QHacc FAQ

This is the QHacc Frequently Asked Questions section of the manual. It is being updated for QHacc v1.3, and should stay reasonably up-to-date. If you find anything in the questions and answers that is vague or just plain-old wrong, please write to ryan@ostrich-emulators.com. If you have a question you do not see in this list, please write to the same address to have it added.

Questions:

  1. I just started QHacc, what do I need to do now?
  2. Is there an easier way to enter a lot of old transactions?
  3. Why does the account viewer get all funky during resizing?
  4. How do I graph more than one account at a time?

Answers:

Q I just started QHacc, what do I need to do now?
A Unlike some accounting programs, QHacc does not automatically start with a ready-made setup. If you just unpacked QHacc, a complete and operational setup is available in the qhacc/contrib/easysetup directory. The easiest way to get started is to copy this directory somewhere, say /home/ryan/.qhacc, and start QHacc with the -f option. The steps are simple: Obviously, you should really try to use your own login name instead of mine.

If you don't like using the -f option, you can alternately set a QHACC_HOME environment variable in your shell. If you use any of the bourne-like shells, then type

If you're a csh person, the command might look something like
Q Is there an easier way to enter a lot of old transactions?
A There isn't any way around entering old transactions. However, QHacc has many useful features for speeding the process. First, change your preferences to use "Auto-Complete on" all or new transactions. With this option, QHacc will try to use data from already-entered transactions on the new transactions. After typing in the payee, QHacc will supply the sum, memo, and double-entry account field automatically. If there is some ambiguity for a payee, you can go to the sum field and press the up and down arrows for other payments from that payee. Another useful feature is to hilight the last transaction entereted, and use the "i" key instead of hitting the spacebar over "<new>" button to create a new transactions. This makes the transaction editor use the date from the already-entered transaction as the date for the new transaction. Hitting the spacebar uses the current date, which is probably annoying if you're trying to enter old transactions.
Q Why does the account viewer get all funky during resizing?
A QHacc doesn't resize itself correctly in all instances. Most notably, if your window manager allows for opaque resizing, or "show contents of window during resizing," the header section of the account viewer goes through some enormous contortions. If this is something that bothers you, try to turn off opaque resizing of windows. This bug is on my list of things to fix, but it's not very high.
Q How do I graph more than one account at a time?
A You can graph more than one account at a time by holding down the control key and selecting another account, or by holding the shift key and selecting a whole range of accounts.