # show available commands - $ hledger --help # show common options - $ hledger CMD --help # show common and command options, and command help - $ hledger help # show available manuals/topics - $ hledger help hledger # show hledger manual, as info/man/text (auto-chosen) - $ hledger help journal -m # show the journal topic, as a man page scrolled to that section - $ hledger help --help # show more detailed help for the help command + Here's how to list commands and view options and command docs: - Find more docs, chat, mail list, reddit, issue tracker: - https://hledger.org/support.html + $ hledger # show available commands + $ hledger --help # show common options + $ hledger CMD --help # show common options and CMD's options and documentation + + 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 # show how the help command works + + To view manuals and introductory docs on the web, visit + https://hledger.org. Chat and mail list support and discussion ar- + chives can be found at https://hledger.org/support. Constructing command lines - hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. We + hledger has an extensive and powerful command line interface. We strive to keep it simple and ergonomic, but you may run into one of the confusing real world details described in OPTIONS, below. If that hap- pens, here are some tips that may 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 all options there) (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 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 @@ -7653,9 +7678,9 @@ COMMON TASKS 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. + You can override this by setting the LEDGER_FILE environment variable. 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 + and to start a new file each year. So you could do something like this: $ mkdir ~/finance @@ -7679,20 +7704,20 @@ COMMON TASKS Market prices : 0 () 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 + Pick a starting date for which you can look up the balances of some + real-world assets (bank accounts, wallet..) and liabilities (credit cards..). - To avoid a lot of data entry, you may want to start with just one or - two accounts, like your checking account or cash wallet; and pick a - recent starting date, like today or the start of the week. You can + To avoid a lot of data entry, you may want to start with just one or + two accounts, like your checking account or cash wallet; and pick a + recent starting date, like today or the start of the week. You can always come back later and add more accounts and older transactions, eg going back to january 1st. - Add an opening balances transaction to the journal, declaring the bal- + Add an opening balances transaction to the journal, declaring the bal- ances on this date. Here are two ways to do it: - o The first way: open the journal in any text editor and save an entry + o The first way: open the journal in any text editor and save an entry like this: 2020-01-01 * opening balances @@ -7702,19 +7727,19 @@ COMMON TASKS liabilities:creditcard $-50 = $-50 equity:opening/closing balances - These are start-of-day balances, ie whatever was in the account at + These are start-of-day balances, ie whatever was in the account at the end of the previous day. - The * after the date is an optional status flag. Here it means + The * after the date is an optional status flag. Here it means "cleared & confirmed". - The currency symbols are optional, but usually a good idea as you'll + The currency symbols are optional, but usually a good idea as you'll be dealing with multiple currencies sooner or later. - The = amounts are optional balance assertions, providing extra error + The = amounts are optional balance assertions, providing extra error checking. - o The second way: run hledger add and follow the prompts to record a + o The second way: run hledger add and follow the prompts to record a similar transaction: $ hledger add @@ -7751,18 +7776,18 @@ COMMON TASKS Starting the next transaction (. or ctrl-D/ctrl-C to quit) Date [2020-01-01]: . - If you're using version control, this could be a good time to commit + If you're using version control, this could be a good time to commit the journal. Eg: $ git commit -m 'initial balances' 2020.journal Recording transactions - As you spend or receive money, you can record these transactions using - one of the methods above (text editor, hledger add) or by using the - hledger-iadd or hledger-web add-ons, or by using the import command to + As you spend or receive money, you can record these transactions using + one of the methods above (text editor, hledger add) or by using the + hledger-iadd or hledger-web add-ons, or by using the import command to convert CSV data downloaded from your bank. - Here are some simple transactions, see the hledger_journal(5) manual + Here are some simple transactions, see the hledger_journal(5) manual and hledger.org for more ideas: 2020/1/10 * gift received @@ -7778,22 +7803,22 @@ COMMON TASKS assets:bank:checking $1000 Reconciling - Periodically you should reconcile - compare your hledger-reported bal- - ances against external sources of truth, like bank statements or your - bank's website - to be sure that your ledger accurately represents the - real-world balances (and, that the real-world institutions have not - made a mistake!). This gets easy and fast with (1) practice and (2) - frequency. If you do it daily, it can take 2-10 minutes. If you let - it pile up, expect it to take longer as you hunt down errors and dis- + Periodically you should reconcile - compare your hledger-reported bal- + ances against external sources of truth, like bank statements or your + bank's website - to be sure that your ledger accurately represents the + real-world balances (and, that the real-world institutions have not + made a mistake!). This gets easy and fast with (1) practice and (2) + frequency. If you do it daily, it can take 2-10 minutes. If you let + it pile up, expect it to take longer as you hunt down errors and dis- crepancies. A typical workflow: - 1. Reconcile cash. Count what's in your wallet. Compare with what - hledger reports (hledger bal cash). If they are different, try to - remember the missing transaction, or look for the error in the - already-recorded transactions. A register report can be helpful - (hledger reg cash). If you can't find the error, add an adjustment + 1. Reconcile cash. Count what's in your wallet. Compare with what + hledger reports (hledger bal cash). If they are different, try to + remember the missing transaction, or look for the error in the + already-recorded transactions. A register report can be helpful + (hledger reg cash). If you can't find the error, add an adjustment transaction. Eg if you have $105 after the above, and can't explain the missing $2, it could be: @@ -7803,26 +7828,26 @@ COMMON TASKS 2. Reconcile checking. Log in to your bank's website. Compare today's (cleared) balance with hledger's cleared balance (hledger bal check- - ing -C). If they are different, track down the error or record the - missing transaction(s) or add an adjustment transaction, similar to + ing -C). If they are different, track down the error or record the + missing transaction(s) or add an adjustment transaction, similar to the above. Unlike the cash case, you can usually compare the trans- - action history and running balance from your bank with the one - reported by hledger reg checking -C. This will be easier if you - generally record transaction dates quite similar to your bank's + action history and running balance from your bank with the one + reported by hledger reg checking -C. This will be easier if you + generally record transaction dates quite similar to your bank's clearing dates. 3. Repeat for other asset/liability accounts. - Tip: instead of the register command, use hledger-ui to see a live- + Tip: instead of the register command, use hledger-ui to see a live- updating register while you edit the journal: hledger-ui --watch --reg- ister checking -C - After reconciling, it could be a good time to mark the reconciled - transactions' status as "cleared and confirmed", if you want to track - that, by adding the * marker. Eg in the paycheck transaction above, + After reconciling, it could be a good time to mark the reconciled + transactions' status as "cleared and confirmed", if you want to track + that, by adding the * marker. Eg in the paycheck transaction above, insert * between 2020-01-15 and paycheck - If you're using version control, this can be another good time to com- + If you're using version control, this can be another good time to com- mit: $ git commit -m 'txns' 2020.journal @@ -7894,7 +7919,7 @@ COMMON TASKS -------------------- 0 - Show only asset and liability balances, as a flat list, limited to + Show only asset and liability balances, as a flat list, limited to depth 2: $ hledger bal assets liabilities --flat -2 @@ -7904,7 +7929,7 @@ COMMON TASKS -------------------- $4055 - Show the same thing without negative numbers, formatted as a simple + Show the same thing without negative numbers, formatted as a simple balance sheet: $ hledger bs --flat -2 @@ -7971,15 +7996,15 @@ COMMON TASKS 2020-01-13 **** Migrating to a new file - At the end of the year, you may want to continue your journal in a new + At the end of the year, you may want to continue your journal in a new file, so that old transactions don't slow down or clutter your reports, - and to help ensure the integrity of your accounting history. See the + and to help ensure the integrity of your accounting history. See the close command. If using version control, don't forget to git add the new file. LIMITATIONS - The need to precede add-on command options with -- when invoked from + The need to precede add-on command options with -- when invoked from hledger is awkward. When input data contains non-ascii characters, a suitable system locale @@ -7995,36 +8020,36 @@ LIMITATIONS In a Cygwin/MSYS/Mintty window, the tab key is not supported in hledger add. - Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax is supported. See hledger and + Not all of Ledger's journal file syntax is supported. See hledger and Ledger > Differences > journal format. - On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than + On large data files, hledger is slower and uses more memory than Ledger. TROUBLESHOOTING - Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and - remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug + Here are some issues you might encounter when you run hledger (and + remember you can also seek help from the IRC channel, mail list or bug tracker): Successfully installed, but "No command 'hledger' found" stack and cabal install binaries into a special directory, which should - be added to your PATH environment variable. Eg on unix-like systems, + be added to your PATH environment variable. Eg on unix-like systems, that is ~/.local/bin and ~/.cabal/bin respectively. I set a custom LEDGER_FILE, but hledger is still using the default file - LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell - variable. The command env | grep LEDGER_FILE should show it. You may + LEDGER_FILE should be a real environment variable, not just a shell + variable. The command env | grep LEDGER_FILE should show it. You may need to use export. Here's an explanation. - Getting errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or incomplete - multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: invalid argu- + Getting errors like "Illegal byte sequence" or "Invalid or incomplete + multibyte or wide character" or "commitAndReleaseBuffer: invalid argu- ment (invalid character)" Programs compiled with GHC (hledger, haskell build tools, etc.) need to have a UTF-8-aware locale configured in the environment, otherwise they - will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter non-ascii + will fail with these kinds of errors when they encounter non-ascii characters. - To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which sup- + To fix it, set the LANG environment variable to some locale which sup- ports UTF-8. The locale you choose must be installed on your system. Here's an example of setting LANG temporarily, on Ubuntu GNU/Linux: @@ -8039,8 +8064,8 @@ TROUBLESHOOTING POSIX $ LANG=en_US.utf8 hledger -f my.journal print # ensure it is used for this command - If available, C.UTF-8 will also work. If your preferred locale isn't - listed by locale -a, you might need to install it. Eg on + If available, C.UTF-8 will also work. If your preferred locale isn't + listed by locale -a, you might need to install it. Eg on Ubuntu/Debian: $ apt-get install language-pack-fr @@ -8060,8 +8085,8 @@ TROUBLESHOOTING $ echo "export LANG=en_US.utf8" >>~/.bash_profile $ bash --login - Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. Note the differ- - ence on MacOS (UTF-8, not utf8). Some platforms (eg ubuntu) allow + Exact spelling and capitalisation may be important. Note the differ- + ence on MacOS (UTF-8, not utf8). Some platforms (eg ubuntu) allow variant spellings, but others (eg macos) require it to be exact: $ locale -a | grep -iE en_us.*utf @@ -8071,7 +8096,7 @@ TROUBLESHOOTING REPORTING BUGS - Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel + Report bugs at http://bugs.hledger.org (or on the #hledger IRC channel or hledger mail list) @@ -8089,4 +8114,4 @@ SEE ALSO -hledger-1.26.99 July 2022 HLEDGER(1) +hledger-1.26.99 August 2022 HLEDGER(1)